Weekend Cooking – Gotta Love It

Hey It’s Jet Here.

While Little Miss Color Restricted and I cannot fully grasp the color green due to evolutionary constraints , Mom makes up for both of us!  This week, her weekend cooking sessions highlighted green all over the place.   Having had quite enough of orange vegetables since leaving the hospital, she segued  to another band of the rainbow with Dr. V’s permission.  You may have learned in science class that when one sense has limits, another sense shines.  In K9 world, we rock smell, hearing and enjoy taste quite a lot!  With that in mind, Little Miss Kitchen K9 and I secured our kitchen locations for Mom’s cooking endeavors.

Remember Mom’s fascination with fennel a while back? Well, when she asked Dr. V about greens, Dr. V recommended soft greens.  Mom piled the red kale, zucchini, Italian parsley, basil and baby arugula into her cart.  Did I mention ARUGULA?  Yeah, the stuff has like 3 names: arugula, rocket, roquette.  Mom has a new fascination… yes, she’s enjoyed the veggie before, used it in her Kitchen Counselor classes, etc… however this weekend, she put the stuff in EVERYTHING!

Little Miss Show Off/Whoops What Did I DO ate a whole leaf and then casually dropped it on the tile – not enough crunch.  Mom tried again removing the small stems; we liked that idea better.  Oh, I forgot to mention that Ruby participated in one of the cooking sessions!  Little Miss Puppy Dog Face and I LOVE when Ruby hangs out in the kitchen; more tidbits than usual seem to find our chompers!  Ruby wanted to see if we liked parsley!

Arugula-Caraway Pesto Pasta

• 1 cup arugula leaves
• 1 cup fresh parsley leaves
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds (Mom used whole almonds she already had.)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon McCormick® Caraway Seed, finely crushed
• 8 ounces periatelli pasta or thick spaghetti (Mom didn’t prepare this part of the recipe.)
• 2 cups thinly sliced red Swiss chard (cut crosswise into thin strips) (Mom didn’t prepare this part of the recipe.)

 1. Place arugula, parsley, oil, almonds, Parmesan cheese, garlic and caraway seed in bowl of food processor; cover. Process until smooth. Set aside.
2.  Meanwhile, cook pasta as directed on package. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Return pasta to saucepot.
3.  Stir Swiss chard into pasta on low heat until greens are wilted. Add pesto; toss to coat well, adding small amounts of reserved cooking water until desired consistency. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired. 

Mom’s taking the Pesto to the biscuit earning place today with a grilled chicken breast.  Check out her FB album to see the step-by-step process.

Another great day in the kitchen with Mom and Ruby.

Thanks to Sugar and Kol for initiating Tasty Tuesdays, today is our forty-second participating post!

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Whoops, Big Time Digression This Time…

Hey It’s Jet Here.

(My BFF, Savannah, wrote this reminder, and ahem… I hope she does not mind me borrowing it!) It’s THURSDAY and that means another VBP Blog Hop starts all over again!!

And you know the drill now, right?…just grab the badge and code…put it on your VBP post sometime between today and next Wednesday…and be sure to come back and visit the blue froggy symbol at the bottom of my page.  Give him/her a click and enter your VBP post into the linky tool…PAWSOME!!

Well, since last I posted, we’ve had a little cold snap, after a few days of much needed rain. Since the rain did not bring booms and streaky lights, Little Miss Barkarooni and I experienced only mild anxiety after such a long dry stretch. The only wrinkle… raindrops in the kitchen from the leaky roof again… why the humans cannot figure this out, I’m not sure.  (The temperature is back to normal now.)

Mom went behind our backs, well, onscreen actually and made an agreement with Mr. Ritchie to write for some of his clients as well as do this thingie called “take some meetings” for him, too. Yeah, yeah, I know, we’re watching her. She mentioned that she needs to acquire more biscuit money and with writing, she can work more from home.

Mom goes for check up #2 tomorrow; she’s doing this weaning off some of the medicines thingie which makes her happy. I heard her talking to EVERYONE about the expensive medicines this Crohns stuff requires. Perhaps that’s another reason for the extra work… I remain quite strict about her breaks when she’s home. I have the “right front paw on thigh reminder” move and the “up and down with my muzzle under her hands” move, and her favorite… the “curl up and cuddle next to her” move. (Wednesday – Dr. V said she’s doing well and for now, does not need the 2nd group of medication.)

