Kaylee circa 2007, after her second round of dental surgery. If you look closely (or click through to flickr for the notes!), you can see how her mouth is lopsided: many of the teeth on the left side of her mouth were removed, making her look adorably silly, but also kinda sad. As of yesterday, the “fang” on the right side of her mouth is now history, too.
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At our request, the vet also removed some rather large fatty deposits – which had been growing progressively larger over the past few years – from her left shoulder and right side. The one near her rib cage was especially stubborn coming out, and she’s got the 2″-long, ragged, angry red incision to prove it. Her shoulder looks even worse: because she had two lumps there (don’t worry, all benign, thank dog!), he had to make two separate incisions, which kind of meld together visually for an especially horrifying effect. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Because Kaylee’s barred from kibble for a few days, I decided to make a special pot of oatmeal, just for her! (Always express your love through food, yo! Nourishment for the body and the soul!) Given this week’s Iron Chef ingredients, I thought it might be fun to experiment with carrot oatmeal for a change. In addition to the standard dried cranberries, I mixed in pulverized bits of carrot (easy to eat!), blackstrap molasses (good for you!), and a pinch of cinnamon and brown sugar (sweetness and spice for the sweetest, spiciest lady I know!).

It’s Iron Chef, Doggie Edition!
 

Kaylee, licking her bowl…
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Cinnamon Cranberry Carrot Oatmeal (for dogs and their peoples!)

(Makes approximately four to six adult, human servings.)

Ingredients

7 cups water
2 large carrots
1 cup dried cranberries
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons blackstrap molasses
3 cups quick oats

Directions

1. Wash, peel and dice the carrots. In a food processor, process them until they’re finely chopped. Set aside.

2. In a large pot, bring the water to a boil. Add the carrots and cook on medium for several minutes. Add the cranberries and spices and continue to cook for another five to ten minutes, stirring every few minutes.

3. Add the quick oats and cook for another five minutes, or until the oats are tender and the consistency of the oatmeal is to your liking. If the oatmeal’s too thick, don’t be afraid to add a little extra water or soy milk. Mix well and serve warm!
 

…and everyone else’s. Twice!
What can I say, the lady loves to eat.
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Ralphie! Everyone’s favorite one-eyed wiener dog turns fourteen years old today! FOURTEEN! He’s not old, he’s distinguished. Doubly so with all these surgical scars and skin tags and patches of missing fur. His motto? “Bitches dig scars.”

Hey, Rennie can’t get enough.

(Note peeping Peedee off in the background. Pervert! Nevermind that I’m photographing their intimate moment.)

Rolling with the weather, we celebrated his birthday a wee bit early this year. On Friday, I baked him a batch of Apple Cinnamon Muffins

and made him dress up in a silly hat -

but not before he got the first taste of his pre-birthday treat.

(The other six canines were pitching a fit, locked in the house away from mom and her nomz. I think Ralphie enjoyed that as well – almost as much as the muffins!)

The recipe, as (almost) always, is by Molly at Vegan Flower (formerly known as It’s A Vegan Dog’s Life). I especially enjoy her dog treat recipes because she gives variations for muffins, biscuits and bagels (!). Okay, so I rarely stray from muffins (so easy and no-hassle!), but it’s nice to have options! (ETA: She’s participating in veganmofo this year, so you should totes go show her some love!)

The batter proved a little dry for me – perhaps because I used my own homemade applesauce, which is thicker and chunkier than the store-bought stuff? – so I just added some extra applesauce and omitted the fresh apples entirely. If you want to make muffins but don’t have a mini pan, you can just drop the batter on a cookie sheet and bake as you would normally. This is also a nice option if your dog friends are smaller and can’t handle muffins (even miniaturized ones). Think: 10-pound Mags. I served these outside and had to let her back into the house so that she could eat her “ginormous” treat in peace, without the other dogs trying to thieve the crumbs. Tiny girl, tiny mouth. All sass.

But back to Ralphie, since this is supposed to be his mofo post!

Continuing with the birthday weekend festivities, we spent most of Saturday outside, basking in the ridiculously gorgeous weather. (83 and sunny! I like to think that it’s repayment for the 100-degree temps we suffered through in July and August.)

Sunday afternoon I unleashed him in the field behind our house, so he could dig his little heart out.

We have 20 acres of mixed pasture and forested land; the open fields are perfect for digging-slash-hunting, with plenty of stinky little critters burrowing through the dirt. (Don’t worry, Ralphie never catches anyone! At least, not when he intends to, and not in four years or more.) He can literally go for hours. On hotter days I bring a container of water and have to remind him to drink! Ralphie has even been known to hold up walks while he stops to play in the dirt.

This video is from last month, but it shows Ralphie rooting around in his favorite spots.

Shane cleaned up a bunch of the scrub around the fence line last weekend so that Ralphie would have a nice, open place to dig. I guess that was his present to the Ralphster. (And me, since there’s a bunch of poison ivy growing behind the mulch pile. I am crazy sensitive to plant life.)

Naturally, Ralphie chose an entirely different area in which to dig yesterday:

As soon as the rain lets up, I’ll take him for another walk/dig this afternoon. At least the ground will be a little softer for him. (Notice how he bites into the soil and rips it up with his teeth? That can’t be good for his pearly whites.)

Anyway, let’s close this thing out with more Ralphie. YOU CAN NEVER POST TOO MANY PICTURES OF A ONE-EYED WIENER DOG, amirite people?

Dumbo!
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“Daddy, look at meeeeeeee!!!!”
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Smiley Ralphie is smiley.
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“Nomz for me?”
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“Surely, there must be a catch?”
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Ralphie doesn’t trust me or the ceramic dinnerware.
“Treats shouldn’t be so damn noisy!”
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“Muffins are nice, but where’s my ice cream cake!?!”
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Happy birthday, Ralphie. We ♥ you!
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An Addendum

Dear Ralph,

Thanks so much for the “present” you left me in the bathroom this morning! And here I thought I was supposed to get you a gift!

xoxox

- Mom

Today is Ralphie’s adoption day anniversary! (Ten years, bitches! TEN!) Okay not really, it was actually on Thursday, but I totally screwed the pooch and missed it. Though we did squeeze in a combination morning walk / digging session that day, so it’s all good. I didn’t forget his big day; rather, he’s so nice that we’re celebrating twice! Yeah, that’s it!

