My college-aged kids think I have lost it since I now cook for the dog. She still gets her kibble, but for dinner, there’s topper! It’s special for her.
Dinner time bowl: a base of kibble (a little less than usual amount), then about half a cup of topper. Easy!
To make the topper: Brown a pound of ground turkey or chicken or other plain ground meat (not sausage) in a skillet; use low heat to get it cooked without splattering. Towards the end of the cooking, add a couple cups of frozen broccoli florets, lid on helps it to steam. Maybe some frozen blueberries too.
Optional add ins to the base of cooked meat:
- cooked brown rice
- cooked quinoa
- a drizzle of flax oil
- other cooked vegetables: cabbage, green beans, sweet potato, pumpkin purée
Storage: Keep 4 or 5 days worth in a container in the refrigerator, extra in the freezer. Day before you need, transfer from freezer to fridge to defrost.
Tips to make it easy:
- When roasting a sheet pan of vegetables, add a little extra for the dog(s). Or if you have leftovers, stash them in the topper container.
- When grocery shopping, pick up meat and frozen vegetables to keep the freezer stocked.
- It’s sad when they get used to topper and you don’t have any topper. If this happens, use your creativity—turns out that leftover oatmeal is great for dogs! As are the pickings from a rotisserie chicken (no skin).
Disclaimer: If your dog is on a special diet, I am not recommending changing their food. Topper is an idea that works for me and my dog; we learned it from her mommas (human and dog).
