Two baby birds

I was driving my dog to the park a few days ago, and I looked over and saw a couple people kicking what looked like a bird nest on the side of the road. So I made a U-turn and told my husband to jump out and check if there were any eggs inside. He came back to the car with two baby birds in a nest. The third bird was already dead with ants all over him :(

I rushed them home and put them on a heating pad. I told my husband to monitor them while I made a run to the pet store to get some baby bird formula. I am happy to say that they are both doing very well! I believe they are finches. Once they learn to fly, I will release them into a nice forest area.

Buttered Hot Apple Cider

Since I live in Hawaii, it pretty much never gets cold. That being said, I just wait until it's "winter" season here and pretend. So my husband, sister, brother-in-law and I all gathered around in my little living room to wrap presents, watch Christmas movies, and drink cider.

Here's the recipe I used as best I can remember. I made it virgin for the sake of the children who were there :)

Buttered Hot Apple Cider

Heat together

7 cups organic apple juice

&

1/3 cup brown sugar (more to taste)

Put these in a tea strainer or cotton tea bag:

Whole Cloves (about 10-15 to taste)

Whole allspice (about 2-3 to taste)

Add 1 cinnamon stick.

Let ingredients simmer until the taste is to your liking. Maybe about 10 minutes. Then add these to each separate mug:

Vegan butter (about 1/2 Tbsp per mug)

Cinnamon stick (1 per mug)

I have this obsession with wanting all the food that I make to be "the best you have ever had". My husband would always talk about how his friend's mom made the best cider ever. So I was determined to top hers. According to my husband, this is now the best he has ever had! Yay, I win!

Cat Care Sheet

I wrote this simple cat care sheet for all adopters through SCARShelter, but thought I would just share it with everyone. Hope this is informative :)

Cat Care sheet

General

Cats need daily interaction with you to make them feel happy, safe, and secure. Cat’s are NOT to be disciplined the same way dogs are. They respond to a different type of discipline. Hitting or yelling at your cat will only make your cat hate you. Water bottles are a great training device. Simply fill with tap water and spray cat if they are doing something bad, such as climbing where they are not suppose to or scratching the furniture. Along with getting micro chipped, we highly recommend you buy your cat a breakaway collar with a name tag with phone number on it. Breakaway collars are important so that your cat does not choke or hang itself if it ever gets outside. They sell these at walmart or Petco.

Diet

Cats are carnivorous. Feeding your cat a good quality brand of food is important if you want a happy healthy cat. Brands we recommend are Wellness Indoor Formula, Wellness Core, and Natural Balance. Try to avoid any cat food that has ingredients such as follows: water sufficient for processing, meat by-products, and artificial preservatives (BHA/BHT, ethoxyquin and propyl gallate.) Fresh water should be provided daily.

Housing

Cats should be kept inside for health and safety purposes. They can go outside occasionally if supervised. They also love to sit by windows and look outside and be able to "sunbathe". Clean litter box daily. (If you have more than one cat in the house, provide one litter box per cat.) Litter we recommend is Feline Pine and Costco’s Litter Purrfect. If not one of these, then any other dust-free natural brand would work. Scratching aka sharpening claws is a necessary and natural behavior. Scratching posts are highly recommended to avoid damaged furniture. (Tip: Sprinkle a little cat nip on the post.) If you are really worried about your cat scratching things up, then we recommend you buying Soft Paws.

Grooming

Cats are very clean animals. They groom themselves for the most part. We simply recommend you purchasing a good cat brush. You can brush them up to a few times a week to avoid hairballs. If you have a long hair cat, then they will need to be brushed daily. You also may need to occasionally take them into the groomers. Cats need help cleaning their teeth. If you feel comfortable with it, you can brush their teeth with a safe natural cat toothpaste. (Please ask your vet how to properly brush your cat's teeth first.) If not, then they can be taken to the vet or groomers to get this done. Provide them with teeth cleaning treats, such as Greenies.

