Peanut butter balls & Pumpkin dog biscuits

I have been sick lately and haven't been cooking much at all and if I have its been a pre-made meal to pop in the oven. But tonight I did a little baking. (I had to use my new kitchen aid mixer.. !!!) I made Peanut butter balls from Sinfully Vegan. I have had this book forever and I haven't tried any of the recipes. So I decided I would get something quick & simple for tonight. I have never made peanut butter balls with pumpkin in them but tonights recipe included pumpkin & they turned out great. "J" loved them too. I also made pumpkin dog biscuits since I opened a huge can of pumpkin. The recipe for the Dog Biscuits will be posted below. This is also the first time that I made this recipe. Chloe & Sophie were not to into them. :( But I added some melted carob to them which made the puppies change their minds very quickly. (For those not familiar with carob it can be used as a chocolate substitute. Dogs can have carob it has no chocolate in it. DO NOT GIVE YOUR DOGS CHOCOLATE! It will poison them..ok!) Ok now that I'm done exclamateing I will move on.

Pumpkin Dog Biscuits
1/2 Cup Canned Pumpkin
1/2 Cup Water
2 T Veg oil
1/2 t Ground Cinnamon
1/2 t Nutmeg
1/2 Cup Oatmeal
2 Cups Whole wheat flour
Carob Optional

Preheat oven to 375F
Mix All wet ingredients in a separate bowl from dry. After both are well mixed add together. Mix till a dough forms. Roll out till 1/4" inch thick. Bake for 30- 45 min. I know thats a big gap in time but depending on how thick or thin they are the time will very. Make sure they are dry of they will mold. Let them cool and store in an air tight bag. If you want to add carob melt on a double boiler. Dip ends in. You don't need to cover the whole thing just the end is good. The pups will love it.!

Sophie AKA Killer

Welcome Sophie the newest member of our family.(Whose name used to be Killer). This is the dog I was telling you about on Thanksgiving. (My in-laws dog). Well we took her to the vet she has a severe case of whipworms & is very malnourished, and a dehydrated but she is going to make a good recovery. She has had her vaccinations & now has been wormed. She likes her new food and all the treats she has been getting. She is very shy & very frightful. So it will take a while to rehabilitate her. Thats ok though. I just want her to have a happy, healthy, great life. And on the up and up my father in law even offered to pay this vet bill & the following vet bill to get her back up to health. So thats really good because we are running a little low on money...
Update: We have had her about 4 days and she has gained alot of weight all ready. I can't believe how well she is doing. For right now she is living on the back porch. (Chloe and her can't seem to get along yet so we are giving it some time and slowly introducing them.) It is getting cold out so tomorrow "J" is going to fix the bathroom door so she can stay in there. She is very sweet and even gave me a couple kisses on the face today & tried to play with me a little. Both were huge surprises. But I can't believe how well she is doing and putting on weight so fast.

UPDATE: Her ribs, spine , & hips look alot better already! This picture was taken 7 Days after she came home with us. She has filled in alot. Her hips & spine are no longer showing. Her ribs are still showing a little. But they have a lite layer of fat now. She has gained alot of weight around 6 to 8 pds and for a dog that only weighed 30 lbs when we brought her home, thats alot. This picture doesn't quit show her ribs well but its the only picture I have right now. I wish I had taken pictures the day I brought her home to show how much she has improved. She is still really nervous. But she is getting better. Last night (12/03/07) we brought her in the house for a while. She was very timid but seemed like she really liked it. She is even giving "J" kisses now.

Black Friday was very Green this year ! Pictures will post soon

Yes I said green.. I spent a butt load of money (green) that I shouldn't have. But the deals were very nice indeed... We already have everyone elses shopping done. We always do by black Friday that way if I see something for someone I can get it but if not I'm covered anyways. So "J" and I purchased stuff for ourselves... :) . I had been excited for like a week and I finally got to go. At walmart we purchased a video camera, a digital camera (ours was dieing), MP3 Player (Which was actually my present from my parents), 2- 2GB Memory Cards, KitchenAid Mixer, Battery charger, The Reaping (Which was very good),& some other movies. Another store we purchased a VCR/DVD recorder. We also wen to target and purchased some movies. To Game stop and bought a bunch of PS2 games. A phone (which I am taking back). Lets just say it was a good day. What was I thinking ??? I still have a vet bill to pay...!

