Mother's Choice

Even the pooches should eat well. And although I think dog walkers/nannies/therapists are taking things a bit too far, I have been known to make the dogs their dinner, only in winter mind. I have even been known to have a very small bowl of it myself for lunch on day of cooking.

There'll be no photo, because it'll look like either the Smoked Chicken Pasta or the Hock and Lentil soup. Ingredients can vary according to your dogs' predilections, but this is a great start:

1 kilo mince ~ pork, veal, beef, chicken, mixture of, whatever you think is right.
1 x 500 gram pack frozen veg. (please, no corn, it goes straight through them like little jewels)
250-500 g pasta (choose your shape. Short and square is best. Linguine, Fettucine and Spaghetti make a hell of a mess)
kidney/cannelini/borlotti beans ~ one 400 g tin drained
garlic ~ for their immune system, a couple of cloves
parsley ~ because there's always a wee bit left over in the fridge
mint (fresh or dried) ~ for their breath
a splash of soy
1 litre stock ~ real or imagined (you know what I mean, packet, fresh, dried, whatever)

Fry off the garlic in olive oil. Add mince, fry until browned. Open frozen veg packet with teeth and put that in too. Stir it about a bit until the mince is browned. Add stock. Bring to boil. When you remember, put in beans, parsley, mint and soy.

Simmer for about 20 mins.

They LOVE it. And you can tell by their poop for the next few days it's doing them good. Ideal for freezing, but will last 3-4 days in fridge.

On Fridays, give them a treat, put it in a takeaway container.