Warning Signs

Please consult the vet immediately if you think your cat is sick. A few warning signs are diarrhea, vomiting (not hairballs), eye or nose discharge, lethargic, or raspy breathing.

Written by: Carissa Fajardo- President

Saving Creation Animal Rescue Shelter

Nap time

Koko & Nano taking a quick cat nap.

My big nano boy.

...Don't change the channel. I like this show!

Cat's rule! That's all. Good night.

Blooming Tea

I just recently discovered this and I absolutely love it! My husband bought me some and I was totally mesmerized by it. I just sat there watching it bloom, and I think it is enchanting and fascinating! The tea that I tried is green tea with jasmine. Right after it bloomed I couldn't stop starring at it. I told my husband, "I want to do another one already!" I definitely recommend buying this as a gift for anyone you know who loves tea.

Guinea piggin' it

They hung their stockings, and they are now ready for Christmas.

Two pigs chompin away!

(Chippy looks like such a little lion in this pic!)

Pancake using her litter box and Chippy eating dinner :)

I love my piggies.

Guinea Pig Food

I was just wondering to myself today, why have I not written a blog about guinea pigs yet? I love my pigs so I thought I would write a short blog on what to feed your pig. It is very important to not only feed your pigs pellets, but give them plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. As far as pellets go, one of the best brands is Oxbow which you can buy online. Oxbow has plenty of timothy hay, soy products, and wheat. I don't recommend giving your pigs any pellets that contain alfalfa in them. This can cause urinary fact infections and bladder stones. Also make sure that you give them fresh timothy hay every day.

These foods will make your guinea pigs squeal with happiness!

Pancake & Chippy's favorites so far are kale (they fight over this), any other leafy greens, cherries, apples, ANY berries, carrots, and grapes. Here are some more suggestions though:

Vegetables

Kale
Red pepper
Celery
Fresh Grass
Cucumber
Baby Tomatoes
Corn
Green pepper
Yellow pepper
Carrots
Romaine
Parsley
Broccoli
Dandelion Greens

Fruits

Melon
Apples
Oranges
Cucumbers
Grapes
Bananas
Strawberries
Oranges
Pears
I also give mine cherries & blueberries sometimes and they love them!
(Some veggies and fruits should not be given as often as others though.)

Do not EVER give them:

Anything that is NOT vegetarian, they are herbivores.
So no meat, dairy, or fish
No chocolate
No bread
No raw beans
No ANYTHING spicy
No potatoes

Christmas thoughts

Random thoughts leading up to Christmas:

• Bought a tree .

• Bought a miniature tree for my work station.

• Bought my cat's there own "tree" aka cat grass. They still try to chew on the Christmas tree.

• Cat's knock half the ornaments off the tree every night while I'm sleeping.

• Bought Sonic a gentle leader. It works!

• My sister & husband are going to be here in 7 days! This will be the first time I meet him.

• Silk Nog!!!

• I think I officially own almost every Christmas movie that there is.

• Need to buy a goat for Kossinger.

• Wonder if I am going to do angel tree this year.

• I don't have stockings for all my pets yet. I'm missing Rahjah's, Sonic's, Pancake's, & Chocolate Chippy's.

That's all for now :)

Indian Pudding

This is a good nutritious dessert recipe! It'll give you that calcium, iron, and fiber that your body needs!

• 2 cups almond milk
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/8 cup vegan butter
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg replacer
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1-2 Tbsp flax seeds

Preheat to 300. Bring milk to simmer, then slowly add cornmeal. Stir constantly. Continue to cook, about 15 minutes. Slowly stir in molasses, then remove from heat. Stir in remaining ingredients and pour mixture into the prepared dish. Bake until pudding is set and top is browned, about 1 hour.

Rasha

Rasha

before & after

The one on top was taken the day she was found. The next picture is of her in her new home after she was taken to the groomer.

