Effie's Stew in the Rice Cooker

I have been cooking for my dogs for many years.  I supplement with quality dry food and an occasional quality wet food. 

Today, I am using my beloved rice cooker to start a weekly chore of making what I call Effie's Stew.    (I have seen recipes for something called Puppy Stew and don't want to infringe on their name.)

Ingredients and Directions:

8-9 Chicken Thighs (or chicken pieces with skin and bone included)
1 15 ounce can pumpkin
8 large carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 16 ounce bag frozen green beans
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup barley
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
 4 cups water.
 1 cup frozen peas

Put all ingredients except peas in the rice cooker.  Cook until it turns off.  Remove chicken and de-bone and tear or cut into smaller pieces and return to the rice cooker, including the skin..  Use an immersion blender to make it as mixed and mushed up as your dog prefers it.  I leave quite a few chewable chunks.  Then add the frozen peas and stir to combine.  They will defrost and cook almost instantly.  For my dog this is less that $.25 per serving.  This is compared to at least .$80 per serving of prepared canned wet food and my recipe is far healthier as well.

Cool and store in quart size storage bags or 8 ounce containers.  It can be frozen.  Daily, Effie gets one cup mixed with kibble.  For a larger dog you would need more or less depending on how much kibble you also feed.

Using this recipe as a guide for amounts, substitutes could be made to include different vegetables and different grains and proteins.  For example, instead of chicken you could use turkey, beef or even a ground meat; instead of barley and oatmeal you could use brown rice and quinoa.  In the summer when zucchini and yellow squash are in abundance I often use them fresh instead of frozen beans.  I have also added apples to the mix in the fall.