Puppy Birthday & Couponing Chinchilla?!?

Insert d'awwws now

My adorable family Dach-Pom celebrated her 6th birthday yesterday, complete with squeaky rubber chickens and some cheesecake-inspired Ben & Jerry's ice cream (dogs love dairy oh so much).  With all of the festivities, she also managed to swipe the catnip bird I purchased for my Garfield-iend orange tabby.  The blue feathers, the crinkly stuffing, the thought of chewing on something you are just not suppose to have. . . it was too much temptation.  My sweet Bella managed to maneuver past my Girl Scout Cookie induced hypnotic state and snatch the poor bird between her tiny teeth.  The bird didn't stand a chance.  And now, among the scraps of felt and feathers, all that remains is a polka dot carcass, covered in the sweet scent of puppy drool and desire.  But it's filled with catnip - I don't think my tabby will mind the canine bite marks too much.

On a more informational note, giving ice cream to my pup is not a regular occurrence.  Too many treats of any kind are harmful to any animals' natural diet.  Ice cream is a pretty safe choice for dogs in small quantities.  The protein and calcium content are fairly high, and, depending on the flavor, sugar levels can be in the lower range.  Make sure whatever treat you are giving your pet, you have researched if it's harmful to their digestive system.  Some toxic and/or dangerous foods to avoid giving dogs and cats are: chocolate and cocoa powder, onions, garlic, grapes and raisins, mushrooms, fatty meats and trimmings, fish bones, raw eggs, poinsettias, and lilies.  Dairy can also be an issue, depending on your pet and the number of lactase enzymes produced in the stomach.  If you want to give your pet dairy, only provide a very small amount at a time to see if there are any adverse reactions.  Vomiting and diarrhea are key signs.  Remember, dogs may love getting pieces of hot dog or some Kraft cheese slices (processed cheese = bad), but those treats actually shorten their lives.  Choose a healthier option, like carrots or natural dog biscuits from the pet store.

If you've been keeping up with the blog, you now know the Vegetarian Cat is a couponing fiend.  Tomorrow, I will be teaching my first course about the basics of saving money using these magical forms of paper money (currency is actually made from linen and cotton).  I usually print the majority of my coupons from websites like coupons.com or target.com/coupons.  When I first got my chinchilla, I would often take him to his room (yes, he has his own room) and clip coupons while watching him bounce off of the walls and play basketball.  Until I found out the truth.  My darling child, the fruit of my love, is a coupon addict.  Neatly stacked piles of freshly clipped coupons scattered across the bed.  Coupons hidden under toys, boxes, and bed sheets.  Corners nibbled and torn.  My Fuji apple had turned rogue, stealing coupons faster than I could cut them (sounds a little like a Dach-Pom I know).  Despite the apparent rush he feels from nibbling paper, I had to halt our couponing time together, cold tofurkey.  I feel it's best for both of us.  Now, after a recovery period, he still steals toys and treats from my unsuspecting hands, maybe a piece of hay now and then.  But the coupons are tucked away from prying chinchilla paws.  Hopefully he never finds my binder.

Now, you know you want it. . . it's time for:

*** Coupon Deals of the Week ***
Walgreens
Select seeds, 5/$1 with in-ad coupon
Tylenol Precise Heat Patches 3-4 pack or Pain Relief Cream 2.5 oz. $5
- use $5/1 Tylenol Precise from RP 2/19
Kleenex Facial Tissue 24, 70, or 100 sheets $.99
- use $.50/1 Kleenex from SS 2/12
All Laundry Detergent 28-40 loads $3.50
- use $1/1 All Detergent 
Hunt's Tomato Sauce 8 oz. $.39 with in-ad coupon
Goody Ouchless Elastic hair ties 27 pack, $2.99, receive 2RR

CVS
Coldcalm 60 ct. $6.99, receive 6.99ECB
Slim Fast bars 5 ct. or shakes 4 pk., 2/$10, buy 2 receive 2ECB
- use (2) $1.50/1 Slim Fast shakes 
- pay $7, receive 2 ECB
Poise pads and liners, on clearance, price varies between $2-$4
- use Poise coupon 
Schick Intuition, Quattro for Men/Women razor 1 ct. or 3-4 ct. cartridges $8.99, receive 3 ECB
- use $2/1 Schick Intuition razor or $2/1 Schick Quattro razor from RP 1/15
- pay $6.99, receive 3 ECB

Looks a lot like my orange tabby. . .

 Now, I'm off to eat some yummy Greek yogurt and play with my baby.

