R & R

Gotta love that "sleeping-with-the-eyes-half-open" look!

This is what Mama Lilah likes to do now that the puppies are becoming more independent.  She is catching up on some well-deserved sleep and replenishing her stores of energy. 

4 Week Old Pups

If you are wondering about the relative size of a 4 week old goldendoodle pup, check these pictures of puppies in a small tote bag.  The first ones were taken of "Yellow", our biggest pup.  The second set are of "Purple", one of our females that is more medium-sized.

"Yellow"

"Purple"

Vegan Zucchini Muffins

This is the time of the year for squash, zucchini, and pumpkins.  I love zucchini muffins, so I adapted my favorite banana muffin recipe for zucchini and they turned out great! 

Karlie's Vegan Zucchini Muffins

 

1 medim-size zucchini, skin on, grated

 

1/2 c. applesauce

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice mix

 

1 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour

 

1 c.  white, whole wheat flour (I get mine at Trader Joe's)

 

1/2 c. granulated sugar

 

1/8 c. of very warm water whisked together with 1 rounded Tablespoon of Ener-G egg replacer; whisk until it is fluffy and thick

 

 

Mix the above ingredients together either by hand or on low on the Kitchen Aid.

 

Sprinkle 1 tsp. baking soda over the batter.

 

Pour 4 Tbsp. of warm water over the baking soda and let it mostly dissolve. 

 

Mix the batter together gently one more time.  Mix in walnuts or pecans at the very end, if desired.

 

Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes, or until a inserted toothpick comes out clean. 

 

Let cool for a few minutes and then enjoy!

Enthusiastic Eaters

This is what it looks like when I get out the puppy mush for our 10 little pups.  They just started eating "baby food" this week and as you can see, they love it!

Wordless Wednesday 9-18-13

 

 

Pups Just Hanging Out

The pic is a little blurry, but I thought it was cute with the puppy's paw in her mouth.

Working on becoming a Red Sox fan by osmosis.



Ghost, getting treated like the baby that he is.

Hanging out in the stroller under close supervision.

Plenty of Love to Go Around

The puppies are just 10 days old, but they are certainly well-loved already.  They are also being socialized and getting accustomed to being around kids and adults.  There are two great benefits to this:  (1) the puppies will be more tolerant pets from their early exposure to children and better socialized by living in a family environment, and (2) my girls get the awesome and fun experience of seeing puppies from birth right on through to the super, fun puppy stages before they leave our home for new homes of their own.  I'm so glad my girls have had the chance to see baby animals growing up as part of their own childhood experience; yes, it is educational, but it also just outright fun to see the absolute sweetness and cuteness of a tiny puppy or a newborn chick. 

Vegan Latkes

I had never made latkes before, although I had thought about it many times in the past, but just never gotten around to doing it.  Then, my oldest, Isabella, was looking through a potato cookbook from the UN that my mom bought us as a gift and she determined to make latkes for the family for dinner.  I found a vegan latke recipe on Alicia Silverstone's blog, The Kind Life .   She found the recipe on another blog called, Girlie Girl Army.  Here is the link to their recipe for delicious vegan latkes.
I wish I had taken a picture of this meal, but it was eaten up so quickly that we didn't have time to take a picture.  All of Isabella's younger sisters were either requesting that she make another batch immediately (even though we had almost doubled the original recipe) or make them for their special birthday meal. 

We didn't have parsley like the original recipe called for, so we used fresh thyme out of our garden and that was a great substitute.  Also, I not only used a colander for squeezing out the grated potatoes, but I also put them in a tea towel and really squeezed out the excess liquid which worked really well.  The latkes have such a wonderful flavor with the onion and herbs that hey don't really need a topping, but we had applesauce, chipotle Vegenaise spread, and sauerkraut out for anyone that wanted to mix it up a bit.  We were also thinking that a plain, non-dairy yogurt would be a good alternative to sour cream as a topping, too.