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Half-grown nymph to adult-size crickets will keep well in the freezer for a couple of months if you keep them properly wrapped in plastic or vacuum-seal them in a small baggie. They're usually pretty 'juicy' (or should be--if they aren't, they've been starved) and resistant to drying. The smaller ones are much more fragile and will get freezer-burned quickly even in plastic. Best way to preserve these (and an option with the bigger crickets) is to freeze them in water as part of an ice cube. They'll keep almost indefinitely then, as long as they're completely encased in ice.

I wouldn't feed dog food to ants, mainly because the level and quality of the protein in even the higher end brands is pretty low, but moist cat food is a reasonable option. Even better, why not try a flake of water-packed tuna or salmon? It's no more trouble than trying the cat food, and if the ants don't like it, you can at least eat the rest of what's in the can yourself.

Some ants really like greasy protein-based stuff like smoked mackeral, sandwich meats (salami, etc), and sausages and hotdogs. I think cricket, which is also pretty fatty, would be a lot healthier though.