Anyway, I decided to make the dogs a batch of ice cream to compensate/celebrate. Also, ’cause it’s 95 degrees F with a heat index of 115 out there. BRUTAL!

I’d been storing some overripe bananas in the freezer in anticipation of turning this awesome banana bread recipe into a frozen dessert – and then I realized that the dish I had in mind would be suitable for the dogs, too. So we split a batch!

Of course, this meant that I couldn’t add any chocolate chips to the batter, but that’s okay; since I only got the 3/4 cup of leftovers, I topped my scoop with a whole damn candy bar. YUM.

And yes, this ice cream does taste a lot like the original banana bread. I bet it’d be even better with chunks of banana bread mixed in, but I’ll have to save that experiment for another day. I’m fresh out of bananas, yo!

Oh, and the best part about this recipe (aside from its healthfulness, that is) – no ice cream machine required!

Banana Bread Soft Serve

Makes two to three generous (human) servings, or about 20 large dog treats.

Inspired by Shane’s banana bread & hipsterfood’s two-ingredient ice cream.

Ingredients

5 bananas – the riper the better – frozen and slightly thawed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 cup carob chips (for dogs) or chocolate chips (for their people) – optional

Directions

Combine the bananas, cinnamon, vanilla, allspice and carob/chocolate chips in a food processor and mix until blended (but still a little chunky). Enjoy immediately or, if the ice cream’s on the runny side, chill in the freezer for 30 to 60 minutes for a thicker dessert.

If you’re making this for your dog friends, remember to omit the chocolate chips (carob chips are a nice replacement!) as chocolate can be deadly to canines.

For a slightly less messy dog treat, you can: spoon the batter onto a tray lined with parchment paper; roll it into small, bite-sized balls; or put it in an ice cube tray and freeze before serving.

Bite-sized banana ice cream balls for the dogs.
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Peedee tries to sneak a treat!
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Ralphie, the man of the hour!
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I mostly followed Molly’s recipe, but subbed in cranberry sauce for beets, since I didn’t have any on hand. (Also: a few added tablespoons of raspberry jam for extra coloring.) It took a bit of kneading before the jellied sauce was fully integrated into the dough, but once it was mixed in, it gave the biscuits a nice pinkish-purplish hue.

The color faded a bit upon baking, but luckily the dogs don’t seem to mind!

For the heart-shaped biscuits, I just used regular Valentines Day cookie cutters that are available in most box stores this time of the year. The larger hearts are obviously too big for my little guys and gals to handle with ease, so I cut ‘em in half, all jagged-like, before baking. I told Kaylee that that’s what she does to my heart every night when she refuses to cuddle with me in bed, but I don’t think she got the hint. Either that, or she’s just acting obtuse. She can be crafty, that one (and especially where food is concerned), so I wouldn’t put it past her. Harumph.

In other v-day news, I temporarily bumped this post – originally published two years ago – up to the front page in honor of the occasion. (I admit it – I love all the photos of gratuitous canine canoodling!) As has been the custom for several years now, I still plan on “tossing Valentines Day to the dogs.” The weather is supposed to warm considerably next week, and I hope to spend all my free time outside, soaking in the sun’s depression-busting rays, out-speed walking the winter blues, BDFs (best dog friends) at my side.

Whatever your plans for v-day, make them as cruelty-free as possible, mkay? If you’re still shopping around for edible goodies, please use the Food Empowerment Project’s Chocolate List as a guide. Better yet, give your sweetie some handcrafted sweets, made by you with love (and vegan, fair trade chocolate, of course!). May I suggest peanut butter cups, coconut bonbons, rocky road bark, or chocolate covered pretzels? Or perhaps some chocolate-shaped vulvas for the vegan feminist in your life? (Oooh, me me! Pick me!)

Even a romantic vegan dinner at home, followed by a butter cream cake, would make for a nice surprise. For some ideas, check out VegWeb’s holiday page, as well as this guide to heart-shaped foods (hello, pizza!) from VegNews.

On the flower front, why not opt for living plants rather than decaying, pesticide-soaked, factory-farmed bouquets? (I’m partial to cacti, myself.) Or, if you simply must buy roses, think organic. VegNews also suggests making your own eco-friendly bouquet out of recycled paper, Martha Stewart styley. Finally, packets of heirloom seeds are a nice gift idea for gardeners. Plus, they serve as a much-needed reminder that spring is right around the corner. (And after that: summer!)

As always, I ♥ vegan etsy!

So. We’ve harassed and humiliated the dog-kids. You’ve seen my shiny sparkly goodies. Twice! And yet, my holiday blogging would not be complete without a FOOD POST!

While x-mas is oftentimes an excuse to overindulge, this year I went overboard – owing in no small part to the fact that I handmade a number of gifts, including a couple tons (okay, I exaggerate, but not by much) of chocolate goodies.

But let’s begin at the ending, shall we? As in: criFSMas dinner!

I did most of the cooking the day before – which was, for us, the 23rd – so that we could be as lazy as possible the day of. I prepared a deep-dish lasagna feast with tons of veggies (green and yellow zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms and garlic) and plenty of oozy, gooey cheese (in this case, cheddar and mozzarella Follow Your Heart). (Jump to the end of this post for the recipe!)

I also breaded and froze some vegan mozzarella sticks – my first-ever batch – so they’d be nice and ready for their date with the deep fryer next day. Spoiler: they are terribly delicious, and surprisingly easy to make. (Recipe via Hell Yeah It’s Vegan!)

We even bought a shiny new deep fryer for the occasion!

