Pets and Vegan/Vegetarian Diets

So recently my dog (13 year old Border Collie named Shep) has been having trouble with his back legs and walking long distances. We also noticed a substantial weight gain.
Now, we only feed Shep once a day (with occasional treats), we normally feed him 1 can of Winalot dog food mixed with two small cupfuls of dry mixer.

So we have decided to start him on a vegetarian diet, perhaps even pescatarian, as he loves tuna! We don't feed him dairy products (minus a slice of cheese very very occasionally), so his diet would be more or less plant based.

I want to keep you guys informed of how it goes, and will supply recipes I've used for anyone who is trying to convert their dogs - I will attach recipes to the bottom of this blog however so people aren't making strange meals for themselves!

PLEASE NOTE:
Dogs (and cats!) need certain extra supplements to live on vegetarian diets. Dogs and cats are omnivorous (like us!) but, just like normal dog food, supplements are added to these foods that we as humans do not need, but that pets need for certain health aspects.
These supplements are Taurine and L-Caratine, which can be found in whole foods markets such as Holland and Barrett, maybe try somewhere else for lower prices, Amazon?
I'm not sure on exact amounts at the moment.

Some Useful Links
http://www.peta.org/living/companion-animals/vegetarian-cats-and-dogs.aspx
^ This will tell you the gruesome truth about what goes into your dogs tinned food!

http://thekindlife.com/blog/post/what-to-feed-my-dogs-2



*MORE COMING SOON*

Asparagus and Potato Soup

This ones real yummy!

     

Ingredients

1 decent sized packet of asparagus tips
Half an onion
4 small potatoes
Generous pinch of salt
Generous pinch of dried chilli flakes (or 2 normal medium chillies)
Small bunch of parsley
Handful of quinoa (dry)
1 vegetable stock cube
300ml of water, add more if needed

Method

- Chop onions and asparagus tips roughly
- Peel potatoes and chop into small cubes
- Wash quinoa and dissolve stock cube in water
- Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until soft
- Remove from heat and add in any remaining ingredients
- Blend until smooth and creamy
- Garnish with chillies or parsley
- Serve and enjoy!

Vegetable-packed Miso Soup

Ingredients

- I used a mixed veg pack here, which consisted of: bamboo shoots, spring cabbage, carrots and beansprouts

- 1 Dried nori sheet, torn into small pieces

- 3 mushrooms, chopped

- 1 large pak choi

- 1 tbsp soy sauce

- 1 tsp habanero tabasco

- 1 tsp cayenne pepper

- Dried/fresh coriander & parsley

- 1 tsp Miso paste

- 1 vegetable stock cube (or paste)

- 250ml boiling water

Spring onions for garnish

Optional

- Tofu

- Favourite noodles, I recommend udon, soba or rice noodles!

Method

- Mix boiling water together with stock cube

- Put all vegetables into a large pot and pour veg stock over mix

- Add spices and tabasco and bring to the boil

- Once brought to the boil, simmer for another five or so minutes until pak choi and mushrooms have softened slightly

- Turn off heat, cover and leave to steam for ten minutes

- Once steamed, add in miso paste and stir through

- Garnish, serve, and enjoy ^.^!

Thai Lemongrass Pasta

This burned the mouth of of me, made it a tad too spicy, but I'll give you guys a less spicy version!

Ingredients
Generous helping of large macaroni/rice noodles/rice
Green and red peppers, sliced
Coriander/Parsley, chopped
1 tsp of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup of coconut milk/cream
2 tbsp of garlic puree
Thai Lemongrass sauce (I've used Blue Dragon here)
1 tsp of thai green curry paste
1 veg stock cube (I used Knowe)
Lemon juice to taste
Sugar snap peas
Salt to taste

Method
- Boil pasta/rice until soft
- Drain out some water and dissolve stock cube amongst the condiment
- Add peppers, sugar snap peas, coconut cream and garlic puree
- Add cayenne pepper and Thai Lemongrass sauce and thai green curry paste
- Stir until mixture thickens and boils
- Add lemon juice and salt to taste
- Serve and enjoy :3!

Grilled Peaches with Yoghurt and Raspberries

Ah this recipes is just delicious! I seen this recipe on Symon's Suppers on FoodNetwork UK last week and I had to veganise it! I have to admit, I burned the peaches slightly on the grill pan, but they were still magnificent!

Ingredients
2 large peaches, halved, pitted
Generous helping of soy plain yoghurt (I've used Alpro here, you can use any flavoured soy yoghurt too!)
5/6 raspberries
Generous helping of agave nectar (available at Holland and Barrett and online supermarkets)

Method
- Grill peaches either on a grill pan (I don't recommend this as I burned mine) or in a conventional oven until browned lightly
- Place neatly onto a plate and drizzle yoghurt and nectar over the peaches
- Place some raspberries nicely between the peaches and serve

Optional
I think some raw cane sugar or cinnamon would go delicious with this recipe, too bad I was out!

