Pug Fostering Project

Will and I have been volunteering for a local pug rescue organization (Kentuckiana Pug Rescue, or KPR) ever since we got our pug, Kirby, in 2005.  Our efforts have mostly consisted of working donation booths at events and promotional activities at pet supply stores.  Will even dressed up as Santa at Petco a couple of times for Christmas pet photos.  Without fail, every year at least one person would bring some tiny aggressive dog that would try to attack him.  People will do anything to get their dog's pictures with Santa.  Anyway, we've decided to take volunteering to the next level- fostering.  Fostering has made us nervous before, because it's inevitable that we get attached to any animal that stays in our house longer than 24 hours.  We got the courage to sign up a couple of weeks ago, and we've already gotten our first foster.

Jackie

Jackie has had a rough life.  Her original owner was killed, and the family that took custody of her dropped her off at the local shelter.  She had been badly neglected and was looking pretty rough, so the shelter decided to euthanize her.  Luckily, a KPR volunteer heard about all of this through the grapevine and stepped up to take her until a foster was found.

She's a very thin, tiny little thing, and her toenails were almost curled around into the pads of her feet when we picked her up.  We took her to the vet yesterday to have an evaluation and nail trim, where we found out that in addition to being nearly blind from lack of eye care, she has a skin infection, ear infection, tapeworms, and a bad urinary tract infection.  The poor thing is up practically the entire night scratching and whining, because her skin itches so badly.  Evidently she has also had multiple litters of puppies.  We have an appointment in 2 weeks to check the status of her infections and get her spayed.  Another surprise was her age- while she looks to be quite old in person, her paperwork puts her at just over 6 years old.  Apparently neglect can really age a dog.

On a cheerful note, she has become very comfortable in the Arvin house, and Kirby is warming up to her nicely.  Despite her near-blindness, she does very well with getting around the house, and follows my voice to find me most of the time.  She wants to be around us constantly, and is happiest curled up on a warm lap.  She's also housebroken- woohoo!  I'll be adding updates on her status from time to time.  And as soon as we get her health conditions taken care of, she'll be up for adoption (although it will be tough for me to let her go)!

She is such a tiny girl.  Kirby looks like a beast next to her-
who weighs literally twice as much!

She's adapting to our Sunday morning routine.

Notable Recipe: BBQ Black Bean Pizza

I made this a couple of weeks ago, but I can't stop thinking about it!  We've been looking for more vegetarian dinner ideas, and this is one of the best.  The original recipe is from EatingWell.com (link at the bottom of the page).  It's best made on the grill, but in case the weather's crummy, I made an alternate recipe to accomodate.  Will had very low expectations for this meal- then he ate about two-thirds of the entire pizza in one sitting.  Success!  Here's my version of the recipe:


BBQ Black Bean Pizza

Serves: 3-4 (the original recipe says 6, but unless it's for 6 5-year-old girls, don't count on it feeding that many) 

Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients: 
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 can diced tomatoes, drained well (fresh work too, but I use canned if the fresh ones aren't on sale)
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1 roll Pillsbury thin pizza crust
1 1/2 cups mozzarella shredded cheese
2 T cornmeal (if you're making it on the grill)



Directions for grillers:

1. Preheat the grill to medium.  Sprinkle the cornmeal onto a baking sheet and roll out the pizza dough onto it.   Slide it onto the grill, close the lid, and cook for 4-5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine tomato, beans, and corn in a medium bowl.  
3. Flip the crust over with a big spatula and spread on the BBQ sauce.  Top it with the tomato mixture (you have to work quickly in this step so the crust doesn't get too dark!).
4. Sprinkle the cheese over, and close the lid for another 4-5 minutes, until the cheese is all melted.

Directions for oven-users:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.  Roll out pizza dough onto a baking sheet or pizza stone.  Trim the edges of the crust if you're using a stone.  Pre-bake the crust for 7 minutes (according to package directions).
2. Meanwhile, combine tomato, beans, and corn in a medium bowl.  
3. Flip the crust over once it's done baking.  Spread on the BBQ sauce, and top it with the tomato mixture.  
4. Sprinkle the cheese over, and bake again for about 8-9 minutes.  Watch the crust to make sure it doesn't get too dark before you take it out.

Original recipe from: EatingWell.com

Original Recipe: Guacamole

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Every time I go to Whole Foods, I swoon over their organic guacamole.  I'm that person who hangs around the sample container for 20 minutes until there aren't any chips left to dip.  Feeling like taking home an economy size batch of their guacamole today (but not wanting to spend $10 on it), I decided to make my own.  I took a quick glance at the ingredient list and headed off to buy some produce.  I used all organic produce, which is typically not much more expensive than the regular produce at Whole Foods.  I'm sure it's not exactly the same, but this recipe has at least the basics.