Thanks...Giving<---Key word here..

First Thanksgiving at my parents house. "J" & I tried the Lightlife veggie stuffed turk'y. It wasn't bad. I'm just not much for the faux meats. We also had mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, herb stuffing. I guess the normals nothing exciting... Then we went to my In-laws house again. It was nice to see everyone. They were just starting to eat when we arrived so I had a role, some mashed potatoes & corn. "J" also tried the green beans but quickly spit them back out finding out they had bacon fat in them.... yuck...! I always worn him...stay away from the green beans! but he never believes me till its to late.... The rest of the evening we snacked on cookies. The evening went well until I went to talk to my sister-in-law. She talked to me yesterday about checking out her dog and seeing what I thought. I went to talk to her and told her that the dog needed to see the vet. She spoke with her mom who sent us to her dad. I knew it would go down hill from there. I tried to explain why I thought she needed to see a vet and that I wasn't being pushy. (The way I went about it in no way sounded pushy or rude). Well lets just say it didn't turn out to nice. He has never spoke out of the way or raised his voice at me then in front of the whole crowd he starts (I had pulled him aside from everyone else to talk with him) He intended to make a show. I guess to make him self feel better. So he yelled... That dogs 3 seconds away from having a bullet put between its eyes. Shes dumb. Why do you think anythings wrong with her. Shes only skinny because of her breed.... I mean he went on for probably 10 min. Then he said he would spend a hundred dollars if it was more then that put her down. (and I will say this. I am the only one who has ever purchused wormer for this dog, I bought its a colar, I have bought it good dog food in the past to show what is a good brand. He did atlest purchase a dog house which he throw her in and she has been terrified of the thing every since) .... This coming from a man who swears he is a Christian just blew my mind. How can someone go to church and say such things about one of gods creatures? I went back down stairs where his daughter apologized twice for him yelling at me. I went back up were he asked well are you going to take her? ME: To my house? HIM: NO are you going to take her? ME: Oh to the vet. Dumb me...Yes. The attitude comes right back in his voice. After that I tried to explain why his dog food might be causing malnutrition and he might as well have stuck his hand in my face and walked off. Actually he pretty much did.. He was so rude. I could not believe it. I wasn't mad that he raised his voice or that he intended on making it a public matter. It mattered to me because he can look over that dogs suffering like it means nothing. I have never said anything out of the way to him. I have never been rude to him. His daughter said her parents didn't have the time and I decided I would make the time. So I guess by his reaction that it wasn't over the time it was the money and his shallowness. If you can take a life into your hands then you take the funds to take care of that life and not let it suffer. "Christianity" What does it teach you? Because after his reaction going to church must not teach you respect. So what does it teach? (I do consider myself a christian. I do not attend church. I never have for the simple fact that I don't think some of the things that are taught are accurate. Just what the person teaching them thinks they should mean. And that might be fine with some but for me my own morals & ethics get in the way of believing some things. Such as that it is ok to mass raise, abuse, & slaughter gods creatures.) And being Thanks Giving and all... yeah he will give THANKS for the food (which a poor bird who didn't willing give his life for his food was included and freely stuffed down his throat) But when it comes to GIVING.. I guess money means more than life, enjoyment, and Happiness... at least the dogs....

