28 June 2006

Killian's Birthday, MwM, Pesto:Part II & Layered Cereal Squares

Today is Killian's Birthday! My baby boy turned 4 today and he is still my fat kitten. Today isn't technically Killian's birthday, you see, I rescued him from the pound and he was about 4 weeks old and fit in my size 6 shoe. I was unsure of his exact birthday and did know it was about the end of June, so I deemed it June 28. It's the 28th because I like the number 28 and it's my birthdate too. So, happy birthday Killian, who is now huge and poofy and about 16 pounds!
I have been wanting to get Killian a kitty condo (aka kitty playground) and have looked online. There are so many choices and sizes and prices and I really wanted to find one that would suit his fatness best. Ray and I were at the pet store (Pet's Inc., a family owned business, one location only) getting a few fish accessories for our 4 swimming friends. We decided to double our number of fish in the tank by purchasing a little algae eater (bottom feeder) as well as three other fishies that I don't know what type they are. They eat all the crap at the bottom and are already helping the tank out. Back to the condo... at the store there were many kitty condos to choose from. I decided on this one and to finally get it (it was a good price and we didn't pay for online shipping) and also purchased a blue fuzzy toy and a rolling-bell-thingy for him to get freaky with. The photo above is Killian checking it out. It didn't take him long to like it (and surprisingly not hard for him to jump onto) and he was lounging for a good part of the day.
Above: Killian perching and hunting the birds outside the window. What a different perspective for him up there. You can see the fuzzy blue toy that he likes to carry around in his mouth.
All passed out.
I am glad Killian likes this and uses this already because I've bought him toys and things in the past and he prefers household (aka MY) items and steals pens, caps, paper, almost anything. Ray even bought him a comfy basket and it took him a whole year before he stepped into it. He went through a faze where he snuggled in it for about a month, but hasn't returned to it since.

Below you can see the guy eating his special treat. He freaks out as soon as there's a little tear in the lid. He comes running and meows and mooches until (yes, I usually give in) he gets it. I give him a few licks of yogurt about once a week or so but today I let him have a bit more. He grew up in a vegetarian household and has always prefered soy. He mooches to Ray's cow ice cream, but really prefers mine, as well as many other foods.

I let him dunk his face in this time. He had yogurt in his eyelashes and even on his ears! I love my kitten.
And onto Midweek Munchies. Click on the photo to view the shopping list. The * means organic, and as always, this is a combined list for 2 weeks worth of munchies.
I made Dreena's Sun-dried Tomato Pesto with Almonds and Pine nuts again. I can't give the recipe because it's a tester. Stay tuned for the new cookbook. Anyhow, no photo, but there were 2 changes and I followed the recipe exactly the same. First, I used spaghetti this time instead of linguini. I prefer thicker noodles or super-thin ones. Next, this time I ran to the crappy store (walking distance, well, WFM is too, but I was lazy) and purchased conventional sundried tomatoes. I swear this is the only reason why the pesto wasn't as flavorful and pungent and awesome this time. I followed the recipe exactly again, but the tomatoes were missing a lot of good things. The pesto was still fabulous, but I will only make it with organic main-ingredients next time. I still had the leftovers for breakfast.

Next, I made Dreena's Chocolate Hemp Squares yet again. See the post about them below for details. This time I omitted the hemp seeds on top, doubled the recipe, and used 2 kinds of cereal plus rolled oats because I ran out of one type of cereal and was already in the works.
The bottom layer is Koala Krisp (Nature's Path like Rice Crispies) mixed with cashew and almond butter and all the other good stuff. Next, a layer of chocolate, then a layer of Gorilla Munch plus rolled oats plus the goodness nut butter stuff, then topped with a huge layer of more chocolate. These are awesome.

25 comments:

Kris said...

Don't you just love spoiling your kitty? We bought a big kitty condo about a year ago and it just made them so happy. I tend to buy them things they never use too, but it's so hard because sometimes I really like them!