Whoops, I digressed big time… ok, back to Tasty Tuesday… This turned out to be a MAJOR Digression since the recipe we wanted to feature no longer shows online and Mom didn’t have time to type it out…and then Tasty Tuesday was OVER.

A pack mate is having surgery today and we’re helping out a little… We’re grateful she will have this task behind her after today. Nurse Jetty promises visits and lovies during the healing process.

Mr. Ritchie brought Mom in on another 2 projects this week; she’s “taking another meeting” today. And… you know where? At WHOLE FOODS! Hmpf… I’m trying with my whole self to think happy thoughts. However: A. that means Mom will be out for a bit on her “in the house day” and B. hopefully, she will keep her priorities in check and bring her essential, vital, indispensible Kitchen K9s a tidbit or two from such a delectable  shop. She’s also signed up to try this neurofeedback  stuff today to help manage life’s stressors. Apparently she needs another “K9 Way of Life” tutorial.

Mom asked me to share that she’s Thankful today because she found an old pair of sneakers from years ago still intact. As you can see from this photo, two holey shoes does not make for a comfortable walk in the wet grass, gravel, etc…

Another great big digression day.

We joined the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop hosted by Pepi Smart Dog (formerly by Cokie the Cat!)

Triple Valentine Pressure

Hey It’s Jet Here.

(My BFF, Savannah, wrote this reminder, and ahem… I hope she does not mind me borrowing it!) It’s THURSDAY and that means another VBP Blog Hop starts all over again!!

And you know the drill now, right?…just grab the badge and code…put it on your VBP post sometime between today and next Wednesday…and be sure to come back and visit the blue froggy symbol at the bottom of my page.  Give him/her a click and enter your VBP post into the linky tool…PAWSOME!!

Since joining Casa Jet in 2008, the male/female ratio  was even; three guys: me, Puffy and Fluffy and three ladies: Mom, Rachel and Koko/JJ.  Sadly this year, I’m the lone male who must concoct Valentines wishes for all three ladies of the house.

I’ll begin with Mom.  Let’s see, I’ve already provided my belly at 4:55 a.m. for an opener.  Since she works from home today, (although she mentioned she has a bunch of outside appointments from morning until mid afternoon), I will have extra opportunities for cuddles and snuggles, which she adores.  Oh, oh… she removed a pack of chicken and a pack of lamb chops from the freezer last night.  I bet she’s cooking tonight!  If my hunch pans out (get it?  Pans out!!!), as her faithful Kitchen K9, we’ll have a fun time in the kitchen, too.  I won’t give away all my ideas, because you need to leave room for flexibility, living in the moment, you know… the genius that is K9!  (For those of you who know how much Mom LOVES basketball (UMiami is #3 right now, oh my gosh, first time EVER, and the HEAT… well Lebron has crossed over to hoops nirvana  right now… this weekend is All-Star break, so, our tivo will no doubt get a workout!  I love sharing hoops viewing with Mom; another great idea!)

Rachel, hmmm… she’s at her dad’s today… I’ll have to save up ideas for her this weekend.  I’ll visit her during TV time, leave her food alone, try not to bark during her long Sleeping Beauty teenage sleep sessions, and give her a few famous Jetty kisses.

Little Miss Isn’t Every Day Valentines Day, well; she’s easy peasy, a slam dunk, a no brainer!!! On today’s schedule – extra wrestling, paw cleaning (I gingerly and gently give Little Miss Spa Day a mani quite often), signaling Mom to give us one of Little Miss Chew Girl’s favorite dental treats after our evening constitutional.

What Mom?  You would like to write?  Ok.

Jetty, thank you in advance for your Valentines gifts, you show us every day how much you love us.  Look away for a few lines, I want to share what I shall give to you today.  First of all my gratitude and love for joining my life; you bring joy, laughter, affection, mindfulness , manly man swagger, a debonair style, care taking, and love each and every day.  On the tangible  side, how about a hard boiled egg, a kale stem, maybe some chicken/lamb tidbits, a hoof after our evening walk and a big brush/massage before bed!

I’ve always found the fact that I give you your Heartworm meds on the 14^th of the month, which in February coordinates with Valentines Day kind of funny… not the ha ha funny, the hmm, that’s interesting kind of funny. 

Love you my boy and this year, it feels sweeter.  Mom.

Another great Valentines Day.

