Pumpkin Spice Cake (Walks, Talks, & Eats)

Hi everyone! Yesterday I made the pumpkin spice cake from Walks, Talks, & Eats; it turned out great! 

Small harvest this week; my garden is pretty much done for the year… 

Here are a couple kitty-themed Inktober sketches… 

Leela’s doing much better this week; she’s transitioning onto her prescription food, and she seems to be enjoying it, hooray! Today she decided to take a nap in the cat bed and snuggled in with her favorite toy mouse! 

The other kitties don’t want to be left out, though, so here they are… 

Daisy was joined by Cringer on the loveseat for some snuggling.

Rogue did some posing during a exploration of the house while the other kitties were closed away.

Peace. :) 

Buffalo Chickpea Salad (My cat loves Daiya!)

Hi everyone! The new recipe I tried this week was the buffalo chickpea salad from My cat loves Daiya! Normally I decrease the hot sauce in a recipe, but this time I went with the full amount, and it was perfect! 

I used some in a sandwich; it made a lovely lunch…

Served with chips and pickles.

Another harvest… 

Here’s an Inktober sketch… 

This week has been a bit stressful; long story short, there were several vet visits (including an ultrasound at the emergency vet), and Leela was diagnosed with IBD. The vet wants her on prescription food to help with her digestion, but Leela’s appetite hasn’t been great and the new food is bland (kind of the point, but still), so she’s on an appetite stimulant and allowed to have additional non-prescription food for now. Knocking on wood, she’s eating better today, so I’m optimistic that things are improving. Here are some pictures of Leela from this week… 

Peace. :)

Vegan Apple Chocolate Cake (AfroVeganChick) and an Introduction!

Hi everyone! Yesterday I made the vegan apple chocolate cake from AfroVeganChick, and it was delicious! (I added some splashes of soy milk to the chocolate icing because mine turned out too thick.) 

And here’s one of my harvests this week – I got a bunch of snow peas and my first (and probably only) pepper! 

Here are some more of my Inktober sketches…

a bloodhound (original image)

a little creeper

some jars

a chilly witch

And now it’s time to introduce… a new kitty! Zach and I have been thinking for a while about adopting another cat, and it’s been almost a year since Buttons died. Cringer and Daisy still play with each other, but they seem to miss having another cat to play with (Leela has absolutely no interest in playing with them like Buttons did). We’ve been looking around at adoptable cats for some time now, and we finally put in an application last week. We heard back that we’d been approved, so we met and took this cutie home on Sunday… 

Her name is Rogue; her foster told us that the rescue (Noah’s Ark Rescue Project and Sanctuary) pulled her from ACCT Philly. She had five kittens (they have all been adopted) and is spayed now. She is still very young (~1 year old) and very energetic and playful. We’re keeping her in her own room and doing slow introductions with the other cats; we really hope they will get along well!

Peace. :)

Maple-Glazed Tofu (Food for Dissertating) and More!

Hi everyone! After Vegan MoFo, it seemed like such a lazy week only trying one new recipe, but it was so good that I made it a second time! I doubled the maple-glazed tofu from Food for Dissertating (but used less soy sauce, only 1 tablespoon), and it turned out great! As a bonus, the maple syrup made the kitchen smell amazing!

Served atop rice, with carrots and broccoli.

I made it again yesterday with my sister, and we had it with rice and mixed veggies. Her plating arrangement looked the best…

Photo by Alena

And I had a good harvest on Wednesday… 

Also, I’ve been doing sharpie sketches for Inktober (when possible, I’ve been trying to loosely follow and/or combine the official prompts and the 31 Witches prompts); here are some of my sketches so far…

A hungover witch with a pumpkin spice latte…

My left hand; definitely need to practice more lol…

A cute pit bull (original image)…

A monarch butterfly chrysalis (original image)…

And a startled young witch with a baby phoenix.

Here’s a picture of Daisy from back in August; she was being a goof at the top of the tall cat tower… 

Peace. :)

Pumpkin Mashed Potatoes (Steamy Kitchen)

Hi everyone, and Happy Halloween! "Halloween" is of course the prompt for today, the last day of Vegan MoFo, so I made pumpkin mashed potatoes, veganizing this recipe (use vegan butter; canola oil & soymilk in place of the heavy cream; and vegan Worcestershire sauce). 

I had been a bit skeptical about this dish at first, but it was actually pretty good!

Here's my Inktober sketch; it looks super scary lol…

And here's the kitty crew saying they hope you don't get too frightened on this spooky night…

And a throwback photo of Buttons from around Halloween 2014…

Peace. :)

Candied Yams (Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food)

Hi everyone! Today's Vegan MoFo prompt is "Practice run a dish for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or another upcoming holiday," so I made the candied yams from Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food. This was a super simple dish, but very delicious! I had them with some leftover quinoasage.

Here's my Inktober sketch…

And here's Daisy half-in, half-out of the sunshine…

Peace. :)

Peanut Butter Apple Crisp (The Cooking Club)

Hi everyone! Today's Vegan MoFo prompt is "History," so I made another apple crisp, this time with two of my favorite foods -- peanut butter and Granny Smith apples -- that I wanted to learn about more. (The original recipe is from The Cooking Club; use vegan butter.)

Here's my Inktober sketch…

And here's Leela hanging out by my computer chair this morning...

Peace. :)

Quinoasage and Potato Tofu Scramble (House Vegan: Fall FoMo No More)

Hi everyone! Today's Vegan MoFo prompt is "Brunch," so I made the Quinoasage and Potato Tofu Scramble from House Vegan: Fall FoMo No More. My only changes were to use canola oil instead of olive oil and to leave out the fennel seeds and the optional scallion at the end. It turned out really well, and I even went back for seconds!

Here's my Inktober sketch…

And from last night, here's Daisy being a pillow for Cringer, the very persistent cuddler…

Peace. :)