2012.

Well, it's here. How was your holiday season? I got a new phone, from which I'm blogging right now.

We had a great dinner tonight- pumpkin Mac and cheese (vegan!) and chocolate cupcakes with almond buttercream icing (also vegan!). I want to drown in the cupcakes....just sayin! And I'm sure you know where I got the recipes for this stuff by now... Www.ohsheglows.com of course! Yummiest stuff ever, I swear by that site now. Seriously, go look up recipes now...or at least after you leave me a comment :).

I haven't figured out how to get my pics in the right order while blogging this way so sorry they are all at the end ....I have some practicing to do! I have more pics of the pooches but they're on my old phone so I'll have to do something about that.

THE drown-worthy cupcakes. I ate two.....ok three!

Spuds in cuddle mode- he says hiiii! The cool part about blogging on an iphone is I can take pics while I'm on blogger and they upload on my post- that's what I just did to get this pic of spuds.

Nomnomnomnom

Seriously. Go find the recipe at http://ohsheglows.com/2012/01/05/top-21-vegan-dessert-recipes-of-2011/ . Make the cupcakes. Die happy.

~Here's hoping 2012 is your best year yet, -The Pooches (and Anna)

We Want Snowflakes!

I ventured outside in late September because it was a beautiful day and my parents' dogs were having so much fun. I couldn't resist! I like these pictures, it reminds me how even though September can be beautiful with the arrival of Fall, it also still looks very summer-y. These pictures also remind me that I really would like to see snow just once this year :/. Hasn't happened yet!

Kleo would like to say Hai.... She is not always innocent, don't believe those eyes! She is actually very sweet, but has her moments. About 5 or 6 years ago, her and her sister Koko (below) were rescued by a group in Chicago because apparently they were born on a farm ...the owners were not interested in having puppies and the man said he'd do something unmentionable to the pups if they weren't taken away. So...they had to be weaned from their mom at 1 day old. Not the best thing to do to a puppy! But believe me, the alternative would've been worse. So, Kleo has some personality quirks, perhaps due to her lack of mommy time? Who knows. I love her anyway. ...

She's so photogenic, I like taking pictures of her! Look at her little head-tilt. She's a natural :)

Kleo's sister Koko enjoyed basking on the deck. Doesn't she look so proper? So anyway...they were in Chicago and were put into a foster home. My step mom and I took a trip to meet the pups. Then we drove home...then when they were ready to be adopted we drove from Ohio to Chicago again to spend some more time with them. My parents were only planning on having one..but ended up bringing these two home :)

And then there's Kyla... I love her little face! She has an eternal crush on Chad. (don't tell her I told you!) If you don't remember her or recognize her name, remember, you can always click on my link Learn More About the Dogs .

Tree in a trellis...

Leafy trellis...

Can you find 3 bees in this picture? I'm proud that I actually got this close to them lol.

Hopefully I will have a wintery landscape to take pics of soon. I want some new pictures of Shadow getting the zoomies in mounds of snow!!!

Wintery Snowflakes, ~The Pooches (& Anna)

Christmas Day

A day in pictures....

I had to work third shift on Christmas Eve-Christmas day. So I got to drive home to a Christmas morning sunrise:

Spuds on Christmas morning. Could he make himself any more loveable?

My favorite little pot-bellied pig...er...I mean dog. We didn't have snow on Christmas morning, but we did have frost...so the ground looked kind of white! lol




Chad giving Brutus love. There's a similar picture from last year's Christmas Post. We may have to keep the Brutus-Chad pic tradition going!

I think my grandma has the biggest cat on record, ha! Me and Cuddles... It feels like I'm holding a mountain lion lol.



Cuddles is mah name. Bein big is mah game. Purrrrr

We logged over 200 miles on yesterday alone driving to see all the family that we didn't already see on C-mas Eve. It was well worth it to spend the day with the ones we love :)

Hope Your Holiday Season is Filled With Joy, ~The Pooches (and Anna&Chad)

More Vegan Fun

Can you tell I'm really liking this whole cooking thing...and trying vegan foods thing...? :)

I made this yummy mushroon barley soup- it's more like a stew. I found the recipe on a free recipe card being handed out at the grocery store! And I only had to modify what type of butter I used to convert it to a vegan dish. It was amazing!

This is Daiya brand "cheese"...its vegan! I have used it in mexican dishes, grilled cheeses, and just eaten it plain. LOVE.

I am posting this picture on here because..I made a sandwich at work and then realized I couldv'e easily converted it to a vegan sandwich. It is just a whole wheat sandwich with lots of veggies, cheese, and mustard and other condiments. I could've easily switched out the cheese for hummus and made it amazingly vegan! I am not vegan..but I am vegetarian, and really enjoying trying to eat vegan options.

And theeseee.....are my nemesis. I tried FOUR times to make pumpkin cinnamon rolls and finally I got the yeast to rise and everything worked. But then...I didn't enjoy the taste of them that much :( I think the problem for me was that it was too much pumpkin. I think I would've liked them more if only the dough had pumpkin, and the filling remained cinnamon-y. But these had a pumpkin filling too...so they weren't really a cinnamon roll at all. It's a cool concept, but I would suggest making them with a traditional cinnamon roll filling, and just making the pumpkin dough! You can google pumpkin cinnamon rolls and find about a million different recipes for them :) (These are vegan too- of course!)

Sharing the yumminess of having fun with food, -Anna (and The Pooches)