Crafty Cat Projects: Blanket

 

I love my baby-kitty blanket! 

I have tried my hand at making fleece tie blankets a few times over the years. Each time they come out lumpy. I always get fustrated - everyone can do these after all! After buying baby tuxedo cat print fleece to line Mar's vet carrier with - and it not working out I decided to make him a blanket.

I sat down with the kitty print fleece fabric and black fleece fabric feeling confident. After all I had a power chat session over lunch with my cousin who makes them all the time and the fabric department lady who even gave me a simple instruction sheet to follow. I got this! I cut off my corners, cut it into strips, tying it, moving Mar off it a few times, trying to keep the scissors away from him at one point...It still came out lumpy.

Once I put it down though, Mar walked up to it, sniffed it and flopped on top of it. Lesson learned: your cat-baby sees the love in handmade things even if they are not perfect! Mar loves his blanket and wherever you sit it down he flops onto it and falls asleep!

Look out for more cat crafts, CKD diet talk, and kitty videos coming in July! 

Tea Time Tuesday - Teavana Honeybush Vanilla

Mat bought me a bag of Teavana's Honeybush Vanilla over the weekend. After having one cup - I am hooked! For a herbal tea - it is really rich, almost like a black earthy tea. There is a sweet note to it, but nothing artificial tasting like some teas. I like it with even more vanilla flavor in the form of vanilla almond milk, however on it's own it is pretty good. I am going back to get more!

Gtting Back Into The Swing Of Things

Last Tuesday I woke up to Mar not feeling good, I knew something was wrong. He was not eating, walking weird - hunched up, then he had black diarrhea. I called his vet, they could get him, I asked my neighbor for a ride and after getting him in his carrier we zoomed over to his vet.
I was crying and scared, we had to leave him there. His vet called to tell me his kidneys were not working. We ran over to the vet to see him (Matt got home early) because Mar was staying the night. After spending time with him, we went home. Mar had to stay Tuesday and Wednesday night. I have never been away from my cat for so long. His vet did not give me good news, I called another vet to bring Mar into on Thursday. At this point Mar started doing better. So my neighbor took me to pick up Mar and we took him to the new vet. Mar got some sub-q fluids, cat food and antibiotics.
Right now Mar is recovering, he is getting back to normal. I am learning as much as I can about chronic kidney disease in cats. His appetite is not back to normal, however he is eating cat food and sweet potato baby food and drinking a lot of water.

This has been a stressful week for everyone. Mar has a vet visit this week and I am trying to prepare us all for it...Mar's stess levels need to stay down and the one thing that really stresses him out is the vet. Can you blame him?

Thank you to everyone who is keeping my lil kitty in your thoughts! Positive energy is really helping us all right now! I have a lot of hope we will continue getting good news this week. Expect more positive news, some food reports and of course kitty updates from me!

Long Weekend Fun - Cooking, Baking & Reading

Long weekends are meant to sleep in, catch up on stuff and relax. I did that plus some tea sipping, reading, baking and cooking.

Since Chipotle introduced sofritas I go once a week! I love a nice salad with sofritas, black beans, fresh salsa and guac! Also our mall just opened a Teavana - so I had to get my blueberry tea fix! Matt got my free Izzy at Chipotle - I love text coupons!

We were supposed to BBQ on Sunday but after inspecting our grill and with the wind kicking in we decided not to. After buying ingredients for potato salad, I was craving it! I was sent a copy of Grills Gone Vegan by Tamasin Noyes to review and was looking forward to grilling but I did make the Tangy Dijon Sauce and served it warm over potatoes for a warm potato salad - soooo good! I served it with pan fried BBQ tofu, garlic cheeze bread and watermelon. Good!

Monday we slept in a little too much. After having breakfast at lunch time and trying to get my routine in order (yoga, tea, house work, lunch) I decided to make cookies with a jar of Speculoos spread Matt bought for me at Target. I am still adjusting the recipe - the cookies work well with tea though!

