Home Cooked (or Dehydrated)

[sargon]

My wife and I have been doing more cooking lately (I highly recommend organic jamacian jerk sous vide chicken breasts, and it has inspired me to try making some food for my cat, Freya, as well. I'll be trying to make her some lightly cooked fare, but that's another set of questions (and thus post) entirely.

I'm looking for suggestions (and recipes) for home made treats. I'm well equipped with kitchen gadgets for the task (dehydrator, meat grinder, vacuums sealer, sous vide circulator, jerky gun, convection oven, etc. ), so my main issue is a lack of good recipes. So far beyond just making up some chicken stock, and maybe just dehydrating some deboned chicken or salmon, I'm not sure what to make,

In terms of dietary sensitivities, the only one I know of is turkey (yeah chicken is fine, but turkey doesn't agree with her. ) Pork and pork products are also out, though that's because my wife and I have ethical objections to eating pork.

A few foods she likes more than average include:

-vegetables. while she'll take freeze dried duck liver over spinach any day, she's the only cat I have had who seems to actually enjoy vegetables, so they are fine, within reason (since cats aren't really intended to eat a lot (or pretty much any) of vegetables.)
-salmon
-whitefish
-duck (not that it is easy to find or particuarly affordable, but she does like it better than chicken)
-chicken is fine,and will likely be a big part of most things I make, since she likes and tolerates it well, and it is relatively inexpensive.


So, any suggestions?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - in order to bump this for you and to mention, I googled homemade treats for cats and a decent number of sites came up. Good luck

 

[Tobermory]

Whoa. Your skills—and kitchen gear—are way more sophisticated than mine! I take chicken breasts and thighs, do a partial bake (or sometimes not), cut them up in small chunks, and freeze them. I take out a couple for each of my three at night and put them in the refrigerator to thaw. They get them midday the next day. (They get their regular meals at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.) I’ve also done duck which I can get at a local specialty meat store. Yes, it’s pricey!