I got an email from someone who found my website and needed my help. The lady said that her son had found this dog in a park near their house. She told me that they asked around the whole neighborhood and schools, and no one claimed her. They were contacting me because the complex they live in only allows two pet per house. They were already at their limit. I came down and picked her up and was lucky enough to find her a foster home the same day. We had her scanned for a microchip, and she had one. I then called the number on the microchip to tell them we had their dog. They said they did not want her. I just couldn't believe someone wouldn't want her! She was such a sweet and beautiful dog!

After a couple weeks, her foster home could no longer keep her because she was having bad allergies. She had named her Rasha. So I found Rasha another foster home with a girl that I worked with. I knew that she would be an awesome haven for Rasha for the time being, until we found her a forever home. It had not even been a week when I got the call that they wanted to adopt her. She got along great with their other dog Saul, and they had fallen in love with her.

She is now living the life of a queen. She has quite a selection of toys, bones, and dog beds. She is regularly taken to the groomers where she is given a bath, hair cut, brushed out, deep conditioned, teeth cleaned, nails trimmed & painted, and paws moisturized. She is also taken to the park to run with Saul daily. What a life huh?

http://www.scarshelter.com/

Mug Cakes?

This is the coolest idea for a Christmas present I have seen all year! This is especially a good idea if you are on a tight budget like me. Here is my recipe for a chocolate mug cake.

Chocolate Mug Cake

1 Coffee Mug (Pick out a nice one that they can keep as a gift)

4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar (or agave or whatever sugar substitute you want if diabetic)

2 tablespoons dry baking cocoa

1 egg - (Ener-G Egg Replacer)

3 tablespoons almond milk (or vegan milk of your choice)

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips

Small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug and mix. Then add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix. Add chocolate chips and vanilla last. Put mug in microwave and cook for 3 minutes. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, this is normal. Wait for it to cool and then give as a gift or ENJOY!

Green smoothie

Green Smoothie

2 handfuls spinach

3 kiwi

1/4 cup apple juice

1/2 scoop vanilla soy protein

1-2 Tbsp flax seeds

a tiny bit of agave

I made this with more spinach than usual because I needed the iron :)

First attempt

This is my first attempt of a recipe out of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. I started off simple. I made the vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting. The recipe calls for soy milk, but I did not have any and do not like soy milk. So I tried making it with my homemade hemp milk. They turned out terrific! Even my husband who is pretty much anti-anything-vegan said they were great! SUCCESS!

This picture isn't the best, because I'm not the greatest at making pretty looking food. I am big on flavor though. So as long as the flavor is great, then I'm happy.

Raw Hemp Milk

I was all out of almond milk tonight, so I decided to experiment making raw hemp milk.

3 cups cold purified water

1/2 cup hemp seeds

pinch of sea salt

1 Tbsp agave

Blend together for 2 minutes (my blender cover wasn't completely on so the milk exploded everywhere). You are suppose to use a cheese cloth over a strainer, but I was out of cheese cloth so I just used a tea strainer. This seemed to work. Once it was all drained into the jar, ta-da! Fresh hemp milk! Not bad if I do say so myself. If you have never had hemp milk, it has a creamier texture than almond or rice milk. The consistency is similar to whole cow's milk. I love chocolate hemp milk. I will be using this hemp milk to make a recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. We'll see how it turns out.

Rice

Play this game & for each answer you get right, the UN World Food Program donates 10 grains of rice. It's that simple. Please play.

Free Rice

Random pictures of my babies

My Panther baby
Panther was actually sleeping like this!

My baby, Rahjah right after we rescued him.

Rahjah was actually yawning, but looks like he's hissing. HAHA!