(In all honesty, I’ve wanted one for some time, but have always resisted for health reasons. Alas, the very first night we used it, Shane was already talking about deep-frying ice cream. As if I’m not already enough of a junk food vegan. Oy!)

In addition to lasagna and mozzarella sticks, we had salad and dinner rolls, which altogether proved more than enough to fill us up. Somehow, though, we managed to find a little extra room for DESSERT!

We had purchased a frozen peach pie for dessert, but the morning of the 24th, the cookies-n-chocolates gift basket I’d ordered from Sweet V Confections arrived. Rather than let these fresh goodies go stale on the counter, we decided to forgo the pie in favor of chocolate chip cookies, butterscotch chocolate chip cookies, and fudge-filled cookie sandwiches, all washed down with Silk soy milk (pumpkin spice for me, mint chocolate for Shane).

Naturally, the dogs were crazy interested in the goodie basket,

but were SOL: this was mom’s gift to herself.

(Hey, sometimes I need the reminder!)

We still have plans for that peach pie, though: along with a few frozen Tofurky pizzas, it’s slated for dinner sometime this weekend (with a side of vanilla So Delicious, natch! Unfortunately, Santa did not bring me that whipped cream whipper thingie I asked for. Sad Kelly. On the plus side, I did receive a slow cooker and Twinkie set, along with a big pile of books – including a copy of the The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur! I predict a chubbly 2011, I tell you what.)

As for the gifts I gave to others this year, I opted to make many of them myself. This is an excellent idea if you’re working on a budget, but to be honest, for me it was less about money and more about opting out of mindless consumerism. Plus, my mom is so damn hard to shop for!

While I ended up purchasing vegan goodies (specifically, Caramel Chocolate Popcorn, Mint Chocolate Cookies and Shortbread Mint Chocolate Dipped Candy Cane Cookies from The Sweet Vegan) for some of the people on my list, I created handmade gift baskets for my mother and sister.

(Yeah, so maybe Tupperware isn’t the prettiest of packaging, but it’s practical, yo! Christmas tins sit in storage 11 months out of the year; Tupperware is year-round.)

Among the goodies contained within…

Vegan Peanut Butter Cups (recipe via VegWeb):

Again, these were shockingly easy to make: simply coat a cupcake liner with a thin layer of melted chocolate, freeze for ten minutes, add the peanut butter filling (which is basically just pb mixed with powdered sugar), and then cover with more chocolate. Crazy simple, and way cheaper than buying the gourmet stuff online!

After completing a double batch of these suckers, I found myself with a little leftover peanut butter filling, so the next day I made…Peanut Butter Bites!:

Continuing on with this year’s “pleasant surprise” theme, these “bites” are child’s play: just roll a tablespoon of chilled dough into a ball, drop it into a bowl of melted chocolate, “fish” it out with a spoon, and then plop the concoction onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze until hardened. (Should you find yourself with a little extra chocolate, may I recommend chocolate-covered maraschino cherries? Same process – dip and freeze.)

I also made several different incarnations of coconut patty candies, veganized and otherwise adapted from these recipes at about.com: Coconut Cream Patties and Almond Delights.

This is where I hit the first (and only!) snag of my month-long criFSMas baking marathon. No matter which recipe you choose, you’re supposed to form the coconut “dough” into patties, which (like the pb bites) are then dipped into a bowl of melted chocolate and transferred onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. The snag? Chunks of coconut kept falling off of the patties and into the chocolate. Even frozen, the patties refused to stay together.

After a frustrated hour spent experimenting, I finally decided to just mix the remaining patty batter with a bowl of melted chocolate, dropping the resulting dough onto cookie sheets by the spoonful and freezing until hard. While decidedly less attractive than the patties, they taste very much the same. (As in yummy, with a delicious mix of chocolate and coconut.)

For my mother, I also made some chocolate-covered pretzel twists, as well as a few batches of pretzel rods dipped in chocolate and covered with festive green and red x-mas sprinkles. Repeat after me: melt, dip, freeze.

Finally (on the chocolate front, anyhow), Chocolate Rocky Road Bark:

There are plenty of recipes for this on the internets, but I winged it: melted chocolate, mixed with roasted almonds and diced Danies and Sweet & Sara marshmallows. Spread on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and – you guessed it – freeze until hard.

She and my sister also receive a big batch of fruit leather: apples and mixed berry, strawberry apple, apple cinnamon and apple pumpkin spice.

Incredibly addictive, and – assuming it doesn’t contain any nutmeg – suitable for your dog friends, too.

Speaking of furkids, Copper, Hash and Shayla all received their own special treats, too: homemade dehydrated sweet potato chews (not pictured) and Pumpkin Pie Dog Biscuits (recipe via It’s A Vegan Dog’s Life):

Note O-Ren ogling me from the back of the couch in the living room. The dogs were pretty much staked out there, as well as in the kitchen proper, the whole time I was baking.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that Ralphie was trying to trip me up, thus sending dough and pasta and biscuits flying. My skull cracked open on the bare concrete, brain and life oozing slowly from my body, I’d be rendered helpless to stop the ensuing feeding frenzy.

You know. If I didn’t know any better.

On that shiny happy note: HOLIDAY LASAGNA IN HONOR OF HER NOODLEYNESS!!!

Deep Dish Cheesy Vegan Veggie Lasagna

Ingredients

olive oil
salt to taste
2-4 tablespoons of minced garlic (depending on your tastes)
1 12 ounce package of lasagna noodles
3 26 ounce cans of pasta sauce
2 large yellow zucchinis, diced
2 large green zucchinis, diced
4 large carrots, diced
1 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes (or 2-4 fresh roma tomatoes, diced)
2 4 ounce cans of mushroom pieces (or 8-10 fresh mushrooms, diced)
12 ounces vegan cheese, shredded (I used a 10 ounce brick of mozzarella Follow Your Heart, with a few more ounces of FYH cheddar to taste)

Directions

1. In a large frying pan or skillet, heat approximately two tablespoons of olive oil (use enough to coat the bottom of the pan) on medium. Add the minced garlic and cook on medium until a golden brown. Add the zucchinis, carrots, tomatoes and mushroom pieces; cook until tender. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside.

