anniemiz

Friday Cat Blogging: Vet Visit

Our kits have had a tough year.  I mean to write about it, but I feel the need to be in a certain mood and have a good amount of time to go into it wrt their illnesses.  I just haven't been in that mood and/or had the time.  And I'm still not and don't.  So today I give you our handsome 3 year old tuxie, Edison.

Here he is at a follow up visit with his peeps at AERA.  Edison had a urinary blockage of unknown origin earlier this year.  I'll spare you all the details of catheterizations and bladder expressions and so on and get to the end result, which is that Eddie had a perineal urethrostomy.  From the linked website:

Urinary blockage is almost exclusively a problem reserved for males. This is because the female urethra is shorter and broader, in short, far more difficult to obstruct. When urinary blockage becomes recurrent in a male cat, it becomes time to consider surgical reconstruction of the genitalia to create a more female-like opening. This surgery is called the perineal urethrostomy or “PU” for short. Basically, the penis is removed and a new urinary opening is made.

Yay!  Eddie's one of us now!

Before I go any further, let me just get it out there that if your cat is having trouble urinating, it can get very serious very quickly.  What happens is that toxins that are normally eliminated from the body end up accumulating within the body when a cat has a total or even a partial urinary blockage.  Read the linked article for more info, but the take home message is: act immediately! 

When Eddie first started having trouble urinating, he was able to be expressed or catheterized.  At a certain point neither was possible.  By this time he had been referred to AERA.  Obvs, the urine has to come out and, since they couldn't get a catheter in him, they ended up having to do the surgery.

When Eddie first went to AERA, there was some discussion about whether to refer him to internal medicine or neurology bc he wasn't giving off many clues as to what might be causing his problem.  In the end, he went to neurology and, although his problem did not turn out to be neurological in nature (although they don't know what caused it, they know it's not neurological), the neurological team there still oversees his care.  Probably bc he's so handsome they don't want to share him with any other department.  But perhaps I'm biased in my estimation of his attractiveness.

Not the best patient under the best of circumstances (though not nearly the worst patient), Ed was a little unnerved during this visit bc, although he was in his carrier while we were in the waiting room, some unrefined hound was merely tethered to its owner and freaked Ed out by sniffing at him through the carrier with his big hairy snout.

Above he's with his team, Drs. Scarano and Massicotte.   Even though the surgery was a success, Ed seemed to need to sharpen his elimination skills.  He's been on meds to help with that and Kevin very dutifully monitors his medications and his outputs.  Eddie's been making steady progress and is being weaned off the meds with each visit.  Good job, Eddie!
 

Thursday Thrift: Holiday Thrift

Today's Thursday Thrift tips come from Woman's Day November 17, 2009 issue.  The cover promises '127 Ways to Celebrate for Less'.  Here's a few:

Shop for Less - According to WD, the mall is a terrible place to shop for less, unless you really know what you're doing (dunno what that means).  Instead, try:

• your house - again, dunno what they mean here; I think they mean to look around your house and see what you already have that might make an appropriate gift; perhaps a friend has always coveted the fancy old atlas you inherited from your Uncle Magellan...it doesn't impress you, but your friend might treasure it
• online - you're more likely to stick to your budget if you cut out the touchy feely aspect of in-person shopping; you're less likely to give in to physical sales pitches
• craft fairs - handmade and sometimes inexpensive; I like to go to crafty places when I travel and get a reminder of the trip; e.g., I often try to find a pair of earrings during my travels; I wear earrings almost every day and so some earrings remind me of a fun trip whenever I wear them; but WD's point is that you can often find lovely gifts at reasonable prices at crafty places
• thrift stores - especially good for friends that appreciate the frugal and/or the funk that can be found in thrift stores

Plan It Perfect - *snort*  The word 'perfect' has long been written out of my vocabulary.  I scoff in the general direction of perfection.  The article's point is that when you end up running out and grabbing gifts, you end up spending lots more than you would have if you had planned ahead.

