Lazy

I have gotten lazy.  I freely admit it after reasoning this morning that there was no other word for my behavior.

A couple of years ago I took the time to make my own dog food.  Then I got lazy and went back to buying the dry kind at the grocery.  Even the increase in the price of commercial dog food didn't deter me.  Until today.

I have two Yorkies.  They need to be fed.  I am nearly out of dry dog food.  To get more food, I need to put on shoes along with the rest of my clothes and take the bus to the store.  I have arthritis, which has been a bit worse than usual this spring.  The kind of arthritis I have causes joints to ache and my feet and ankles to swell.  My back tends to go out more often than I do.  This isn't a complaint, just a statement of fact.  Lots of people are in far more pain with problems much worse than mine.  This morning I couldn't get my fat foot into my left shoe.  No way.  Wasn't going to happen.  That's when I decided that I had gotten lazy.

As I sat grumbling about the fact that I just wasn't going to be going anywhere barefoot today I got to thinking that if I hadn't gotten so lazy and stopped making my own dog food, I wouldn't be sitting here grumbling about the fact that I couldn't go anywhere today.  After all, I am forever preaching about being prepared, and I am at least in the food department.  Time to put my money where my mouth is.

I dug into my stores and got out a bag of rice.  Next I went to my canned goods shelves and got two quarts of home canned sliced carrots along with four pint jars of diced pork butt.  I had experimented with canning pork butt when it was on sale and was less than thrilled with the results, but I'll bet the dogs will love it.  I can't stand to waste anything.  Also grabbed a jar of turkey broth.  Dumped the broth and some water into a pot.  Added the rice and cooked it until it was done and fluffy.  I think the broth will add to the flavor and make the dogs happy.  When the rice had cooled down some I tossed it into a big bowl and added the carrots and pork.  Got in there with my hands and mixed the whole works together.  Hands are the very best kitchen tools ever made.

By this time Lily and Jessie Jane were dancing around my feet.  They sure did like the smells coming from this big bowl.  Time to see if they liked the taste as well as the smells.  Put about a half a cup in each of two small bowls and set the bowls on the floor.  I'm not really sure if they ate the dog food or just inhaled it, but it was a rousing success.

So now I have a couple of quart bags of dog food in the fridge for their meals in the next few days and another eight bags in the freezer.  I don't know why it took me so long to get back to making their food.  (Yes, I do.  I got lazy.)  It is much better for them than the stuff that I was buying.  I am not sure of the ages of my Yorkies as I got them when they were already older, but I am guessing they are between 10 and 12 years.  Maybe if I continue giving them good homemade food, I just might be able to enjoy them for many more years.