NOTE: I cooked the veggies in two batches: zucchinis and carrots, followed by the tomatoes and mushrooms, combining all in a large mixing bowl when done. Unless you have a monster of a frying pan, I recommend going this route, as the veggies will cook more evenly and are less likely to stick or burn if you haven’t loaded your frying pan to overflowing. Plus, I find that the canned veggies require less cook time than the fresh ones.

OPTIONAL: Steam your veggies for a slightly healthier dish!

2. In a large pot, bring several quarts of water – mixed with a tablespoon of olive oil and a dash of salt – to a boil. Reduce heat slightly and add the lasagna noodles, cooking according to the instructions on the package. Stir frequently but gently, so as to avoid damaging any of the noodles!

3. When done cooking, drain the pot of as much hot water as possible (preferably into a colander, so you don’t accidentally dump any noodles into the sink!). Leaving the noodles in the pot, add a quart or two of cold water to cool the noodles. Drain again and then remove the noodles from the pot, draping them over the side of the pot and in the colander to drip dry.

4. It’s time to layer the lasagna! Coat the bottom of a large glass baking pan with a thin layer of sauce. Add a layer of noodles, overlapping the edges ever so lightly. On top of this, add another thin layer of sauce, followed by a layer of veggies and modest sprinkling of cheese. Repeat this layering process until done.

NOTE: You can either choose to concentrate the veggies in the bottom layers or distribute them evenly throughout the lasagna. (I did the former, and used them in the two bottommost layers.)

5. Garnish the top of your lasagna with a final, thin layer of sauce and a sprinkling of cheese.

6. Store, covered in the fridge, until ready to bake. Cook, covered at 425 degrees F for approximately one hour (longer if you prefer a crispy top or burnt edges).

NOTE: You can go the conventional route and use aluminum foil to cover the dish, but I prefer an old cookie sheet. If you’re making this in advance, simply place a heavier dish on top of the cookie sheet to get a tighter seal while storing the lasagna in the fridge.

7. Serve warm with dinner rolls or freshly baked bread.

Merry criFSMas!

Regular readers know that I’m no stranger to pop culture analysis. (In fact, I watch so much television that it’s only a matter of time before I start to resemble the potato above. But at least it’s sweet!) Well, for my next VeganMoFo trick, watch while I dissect the above advertisement – and then refute it with some super-hot vegan food (not-)porn action. Shall we?

A large, rather symmetrical sweet potato (Seriously, when’s the last time you’ve seen such a beautifully proportioned sweet potato? I would love to peel the hell out of that baby!) occupies most of the real estate in the ad above. The potato is dissected into six discrete pieces by a cartoon-like, white dotted line that’s been superimposed over it, thus evoking the look and feel of old-timey butchers’ posters. You know the kind: hanging in Sam the Butcher’s storefront, such posters helpfully illustrate the different “cuts” of meat one can obtain from the body of a murdered and dismembered nonhuman animal. (Google, for example, “cuts of beef”. This is an image that PETA seems fond of mimicking/parodying, with debatable success. But I digress, and dangerously so!) Other images in the series depict a zucchini and eggplant carved up similarly.

Because every “cut” of the sweet potato is identical to the others, the ad seems to be suggesting that such visual analogies are ridiculous; humorous, even. Compared to “meat,” plant-based foods are boring. Monotonous. Lacking in variety or diversity. Undifferentiated masses of blah. In other words, being a vegan/vegetarian sucks balls.

The most interesting aspect of this ad series is that it’s promoting – wait for it! – vegetarian food (!). Specifically, Fry’s Vegetarian Foods, which specializes in meals heavy in mock “meat.” Though I’m disappointed to see a vegetarian company engage in the negative stereotyping of plant-based foods, I can’t exactly say that I’m shocked, given the context.

I know, I know; it’s all in good fun, right? Except when it’s not. The consumption of animal flesh and secretions is largely a choice in Western cultures – and one category of “reasons” (excuses, really) that carnists commonly use to justify their dietary choices involves societal mythconceptions and prejudices concerning cruelty-free options, i.e., that any foodstuffs that do not contain animal by-/products are necessarily boring, bland and monotonous. Rather than cater to these harmful stereotypes, we should actively challenge them.

Which brings me to the VeganMoFo Photo Essay portion of this post. What follows are twelve gorgeous, creative, yummy dishes that incorporate sweet potatoes as a primary ingredient. (I might have just as easily executed this project with zucchini or eggplant, but hey, ’tis the season, am I right?) The tip of the proverbial iceberg, these photos and recipes demonstrate that vegan foods are anything but boring.

Now grab a knife, fork and potato peeler and dig in, MoFo-ers!

1. Roasted Sweet Potato Salad With Black Beans and Chili Dressing:

2. Baked Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Wontons:

3. Sweet Potato Latkes with a Vegan Sour Cream:

4. Sweet Potato, Pumpkin and Spinach Puffs:

5. White Pizza with Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onions:

6. BBQ Lentil and Baked Sweet Potato Soup:

7. Baked Sweet Tater (topped with raw almond butter, ground flax seeds, hemp seeds, unsweetened coconut, coconut oil, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt):

8. Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili:

9. Cookie-Crusted (!) Sweet Potatoes:

10. Sweet Potato Fries (Chef’s Choice, holla!):

11. Sweet Potato Chips (take your pick, peeps!)

…and, for the grand finale…

12. Vegan Sweet Potato Pecan Ice Cream:

Oh, hell, let’s just make this a Baker’s Dozen, mkay? Here’s a dish you can share with the canines in your family.

13. Golden Baked Tofu and Sweet Potatoes (for dogs & their peoples!)

(Hint, hint: sliced and dehydrated, sweet potatoes make for pretty NOMy DIY dog chews, too!)

