Here at Make Food Not Waste, we’re often focused on how to get food into people’s bellies, not landfills. But man’s best friend also likes a full belly, and making our dogs happy is another way to use up those food scraps in your kitchen.
Kisha, Jeremy, and their daughter Rachel make food for their dog, Teddy, out of food scraps that they don’t eat. Teddy loves their creations and the variety they add to his diet that otherwise would just be kibble and the occasional treat.
The family saves scraps from their cooking all week – things like the stems of vegetables, potato and carrot peels, broccoli stalks, carrot leaves, etc. When in doubt about whether the food is something safe for Teddy to eat, a quick Google search provides the answer.
Good containers for storing the scraps are key so they stay fresh and enticing for Teddy. Scraps are placed in sturdy silicone freezer bags, but tupperware or other containers would also work. Kisha recommends the Stasher bags since they are easy to open, easy to seal, keep everything fresh, and come in a variety of sizes. She prefers to use the bags since they take up less space in the freezer than tupperware.
During the weekend, the scraps are taken out of the freezer and cooked up with some ground meat and either rice or lentils. Teddy gets a bit of the mixture most days throughout the week to supplement the kibble he also eats. Once made, part of the mixture can go back in the freezer and be pulled out later in the week to keep it fresh.
Kisha grew up in Jamaica and noted that this is how everyone feeds their dog; there is no pet store to buy specific dog food for your pet. Growing up, they would “turn cornmeal”, where polenta, food scraps, and low-cost meat or meat scraps are all cooked together to create food for family dogs. When Teddy came into their lives during the pandemic at the request of Rachel, Kisha turned to her upbringing for ideas on how to feed him and has been doing it ever since.
So, if you’ve got a furry four-legged friend, there are ways you can make them happy while also helping reduce your food waste and pet food costs. Just find yourself some good freezer bags and see how happy your pup is doing his or her part to help save the planet.