Twas the Day before Thanksgiving.. a day with the In-Laws

Just about my day...
My Day Started out at 8:30am. Woke up showered, got in my parents Jeep and was driving to my Sister-In-Laws house when less then 3 mins away my Jeep broke Down... Great. Thankfully my husbands uncle towed it home from me and I didn't get to much grief from my parents because they were out of town. Next to the better stuff. Another member and the family picked us and the kids up. We were going to my husbands Aunts house for a day of baking. I love to bake. Nobody i his family really knows that about me but I do. Anyways we arrived we were greeted with tons of kids.(Kids out numbered the adults...Big family) I was really to get to the baking. Problem was everyone one thought I was clueless so every time I went to do something I was "taught".... So it was kind of annoying. But thats ok. We haven't been around each other alot so I guess it is understandable. The one thing that through me off was... They cook with eggs. I don't ... So I didn't know when I was supposed to add them or if I should beat them first. I didn't even want to touch them. For some reason I am terrified of getting siminala or bird flu or something. Anyways.... They had preplanned recipes and thank the good lord my first one didn't need eggs. Put the pumpkin pie I had to make I thought I would vomit before I got through it. The eggs were stuck all over the Kitchenaid beaters and I was freaked.!!!! I know don't sweat it right but...nasty..!!!! Luckily most of the day I made pie crusts... I know I sound so whiny.. I will say the day was pretty fun. I enjoyed spending time with everyone and getting to know some of them better. Because like I said before I really haven't been around them to much.

Snow ! / and a cold....

I am not one much for the cold weather but it feels nice to see a few snow flurries and know that the Holidays are coming around again. We had our first snow flurries yesterday and a little sleet as well. So my shopping was a little cold and a little wet. But that didn't stop me. Maybe slowed me down considering I didn't wear my winter coat (Dumb me). So guess what.. I woke up with a cold today. After sleeping all day I do feel a little better but still stuffy. Any was my whole email is actually just to say It might be cold out but the holidays always warm my heart. And to say Happy shopping to everyone and Be safe out on the roads ! I will definitely be shopping this week end & I can't wait till Black Friday!!!!!! :)

My Kitchen

I thought I would post my little kitchen for everyone to see where I do my work. Over to the left there is another counter and cabinets. Plus the pantry that is pictured below. I just changed around my cabinets & pantry. So alot the food is in the cabinets. This winter or next summer I plan on redoing my kitchen & Living room. The kitchen is going to be painted a burnt orange. I can't wait.!!!

ChickPea Cutlets- Veganomicon

Garlic Bread & Chick Pea Cutlets (Fried). This is the recipe from Veganomicon. They turned out pretty good. I accidentally through in a couple of things that wasn't in the recipe. I was in a hurry and grabbed the wrong stuff. The wheat gluten in it made it a little gummy. Next time that will be the last thing I add. I am very picky about texture so the Wheat gluten that had the texture of chicken fat wasn't the best thing. I think it was only because I added it straight to the chickpeas and got it wet. O well. "J" really liked them. I liked the crispy edges. They were tasty. They fell apart when I put them in the pan so next time I think I will put them in the oven first. Then fry them to make them crispy. That Night I was actually having spaghetti but "J" had bought me a food processor that day and I had to try it. So we had chickpeas cutlets & spaghetti.

Looks like it time for a hair cut & shave "J"... But I still loveyou .. :)

Croutons

These are my first homemade croutons. Something so easy has taken me forever to try to make. These were pretty good. I am not a person for spices. (They gap me, Don't ask me why.) But other wise they we good. Italian bread with Olive oil & Italian seasoning. I love restaurant croutons but the ones you buy at the store are just not the same.

Croutons with My "Chik-Noodle Soup". Quick and easy...

Oat, Granola, & Dried Fruit Bars

I know this is a bad picture. Most of my pictures are bad but this one really isn't good. Anyways. "J" really liked these. He took them to lunch everyday with him. He wants my to make them again but I have yet to do so. They are very easy to make. I will add the recipe later. I'm not home so no recipes will be listed till later.

Chick Pea Burgers

Well I had never had a chickpea except for trying hummus. And I haven't found a hummus I like as meaning times as I tried I just can't find one. Anyways Back to the Burgers. This was a recipe I originally seen on TV. but added a couple of things to mine. I know they don't look like much but they were pretty good. It had chickpeas, sunflower seeds, Tahini, and I will post the rest later. I need to find the recipe. Come back for more details.. :)

"J"s Lunch Veggie Turkey w/ Carrot & cream cheese

"J" Still misses his "meat" from time to time sad to say so we do buy the veggie lunch meats. I'm not to fond of them. I think most of them taste to much like meat and the rest are gross as well. This is a Veggie Turkey, Cream cheese, & carrot wrap. He really liked these. I got this idea from one of the shows on Food Network.