With that, I hope we’ve laid the issue of vegetable versatility to rest. Veganism only hinders those cooks whose minds were narrow and stagnant from the get-go.

And merciless: plants don’t scream when you kill and cook them.

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Photos are shared under a Creative Commons license by the following Flickr users: sassyradish; Halyma; sweetbeetandgreenbean; penguincakes; well.written.or.badly.written; sweetbeetandgreenbean (redux!); prideandvegudice; flyzipper; sweetbeetandgreenbean (she loves her sweet potatoes, yo!); massdistraction; travelvice; VeganBaking-dot-net; smiteme (hey, that’s me!); and denn, for the win.

With the threat of an overabundance of fruit and veggies looming, I hurriedly began researching methods of preserving the extras for winter. Canning struck me as intriguing, if a bit risky for a newbie like myself. Freezing, while quick and easy, brings with it the obvious space and energy limitations. Eventually, I decided that dehydrating the excess food was my best option: safe, uncomplicated and requiring the minimal upfront investment.

My (then-) newly-purchased Nesco American Harvest Gardenmaster FD-1020 Digital Pro Food Dehydrator, still in the box.
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Enter: the Nesco American Harvest Gardenmaster FD-1020 Digital Pro Food Dehydrator. After quite a bit of online window-shopping, I finally opted for this make and model. A mid-range dehydrator, the Gardenmaster FD-1020 is one of the pricier models offered by Nesco, and yet it’s still less expensive than those made by Excalibur (which, if the Amazon listings are any indication, is the Lexus of food dehydrators). Currently, the Gardenmaster FD-1020 retails for $154.99 on Amazon, but is on sale for $116.95.

All things considered – e.g., price, customer reviews, expandability, accessories – the Gardenmaster FD-1020 struck me as the wisest choice: suitable for my needs, without going over the top. Plus, it only cost me $30 after I applied my existing gift certificate balance. Score!

This is my third autumnal season with the Gardenmaster; in this time, I’ve used it to dry a variety of fruits and veggies, including tomatoes:

sweet potatoes (for the dogs, natch!):

all manner of jalapenos and peppers:

apples:

and even watermelon (looks like HuFu, yo!):

I have to admit that, out of habit and not a little concern, I store most of these dried items in a fridge or freezer until use. Even so, by sucking all the moisture from them, the Gardenmaster allows me to fit more produce in a finite space than I could otherwise; additionally, the food keeps almost indefinitely. (Seriously, I still have a few lingering, two-year-old slices of vegan HuFu in my produce drawer!)

As much as I love me some dried tomatoes on a gooey, cheesy pizza, my absolute favorite use for the Gardenmaster FD-1020 is this:

FRUIT LEATHER!

It’s simple, really: just make a huge pot of applesauce or fruit puree, and when it’s cooked down, spread it out (nice and thick!) on a Fruit Roll-Up Sheet and let dehydrate for 12 hours+. (There’s always a risk of overdrying it into a chewy crisp, so start small – 10 hours at 150 degrees F – and then keep going, a few hours at a time, until it’s mostly dry; not sticky, but still a little moist.)

I’m a big fan of the individually-wrapped slices of fruit leather sold in certain natural foods stores, but they don’t hold a soy-based candle to the homemade stuff! Not only is the DIY version less expensive (especially if you have access to cheap or free ingredients), but making your own allows for endless customization: strawberry apple. blueberry peach. pumpkin spice. apple almond butter. Though I haven’t yet tried it, vegetable leather is a yummy possibility, too; basil-tomato-broccoli, anyone?

On the downside, money saved equals time spent. Prepping foods for drying can be a time-intensive task, and the apple-based fruit leather of which I’m so fond is no exception: peeling, cutting and then cooking all those apples can take hours, and two grocery bags of apples only yields four trays’ worth of applesauce.

(Of course, you can also use dehydrators to make raw food meals, such as this Dehydrated Black Bean Burger recently republished for veganmofo by JL Goes Vegan. I’ve never used the Gardenmaster for this purpose, but never say never!)

Anyhow, back to my trusty Gardenmaster. Seeing as I’ve only owned it for a few years and have nothing to compare it to, take the following with a grain of sea salt…

My Gardenmaster FD-1020, with the standard four trays. Later I’d expand my collection to twelve, which was a little optimistic on my part, considering how time-intensive the food prep can be. Twelve trays’ worth in one day? LOL, grasshopper, LOL.
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Construction: Solid. The top of the machine (its “lid,” you might say), which houses the heating unit and fan, is substantial but not heavy. The plastic trays are lightweight but durable; supposedly they’re dishwasher-safe (ditto: the plastic base), though I haven’t yet tested this. The Fruit Roll-Up Trays and Mesh Screen are (obviously) flimsier – since they’re designed for use in concert with the trays – but have held up well.

Durability: Good – I haven’t had any issues in the two years I’ve owned it.

Ease of use and care: With its LCD display and simple design, the Gardenmaster is quite easy to use: push one button to change the LCD display from time to temperature and back again, one of two arrows to set each up/down, and a start/stop to start and stop the drying. (As long as the machine remains plugged in, the digital screen stays on.) Recommended temperatures for fruits, veggies and jerky (here defined as “dried TOFU”) are posted on the top of the machine, which can run between 90 and 160 degrees F. Does it get any easier than this?

Clean-up is a bit trickier. Because the machine is so large – circular in shape, it measures 15″ across – I have to clean the trays, accessories and base in a bathtub. (For serious, they don’t fit in my kitchen sink! *sad Kelly*) The Fruit Roll-Up sheets and machine base are rather easy to clean – just wash with a bit of detergent and a soft sponge – but the trays, what with their closely positioned spokes, require some elbow grease and extra diligence. Air drying is the only way to dry them completely, and can take quite a bit of time and even more space.

Finally, because the machine is so large, it probably isn’t the best choice for those with limited storage space. The Excalibur models seem more compact, at least judging from the photos available on Amazon.