~ The Vegetarian Cat
     

Trials and Tribulations of St. Valentine's Day

Chinese New Year has come and gone, and with the holiday's closing, thoughts swirl to images of pink and red, hearts and chocolate.  Valentine's Day, celebrated around the world with slight variations, allows friends and lovers to express their inner feelings through flowers, candies, cards, and acts of devotion.  The saints honored on February 14th were not pioneers of love, but priests martyred over a thousand years ago.  In 1382, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a poem about King Richard II and his wife, Anne of Bohemia, intertwining the young couple's romantic bond with Valentine's Day.  One of my favorite traditions exists in South Korea, where women give chocolate to men on February 14th, and men give non-chocolate candy to women on March 14th.  On April 14th, all of the people who did not receive gifts flock to Korean restaurants and drown their sorrows in jajangmyeon - a dish of black noodles strewn with meats, vegetables, or seafood (I feel a vegetarian version in the making).

I typically don't celebrate Valentine's Day with too much enthusiasm.  Maybe a pink cookie here, a chocolate-drenched candy there.  One day to express love just isn't enough, especially for my little baby chinchilla (the best, furriest Valentine ever)!  So while he sleeps in his hammock, slightly swaying in a serene slumber, I think of the cheesecake I made for another Valentine, however crabby he is at times.  And I will share the recipe, although I must admit, I think the final product isn't at all up to my normal caliber of cheesecake excellency.  But baking is trial and error, and now I know that Oreo cream cannot substitute for sugar. . .

Valentine's Day Oreo Cheesecake with Raspberry Jam

Crust:
1 1/2 - 2 cups crushed Oreo cookie crumbs, frosting removed and set aside
3 tbsp butter, melted (more if you use more crumbs for a higher crust)
1 tbsp sugar

Filling:
(4) 8 oz. packages of cream cheese
1 tsp. extract (I used vanilla, but raspberry would be good)
Leftover cream from separated Oreos (I used a package of Christmas Oreos, and the red fillings turned my cheesecake a pretty pink color)
4 eggs
1c. of sugar (here is where I went wrong)*

Optional Decoration: 2 tbsp raspberry jam

Directions:  Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Combine Oreo crumbs, butter, and sugar in bowl, and press into 9-inch springform pan, patting crumbs evenly across the bottom and up the sides.  Place cream cheese in microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1 minute, until cream cheese is softened.  Mix together cream cheese, sugar, Oreo creams, and extract with electric mixer until incorporated.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing until each disappears into batter.  Meanwhile, heat raspberry jam for 30 seconds in microwave, until thin and runny.  Pour batter into springform pan, and use a spoon to to drip raspberry jam over cheesecake in the pattern of a heart.  Bake for about 55 minutes, until edges are set, but middle is slightly jiggly.  Use a spatula to gently separate the cheesecake from the rim, leaving the latch on the pan secure.  Cool at room temperate, then refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

*Note:  When making this cheesecake last night, I realized I didn't have enough sugar, my stockpile barren of the sweet stuff.  So I remembered back to making a cheesecake, substituting white chocolate for sugar in specific ratios.  Thinking the same would be true for Oreo filling, I used the cream instead of sugar.  While I haven't tried the refrigerated product, I did taste a little piece out of the oven.  The cake was creamy and cheesy, but more like the base for a savoury, not sweet, cheesecake.  So I recommend using about 1 cup of sugar in addition to the Oreo creams to really reach that sugary bite.

Coupon Deals of the Week 2/12 - 2/18

Walgreens
LypSyl Extreme Cold Sore Relief 3 oz. $5, receive 5RR
Walgreens TRUEresult Meter $14.99, $14.99 mail-in rebate
Cardio Juice $7.99, $7.99 mail-in rebate
Got2b hair products $5.99, BOGO
- use (2) $3/1 Got2b products from RP 2/11
- Both for Free

CVS
Colgate Total 4-4.2 oz. $2.75, receive 2ECB
- use $.75/1 Colgate Total from SS 2/12
Nivea Lip Care .17-.2 oz. $2.50, spend $10, receive 3 ECB
- buy 4, use (2) $3/2 Nivea lip care products from RP 2/12
Lady Speed Stick Deodorant $1.99, spend $15, receive 5ECB
- buy 8, use (4) BOGO Speed Stick deodorants from SS 1/29
Summer's Eve Feminine Cleansing Cloths 16 ct. $2.99, BOGO
- use $2/2 Summer's Eve products

Target
(Buy any 2 participating Trojan or K-Y products, receive $10 GC)
Trojan Ultra-Thin Lubricating Condoms $13.76
- $2/1 Trojan condoms 10ct or larger
K-Y Yours+Mine Kissable Sensations Lubricant $14.99
K-Y Yours+Mine Intrigue Premium Personal Lubricant $15
- $7/1 K-Y Premium product

Enough with cheesecakes and coupons, go out there and tell someone you love them (but probably not that creepy guy down the street who always winks at you while reading the newspaper on his porch while rocking in a chair producing a sound reminiscent of bones creaking in a cellar).

~ The Vegetarian Cat

(Darth Fuzzy, my shadowy feline friend, I will love you and miss you forever).