Meal prep is an important element to consider when beginning raw feeding. It can be regarded as a time consuming process, but preparing meals ahead of time will save manual labor on a day-to-day basis. However, there is an alternative approach for pet parents who do not want to meal prep.
Whether meal assembly is daily, weekly, or monthly, preparing the diet on paper helps remove the guess work when sourcing, purchasing, and feeding raw. The following steps are useful to become more prepared and learn the skills for an efficient meal prep.
Calculate Feeding Amounts
Calculations propel the meal prep and meal assembly for raw feeding. Daily, weekly, and monthly calculations for ingredients will aid in efficient meal prep. It is recommended to identify how much food is needed and the quantity of each ingredient required to complete meal prep before physically beginning the preparation process.
Step 1: Calculate Daily Feeding Estimates
Raw feeding ratio guidelines are often used to calculate a dog’s feeding requirements. The two common types of guidelines in raw diets are maintenance percentages and ingredient ratios.
These calculations identify the amount of food, ingredients, and calories needed daily.
In addition to raw feeding maintenance percentages and ingredient ratios, the amount of calories will determine the amount of energy needed daily.
Step 2: Calculate Weekly Feeding Estimates
Once daily calculations have been identified, it is time to calculate the amount of food needed for one week (7 days). Multiply the daily feeding calculations by 7 to identify the total amount of food needed for a full week and how much of each ingredient is needed for 7 days.
Meal prep should be smaller when freezer storage space is limited. Using weekly calculations provides an estimate on how much food it needed for 7 days and an estimate on how much is needed of each ingredient.
These calculations identify the amount of food and ingredients needed for seven days which is ideal for weekly meal prep.
Step 3: Calculate Monthly Feeding Estimates
Once weekly calculations have been identified, it is time to calculate the amount for food needed for one month (28-30 days). Multiply weekly feeding amounts by 4 to calculate amounts for 28 days or multiple daily feeding amounts by 30 to calculate amounts for 30 days.
On average US citizens can expect to spend around $2.50/lb to feed a complete raw diet using local resources. Higher budgets allow for more variety but lower costs can often be achieved. This will depend on local resources. Multiply the total amount of food needed for one month by 2.5 to calculate an estimate for a monthly budget.
These calculations identify the amount of food and ingredients for one month which is ideal for monthly meal prep and to calculate monthly budgets.
Plan Recipes & A Meal Rotation
When the hard work is completed in advance on paper, meal prep becomes more efficient. Prepare the raw recipes and meal rotation on paper to help the physical process of prepping go by more smoothly. Following a set of recipes will streamline prep and provide guidance on what items to combine in individual containers.
The amount of labor required for meal prep can be overwhelming for many. It is best to start small and increase the amount and complexity over time. Raw feeding recipes can be purchased from a nutritionist or created using PMR or BARF model guidelines for adult dogs, puppies, or cats. It is best to keep the number of recipes down to a minimum which will make meal prep less overwhelming.
Raw Feeding Meal Prep
At this point all of the homework for meal prep should be completed on paper. Keep the calculations and recipes on hand to provide guidance while preparing individual meals.
Step 1: Prepare All Produce Before Meal Prep
It is recommended to prepare all vegetables, seeds, nuts, and fruit the day before meal prep. This conserves time during meal prep and keeps the assembly line of meal prep moving efficiently. Each produce item has their own recommended preparation method:
Produce (veggie) blends are a great way to combine all produce ingredients into one convenient mix to make meal prep easier. Once all seeds, nuts, and vegetables are prepared in their recommended methods, combine and blend together thoroughly to create one large “veggie blend.”
The best way to accomplish a veggie blend is to calculate how much of each ingredient (vegetables, seeds, nuts, and fruit) are needed for the amount of days the meal prep is for. Combine all ingredients into a blender to mix together. Sometimes additional liquid is needed. Coconut water or homemade bone broth are ideal options to use here.
Step 2: Defrost All Raw Ingredients Needed
Start defrosting raw ingredients 12-24 hours before meal prep. This provides sufficient amount of time for the raw meats to defrost. Large quantities can be defrosted in the kitchen sink, bathtub, or large bussing bins to contain any leaks from busted packaging.
Step 3: Prep All Meals
The day is here, it’s time for meal prep! All of the raw ingredients are defrosted, veggie blend is created, calculations and recipes are complete – now all that is left is to assemble individual raw meals. It is recommended to prep one recipe at a time so as not to become overwhelmed.
Daily Meal Assembly
Some pet parents do not like the idea of bulk meal prep and that is ok. Daily meal assembly is entirely possible and can be done with some planning. By using Part 1 and Part 2 of this article, the preparation on paper will provide guidance on daily meal assembly.
When storing raw ingredients in the freezer, it is best to store them in increments needed for 5-7 days to avoid spoilage when thawed. Remove the amount of ingredients needed for one week from the freezer to slow thaw in the refrigerator.
Assemble the raw meals each day just before meal time as recommended for meal prep, but the only difference is daily meal assembly is only creating one meal a day for each pet versus multiple meals to individually store in the freezer.
Pros & Cons
Each method has their own pros and cons – it is best for the pet parent to review over the options and decide what works best for their lifestyle.
There are many ways to approach raw feeding, whether through meal prep or daily-meal-assembly. The best way to make DIY efficient for both methods is to prepare the pet’s raw diet on paper. This will serve as a guideline to follow when preparing meals for storage or meal time.