Extras: When I purchased the Gardenmaster FD-1020, it came with two Fruit Roll-Up Sheets, as well as one Plastic Mesh Screen for drying herbs and other items too small to rest on the trays. If you’re a fruit leather person and/or grow your own herbs, neither will be sufficient. Luckily, add-ons are available: extra trays, Fruit Roll-Up Sheets and Mesh Screens are all sold separately, and for a reasonable price.

I also received a recipe book and jerky spice packet, both of which have sat, untouched, at the bottom of a miscellaneous kitchen drawer since their arrival. Beef jerky, yuck.

Value: Not bad. Even at retail price, I think I’ve more than made my money back in the amount of food I’ve managed to save through dehydration (the value of my time excluded). Possibly I might have done just as well with a lower-end model, though the lackluster reviews scared me away from those in the < $100 range.

Overall: I’d recommend it!

…Though newbies on a budget might get just as much use of out a slightly less expensive model. Just sayin’.

Updated to add: I posted an abridged version of this review on Amazon; if you enjoyed it, please click through and give me a helpful vote, mkay?

A freshly baked (quarter-) batch of Molly’s Decadent Delight Muffins sits on a small plate, behind which lurks two identical, plush reddish-brown wiener dogs. Only, the dog on the right is missing one eye (his right one, even!), along with the tip of his nose. One of the first three adopted dog-kids – Ralphie, Peedee or O-Ren – chewed them off years ago. Do we have a psychic in the pack, perchance?
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Friday night, I made a batch of Decadent Delight Muffins (recipe via Molly @ It’s a Vegan Dog’s Life – the meeter of at least 75% of my dog treat recipe needs!) for the dog-kids. I wanted to pamper them a little bit, since we had an especially rough week. But first treats, then kvetching!

Perched on the back of the couch, Rennie stares into the kitchen, entranced by the unbaked muffins sitting on the countertop.
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Packed with flax seeds, shredded carrots, natural peanut butter and freshly made (somewhat fortuitously, as I just so happened to be brewing the final batch of the season) applesauce, these muffins are both healthy and delicious. (And vegan!) I much prefer baking my own dog treats over buying commercial brands because I know exactly what goes into each batch. Plus, they’re really very easy to make and store well in the freezer, if need be. (With five dogs, treats are eaten up pretty quickly round these parts!) Of course, the dogs also enjoy licking the spoons and bowls. And what better way to a dog’s heart than through her stomach? Five paws up!

Okay, so enough of the muffins. Let’s move on to the one-eyed wiener dog, shall we?

Ralphie mosaic!
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Ralphie.

Those of you who know me on Facebook or in real life have been privy to my occasional Ralphie-related freakouts. Early this year, we noticed that he was having some trouble with his vision; it wasn’t really a huge deal, mostly just trouble seeing us at long distances or in dimly lit areas, and we just assumed that it was normal, age-related deterioration. Long story short, we broached the subject with our vet at Ralphie’s regularly scheduled 6-month checkup, and were ultimately referred to an ophthalmologist, who – to our surprise – found that he had a melanoma in his right eye. His left eye showed slight – but normal – age-related wear and tear. (He recently turned 13 years young, by the by, and has lived with us for 9 years.)

While the melanoma didn’t seem to be causing him any physical discomfort, there always existed the possibility that it would grow and begin to press on his eye, resulting in pain or blindness. Additionally, without a biopsy (which is somewhat invasive and tricky to perform on an intact eye), there wasn’t any way of knowing whether the melanoma was benign or malignant; if the latter, there was the added risk that the cancer could migrate and spread to other areas of his body. Scary, right?

Anyhow, we decided against drastic action, opting instead to treat the existing irritation with steroid eyedrops and have the ophthalmologist monitor his progress (or rather, the melanoma’s progress). Since March, it’s grown marginally but steadily from each appointment to the next. At his last checkup in October, we finally decided to have a biopsy done, since he had to go under for a dental cleaning anyway. While waiting for the oral surgeon and ophthalmologist to coordinate their schedules, however, we ran into a bit of a crisis.

Last Monday and Tuesday we had gorgeous weather – the last of the season, most likely – so I decided to take Ralphie out digging in the fields behind our house. He loves to dig, gets real into it: front legs, back legs, mouth, even, all tearing at the dirt and grass and occasional rock (ouch!) in search of nom-worthy critters. He’s a madman, for reals. Naturally, with all that dirt flying, some inevitably winds up in his eyes. And so it was that Tuesday night he could barely open them – right or left. Come Wednesday morning, his condition hadn’t improved – it had worsened, in fact – so we rushed him in to his regular vet, who kicked us over to the specialist. Given how irritated Ralphie’s eyes were, the eye doc couldn’t tell us much; instead, he sent us home with some painkillers and anti-inflammatory meds, and we scheduled a biopsy and possible surgery (depending on the results) for the next day.

Just a few hours out of surgery and Ralphie’s tail is already back to wagging!
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Well, the title of this post belies the story’s ending. Before even getting to the biopsy, the ophthalmologist could tell that the melanoma had grown to such a size that it necessitated surgery; if it wasn’t causing Ralphie any pain yet, it would be within a month. Even though the vet described it as a rather non-invasive, simple procedure (say what now?!), I was a nervous wreck; doubly so because I had to stay home with the other four buggers while Ralphie was on the operating table.

Ditto: Peedee and O-Ren (Kaylee and Jayne, not so much); they missed their Ralphie something awful! Of course, any change in routine can be stressful – but by day two of his absence, Rennie was listless and Peedee had become downright depressed. He spent all of Thursday laying on the back of couch, staring forlornly out the window, waiting for a car to pull in with his big bro in tow. Who says that nonhumans don’t feel emotions like grief and anxiety, hmmmm? Poppycock.

