When you find a company that takes such great care to find the best quality ingredients for your pets, it really means something. That's why I am so excited to share with you, The Honest Kitchen. We found The Honest Kitchen some months back and it is now our preferred food for our dogs and cats as well as our fosters. Being the lovers that we are of this food, I was so excited to receive a 4 pound box of force (which we hadn't tried before) from The Honest Kitchen to review as well as a few items to giveaway to two lucky people.
This 4 pound box makes approximately 16lbs of fresh food.
Wait, how is that possible, you might ask?
Premium Ingredients
Well, The Honest Kitchen's food is dehydrated, which retains all the natural nutrition in the ingredients used. And speaking of ingredients, The Honest Kitchen carefully sources some of the best human-grade ingredients to create nourishing food that you can feed every day to your dog or cat. All ingredients are 100% human grade, and NEVER EVER GMO! They also try to use as local and organic as possible. Checkout the food guide for more specifics on ingredients and nutrional values.
Force is one of their gluten-free varieties. It is made with free-range chicken and fresh produce.
The ingredients for force include: chicken, organic flaxseed, potatoes, celery, sweet potatoes, apples, organic alfalfa, organic kelp, honey, pumpkin, green beans, cabbage, bananas, papayas, organic basil, garlic, rosemary extract, tricalcium phosphate, choline chloride, zinc amino acid chelate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, potassium iodide, potassium chloride, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate.
Dehydration
So the food comes out looking like a powder, but you'll also notice the larger bits and pieces of meats and vegetables. All that good stuff just waiting to be hydrated and then devoured by your canine. In this form, my dogs know immediately what's about to get into their bellies. The twirling and howling that goes on the moment the fresh ziplock bag is opened is insane.
Storage
Speaking of the ziplock bag…each bag of food comes in a large ziplock back for easy storage. As you only make a small amount at a time, the need to be able to store the food you have left is important and The Honest Kitchen even thinks of that.
Just add water
To get this stuff going, you add a little bit of warm water and mix it up. I prefer to use a whisk, as I feel like it integrates the water much better than a spoon.
After all the ingredients are wet, let the food sit for about 5 minutes. This is the hardest part. Not for you, but for your pet. My boys will practically lose their little minds having to wait 5 WHOLE MINUTES OMG WE MIGHT DIE, to get their little paws on this scrumptiousness.
I found that the best option is to make this while they are outside doing their business. Then once they are ready to come in, the food is ready for them.
Another option is to make a few days worth ahead of time, and stick it in the fridge. Then when you are ready to serve it, spoon out the amount you need, add a very little bit of warm water to replace any moisture that might have been lost from refridgerating the food and you are good to go.
After 5 minutes, the food should have an oatmeal type consistency. Not too thick but not too watery either. And now you'll be able to see all the hydrated goodness. It smells delicious, though I have not tasted it myself. The Honest Kitchen people taste all the food, but I'm not that brave 😉
Who's ready to eat?
Dew and Frosty were very excited to taste test force. From the wiggles and the whines you would think I was going to throw a raw chicken on the floor for them to enjoy. Thankfully I don't have to do that.
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Obviously both dogs thought force was yummy and they devoured every last drop. Dew especially loves to lick the bowl clean and then he goes over to Frosty's bowl to do the same, just in case there's a drop that was missed. Of course, there never is any that's missed.
Cost
The 4lb box of force is $42.99 while the 10 pound box is $79.99. If that's too high, their lowest priced product is Keen at $29.99 for 4 pounds and $57.99 for 10 pounds. Overall, the cost is more expensive than the drab kibble you've been feeding. But it's worth every single penny knowing that the food we're feeding is some of the best available, without having to deal with feeding raw or cooking the food ourselves (I seriously just don't have the time for that).
Convenience
I love that a 10 pound box can make upwards of 40 pounds of food. This is great when travelling because having to lug around a huge amount of dry kibble or cans of wet food can be annoying. It takes up less space in your pantry or closet as well.
The Real Test
We foster, and the dogs we foster come in with all sorts of issues; bad skin, bleached fur, ear infections, itching, smelly messes. Within a few weeks to maybe a month, the change in our foster dogs is clearly visible. Shiny coats, no flakes, no itching, no smell, no gas and firm solid poop. And on the isuse of poop, all of our dogs and cats have smaller and less frequent poops. They also drink a lot less water if any at all. This is especially true of our cats who don't particularly like to drink water. Their stools used to be very hard, an indication of not enough water and now that issue has been completely resolved which makes us and our vet happy.
Overall, I can't say enough great things about The Honest Kitchen. From the ingredients, to the ziplock bags, to excellent customer support and quick delivery.
The Giveaway
We are giving away two great prizes. One for dogs and one for cats.
Dogs: 2oz box of Wishes, 4oz box of Beams + 2 packages of Perfect Form Herbal Suppliment
Cats: 1 Trial size box of Prowl food and 1 trial size box of Grace + 2 packages of Perfect Form Herbal Suppliment
Rules
- Giveaway ends June 11, 2013 at 12:01 AM EST
- Open to residents of the US only
- Prizes cannot be shipped to PO Boxes
- Two winner will be selected by random.org and be notified by email
- Each winner will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected
Disclosure
The product provided for the review was free of charge from the company. We only review items that we would use ourselves and would be a good fit for our readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” The opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own and were not influenced by any form of compensation. Your experience with the product may differ from mine.
The product offered for the giveaway is free of charge, no purchase necessary. My opinions are my own . Facebook and Twitter are in no way associated with this giveaway. By providing your information in this form, you are providing your information to me and me alone. I do not share or sell information and will use any information only for the purpose of contacting the winner. For more information read our disclosure policy.