• create a schedule...of dedicated times to shop within the two months before the holidays; some shopping trips will be for holiday meal ingredients; some may be for gifts; put these trips on you calendar like appointments
• set your budget now ...their financial expert says to imagine how much money you'd be comfortable with gone from your savings account right after the new year; if you're okay with $1,000 going MIA and it's 10 weeks until Christmas (or whatever you celebrate), put $100 into savings every week so you have $1,000 to pay the bill in January.  I suppose you could just pay cash or use a debit card at the time of purchase.  If I know the money's coming out of my checking account today, I'm more likely to spend less.  Personally, I find any payment deferral tempts me to spend more. 
• allocate your budget...according to what you want to do this holiday season.  If you want to see people, spend your money on having a wonderful dinner to which you invite the people you most want to see.
• make your lists... plan ahead as far in advance as possible, including holiday menus, and make lists for the different kinds of shopping you need to do, e.g., gift, ingredients, etc.

Three Things You Shouldn't Spend a Dime On

1. wrapping paper - reuse incoming wrapping paper; have kids decorate plain white paper or construction paper (of course, that paper comes from somewhere); also, pretty pictures from magazines, old calendars, etc.
2. present mailing - bc you're being so organized and planning so far ahead this year, you'll be able to hand out gifts as you see people during the holiday season; for giftees who live out of town, buy online from sites that offer free shipping and to whom you don't have to pay sales tax
3. cell phone overcharges - catching up with people during the holidays may put you over your minute limit; buy a phone card now if you think this may happen to you

Mmm Mmm Monday: Black Bean & Salsa Soup

This Black Bean & Salsa Soup recipe from allrecipes is so good and so easy!  This time I made it pretty much according to the instructions; it probably lends itself to variations and additions.  It's fast, too: the stated "Ready In: 20 min." is right on.  The 4 servings are on the small side.  Dunno if you can tell from the picture, but that's 1 serving and it's in a shallow bowl.  I.e., the 4 servings here might satisfy 2 teenage boys.  Might.  As always, changes in italics.

Ingredients

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (used a whole can which is 14 oz....it was fine)

1 cup chunky salsa (you could prolly increase or decrease heat to taste via the salsa; I used a medium salsa today)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

4 tablespoons sour cream

2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion (forget to get this so didn't use)

cilantro

Instructions

1. In an electric food processor or blender, combine beans, broth, salsa, and cumin. Blend until fairly smooth. (I used a blender.)
2. Heat the bean mixture in a saucepan over medium heat until thoroughly heated.
3. Ladle soup into 4 individual bowls, and top each bowl with 1 tablespoon of the sour cream and 1/2 tablespoon green onion.

Notes for next time:

• Reserve some beans -- maybe 1/2 can -- and do not put these through the blender.  Heat them along with the blended stuff.  I think it would have a nice look and texture with some whole beans in it.
• Add in some other veggies to zhuzz up the color and add some other tastes, e.g., corn, diced red pepper, diced carrots, etc.  Small pieces and don't put them through the blender.
• I put some dried cilantro on top, mostly for garnish.  Next time I would put some fresh cilantro in the blender.
• As with other recipes, I might add some spinach in toward the end of the heating time.

Workout Wednesday: Status Quo

Not much to report on the workout front.  I can say that walking to work has been a big hit.  Whoever invented walking gets a gold star, that clever dog.  It's not strenuous, but there are multiple benefits to walking to work:

• It's regular, if relatively brief, exercise.  Even at 15 minutes each way, that's 1/2 hour 5x/week, in addition to working out with Mike.  More importantly, it's 2.5 hours of walking/week I wasn't doing before.  0 to 2.5 in 5 days, that's me.
• I've come to appreciate the transition time between work and home.  Even with a such a short drive, walking is much more relaxing than driving.
• I can listen to some tunes!  The drive time is so short that I'd barely get a decent headbanging going before arriving at my destination.
• I like walking through my neighborhood, up/down Main Street, past businesses, running into people I know, checking out storefronts, etc., basically, nosing into things as I walk by.

We'll see how long into the colder weather I keep up this healthy habit.  I didn't want to walk to work during the summer bco the humidity.  I didn't want to feel hot and sweaty upon arriving at work.  That's a gross feeling and it kinda stays with you all day.  Ick.  Part of me figures I'll not want to walk to work during the colder months.  Another part of me says, If Kevin can walk back and forth to the train station (mind you, that's about half the distance to my work) through the winter, I can walk to work through the winter.  It's kinduva macho thing with me.  Booyah!