We joined the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop hosted by Pepi Smart Dog (formerly by Cokie the Cat!)

Tasty Tuesday – We Love Kale Too!

Hey It’s Jet Here.

One of the silver linings from Mom’s new food playbook is the fact that the woman has gone cooking crazy!  She’s scoured   her data base to see what draws her attention based on ingredients that will hopefully play nice in her intestines.  Little Miss QC (Quality Control) and I relish this turn of events.  JJ and I have stashed some photos from Mom’s recent cooking sessions.

Remember our collard greens, post?  Well, when Mom waved a bunch of delicate red kale (should carry the name purple really) over the colander to drain the rinse water, Little Miss Hopeful and I shimmied  our tushies toward the sink.  Mom quarter-turned to the cutting board and began removing the leaves, tearing them into bite sized pieces.  And then…

Bliss… she broke the first stem in half and …

Little Miss Double the Recipe and I showed our gratitude for Mom’s choice to make twice the Shitake and Kale Soup with Sweet Potato by keeping up with the kale stems.  Here’s the recipe:

Kale Shiitake Sweet Potato Soup 

• 4 cups water or low-sodium vegetable stock (Mom used 1 box of low sodium veggie stock and 1 box of chicken low sodium because she thought she had 2 veggies and did not.  She would stick to the veggie stock next time and possibly use mushroom stock!)
• 1 cup fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps thinly sliced
• 1 small sweet potato, peeled, chopped into 1/4 inch cubes (Mom thinks that she might use a regular potato or malanga next time, the sweet potato left the soup too sweet.)
• 1/2 bunch fresh kale, washed and stems removed
• 1 teaspoon Mellow white miso, per cup (Mom bought Mellow Yellow by mistake, no biggie!)
• 1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds (Mom left this out for tummy reasons, she thinks the seeds would be delicious.)

Directions:

• In a saucepan combine the water/broth, shitake mushrooms and sweet potato and bring to a boil. (At Casa Jetty, this takes forever, so, our times were longer…)
• Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, chop the kale into bite size pieces and add to the soup.
• Cook until tender, another 8 minutes.
• Dissolve a teaspoon of light miso in a bowl with a small amount of broth.
• Ladle in the soup and sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds.

Another great back to Tasty Tuesday day.

Thanks to Sugar and Kol for initiating Tasty Tuesdays, today is our forty-first participating post!

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My New Moniker (VBP) – Zig Zag Jetty

Hey It’s Jet Here.

(My BFF, Savannah, wrote this reminder, and ahem… I hope she does not mind me borrowing it!) It’s THURSDAY and that means another VBP Blog Hop starts all over again!!

And you know the drill now, right?…just grab the badge and code…put it on your VBP post sometime between today and next Wednesday…and be sure to come back and visit the blue froggy symbol at the bottom of my page.  Give him/her a click and enter your VBP post into the linky tool…PAWSOME!!

 

My young neighbor, Ruby, stopped by this past Saturday night to give us “cuddles”, to check on Mom, and to join us for our evening constitutional.  Mom suggested a right route towards Miss Mary Ann’s house, except for crossing the main street to walk parallel to our usual side.  We then cross back over at the end of the long block to return to the balance of our weekday morning route.

The paramount (VBP) sniffs on the opposite side of the street derive from a highly scented traffic light pole, and a swath (VBP) of softer grass variety (our native grass is scratchy) which feels like pillows under our paws.  Little Miss Twirl and Poo loves to deposit her evening solid waste in this area.  I find myself unstoppably drawn to the poofy grass mounds surrounding the soldier straight line of royal palm trees for what Mom and Ruby call Potty 92, 243 and 517!

Anyway, Ruby had custody of Little Miss Straight and Narrow while I walked a different pattern.  As I did, Ruby busted out a rap… here’s the “chorus” Mom and I can remember…

Hey… I am Zig Zag Jetty and I’m here to stay, I go back and forth when I walk this way!  Cause I’m Zig Zag Jetty and I’m (ok, here’s where we forget!)

I’ll ask Mom to see if Ruby will repeat or recreate her rhymes for Mom to write down.  All I can tell you is that they both end up laughing really hard out on the walk.   Mom, Little Miss Songbird and I already enjoy Ruby’s regular singing (she’s in Chorus you know) and Mom tells her how talented she is.  She often serenades (VBP) us on our walks.

