[sarahomnia]

A Brisket Stew

ingredients:
a beef brisket
3-4 cans of whole irish potatos
1-2 jars of button mushrooms
1-2 pounds of baby carrots
a package of lipton onion soup
4-5 beer cans

directions
grease roaster pot with pam or something of the like,
put 1/2 of soup package on bottom
pour 1 can of beer on the soup
put brisket in
put the vegetables in
pour the rest of the onion soup on top
put the rest of the beer in
make sure all veggies are covered with liquid - so add water if beers aren't enough
cover with heavy duty aluminum foil
pierce aluminum foil with knife to let steam out
cook at 300 degrees F for at least 6 hours

it sounds weird when you look at it, but this brisket stew is absolutely great take it out and eat it hot, put the leftovers in a sealable container and let your hedgie eat little pieces of it as a snack. also, you may think OHMYGOSH I DON'T WANT TO GIVE MY HEDGIE BEER! but, as it sits in 300 degrees for at least 6 hours (last one we did we left it in for 10) it evaporates the alcohol in it, so your hedgie isn't going to get drunk, and neither are you. it's a delicious, easy to make meal that will feed you and your family/room mates for at least a day or two, if not more, and give your hedgie some delectable things to snack upon.

 

[Reaper]

My concern would be the sodium level of the onion soup. Very high. Also have you noticed there aren't many dry cat foods made with beef or pork? There is a reason for this. Beef and pork are actually harder to digest for some animals including hedgies.

 

[sarahomnia]

I don't usually feed the brisket to Hector, just the vegetables. As for the sodium, I don't think a little bit as a treat would hurt them. I use baby carrots and I usually give him about 1/4 of a baby carrot and he doesn't eat all of it, but the part he does it he attacks, it's a favorite.

 

[dorasdaddy]

I read somewhere that onion powder was to be avoided....would it not be the same for the onion soup? And to clarify, I am not trying to get on your case about it in any way, just there are a few baby foods out there that have onion powder in them and they happen to be flavors i think Dora would flip over and we have avoided them in the past because of the onion powder. If it is ok for her then we will try these out.

 

[Nancy]

I wouldn't risk giving the onion soup mix. It contains onion powder which is on the SPCA toxic substance list, http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/animal-poison-control-faq.html#FD1

As Reaper has mentioned, powdered soups are very high in sodium and sodium should be avoided. How can you say a little bit won't hurt them? We don't know how much is harmful for their size and sodium is not something they even need so why risk it?