I may need to get some gear.  Something reflective seems to be in order.  With the recent time change, it's dark when I leave and already my wings have been almost clipped a few times.  And so many people are flapping their gums on their cell phones while they're driving, blazing through stop signs, etc.  Grrrr.  I feel a rant coming on and rants aren't good for my qi.  Or something.  So I'll just let it goooooo.....

But as for walking: I highly recommend it!  Try it!  You'll pick it up in no time.

A Boy and His Gourd

Kevin's mom, Fern,  sent us this picture of his dad, Jack, with a ginormous gourd he grew.

Doesn't he look like a proud papa?  It reminds me of an I Love Lucy episode where Lucy tried to smuggle a salami from Italy into the U.S. by pretending it was her baby, just swaddled and sleeping in a blanket during the entire plane ride.

I wonder if Jack gave his gourd a name.

Mmm Mmm Monday: Veggie No Boiling Lasagna

Today I made this Veggie No Boiling Lasagna recipe from allrecipes.com.  All Recipes seems to be the place for me to get recipes lately.  I was going to make a slow cooker lasagna recipe from somewhere else on the internet, but this recipe used up more ingredients and, due to a sale on mozzarella and ricotta, I had a bunch on hand.  Here's the recipe; changes are in italics.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

a few garlics

1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced

1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced - didn't use this

1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced - didn't use this 

2 (15 ounce) containers ricotta cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

2 10 oz. pkgs frozen chopped spinach, thawed

2 small cans sliced mushrooms, drained

Italian herbs to taste

2 (26 ounce) jars Ragu® Old World Style® Pasta Sauce - used whatever sauce I had on hand

12 uncooked lasagna noodles

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Heat olive oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and cook onion, garlic, red pepper and zucchini, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until tender.
2. Meanwhile, combine ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. eggs, spinach, mushrooms & herbs in medium bowl.
3. Spread 1 cup pasta sauce in 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Layer 4 uncooked noodles, then 1 cup sauce, 1/2 of the cheese etc. mixture; repeat. Top with remaining uncooked noodles and 2 cups sauce.
4. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Bake uncovered 10 minutes or until the cheese browns ever so nicely. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

This turned out pretty darn well.  I suspect I ended up with more cheese etc. filling mixture than the original recipe, what with adding the spinach and mushrooms.  And my pan floweth over a bit due to all that cheesy goodness.   I would definitely make this recipe again and expect that it lends itself to variation, e.g., broccoli instead of spinach.  I do think that I may need to add sauce when I heat this up for leftovers, but I won't know that until tomorrow.

Pictures will have to come later bc my laptop is in use on Kevin's lap as he follows his fantasy football team while watching Monday Night Football.

BTW, last week's recipe, Slow Cooker London Broil, did turn out well.  I will definitely make it again; in fact, I bought and froze a coupla London Broil just in case of an emergency that requires that one cook a London Broil.  We had this with some supah fresh potatoes from the farmers' market...they were heavenly.  I think the meat in that recipe would also shred well after cooking and do well over egg noodles (of which I also have an emergency package at the ready).  It ended up with a lot of gravy, as in way too much gravy, so I would reduce the liquid in the future, although one does want to keep the salt factor from the soup mix in mind.  As some reviewers suggested, you can play around and make your own seasoning if you prefer that to the mix or don't have the mix on hand (yes, yes, I have the mix on hand...I am so ready to make this again!).  Even with less gravy, I might increase the Worcestershire sauce and I might add in some other things to shuzz it up a bit.  As it is, it's a very meat and potatoes kinda meal.  Not that that's a bad thing.

(Maybe) Mmm Mmm Monday: Slow Cooker London Broil

I'm just turning on the crock pot to get this recipe going to be ready for Kevin at dinner tonight (Kev's on his own for dinner on Monday nights bc that's my night at work).  It's Slow Cooker London Broil from allrecipes.  It sounds very retro, what with the two canned soups and the one onion soup mix.  It's got 4 out of 5 stars after 474 reviews so I'm inclined to try it.  This very classy reviewer only gave it 3 stars:

For me this recipe was just "ok"...sorry. Ingredients reminded me a lot of my simple, yet amazing Pot Roast, only with the tomato soup.

Sounds like that old joke where the movie star says to their conversational partner, 'But enough about me.  What do you think of my new movie?'