Mom update:  She saw her Dr. V for the first follow up… she got an A for following directions and her instincts.  Lots more medication planning, tests to do, monitoring to continue – a positive visit and the beginning of a VERY close and FREQUENT relationship with Dr. V!

Thyroid update:  Dr. Schaffer gave me an A+ (ok, Mom too) for my 3lb. weight loss, my great test results and said the tiny dose is perfect, keep going!

THANKFUL THURSDAY:  Mom:  Thank you from the bottom of my heart and G.I. track for your incredible comments to Saturday’s post.  I’ve read most of them and will answer more soon.  Your feedback helped me immensely (VBP) and the fact you took such care and time to send words of support and understanding, well… that’s precious to me.  I took many of your comments to the dr. with me yesterday, so thank you. 

I was able to write my Kitchen Counselor newsletter, plan and execute an amazing Diabetic Peer Support Class in the inner city on top of my regular job since Friday.  I still need more rest than usual; however, I’m incredibly grateful.

Another great Zig Zag day!

We joined the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop hosted by Pepi Smart Dog (formerly by Cokie the Cat!)

Mom Update with a Side of Superbowl

Hey It’s Jet Here.

Mom said I could share the scoop with you today. She’s been home from the hospital for eight days now. Little Miss Where Did Mom Go and I met Mom at the door. She quietly sat down and we met her energy level while showing her how much we missed her. We exchanged lovies for about 20 minutes, heaven I tell ya!

Mom had lots of funny smells on her which, I, Nurse/Detective Jetty insisted on investigating. Mom took me out for an empty the tank, while Angela took Little Miss Easy Peasy. Rachel helped Mom with our evening constitutional that first night and our next morning constitutional. She walked JJ while Mom walked me. After that, Mom felt strong enough to go back to our usual routine. She takes a lot more breaks for resting now, though.

We’ve stuck close to Mom when she’s in the house. It doesn’t hurt that because of her new diagnosis of Crohn’s disease, she has lots of food experimentation to do. You know we, her faithful Kitchen K9s, will continue to serve as her QC (Quality Control) testers.

Because of her Crohn’s thingie, she has to pull way back on her activities for awhile. Mom sadly withdrew from two of her Kitchen Counselor commitments. Remember the new one? They graciously said they will hold her place for the fall. As for transcribing my posts, she asked if she could write directly to you… take it away, Mom.

I cannot thank all of you enough for your kindness, support, love, healing wishes and concern these past few weeks. A special, immeasurable (VBP) quantity of gratitude goes out to Linda, Savannah’s Mom, who ran Jet’s blog for the week I was in the hospital. Please show her some love and appreciation. Snoopy and his Mum, Annette, texted and called me every day to make sure I was ok, as did Jodi, Sampson & Delilah’s Mom, from Heart of a Dog. My friendships with these women who I’ve never met in person, demonstrates the power of the pet blogging community to make connections I never anticipated. Rebecca and Wendy, my two dear friends from Golden Rescue South Florida, and diligent (VBP) commenters read Linda’s posts to me each day, because I did not have any device in the hospital where I could read posts, even if I wanted to. (Truthfully, I found myself staring out the window, around the room, at the ceiling, at the tv, at the parking garage, at my IV pole, at the door for days… it was weird.)

I thought long and hard about what I could commit to and keep my recovery going forward. I always believed that I needed to reply to all those who took the time and care to comment on Jet’s post, visit that blog and comment. I know how hard we all work and I thought that was respectful. Right now, I do not feel I can expend (VBP) that amount of energy on Jetty’s blog. So, for awhile, I hope you will understand if I transcribe for Jetty a few times a week, answer your kind comments when I can, and know that I will visit your blogs as time permits, even if I do not leave a comment. I hope to teach what I learn about Inflamatory Bowel Disease eating styles to help others once I get the hang of it.  Gotta make lemonade out of the lemons! (except I cannot have lemons right now!)

Now for the side of Superbowl…

We’re a split home.  I’m rooting for the Ravens, with part of Mom (the colors work well for me!).  You see, Mr. Ray Lewis played college football at UMiami and… Mom read a great book about the Ravens from author Jon Feinstein many years ago. (Miss Linda taught Mom how to use PZap over the phone today!)

Little Miss I Left My Heart in San Francisco will root for the 49ers with the other half of Mom.  You see, Mom’s favorite place in the whole United States is the San Francisco area.  Plus, Little Miss Fashionista likes how the team colors highlight her fur.

