VENISON!

My dad got a deer the other day. That was pretty cool, but even better was when he quartered it up, I got to eat the scraps. And I even got to worry a piece of hide! That was great fun. Mom put the quarters in the cooler to finish hanging since it was too warm to let it hang from the barn rafters.

For the last couple days, she has been processing it. That means she is cutting all the meat up for roasts, steaks and sausages. I guess you know I sit right there at the kitchen counter waiting for her to drop something. The rule is if it lands on the floor, it's mine. Unless of course it's something that I'm not supposed to have -- like chocolate. Too bad I can't have chocolate. That is the ultimate. Yep, I got into some a few years ago. It was dark chocolate and nothing bad happened, so I don't know why I can't have it. Oh well.

Venison Tripe - getting ready to finish washing and grinding

Back to the venison - mom has a huge bucket of fat and scraps she said she is going to grind into dog food for me. She said she is going to mix some eggs in with it, some fish oil and other stuff that's supposed to be good for me.

She already made the tripe. I have to remind her to take a bucket of that out of the fridge. Dad really grossed out when he saw that. She took the deer stomach and washed all the grass out of it - ZOMG, those deer eat a whole lot of grass! Then she cut it up in small pieces and put it in the food processor to grind it up. I won't eat it whole. It's like eating rubber or something, and that is just nasty. But when it's all ground up, it's the bomb! I don't get nearly enough tripe.

Oh, and she save the liver and heart for me, too. Then she cut up the lungs and dried them up in the dehydrator. Those are the Best. Treats. Ever.

Chicken Glop - Recipe

5 pounds leg quarters (plus or minus)
2 tsp garlic powder (NOT garlic salt)
5 eggs
1 can mackeral
1/2 c. uncooked rice

Boil the chicken and the rice together until the chicken falls off the bones.
Grind up chicken and bones.
Mix in big bowl (this makes about 9 cups) with about a cup of the broth, the rice, the canned mackeral, eggs and garlic powder.

You can add veggies if you want - either grind with the chicken, or fine chop, if your dog / cat will eat them in chunks.

Should stay in fridge for a couple days, but if you are using small portions, just freeze what you are not going to use up within 2 days.