As you already know, I am one traveling pup. I am almost always on the road to my next great pet expo somewhere in the US. The past three weeks though, I have been at home and had to be “gasp” a pet. I didn’t go anywhere other than the backyard, the dog park, and the vet’s office. It was super boring. In my downtime I decided I wanted to do something special for my rents (my mom and dad).
My mom bakes treats for me often and my dad makes every one of my meals with love. Sometimes we eat Nutrish Zero Grain dog kibble, but on special occasions I get one of my favorite meals from Rachael Ray Nutrish – Chicken Mutt Balls with Pasta. I also always get a small piece of meat every night with a crunchy center. They think they are being sneaky by putting my allergy pill inside of it, but I act like I don’t know just to humor them. I realize they are doing all of this with love to keep me healthy by giving me good quality food and making sure I take my medication.
I decided I needed to repay their kindness so I asked my pals at Rachael Ray Nutrish to help me out with a great dinner. My initial idea was to heat up a container of mutt balls dog food and serve them in a fancy bowl, but they said that wasn’t a very good idea. Instead, they sent me to their new website Chef Tails that has tons of great Rachael Ray recipes that use the same simple natural ingredients like real meat and wholesome veggies that is in my food.
Of course I picked out the Chicken and Rice Meatballs to make. However, since I don’t have opposable thumbs, Nutrish said I should let Mom in on the secret and turn my surprise into a family meal where we all help make dinner. They said it’s the thought that counts, and they didn’t want to worry about me using the oven or the knives. I agreed and called a family meeting. My family was so was happy I was thinking of them. To get started, I put on my chef jacket and hat (doesn’t every dog have one of those?) and started helping. Here is the great recipe.
- 1 cup rice pilaf, cooled
- 1½ pounds ground chicken
- ¼ cup onion, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, grated
- 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
- 1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- 1 egg, beaten
- Salt and pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the rice with the ground chicken, onion, garlic, parsley, Parmigiano Reggiano and egg. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Flatten out the mixture in the bowl and score it into four portions using the side of your hand. Shape each portion into five balls — you should have 20 meatballs in total.
- Arrange the meatballs on a nonstick sheet pan and drizzle them with EVOO. Place in the oven and bake until the meatballs are cooked through and golden brown, about 10-12 minutes at 400 degrees.
First, we gathered all the ingredients together.
Next, Mom made the rice pilaf and let it cool. Then, she mixed everything up in a big bowl and made lots of meatballs and put them on a baking sheet. I offered to do quality control, but Mom said not yet. Then they went into the oven.
My job was to stand guard and protect the meatballs from Dad until the timer went off. He likes to snack when he cooks. If I had to wait, he did too!
Don’t they look good? I tried one! Mom made a few special ones without the onion and garlic (that is bad for us) and they were delicious!
Then, the rents surprised all of us dogs with our own container of Rachael Ray Nutrish Mutt Balls. Yummy!
We had so much fun cooking together and now you can too! Rachael Ray Nutrish is hosting a sweepstakes so you can cook with your pet. Here are the details!
Share and Win:
- Cook one of the delicious recipes provided (or one of your own) and share a Nutrish product with your pet.
- Share a pic of you and your pet enjoying mealtime using #ChefTails on Instagram or Twitter for a chance to win.
- Win an all-expense paid trip to NYC where you can enjoy a day in the studio audience of the Rachael Ray Show.
Don’t worry, I can’t win, so you’re not competing against Chef Preston … hehehe.
Finally, don’t forget to go out and visit the Nutrish social media channels and see the other pets and humans enjoying their ChefTails food here:
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/nutrish
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/nutrish
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/nutrish
Preston, you are too cute!! How nice of you to help make dinner for your family!! 🙂 Those meatballs look delicious!