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.