Though we tried to keep him relaxed, quite and sequestered in the bedroom for the rest of the day, Ralphie would have none of it. Instead, he wanted to chill on the couch and keep his one remaining eye on his minions.
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So, as you’ve most likely already surmised, the surgery was a success. Shane reports that the vet’s face was all smiley and relieved after the fact. (He has an older dachshund kid too, so I think he has a special affinity for Ralphie.) Not long after Ralphie left the table – and while his sleep-barks were reverberating through the office – Shane tweeted

Ralphie’s eye surgery went super smooth; he’s either a pirate now, or Colonel Tigh.

Cue: sigh of relief. You know all is well when the jokes are a-crackin’.

Unfortunately, we won’t know for another week whether the melanoma was cancerous. The vet tried to biopsy the eye post-op, but kept getting inconclusive results. Rather than delay things, he sent it off to a lab out of state for a full workup, the results of which we won’t have for another week or so. The x-rays look good, though; no visible tumors. Nor did a visual inspection of the eye suggest that a piece of the melanoma had broken off or traveled beyond it. So far, so good.

Begging for breakfast scraps, not 24 hours after surgery.
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I’m happy to report that Ralphie is on the mend. In fact, he seems to be dealing with the loss of his eye better than us humans. Every time I walk into the room after having been gone for a bit, I start a bit. It’s just so…unexpected…even though we’ve had 7+ months to prepare ourselves. Ralphie’s new look will take some getting used to, I guess. Not that he cares; he’s coping rather well, limited line of vision be damned. “Bitches dig scars,” is what he might tell you – if you could speak dachshund, you useless human, you.

It goes without saying, but we’ve been pampering him like a mofo – a development with which Kaylee, the previous holder of the “Saddest Sack” title, is none too happy. Come Monday morning, I expect that she’ll be ready to poke out her own eye for extra attention. Such a diva, that one.

Here’s winking at you, kid!
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Because this is veganmofo – and I’ve spent no small amount of time rattling on about non-food-related topics – I should probably close this thing out with some human food (not-) porn, dontchathink? Lucky for you – okay, me – Shane made Snarky Vegan’s White Trash Tater Tot Casserole with Daiya for dinner last night. It was delish; we both had second helpings, and finished off the leftovers for dinner just now.

Behold! Tater tots smothered in Daiya cheese!

The only modification he made to the recipe was the addition of Lightlife Smart Links – 18 links (or three packages), sliced into thirds and fried in a skillet before baking. nomnomnom!

Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s an ornery (if somewhat hoarse) wiener dog barking to come in.

Update, 11/23/10: The results are in; the news, shiny and happy! The melanoma in Ralphie’s severed eye is not, in point o’ facts, cancerous! (His eye had to come out either way, but still. No cancer!) The only downside? I was not able to pickle his eye and put it on my mantle. Ah well, there’s always the left one. (Joking! Totally a joke.)

Miss Hash Brown – my parents’ beagle/terrier mix-breed dog-kid – tries to sweet-talk me into sharing a piece of my sun-dried tomato bagel with her. And by “talk” I mean “kiss.”
Needless to say, she had me at *sad eyes*.
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It took me a good six hours, but I finally finished working through this year’s veganmofo blogroll earlier this week. Everything looks so nice and neat and sorted now! Of course, this means that I have even more Friday Food to share with y’all! Enjoy the links, and try not to drool on your keyboard or, worse yet, lick your monitor (it’s not real, it’s just an illusion!).

Before we get started, though, I have got to direct you to the following blogs – or, more to the point, blog titles, which tickled me every shade of pink whilst browsing through them. Most are rooted in pop culture, which is totally my thing.

bite me, I’m vegan | bitemevegan.blogspot.com
Duchess Of Kircaldy | duchessofkircaldy.wordpress.com
It Ain’t Meat, Babe | www.itaintmeatbabe.com
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Cooking…) | imonlycooking.blogspot.com
meansoybean | meansoybean.com
Meatless in Seattle | meatlessinseattle85.blogspot.com
No Murders in the Rue Morgue | nomurders.wordpress.com
Thyme Bombe | thymebombe.com
Vegan Dance if you want to. | vegandance.blogspot.com

Also be sure to visit Seitan Said Dance, who’s cooking up comic book themed dishes all week. Totally awesome. Bonus smiles: Mozilla recommends that I change “Seitan” to “Satan.”

“Oat Pumpkin Pancakes” (recipe here). CC image via digiyesica on Flickr.
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Food, delicious food!

Tempeh Roulade en Croute from VegSpinz

Sweet Potato and Apple Bake from megatarian

Mint Chocolate Shots from Lustrous Musings

The (vegan) Soup Post! and Molasses Ginger Cookies! from Healthy. Happy. Life.

Cappuccino Muffins and Vegan Apple Hand Pies from Vegan Nom Noms

Rooibos Chai from Vegan Junk Food

Dad’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Bon Bons from In My Vegan Life

The Vegan Nacho from Unhealthy Vegan

Vegan Pizza Bites from Toast and Tofu

Braised Maple Tarragon Carrots from The Elizavegan Page

Easy Ganache from Musings From The Fishbowl

Vegan Fried Mac and Cheese from MidwestVeg

Lime Coconut Custard Pie from Wasabi Peas

Amazing Homemade Vegan Bacon from The Ordinary Vegetarian

The Homemade Hummus Challenge: Are Dried Chickpeas Better Than Canned? from the paupered chef

Carrot Cake Pancakes from Isa @ the PPK

(Vegan) Garlic and Chive Mashed Potato-Stuffed Crust Pizza from …and it’s vegan.

Vegan Loaded Potato Soup from Down Home Vegan

Mashed Potato Pizza (Personal Size) from Pixie & Dusty Eat

Vegan Needham Recipe. (Maine Regional Potato Candy) from Killer Bunnies, Inc

Po’rn Puppies from Grow’n Boy

Chai Pumpkin Pie Ice Creem Sandwiches from vegan cookbook critic

Vegan Pizza Bites from Another Healthy Habit

Miss Pumpkin Whoopie Pies from The Daily Coop

Homemade Tofurkey with Brown Rice Stuffing Recipe from CHOW

…don’t forget the dog-kids!