Black Sesame Cereal

My friend brought me back some Greenmax Black Sesame Cereal on her last trip to Berkley, California. She said her dad got it from Taiwan. I am sceptical, but I will definitely try it! The ingredients on the back of the package are: Black sesame, Black bean, Brown rice, Job's Tear, Wheat Germ, Medlar, Licorice Root, Brown sugar, Vitamins, & Minerals. Sounds good to me! I guess you make it like how you would make oatmeal. You just add hot water. I made some at work, and it was surprisingly good. It has a sweet sesame flavor. Not bad! I added way too much water though. At least I know how to make it now.

Chocolate Chai Cookies

I got this recipe from Vegan Joy's blogspot . I couldn't wait to try it. Please check out her blog as well.

Chocolate Chai Cookies

6 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate
1 cup whole wheat flour
¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
pinch sea salt
½ cup canola oil
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup hot, strong black tea
¼ cup molasses
1 teaspoon baking soda
crystal or turbinado sugar, or evaporated cane juice, for rolling cookies

Chop chocolate into ¼” chunks. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and cardamom.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the canola oil, brown sugar, molasses, tea, and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the liquid, mixing well to combine. Stir in chocolate chunks. Preheat an oven to 325° F. Lightly grease baking sheet. Form dough into 1” balls. Roll in evaporated cane juice, and place on the prepared baking sheet spaced 2” apart.

Bake 10-12 minutes, until the cookies have flattened slightly and the tops are cracked; they should be soft to the touch, but covered with a crust. Allow to cool 5 minutes on baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Or eat warm, with a glass of almond milk or a cup of hot coffee. (This recipe was copied from Vegan Joy's blogspot.)

Gnocchi

Gnocchi with carrots

1 box gnocchi (cooked according to box)- drained

3 carrots chopped & boiled until soft - drained

Pesto

1 bunch fresh basil

1/2 c cashews

1 -2 garlic cloves

Olive oil to taste

Salt

Pepper

I blended it until pesto consistency. Once blended, add pesto to cooked gnocchi and carrot mix. Mix well. I also added a little chopped sage & nutmeg.

If you like pesto, this is definitely a dish for you!

Pumpkin Waffles

Well, it's november! Which to me means pumpkins and apple cider. Yes, I live on an island and it doesn't get cold, but I can pretend right? These waffles smell so good just as a batter! Here's what I did:

Pumpkin Waffles

2 1/2 c. flour

1/3 c. brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

2 c. almond milk

15 oz pumpkin (I used can, but I'm sure you could use fresh)

1/3 c. oil

2 tsp vanilla

Mix dry ingredients in

one bowl. Mix wet ingredients in another bowl. Combine.

Cook on the waffle iron!

Wow, these things smelled amazing while cooking as well!

These were so good and so flavorful!

Beer battered tofu

I made an experimental dinner last night. I wanted to try to make some beer battered tofu. This is what I did:

Beer battered tofu

1/2 block of tofu

1/2 can or less of coconut milk

(Soak tofu in coconut milk. Overnight would probably be best. I only soaked for an hour or so and the coconut was berily tasted)

1/2 cup flour

Pepper

Garlic Salt

1/2 bottle vegan beer of your choice

Dip soaked tofu pieces in batter and fry in peanut oil. I double fry mine. So, I fry the tofu for about 1 minute, then take them out and dip them in the batter again. (Panko after the batter would probably be tasty too.) When you double fry the tofu it makes the tofu extra crunchy!

The only thing I could not figure out was a good sauce. You can pretty much use any type of sauce you want on this recipe. I tried a lilikoi syrup and also a thai sweet sauce. You can use whatever you want though!