Trying to catch up on the blog....! Veggie Pot Pies

Veggie Pot Pie ...
Veggie pot pie left overs with vegan biscuits..

Happy 6th B-Day "C" !! The 2nd party! And this Cake was Vegan!

"C"s 2nd B-day party went pretty well. Her best friend "A" was supposed to come but she was sick. So we missed her. But everything else went well. "J" and I bought her cloths, books, movies, and a fur berrie which was her favorite thing of the day. It was a puppy and it smells like strawberries.. so cute....




















We had veggie pizza w/ light life pepperoni for"J". We also had a Spinch mushroom pizza.



Mom and the B-day Girl..

Food snobbery is my hobbery Questionaire

1. Favorite non-dairy milk? Me- Silk Vanilla/ "J"-Rice Dream Vanilla Enriched

2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?
1. Butter Nut Squash Soup ( I have never had any squash soup. Thats sad) 2.Peppermint Pucks from Squirrel's Vegan Kitchen 3. and a Recipe from VwaV but I can't remember what it was called.

3. Topping of choice for popcorn? I don't know...I really don't eat anything on my popcorn.

4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?Chocolate Biscotti

5. Favorite pickled item? Beets

6. How do you organize your recipes? My magazine recipes are typed like a table of contents. My other recipes that are printed off are in a binder and I do my best to keep them in order. There are just so many of them. :)

7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal? Compost, I just recently about 3 months ago bought a compost bin from Lowes and started.

8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook them)? Rice, Potatoes, Beans

9. Fondest food memory from your childhood? Gravy & biscuits at my Grandmothers.

10. Favorite vegan ice cream? Soy Delicious- I think thats what its called. It comes in coned sundaes. They are really really good...!

11. Most loved kitchen appliance? My new food processor

12. Spice/herb you would die without? I love Cinnamon. But spices and herbs are tough because if they touch me tongue they make me gag. I still try to use them though.

13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time? "The complete vegetarian" I think

14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly? Blackberry

15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend? Desserts

16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh? My seitan didn't turn out the best. But I've only tried to make it once. Tempeh I have never had. So I will pick tofu as long as it is blended into something. No chunks please.

17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)? Evening/ Supper & Desserts

18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator? Naturals Cereal, Pop corn, organic Spelt flour, organic corn meal, organic red star nutritional yeast, oat flour, Organic whole wheat pastry flour, Organic whole wheat gram flour, Organic wheat germ, Turbinado sugar, Toasted sesame seeds, dried dates, and some other stuff.

19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking. 1. Ground Boca Burger 2. Strawberries & Blue berries 3. Mixed veggies

20. What's on your grocery list? Beets, parsnips, Broccoli, Bananas, Chick peas, Soy milk, Not- Chik B-Cubes, Veg Broth, Vegan Chocolate chips, Flour, Cauliflower, Puff pastry, Cranberries, Kitty litter, it goes on.

21. Favorite grocery store? whole foods. But I don't have one here so Mountain Peoples market, Kroger, Giant eagles..?

22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet. Pumpkin pie and Brownies

23. Food blog you read the most (besides Isa's because I know you check it everyday). Or maybe the top 3? But did they eat it?, Veg Bitch, The new pickled treats, Bitchen vegan kitchen, etc...I visit alot of them ...

24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate? I'm not much for candy or chocolate but I do like the date squares from mountain peoples market. I also like the chocolate cupcakes from Isa's books, and Choclate chip cookies.

25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately? Crystlized ginger, is that extravagant? probably not.

26. How old was you when you became a Vegetarian/Vegan? I was 14 when I started to be a veg. But really started watching everything close and reading labels when I was 18 and moved out.

The Tiger in Dewy !!!!