The linked recipe calls for a 2 lb. flank steak, but I had defrosted a twin pack that had a 2 lb. and a 1 lb. for a total of 3 lb.  I could have done just the 2 lb. steak, but then I'd still have a defrosted 1 lb. steak just sitting around waiting for someone to cook it.  Ideally, I should have separated the steaks before freezing bc how much steak do two people (and one of them a sorta vegetarian) need?  Here's the recipe; changes to the linked recipe are in italics:

Ingredients

• 3 lb. flank steak
• 2 (10.75 oz.) cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 2 (10.75 oz.) cans of condensed cream of tomato soup
• 1 (1 oz.) package of dry onion soup mix
• 2 c. vegetable broth (some of the reviews said the gravy was very thick, i.e., too thick; since I didn't want it too thick and I had more meat I added in some veggie broth I had thawed out for something else)
• 2 T. Worcestershire sauce (one of the reviewers suggested adding W-sauce and it seemed to be a popular edit among the reviewers)

Instructions:

1. Spray the empty crock pot with cooking spray or brush with oil.
2. Put into the crock pot: condensed soups, onion soup mix, broth and W-sauce.  Stir.
3. Add meat to crockpot; cut to fit if necessary.
4. Cover, and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours.

The original recipe uses 1 can each of mushroom and tomato soup and 1 pkg. of onion soup mix.  A number of reviewers felt that the amount of onion soup mix made it too salty, so I doubled the amount of canned soup while keeping the dry soup mix amount the same.  I did that to:

• have enough liquid for the extra meat and
• try to avoid a too salty gravy.

I'll let you know how it turns out!

(Sort of) Mmm Mmm Monday: Lentil Soup

Okay, peeps, today's recipe is another allrecipes.com contribution: Lentil Soup.  It came out okay; I thought it wasn't very flavorful although the recipe got great reviews at allrecipes so I'm probably doing something wrong.  I would make it again, esp. if I have ideas for shzuzzing it up.  Suggestions are always welcome.  Anyway, here's the recipe; changes in italics.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil (probably didn't use 1/4 c.; that's kinduva lot)
• 2 carrots, diced (probably used more; I like carrots in soup)
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups dry lentils
• 8 cups water (used veggie broth - homemade!)
• 1/2 cup spinach, rinsed and thinly sliced (used more; didn't slice it; just put it in at the end and let the heat wilt it)
• 2 tablespoons vinegar (used balsamic; used more than 2 T.; maybe 4 T.?)
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• added some cumin to shzuzz it up a bit, flavor-wise

Instructions

1. In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery; cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in garlic, bay leaf, oregano, and basil; cook for 2 minutes. (sauteed the veggies in a separate pan bc I needed to thaw the broth over heat and didn't want the veggies to over cook by being in the broth that whole time)
2. Stir in lentils, and add water and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for at least 1 hour. When ready to serve stir in spinach, and cook until it wilts. Stir in vinegar, and season to taste with salt and pepper, and more vinegar if desired.

Servings: a lot. The recipe says 6 servings, but it seems more than that.

Forgot to thaw out the veggie broth so did it over heat:

Sauteeing the veggies in that wondrous wonder, the cast iron skillet:

Everything together:

Possibly the biggest bay leaf I've ever seen:

 In goes the spinach:

My soup looks very different from the allrecipes picture bc I used an immersion blender to smoosh some of it; I prefer my lentil soup (and most bean-based soups) with at least some of their contents smooshed.

Mmm Mmm Monday: Barley, Mushrooms, Beans & Spinach...Thing

We're back, with more beans and better than ever.  So I have all this stuff in the pantry: canned beans, dry lentils, dry pinto beans, barley, canned tomatoes, vinegars and oils, herbs, spices, etc.  I guess it's a good thing to have the basics on hand, especially as a budding vegetarian, but then I see all these half-empty containers of grains, beans, etc. and a half dozen cans of a half dozen kinds of beans and so on, and the Junior OCD in me wants to clear stuff out.  So I rooted around allrecipes.com for recipes to use up some stuff and found Barley and Mushrooms with Beans, which I then proceeded to hand over to Kevin to cook for us the other night.

As always, the link is there, but here's the recipe, too, along with changes Kevin made noted in italics.