~This was my snack of pita chips with hummus and garlic sundried tomatoes~

Vegan 28

A Vegan MoFo survey
1. Favorite non-dairy milk?I would probably have to say chocolate hemp milk, but I also love chocolate & plain almond milk.
2. What are the top 3 dishes/recipes you are planning to cook?Tomato Basil Pasta - from veganyumyum
Apple Ginger Upside Down Cake - from veganappetite
Paprika Tofu w/ Mexican Balls - from atebitvegan
3. Topping of choice for popcorn?I don’t care much for popcorn, but maybe plain w/ vegan caramel sauce, mmm.
4. Most disastrous recipe/meal failure?A casserole with vegan “ground beef” in it. It was disgusting and I haven’t tried anything with vegan ground beef again!
5. Favorite pickled item?This one is hard. Probably mango, but I also love pickled papaya, onions, garlic, PICKLES, anything really!
6. How do you organize your recipes?I don’t. Most of them that aren’t from a book are in a shoebox in my kitchenJ
7. Compost, trash, or garbage disposal?Garbage disposal, but I am working on a compost. It’s not really a common thing in Hawaii, but I am getting one!
8. If you were stranded on an island and could only bring 3 foods...what would they be (don't worry about how you'll cook them)?Avacado, Some type of Thai Curry, &….Onions or Garlic probably. This is assuming that there is already vegetation on this island (vegetables and mangos, coconut, etc.)
9. Fondest food memory from your childhood?I was in guam & palau, so vegetable lumpia & red rice! Also, fresh coconut, mango, papaya, AHU (which is tapioca starch, coconut milk, coconut, & sugar)…OH and fresh tortillas!
10. Favorite vegan ice cream?Coconut Bliss is my favorite brand so far.
11. Most loved kitchen appliance?Kitchenaid, Rice cooker, & my sticky rice maker ( which I’ve never used, haha)
12. Spice/herb you would die without?maybe….basil or pepper ESPECIALLY pohnpei pepper
13. Cookbook you have owned for the longest time?Probably my Chamorro cookbook
14. Favorite flavor of jam/jelly?I love apple butter, orange marmalade, ANY type of homemade jam is always best.
15. Favorite vegan recipe to serve to an omni friend?Desserts or stirfry probably
16. Seitan, tofu, or tempeh?Tofu all the way. I don’t like tempeh.
17. Favorite meal to cook (or time of day to cook)?Breakfast is always good any time of day or dessert, haha!
18. What is sitting on top of your refrigerator?Cereal, baskets, macadamia nuts, that’s pretty much it I think, oh and soy powder.
19. Name 3 items in your freezer without looking.Coconut Bliss Chocolate flavored, strawberries, & lot’s of mixed vegetables.
20. What's on your grocery list?Basil, Cashews, tomatoes, tofutti sour cream, breakfast patties, that’s all off the top of my head.
21. Favorite grocery store?Down to Earth & Whole Foods
22. Name a recipe you'd love to veganize, but haven't yet.Lemon Chicken…some how…some way….
23. Food blog you read the most ?
Probably Vegan Dog’s Life because he updated it every day!
24. Favorite vegan candy/chocolate?I haven’t really tried many, but probably any dark chocolate.
25. Most extravagant food item purchased lately?I usually wait until stuff goes on sale. Probably Agave (not on sale Hawaii priced).
26. Ingredients you are scared to work with?
Vegan-rella, and “ground beef” ew!
27. Favorite food cart?
Hmm, we don’t really have any here…
28. Top 3 favorite cuisines!THAI, Japanese, & Mexican.

Egyptian

Today for lunch my husband took me to an all you can eat egyptian place in town. I was so excited, because this was my first time going to an egyptian restaurant! They had falafels, fries?, hummus, pita bread, tabouleh, potato salad, basmati rice, and okra & tomato stew. That was it as far as vegan goes. The non vegan stuff they had was meats, yogurt dip, greek salad(with cheese), and rice pudding. The hummus, falafels, and tabouleh were my favorites :) One of the things that struck my interest on the menu was the egyptian coffee. I love coffee! So I ordered that even though it was $4.00 and the standard coffee was $1.95.

My plate:)

The lady failed to mention that the coffee was TINY! It was espresso sized basically. I was a little disappointed with the size, but then again what do I know. I did enjoy the flavor of the coffee a lot though! You could really taste the cardamom in it, and I love that there was no milk in it! I really enjoyed it!