With all the pet food health scares, many pet owners are turning to homemade pet food and treats. Done right, these home-cooked meals are far healthier than commercial food. If you’ve got a freeze drier, you can make healthy recipes for your cat or dog and easily freeze dry it in individual or daily portions.

Dr. Ruth Roberts, a South Carolina holistic veterinarian, believes that home-cooked pet food can cure or alleviate the symptoms of most common pet problems such as obesity, skin allergies, cancer, diabetes and more. Dr. Roberts developed a one-pot meal for cats and dogs called “The Original Crockpet Diet”. These recipes have all the nutrition your pets need when you add in a multivitamin. Because freeze drying doesn’t damage nutrients in food the way dehydrating does, it’s safe to freeze-dry individual portions of this recipe.

Dogs and cats need different nutrients, so be sure to use the appropriate version for your pet. If you want a one-on-one consultation with Dr. Roberts before you dive in, she’s happy to do email consultations. You can get The Original Crockpet Diet eBook here.

The Crockpet diet consists of a protein such poultry or ground beef (or fish for cats) combined with vegetables, kidney beans, calcium, spices, coconut oil. You can add brown rice if your pet isn’t trying to lose weight. There’s no washing or chopping involved, just toss everything in a large crock pot, cook on low for 8 hours, mash with a fork or potato masher, let cool, then freeze dry in individual portions. Each 7 quart batch costs about $15 to make and will last two cats or a medium dog about two weeks. Dogs absolutely love the food and cats can be convinced more quickly if you add a little tuna or anchovie paste to get them interested. The Original CrockPet Diet eBook & Membership is normally $47 for lifetime access, but you can get it for $37, here.

If you’re freeze drying your own pet food or treats, we’d love to hear about it. Post your pet’s photo on our Facebook page and share your tips.