The two tasty recipes below are from my top selling doggie cookbook, Real Food for Dogs (Storey)- and are veterinary approved.

Marvelous Mutt Meatballs
(This recipe is fit for people, too!)

1 pound ground beef (or ground sirloin)
2/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 carrot, finely chopped or grated
1 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs, whisked
3 tablespoons tomato paste (low sodium)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl.
3. Scoop out by the spoonful and roll into mini-size meatballs.
4. Place the meatballs on a cookie sheet sprayed with nonfat cooking spray.
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
6. Cool and store in the refrigerator in a container with a lid.

Leap For Liver
(This recipe caters to canines only)

1 pound sliced beef liver (save the juice)
1/4 cup water
1 small box corn muffin mix

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a food processor or blender, blend the liver one slice at a time on high until liquefied.
Add a little water as you add each slice.
3. Pour the corn muffin mix into a large bowl. Then add the liver liquid and mix thoroughly.
4. Spray an 8 1/2- by 11-inch baking pan with nonstick spray.
5. Pour the liver mix into the pan.
6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the middle springs back at your touch.
7. Cool and cut into small cubes. Store the cubes in resealable plastic bags in the freezer.
Arden Moore - Caring for people, caring for pets Arden Moore - Caring for people, caring for pets
Arden Moore - Caring for people, caring for pets

Hi, Richard,
I have not tried this one yet but here is a birthday cake -
Birthday Cake for Pups
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup corn oil
1 jar baby food, meat, beef, strained
4 eggs
2 strips beef jerky -- (2 to 3)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour an 8x5x3 inch loaf pan. Cream butter until smooth. Add corn oil, baby food, and eggs. Mix until smooth. Mix dry ingredients into beef mixture until batter is smooth. Crumble beef jerky and fold into batter. Pour batter into loaf pan. Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes. cool on wire
rack 15 minutes. Ice with plain yogurt or cottage cheese. Store uneaten cake in refrigerator.

Richard, a quick and easy, nutritious recipe for both you and your dog is Acorn Squash Delight.

Wash and halve one medium acorn squash. Scoop out the seeds from both halves; invert on pastry sheet covered cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes (depending on your taste for doneness/tenderness). I like to bake until the squash is "slightly squishy" to the touch (but be careful! It WILL be HOT to the touch!).

Remove squash from oven; turn right side up. Go 'round the inside with a grapefruit spoon or other means of "loosening" the squash from the rind, which also helps it cool so neither you nor your pooch suffer a burned mouth!

Fill with a variety of things, from cooked, crumbled-up bacon to small rounds of pumpkin (like small ice-cream scoop size) to cheddar cheese croutons. Since acorn squash is mild-flavored, the more flavor you can add for you and your pooch, the better. A shake of olive oil, a shake of oregano, a shake of garlic, may be added, as can some cut-up fresh spinach, shredded mozzarella cheese, even artichoke hearts, which are good for both of you!

Serve when still comfortably warm. Ah ... soooo delicious AND nutritious! Bon Appetit!

Hi Richard- just cats and dogs??? What about horses??? I have a great carrot cake recipe that I use for my horse's birthday cake!!! Let me know if you can use it.. :)

My favorite cookbook for the K-9s is From Bones to Biscuits by Ronald J. Riegel DVM. He has it broken down into which foods are good for each different breeds.

However, I have a couple from this cookbook that I like to give the dogs which are quick and easy.

Soft Oatmeal Banana Strips.
1 egg, 1 cup oatmeal, 1 banana, 1/3 cup of 2% milk, 1/2 cup unbleached flour, 1/8 cup instant rice.

Mash the banana and whip the egg. Mix together, then add the remaining ingredients. Spread this evenly on a microwaveable plate. Heat in microwave on high for 3-3 1/2 minutes. Allow to cool and cut into bite sized strips. This recipe has 202 kcal of engery, 8.13 grams of protein and 4.2 grams of fat. Cost less than $1.00.
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Party Mix

2 cups cheerios, 2 cups Rice Chex, 2 cups wheat chex, 1/2 cup of melted butter, 2 tablespoons instant dry chicken gravy mix, 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup bacon bits, 1 cup canine beef jerky.

set oven at 250. In saucepan melt the butter and stir in the cheese and bacon bits. Add all the cereals and stir until all pieces are coated. Spread out on to a cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, Cut the canine beef jerky into small pieces while cereal mix is baking. Remove the cereal from the oven and add the jerky. Strir well several times while it cools. SErve warm to the touch, but not hot. Store in air tight container.

Recipe makes about 7 cups of party mix, has 2376 kcal of energy, 98 grams of protein, and 145 grams of fat. Cost less than $5.00.
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Strawberry Smoothie

Yes, for your dog.

2 1/2 cups frozen strawberries, 1 banana, 1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt, 1/2 cup honey.

Place all ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth. If your dog likes to crunch ice cubes, you can add some to the blender to make it kind of crunchy.

This recipe makes 3 cups of smoothies, 317 kcal of energy, 3.67 grams of protein, and 1.5 grams of fat. Cost is about $1.10 per cup. If you don't use all when you make it right then, freeze the rest for a future treat.

And which national show as we would love to see it. Or at least make sure we can view it here on Zootoo.

Dogs: Canned salmon/mackerel/tuna, green beans, canned sweet potatoes, instant mashed potatoes, cod liver oil. For variety, add spaghetti sauce. My GSD is allergic to poultry, all grains, and all dairy. Since she's been on this diet, she has had no skin problems.

Cats: Canned tuna, Ragu spaghetti sauce (acid takes care of urinary track infections/struvite crystals), olive oil (takes care of furballs), mashed green beans, and powdered taurine. (My four cats prefer Ragu.)

Both diets are quick and easy. Both contain ingredients with a long shelf life (stock up during sales). Both of these diets result in less waste. Both are economical (less expensive than the prior organic dog and cat food).

Bon Appetit!

Hi Richard.

Way back, about a hundred years ago, my family was on food stamps [long story short, two babies, lazy husband who wouldn't work] Naturally, food stamps don't pay for pet food. So I improvised.

At the time we had a Siberian Husky, and two cats.

after some research [The Natural Dog and Cat from Prevention Magazine was a huge help] I hit on a solution.

First, it involved a trip to the fish monger. Back then, they were in every big grocery store. You could get heads and tails and innards for nothing, just 50 cents for the bucket to take it home on the bus in. [sorry. bad English. I really know better]

I put the 'good parts' in a pressure cooker with a little water, and cooked at 15 pounds pressure for 20 minutes. The bones about fell apart. Then I started mixing in oat flour [dry oatmeal whirled in the blender until it's fine] and added a bit of oil, garlic powder and brewers yeast. When it was the right consistancy [thick, almost enough to stand the spoon up, but not quite] I put it into loaf pans and chilled it. The next day, I'd slice it and pack it in baggies. Big hunks for the dog, smaller ones for the cats. They all adored it.

Now, I'm not affluent, but I am comfortably poor, rather than desparately so. It's just me and the cats. I still make their food on occasion. But now it's a tin of salmon or mackeral, whatever is cheaper, mixed with oat flour and yeast and oil. They like it better than the commercial stuff, and in a pinch, it's good to have in the freezer.