Another great Yippee Yahoo Mom’s back day!

Thanks to Life With Dogs, Confessions of the Plume and Two Little Cavaliers for hosting the Saturday Blog Hop.

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Thankful for Our Mom…

Little Miss I Love Mom The Most JJ and I, Big Guy Jet, want to make sure everyone knows we are beholden(VBP) to our Mom.  She has made sure we are well taken care of while she has been in hospital.

Her unforeseen (VBP) stay just encourages JJ and I to lavish (VBP) maximum slurpy kisses, nose rubs and tail wags all over her as soon as she comes back to us.  Hope someone is holding her up when she walks in the door because we are just going to about go bonkers!!! (VBP)

What???  JJ??!!  Did you hear that???  Was it a footstep???

Sadly, nope. Not yet, but soon so we hear, very soon.

We invite you to join us for our VBP Blog Hop…grab the badge and insert it in your post today through next Wednesday. Once you “publish”…come on back and pick up the Linky code, go back and insert it into your already published VBP post using “text” mode NOT “visual”, at least if you have a WP blog.

 

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Wordless Wednesday…JJ Wants Mom Home

Still no Mom, maybe in a day or so. I am doing OK, but I am the Big Guy Jet…so I keep my strong manly dog face on…but it is getting hard…

Yes, someone keeps my food bowl filled at meal time and I get a bit of walking…its hard helping JJ, Little Miss No One Has It Better Than Me, keep her spirits up.  She mostly keeps something stuffed in her mouth to help her feel better…sort of like Lionel’s blankie…only kind of more substantial (VBP)…

I just hope that antler doesn’t become a permanent part of her mouth…Mom won’t be pleased.

Another lonely without Mom day here at Casa Jet

Monday Mischief…Calling Foul Play

This is MISCHIEF for sure!!

No Mom at home!!  So I, big guy Jetty, am calling “Mischief” on the doctors and hospital who are keeping our Mom AND they won’t even allow us to go visit and give her warm healing cuddles and nose kisses…I call Foul Play!

And even little Miss I Never Call Mischief On Anyone, JJ, is calling Mischief on whatever is keeping Mom away from home.

I want my Mom home as fast as she can get here…BUT…ok, ok…I know…she needs the doctors to make sure she is all fit to come home. So here is what we know so far…she will be in hospital at least until this Wednesday.  She is having lots of tests, procedures done and they are taking so much blood for testing we fear she may need transfusions from us canines…hmmmm…wonder if she would grow a tail as pretty as mine????

Sorry, I digressed…

She appears to have some type of auto immune problem and the doctors are sort of stumped…so that’s why all the tests. My BFF Savannah and her Mom Linda are keeping in close contact with Mom so we know all that is going on, but we miss her lots.

So, keep those healing tail wags and purrs coming to Mom Lori, she needs every one of them!  We appreciate all of our furriends who have called Mom, texted, and sent email to her.  Just so you know, she cannot get on line to look at our bloggy, or to even read all your wonderful comments right now. But she will do that just as soon as she remembers her Apple ID so she can get on line…BOL…you have to love her…not a tech savvy Mom…but she belongs to me and JJ and we love her.

Another fretful day of medical Mischief at Casa Jet

Medical Problems…But We Dogs Have Mom Covered

Oh, hi everyone. We just want to let you all know that Mom Lori had to go to Urgent Care and then Emergency last night. She is now in hospital until at least Monday, January 21.  Our good kit-kat friend Savannah and her Mom Linda are helping us paw this message.

Definitely NOT LIFE THREATENING…but she has some stomach problems, but the docs are taking care of her, our huSister Rachel is helping Mom and helping Mom’s good friends make sure JJ and I are just fine.

Little Miss I Can Take Care Of Mom and I are preparing to nurse Mom back to health. I have my Scooby Doo Nurse Academy Backpack all ready and Little Miss I Wanna Be The Doctor has her stethoscope and doctor bag all ready too.

We regret that we can’t respond to all your wonderful comments and hope you will forgive our absence. Savannah and Mom Linda are keeping in touch and if we can get another post pawed later we will.

Thanks lots for understanding and if you don’t mind, send Mom Lori some purrs, healing tail wags and kind prayers and lots of loving thoughts…we sure would appreciate it.

Just another taking care of Mom day at Casa Jet