KleoPatra said...

Happy Happy Birthday, Killian!!!

Love the photos, esp. the nose in the Silk blueberry soy yogurt (my personal fave, btw).

Great sweets you made... by Killian's sweet rescuer. Bless you for doing that, by the way, Leslie.

ADOPTION and ADOPTERS rock!

Eat Peace Please said...

Kris, yyyyeeeesss, I *LOVE* spoiling Killian. I naturally try to everyday. This kitty condo was an extreme exception, by the way, I usually just get him special treats to eat or a new painting by his food. We have been spoiling him extra special today, as he is currently playing "hockey" with ice cubes (his #1 favorite, he comes running and meowing to the freezer).

Kleopatra, it was hard for me to get a good photo of him eating the yogurt because I was trying to hold the camera, hold the yogurt (because he was digging in so hard and fast) and I was cracking up at the whole thing and yogurt all over himself!

Everyone [who is capable of caring for an animal in all modalities]should adopt. I am still heartbroken that I couldn't afford his brother and sister at the time but I am convinced that his sister (who I've been calling brother for a year) lives down the road. Many things about the other kitty match up to my prediction. And I keep a photo of the very first day I took him home in my room and think of when I took him home almost daily. I'm so glad I did. I know he's glad too.

Carrie™ said...

Happy Birthday Killian! He's one lucky cat to have such a snazzy condo. I like to spoil Simon too. Just look at their faces. How can you not? I've never given Simon yogurt, but he does like plain tofu and pretty much all vegetables. Very cute pic of the head in the container. I love it!

Freedom said...

Killian is such a huge sweetie pie! And he has the same bday as my gorgeous dog! What a coincidence. As for sharing your food with pets - if my mum knew she'd kill me but I share fodd with Spirit the rat all the time! If I happen to be eating and she's on my shoulder (which she very frequently is) she just leans in and steals a bite - I don't mind a bit. My gorgeous kitty Sana almost took a bite of one of my muffins the other day - she was sniffing it really intently but just as I thought she was about to take a bite, she cahnged her mind.

Julie said...

YAY KILLIAN!! Hope he is enjoying his *big day*!

That pic with his face stuck in the yogurt is priceless...he could win some cutie cat award!

Dreena said...

purrrrr, purrrr... happy bday to Killian from our Sarabi!

When I was scrolling down and saw the yogurt container I thought "okay, guess the flavor, it's gotta be blueberry"!! yup!

I LOVE your variation on the hemp squares - they look incredible!! :)

funwithyourfood said...

GREAT kitty picks. They will always be a kitten to you. It's just how it goes. Look like he had a wonderful b-day bash. what a great mom!

Teddy

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

Happy Birthday Killian! What a lucky kitty & he looks so smitten with his new snazzy condo. Our Jolie was also rescued & much the same way we came up with July 4 as her BD. The food looks amazing as always! :o)

Mary said...

I've been reading your blog for a little while now and you make such good looking food! I have a cat too and he is literally the love of my life (don't tell my boyfriend ^_^). We had a birthday party for him, his sister, and the other cat at our house a while ago where we let them eat tuna (not my choice as I am vegan also). I'm kinda excited because I live in Tucson, not all that far away! Cool blog.

Mary

Grace said...

I wish I could get a cat, darn my hubby's allergies! Although we do have 2 cats that hang out in our yard, I think they are wild cats. they are probably the reason we don't have any chipmunks around,and they are not friendly.

Crunchy Domestic Goddess said...

happy birthday to killian! looks like he had a fine day. :) LOL at the yogurt eating. hehe.

and omg, those chocolate hemp squares look heavenly. ava and i are seriously drooling over them. :)

MeloMeals said...

Happy Birthday Killian.. that seals it.. I am getting my cats a condo.. recently, they've been living in the basement most of the time because of our dog.. and they love to perch themselves up high (which they are doing on my pantry shelves and causing a huge mess!)

Dori said...