Dinner was a generic East-Feast. I made date-raisin chutney from the first Candle Cafe cookbook (I made some subs, like cinnamon for ginger because the two stores I went to had no ginger to be found). I served it over simple stove top yellow rice, so tasty - comfort food! I made the Mediterranean tofu marinade from Vegan Eats World by Terry Hope Romero (subbing apple cider vinegar for white wine, and pan steaming the tofu instead of baking it). Also from the book I made Roasted Broccoli with Sage and loved it! I want more of it now!

Since Saturday I have been wrapped up in Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. If you like young adult books go get it now! It is really good, I have to force myself to put it down and do things like feed Mar, wash laundry and shower! I have more books in the YA genre that I picked up from the library to go through...First some tea though!

Korres Japanese Rose Body Butter Review

Last weekend I picked up a sample of Japanese Rose body by Korres and at first did not think I would dig it due to the floral name. After smelling it though I love it! The smell is floral but not really floral like potpourri. To me it has an almost medicinal smell, like kids cherry cough medicine - I know odd right? But it is interesting.
The texture is light and absorbs fast. Usually in the past body butters have left me feeling greasy and slick. This is a great light lotions and I like using it on my hands and then sniffing them over and over!

Free of parabens, sulfates and GMOs this is a good for you product! I want to go back and smell the fig scent. That sounds interesting right?  I like discovering new/new to me vegan beauty products and finding a winner!

Delezhen Jewelery Love

I have been on a real gold kick lately. It started with me buying a pair of Versace sunglasses that have gold accents. So now I mix silver and gold together and think nothing of it. I even try to grab gold more and mix it into my wardrobe-accessory-stash.

For our anniversary Matt did a little wishlist shopping for me after we agreed on not getting each other anything (besides cards and a 6 pack of beer I bought him)! Matt picked out a black onyx necklace from Delezhen that I had on my wish list. After handing it to me and me telling him that he broke the rules I opened it up all giddy like. I was so happy but then I noticed a pearl on the clasp and said that I did not know it contained non-vegan animal/sea life bits. I was sad, that I did not know it contained a pearl, so he contacted the shop owner and she said she can me a vegan version. We sent it back and in a week I had my new necklace! I have worn it a few times since I have gotten it - I really like the simplicity of it. Even though it is a simple design it is really eye catching and striking!

 

Let's Get Jammy With It

 

Lately I have been on a jam kick!  I make a batch every week and serve it up pretty much daily. It is easy, tasty and does not require a degree in canning.

Easy Chia Berry Jam

1 package of frozen berries of your choice (I like mixed berries or strawberries, make sure you buy organic when it comes to berries because berries are sprayed heavily)

about a tablespoon of water or a bit more

a squeeze of fresh lemon juice 

a hefty squeeze of maple syrup or agave

2 tablespoons of chia seeds

In a small saucepan place berries, maple syrup/agave, water and lemon juice and set the heat to a low medium heat. Stir and cover. Check back in about five minutes. Take the back of a fork and see if the berries are becoming unfrozen by squishing some against the pot. Mix in any juice you got out. Cover with the lid and cook for another five minutes. Squish more berries, by this time you can get most of them broken down into a nice mushy texture, keep breaking down any large clumps.Take the mix off of the heat and mix in chia seeds. Let cool for a few minutes, place in a clean jar (I use recycled food jars that have been cleaned). Refrigerate for 30 minutes to let the jam set up and enjoy. You have about two cup of yummy jam at your call! Eat it up - it will keep for a week in the fridge!

No need for pectin in this recipe, chia seeds act like a powerhouse binder. You get a chunky seedy jam that is not full of sugary crap and is super fresh and tasty. I serve it up over oatmeal. The above photo was for Matt's birthday breakfast. Oatmeal, strawberry chia jam, a sliced banana, maple syrup and Hemp Hearts. Yummy! 

You can use fresh berries, it will be less cooking time. I find frozen berries are cheaper and fresher than what I find at the market sometimes.Trader Joe's has an excellent price on frozen organic berries!Shop around, try your farmer's market and the store, see what is fresh and on sale!