The Joy of Healthy Eating - Pixel's Home-Cooked Dog Food

Hi friends! I bet you are wondering what I'm doing here, standing on my hind legs looking up at our kitchen counter. It's because Mommy is getting my dinner ready. I can't wait to share my special food with you, but first I want to explain a little about why I get special food. The commercial dog food industry is a HUGE market, bringing in billions of dollars every year. Yet more and more people are cooking their dog's food instead of buying "off the shelf" so to speak. Too many contaminated foods, whether for pets or people, have made many families nervous about what they are ingesting. My family is in that group. We've had tragic losses due to contaminated dog food, so my Mommy and family has become experts on researching foods.

Part of our food is home cooked and part is commercial. We use one specific grain/gluten free food that swears their chicken is from their own chicken farms, and that all ingredients are verified to be safe. I have been tummy sick as of late (coinciding with my tail troubles), so Mommy has been feeding me the awesome food that we make for my sister Peanut Pumpkin Pie, who has serious liver problems and other ailments. She was badly affected by food contamination from one of the "best" high end dog foods, at around the same time we lost my two senior uncles, so eating safe foods hits very, very close to home.

My Auntie has mastered the mix that is both super yummy and full of nutrition. It has chicken breast meat, rice, sweet potatoes, peas or green beans, bananas, applesauce & blueberries.  All three of us pups get SUPER EXCITED when it's meal time. I always have to stand on my hind legs so I can see everything being done. It's just one of my favorite things to see. First, Mommy lines up the bowls on the counter. She brings out all the yummy goodness that she feeds us.

We each get fed a certain amount each day based on our weight, so our food is measured for each meal. Since I've been ill, I get 1/8 cup of the chicken, rice, veggie, fruit stuff, then a scoop of pumpkin. Disregard that my eyes are glowing red...I just get very excited and serious about my meal time, so my eyes "glow" with anticipation, BOL!!

This is a close up of my beautiful meal. How many dogs do you know get a multi-course meal? Dixie gets some dry food put in with her food, so I guess she gets a 3 course meal.

See why I love to be front and center during meal preparation? It's just like a favorite TV show, or would this be a TV dinner, BOL! I guess it's sort of like the cooking channel for humans.

Dixie Mae loves to watch too, but she prefers to sit on the red rug in front of the kitchen sink. I actually taught her to do that because I go and sit on the rug all the time when Mommy is doing stuff in the kitchen. I guess you could call the red rug "home base" when we are in the kitchen. My guess is that standing a little ways off from the food prep allows her to actually see better. Look at those big pretty eyes of hers glued to the counter where the food is.

 Peanut waits with anticipation too, but she also tends to dance in excitement. She gets up on her hind legs and starts waving her paws in the air.
Just look at those moves. She's so serious when she does her "Just like a prayer" dance right before she chows down!

Dixie just gets really BIG EYES when her meal is ready to go and coming her way.
I do an occasional twirl or two, but not today. I'm all about being "Mommy's Little Helper", so when Mommy was done making everyone's bowl of yummy goodness, and it was my turn to get my dinner, I said, "Wait Mommy. I'd better help you pre-wash." She knew exactly what I was getting at, so she let me lick the fork. Good Mommy!

So Peanut, Dixie Mae and I ate...

and we ate....

and we ate. It was so yummy, and yet so good for us. See, dogs can eat good, and still stay both fit and trim.

Eating healthy really can be a joy, as you can see from my face. Whether you are human, canine, feline, or other, see if you can find ways to stay fit, eat healthy and eat safe. I'd LOVE to hear what you do for healthy safe eating. Just leave a comment and let me know. It might be something I can try too.