Lindsay's Guacamole

Ingredients: 

• 2 avocados
• small white onion
• 1 can of diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro
• juice from 1 lime
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Cut the avocados in half, and remove the pits.  Make a couple of scores through the meat of the vegetable in opposite directions, then scoop it out with a spoon into a medium bowl.
2. Add the juice of 1 fresh lime to the avocado.  Mash with a fork to form a paste.  I like mine chunky.
3. Drain the canned tomatoes... and drain them well!  I even squeezed the extra juice out with my hands.  You'll need about 4 tablespoons.
4. Add about a quarter of the onion to a food processor to mince.  You can do this with the tomato as well- I did.  If you don't have a food processor, just dice the onion and tomato as finely as you can.
5. Tear off a small handfull of cilantro, and chop finely.  Add to the avocado mix, along with the tomato and 2 tablespoons of the onion. 
6. Add the garlic powder and salt to taste.  Mix well and enjoy with tortilla chips! It's especially good with Tostitos "Hint of Lime" Tortilla Chips.

See the process:

DIY Pig Jar

I actually can't take credit for this project- I got the idea from Pinterest.  I had an old lemon curd jar that was the perfect size to hold Q-Tips for the guest bathroom.  I first had to scrape the thing clean of its original label.  It was pretty sticky, but fingernail polish remover did the trick.  I found a toy pig at Meijer for $2 that I glued to the top of the lid, then I spray painted the lid and pig with gold metallic spray paint.  I think it's so cute!

My Q-Tip jar :)

Here's a link to my Pinterest account.  You'll find this original idea under my "Likes".

What's For Dinner

I had to get up half an hour earlier this morning to do some dinner-prep for the Crock Pot... okay, in reality I got up 10 minutes earlier and left for work 20 minutes late... Anyway I tried out a new recipe for vegetarian chili.  It's from Robin Miller on foodnetwork.com, but I made a few modifications.  I've posted my version of the recipe below, but feel free to check out the original.  I love when the house smells like chili in the winter.  Mmmmm....  Oh, and did I mention it's only about 240 calories a bowl?

Vegetarian Chili (Adopted and Adapted from Robin Miller on www.foodnetwork.com)

Ingredients: 

• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup frozen lima beans, thawed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 tablepoon Frank's Red Hot sauce
• 1 cup elbow macaroni
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (or "fiesta cheese", preference of my husband, Will)
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker except for the macaroni, cheese, and cilantro (mine was SUPER full once I got everything in, but didn't overflow all over the floor like I expected it to).  Turn the slow cooker to low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.  Since I'm at work for 9 1/2 hours, mine went a little longer.  Add the macaroni to the slow cooker about 10 minutes before you're ready to eat, then turn the cooker off to prevent the pasta from getting mushy.  Dish it up in a bowl and top it with cheese and cilantro.  I'm also a saltine fanatic, so I pretty much substituted crackers for a spoon.  YUM!  AND the husband loved it too.  

Disclaimer: Don't eat this with plans of jogging, hitting the gym, going to yoga, or doing anything else remotely active within a few hours afterwards.  We were pretty much heart-burning it up on the couch the rest of the evening.  Curse our acidic stomachs, but hooray for Tums!

Picture-a-Day

In 2010 I had a New Year's Resolution to take a picture each and every day.  It was pretty tough and I was tired of it by the end of the year, so I didn't do it in 2011.  In January of this year though, I got a new camera and lens.  I was SO excited and decided to start the Picture-a-Day Resolution once again.  This time of year is the worst for it though.  The sun comes up at about 7:30 AM and goes down at 5:30-5:45 PM.  In other words, I leave for work... and it's dark.  I get home... and it's dark.  On top of that, it's freeeezing.  It's getting a little challenging to find things to photograph inside.

I'll be on the search for some new ideas.

Cupcakes Cure All.

There is nothing more therapeutic than baking and decorating cupcakes after a stressful day at work.  Happy weekend!

Love.

The last seconds of this cupcake's life...

Beautiful Food

I bought a bunch of organic carrots on Friday, even though I already had 2 bags of carrots in the fridge at home.  Literally the only reason I bought them is because they were so pretty (and on sale for a dollar at Meijer).  Who buys food solely for the way it looks?  I must be a weirdo.  Nevertheless, here are my pretty carrots :)

Beautiful, right?!  I thought so.

Indiana in the Winter

I live in Central Indiana, where it's stifling in the summer and frigid in the winter.  I'd much prefer to live somewhere else, but I do love the changing seasons here.  The snow has started now.  Kirby hates it.