Can you say Ferocious ??? This is my new fave pic of Dewy. I took it just at the right time. So I had to post it on here. It is so funny. I should really have zoomed in on it but I really wanted to post it now. So anyways just showing off my babies. I know this is turning into a house cat blog instead of food. oops....

"C"s Birthday Party #1

What kid could ask for more. This is labeled "C"s B-day party #1 because she is having two this year. I know 2!!!!

Anyways my Mothers side of the Family live about an hour and a half away so its easier for us to go up there then everyone come here. So that what we do. So her first party was with the fam. Isn't my cake cute. I know not a professional job but I think it was cute and she really liked it. Although it was not vegan. I had so much going on that mom ended up using a boxed cake and she bought me tubs of icing to use. So I failed miserably on that end. Maybe the next one will be vegan although she bought stuff to make it too. So who knows It depends if anything happens between now and Saturday (Party #2). Here are some pics.

A Halloween Kindergarten Party

(I know not the best pic of "C" but the only one from the party with her and "A" her best friend.)

Well I love planning parties. So when it came to head Homeroom parent I jumped right in. I know I'm not a parent but I love being invovled with "C" and her school stuff. So I (along with my mother) get to plan the 3 parties of the year. Halloween, Christmas, & Easter.

Mom and I took about a month and planned a great party. Even better then what we thought it would be. Not to tot my horn of anything.. :) They have a parade around our small town so we only had 30-45min for the games and food. Not that long right. When the kids returned from the parade "B" and I had laid out everything. We started with games.. 2 outside. Sac race & Don't role your eyes (Eyes on a spoon). They loved both. They came in and we had stations set up. One: Draw a scarrrrry Scarry face of gourds!, Two: Witches hat ring toss, Three Cauldren candy toss, Fourth: Pen the hat on the turkey (Thanksgiving is just around the corner so I went ahead and through that in.) We had so many more games planned but we ran out of time and not all the kids got to go through allthe indoor games. But they had a blast. We pre-bagged the snack of the day and noone ate but they did have sqeeze its to drink. So they took the snack home and they also took home tons of candy. 4 or 5 treat bags plus the snacks. So they really made out. It was awlsome. The only thing was we had seperented the kids into groups and for some reason it was kaotic and noone would stay in there groups. So I'm not sure which kidss didn't get to play all the games. Next time we will have color coated groups :). But I know I'm going on and on. So I will leave it at... On to the Christmas party!!!!!!! :) I will add more pictures soon!! "B" still needs to send them to me.

Beltane.. The newest member of our family.

The last rant I left was about "stray cats" in our area. The 2 cats that were hit in the road the day I wrote that was a mother and her 12 week old feral kitten. I had seen them around and had fed the mother because she was skin and bones. She actually had 2 kittens. So I went and purchased a catch and release trap at Lowes for $45.00. (Its nice it folds up so it doesn't take up space when your not using it.) That night about 4:00am we caught the last kitten who we named Beltane. In the week and a half we have had him he has really settled down and loves the other cats. It took a couple days to litter train him and he hasn't had an accident since. He seen the Vet about a day and a half after we caught him and he got a clean bill of health. He was tested for intestinal parasites ( He only had round worms), and for feline leukemia (negative), and was given his vaccination. All the norm. He did have some irritation on his tongue and ear mites. Other wise he is good. Beltane loves to play with the other cats. He has really taken up to Romeo. But every time we bring in a kitten they love Romeo. Romeo has always been a lovey kitty. Hence the name "Romeo" :). Anyways I just wrote this to write about the new little itty bitty kitty. Beltane .
I love to study different cultures and sometimes pick names around that. So this is what little Beltane's name means. Beltane (Fire of Bel or Bright Fire) is a Gaelic holiday which is celebrated on the eve of May (The beginning of Summer). Other religions also celebrate this day such as pagens, wiccans, celts. Beltane honors life and celebrates the hopefulness of a bountiful harvest season ahead. The belief of the Bel-fire is of healing and purifying powers. Which also celebrate the return of life, fruitfulness to the earth and burning away of the winter.