Happy birthday Killian.
I think our little boy needs a condo someday.... maybe if we start him now we can save the side of the couch. He is still unnamed, but some possibilities are in discussion. Love your curtains by the way!

Your bars look really great, I did look up the recipe and stuck a post it note there. I'm going to try con Melissa into making them when she gets home. I have been looking everywhere for hemp seeds - I do have hemp protein powder, but I had to special order it maybe I'll have to do the same with the nuts.

kaivegan said...

Leslie,
You usually save the best (sweets, etc) for last, but this time, the beginning of the post stole the show. Although those hemp squares look like they deserve a post of their own, too!

Happy Birthday to your baby!

Alexandra said...

Happy birthday to your baby!
He is so adorable, I actually want one so badly now!!

Catherine Weber said...

Happy Birthday Killian!

I did something funny (like you) with my kitty's birthday, too. I adopted him the first week of March (oh, four years ago?) and he was about nine and a half months old. I did some quick math and realized he was probably born at the end of May! So I decided he would have the same birthday as me -- May 30th! He's now an old man at a whopping five years old. It's hard to spoil him, though, because he doesn't really play with toys, (although he enjoys tipping over the garbage cans in my apartment at four in the morning and batting around trash,) and especially enjoys hair ties. He also REALLY like sitting in the laundry basket. He's easy to please, I guess!

I think it's adorable that Killian has a "security object" in that blue fuzzy toy! How sweet.

Jody from VegChic said...

Happy Birthday Killian! Leslie, I'm guessing your birthday is the 28th of another month as no one has said HB to you!

Looks like he loves his condo, what a lucky cat. My bird Tommy (cockatoo) was a rescue. She recently got a new cage because they had a monstrous one on clearance. I don't have any cats at the moment, but my aunt has 7 that she rescued!

Those cereal bars look awesome!

jess (of Get Sconed!) said...

Happy Birthday Killian!

Leslie, this is an adorable post : )

Amanda said...

Ah, Killian is so cute! Or should I say handsome? My very favorite cat ever was a big, floofy, 15+ pound male kitty, and I always thought he would probably be a little offended by being labeled "cute." Anyway, I love Killian and his new condo. :) Plus those hemp bars look incredible.

Anonymous said...

I love the pics of your cat, my cat (Pookie) likes corn on the cob and refried beans. (Glad to see she isn't the only one with strange feline tastes) And those bars look even better than the last batch!

Shananigans said...

Your kitty is so cute! I want one but it would really be mean to put a poor kitty in our apartment, my dog would do nothing but pester it all day. My old roommate's cats managed with him for a year, but he had another dog to play with at the time.

Those squares look sooooo good! Topped with chocolate = love.

Eat Peace Please said...

Thanks to everyone who wished Killian a happy birthday. I do think he was quite overwhelmed by the whole day. I made it even more special than a typical day (how is that even possible?!) and with every comment posted, it made me feel so happy. He is currently sleeping under the condo leaning up with a paw in the air. We are slowly working on getting him to go in/on the condo!!! Figures...

Dreena, of course it was blueberry! What else would it be?

Mary, welcome! Killian is the love of my life too.

Jody, mine is March 28th.

And to everyone, yes, the hemp bars are as good as they look. I may have to put them in the freezer though, they've been sitting around in the fridge and they are very filling so they are being gobbled up slowly. I highly recommend trying them.

Maryjamie said...

Hi,

I've been reading your blog for about a month, and it's really fun! Is your cat vegan? Most of the vegans in a group I'm in in Austin have trouble having vegan cats. They have tried it with varied results, but most of them have switched their cats back to being omnivores :-( Too bad.

Keep up the good work in the kitchen! Is Ray your boyfriend? Did you encourage him to become vegan? My boyfriend helped me make the transition to vegetarianism and taught me how to cook. I'm so much more excited about food than I used to be.

Kelly said...

Happy Birthday Killian! He seems to really enjoy the soygurt. Those cereal squares look divine!