Miso soup with Rice Noodles, Pak Choi and Seasonal Squash

This is my favourite! Pak choi, pak choi and more pak choi!
And some vodka..

Ingredients
1 tbsp of miso paste (apparently you get different kinds, I haven't tried them, but I use the little jar from Sainsburys!)
2/3 cups of water
1 veg stock cube (I use knowe)
As much pak choi/kale as you like (recently being sold at Tesco, but always available at chinese supermarkets)
1 seasonal squash
1 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 tsp of garlic puree/powder
1 tsp of ginger
1 tbsp of Five Spice
Lemon pepper and salt to taste

Method
- Usually, I just chop everything up, throw it into a pot of boiling water and cook until the squash is nice and soft. Its really as easy as that!

Vodka Screwdriver (shown above)
Vodka
Orange juice
A little lemon juice

Vegan Potato Salad

This is one of those recipes that I feel doesn't need measurements, that is all about how much you want and what your taste is like. So I'm not going to give measurements but rather what I think are some lovely ingredients which make a great vegan potato salad!

Ingredients
Potatoes, roughly chopped (skins on if preferred)
Vegan mayonnaise (I like Solesse- purchased at Asda, which is soya free too!)
Red/green onions
Spring onions
Parsley/Coriander, chopped
Cider vinegar (malt is fine too)
Lemon juice
Salt to taste

Method
- Salt a pot of cold water and boil potatoes for 20 minutes on a medium/high heat until soft but not falling apart
- In a bowl, chop up all the herbs and vegetables, scoop in some mayonnaise and flavour with vinegar, lemon juice and salt
- Once potatoes are tender, drain water and rinse with cold water to cool slightly
* I find it easier to transfer the potatoes back into the pot and coat them here rather than in the bowl, however if you are using a larger bowl they can go straight into there
- Either serve like this or chill for later!

Enjoy :3

Meat-free chilli con carne with almond 'feta cheese'

Ingredients (Makes around 3 servings)

Chilli
1 vegetable stock cube (I use knowe)
Boiling water (enough to cover 'mince')
2 cups of vegan mince
1/2 tin of kidney/black beans (add more if you prefer!)
2 cups of rice (I've used spaghetti here but much prefer rice!)
1 tbsp of cayenne pepper
1 tbsp of paprika
1 full onion, chopped
1 can of tinned chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp of garlic puree
1 tbsp of tomato puree
Parsley
Coriander

Optional
I like to add bell peppers, red and green chillies and jalepenos too.

Almond Feta Cheese (adapted from Food.com)
Half a bag of ground almonds
I find I always change the amounts of garlic/salt/lemon juice I use so add a little at a time until you have a desired taste!
Half a cup of water (you can use rice milk etc if you prefer a creamier taste)

Method
- Dissolve stock cube in the boiling water
- Add in the 'mince' and boil until mince has softened slightly
- Add in chopped tomatoes, tomato/garlic puree and beans
- Bring to boil
(If you're adding peppers/chillies etc, add them now)
- Add cayenne pepper and paprika

-Put the rice on to boil at this point

- Once rice is almost done, add parsley, coriander and onion to the chilli and simmer for the remaining time the rice has
- Serve chilli on top of the rice, sprinkle with the feta 'cheese' and enjoy!

Almond Feta 'Cheese' Method
This ones real easy!
- Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth but not runny
- Put into a cheesecloth (I use Tesco Value disposable all-purpose cloths) and drain 'cheese' mixture
I like to eat it like this, but you can put it in the oven, in an oven safe tin, at about 150 degrees for 20 minutes (until top is golden)

Lily and button mushroom soup.

Theres nothing I love more than a creamy bowl of mushroom soup!
Ive used lily and button mushrooms here, but you can adapt it to your favourite mushrooms.

Recipe
As many of your favourite mushrooms
1 vegetable stock cube
Half a cup of non-dairy cream (I used alpro)
Two cloves of garlic or two spoonfuls of garlic puree
Half an onion (optional)
1 tsp of dried rosemary
1 tsp of dried coriander
1 tsp of dried parsley
2 tsp of cornflour to thicken
Fresh sprig of one of the above herbs as a garnish
Salt to taste

Method
- Boil mushrooms in the vegetable stock until soft
- Add onion to soften
- Let broth cool slightly then transfer to a food processor
- Add dried herbs, cream, garlic and salt and mix for five minutes
- Transfer back to pot and bring to the boil
- Dissolve 2 tsp of cornflour in water and mix into soup
- When thickened, transfer to bowl, garnish and serve

I absolutely adore this soup recipe. I hope you will too :3!