Food for the Holidays: Kemosabe’s Christmas Stew

It’s that time of year when we canines start smelling all the yummy aromas coming out of the kitchen.  You know…the cookies, breads, pies, and the crumbs that fall on the floor that must be immediately cleaned up by the Aussie Tribe.  We call it floor polishing.

It’s easy for humans to fall prey to our pleading eyes and soulful expressions in the kitchen; they’ll sneak us food under the dinner table or share a snack with us, or even leave some delicious cheese out on the counter.  But a lot of what humans eat is not good for us, no matter how adept we are at begging.

So, every Christmas we get a special breakfast Christmas stew that is nourishing, delicious, and good for us.  Buckaroo may say that he’d prefer a couple of gingerbread cookies, but when the crockpot lid is opened on Christmas morning, we are all drooling for our special meal.  Now, without further ado:

Kemosabe’s Christmas Stew

• Line bottom of crockpot with marrow bones. Add roast or a steak or venison.  Add water almost up to the top.

• Add 4 tablespoons organic apple cider vinegar (to help draw out the minerals from the marrow bones.)

• Add 1/3 cup split peas and 1-2 sweet potatoes, sliced or quartered. You can also add sliced carrots and celery.

• Cook on low for 10-12 hours. Our human does this at night, so by morning we have stew.

• Remove and discard the marrow bones after cooking.

• Add about ¼ cup chopped kale to the crockpot and stir. Allow stew to cool for at least a half hour.

• Cut the meat and divide it among the dog bowls. Pour the vegetables/potatoes and broth over the meat.  Our human adds a tablespoon or two of lassi or kefir to each bowl to make it creamier and to provide some good probiotics.

• Add 1-2 tablespoons of organic pumpkin meal for additional fiber. Mix well.

Voila! — a healthy, nutrient-dense meal that you can’t get out of a bag or a can…or from a human’s Christmas cookie.

If you currently feed raw, just make the broth with the vegetables and sweet potatoes and pour over the raw food.

You can also substitute the marrow bones with chicken necks, and put chicken breasts or thighs or a combination on top.  When the stew is done, make sure to discard the bones in a place where we canines can’t find them or dig them out.

Lastly, set your watch, because your dog will consume this delicious Christmas stew in nanoseconds.  Thankfully, there will be no leftovers for the cats.