Ingredients

• 1 t. olive oil (didn't use this bc he didn't saute the veggies at the beginning)
• 3 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 c. chopped onion
• 1/2 c. chopped celery
• 1/4 c. chopped sweet red pepper (mostly for color)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 c. uncooked barley (1 c. uncooked barley)
• 3 c. vegetable broth (homemade!)
• 1 15.5 oz. can white beans, drained (cannellini beans...are these different from white beans?  I dunno)
• fresh spinach
• grated parmesan
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat oil in medium saucepan and stir in mushrooms, onion, celery & garlic; saute until tender.
2. Mix barley & broth into the saucepan; bring to a boil; cover & reduce heat.  Simmer, 40 - 45 minutes, until barley is tender.
3. Stir beans into the barley mix; cook about 5 minutes, until beans are heated.

What we Kevin really did:

1. Mix barley & broth into the saucepan; bring to a boil; cover & reduce heat.  Simmer, 40 - 45 minutes, until barley is tender.
2. When barley is almost tender, stir in mushrooms, onion, celery & garlic.
3. Add in some fresh spinach just before taking the saucepan off the heat.  Add the spinach at the very end so that it just wilts a little before you take it off the heat.
4. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
5. Serve with grated parmesan cheese.

Servings: 6

Notes:

• Some of the changes were suggested by reviewers at allrecipes.  There were other good suggestions; you might find some you might prefer to try.
• One reviewer noted that the veggies had lost their crunch by the end of the cooking process so they suggested cooking them separately and putting them in at the end which is kind of what Kevin did.  He put them in at the end, but didn't saute them at all; just let them cook as the barley finished cooking.
• Another suggestion was to reduce the amount of broth and/or increase the amount of barley bc it's kinda mushy otherwise.  Kevin increased the amount of barley.
• One such suggestion was to use red kidney beans instead of the white beans.  This is prolly yummy and it would add a little much needed color to a rather beige dish.  Another suggestion was to use a combo of different mushrooms; I bet that would add some interesting flavors.
• This could be a side dish or, as we ate it the other night, a light meal.
• This reheated well on the stove with a little liquid (I used broth) added to it; it seems to thicken up a bit by leftover time.  It did not reheat well in the microwave bc the beans blew up!

Friday Cat Blogging: A World of Difference

Here we have an aerial shot of Nosey and Edison.  Yes, they are two male tuxedo cats, but that's where the similarity ends.  Once upon a time, my brother Greg and his family came to visit.  They met our cats as they (the cats) sauntered by to check out the newcomers.  They met Nosey.  Later, Edison came strolling by and Greg said, 'What's his name again?  Nosey?'  I said, 'Oh no!  That's Edison.'  Then he asked -- I still can't believe this -- 'How can you tell them apart?'

Firstly, well, duh.

Secondly, Greg may not be a Crazy Cat Man, but he grew up in the same house as I did, the same house that always had at least one resident cat and various neighbor cats that passed through.  How he made it this far in life w/o recognizing the subtle yet telling differences between individual cats...I'll never know.

Thirdly, and I can't stress this enough: Well, duh.

Fourthly, even when not seen side by side, there is a world, nay, a universe of difference between the two.  Most striking is the fur.  Nosey is mid- to long-haired and he generally appears slightly disheveled (he cleans, but not fastidiously).  Edison's fur is a very sleek, shiny coat that lies quite close and gorgeously so.

Then there's the VanDyke on Nosey's chin (hence, the shelter christened him VanDyke, which remains his official name for legal purposes) and the noticeable lack thereof on Edison's chin.

Then there's body shape and size.  Nosey's about 16-17 lb.; Edison's about 11-12 lb.  The former is about 1/3 larger than the latter.  Nosey is longer, although Edison's no shorty himself.  Nosey has this funky hump on his back; don't know what that's all about (he also has a funky sternum which is not obvious to the casual observer; I often wonder if his odd skeletal issues have anything to do with his chronic respiratory, uh, thing).  He also has a bit of a paunch, kind of like guys get when they get older, drink more beer (usually while watching football) and spend more time on the couch (usually while watching football).  Edison is very sleek, slender, lean...quite athletic looking.

Don't even get me started on the differences in personality!  Of course, personality isn't generally noticeable upon the first casual meeting.  The bottom line = more than a cursory glance will reveal differences between cats and, once you see these differences, you'll consider them gulfs that cannot be bridged.

And now I'm off to enjoy Nosey's company as he purrs next to me while I surf the internet.