Sweet Potato Muffins from It’s A Vegan Dog’s Life

“Canada’s next top Vegan competition blindfold taste test.” CC image via paulr_42 on Flickr.
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Contests

I forgot to link to it last week, but the PPK forums have an entire thread dedicated to veganmofo giveaways. You should totally go there if you like free stuff, ’cause this is but a partial list.

Joni Marie Newman is giving away two copies of 500 Vegan Recipes at justthefood.com. The deadline to enter is tonight at 10PM PST.

I Eat Trees is giving away a copy of Lick It. The deadline to enter is Saturday, November 13th at 11 PM EST.

Robin Robertson is giving away a copy of Vegan Unplugged: A Pantry Cuisine Cookbook and Emergency Guide at Vegan Planet. The deadline to enter is Monday, November 15th at midnight.

An Opera Singer in the Kitchen is giving away one TofuXpress tofu press. The deadline to enter is Tuesday, November 16th at midnight EST.

The Health Sleuth is giving away a jar of Nacho Mom’s Vegan Queso. The deadline to enter is Wednesday, November 17th.

Bitt of Raw is giving away a sample pack of Emmy’s Organics macaroons. The deadline to enter is Wednesday, November 17th at 11:59 pm PST.

Finally, Our Veggie Kitchen is giving away one copy of American Vegan Kitchen. The deadline to enter is Tuesday, November 30th.

Normally, I’d ask y’all which contests you’re itching to win, but probably that’s top-secret, yes?

“Dumpstered: A dozen slightly-out-of-date Clif Bars rescued from the trash can.”
CC image via hoveringdog on Flickr.
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Frugal Vegans

In a new-to-Friday Food feature, I’ve also decided to feature those veganmofo posts that focus on saving money. After all, this whole roundup is an outgrowth of my “Frugal Vegans…” series, so it only seems natural to include my fellow mofo’er’s forays into frugality, dontchathink?

Apropos yesterday’s conversation about how to be an awesome vegan through food reclamation, Joni @ justthefood.com gives us: The Garbage Pizza! Ain’t nothing trashy about that bad boy, I tell you what.

Katie @ Don’t Eat Off The Sidewalk! shares her tips for eating vegan while on a budget in the awesomely titled Let’s get this party started as cheaply as possible!

Mo @ Mo Betta Vegan (another shiny happy blog name!) shares her dollar and discount stores finds. If you’ve never shopped at a Dollar Store, friends, you haven’t lived. Dog’s mouth to your ears.

Nicole at Vegan Nom Noms goes dumpster diving and returns home with a CSA’s worth of produce. Her finds? Impressive!

Also impressive: her mad coupon blegging skillz. Mission: Vegan Coupons is a must-read. (I’ve tried this one before; several times, actually. It really works!)

Finally, in the first of what promises to be a series – The Barebones Vegan – chooseyourownfoodchain suggests a list of relatively inexpensive must-have vegan kitchen appliances and accessories. Stay tuned for more!

So, mofo’s. Which veganmofo posts have you been loving on this week? Remember: sharing is caring!

J. Howard Miller’s “We Can Do It!”, commonly mistaken to be Rosie the Riveter.
CC image via Wiki.
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A recent study in the Journal of Environmental Science & Technology estimated that Americans waste nearly 350 million barrels of oil per year in the form of food. These figures represent 2% of our annual energy consumption, and are based in part on an even more shocking 1995 estimate that 27% of our edible food is wasted – simply thrown away – at both the individual and institutional levels.

While much of this waste happens before food even reaches consumers – for example, produce that looks “irregular” or is marred by “blemishes” may be tossed by farmers or rejected by grocers – who among us can say that she’s never thrown out a half-finished bag of moldy rolls or composted the odd bruised apple? If just half of this waste occurs in our own kitchens and pantries, then the average American is tossing nearly 15% of the food she purchases straight into the garbage.* By cutting out this waste, then, we could potentially save 15% on our grocery bills.

Reporting on these findings over at Salon, Francis Lam offers seven tasty ways to stop wasting food – six of which are vegan or vegan-friendly. These include:

1. Be creative about stale bread;
2. Freeze in-danger-of-expiring (nondairy) milk;
3. Save trim and scraps for stock;
4. Sauté leftover pasta, rice, and cooked grains (or, you know, just reheat and it, if you’re not a food snob like Lam);
5. Repurpose leftover sauces, soups, and (vegetable) meat juices to add flavor to other dishes; and
6. Don’t toss an item just because it’s expired – many foodstuffs are edible past date. Trust your senses and use good judgment.

Building on Lam’s list, Jordan @ vegansaurus! recommends that you be a more awesome vegan by:

1. Making impromptu soups, stews, and curries with neglected veggies;
2. Baking fruit crisps and crumbles with overripe apples and such;
3. Liquefying extra produce into smoothies;
4. Investing in high quality food storage containers; and
5. Buying a spiffy new lunch set that will hopefully inspire you to take leftovers to work.

Of course, because I am a totally awesome – and usually-frugal – vegan, I have a few additional suggestions to add to the mix!

In this vintage, WWII propaganda poster, the president sternly-but-lovingly (he’s our super-dad, yo!) issues the following reminder to the American public: “Hunger does not breed reform; it breeds madness and all the ugly distemper that makes an ordered life impossible…the future belongs to those who prove themselves the true friends of mankind.” (And human and animal-kind, I should add.) “Save food, don’t waste it,” signed the United States Food Administration.
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* Indeed, in 2003, researchers teamed up with the USDA to study food waste in American households. Tim Jones, a researcher at the University of Arizona’s Contemporary Archaeology Project, and his students spent a year surveying 200 families in Delaware and Arizona about their purchasing habits, tallying grocery receipts, and combing through household garbage in order to collect and weigh wasted food. Their results? The average American household throws out an astounding 470 pounds of food per year – or 14% of all food brought into the house.
 

What about you vegan mofo’s? How do you keep food from ending up in the trash bin?