I always find myself telling people, “This week has been crazy.” It’s true to a degree, but also a slight exaggeration. Is it really crazy? No. Just busy. But holy heck, this week has been crazy. For real!
Chris was on a business trip this week and the second day he was gone, I suspected that Miso had another urinary blockage. When I called the vet about it, I got the whole “it might be time to consider putting him to sleep” talk. Needless to say, I was completely beside myself and Chris rushed home early because he didn’t want me to have to go through that alone. Well, in the meantime, the other vet that’s been working with Miso decided to try one more thing–she wanted to treat him as if he had an autoimmune disorder and, after clearing the blockage, give him steroids.
And it worked.
He made a complete turnaround overnight. We went from thinking we’d either have to put him to sleep or put him through another surgery to bringing him home, happy and healthy for the first time in months. I’m now insanely behind on work, but it’s completely worth it to have our little Miso back. And now we know why the food, the surgery, and everything else didn’t help him before–all this time, he had some autoimmune thing going on.
So back to business! Based on feedback from last week, I’m going to do my best to expand my What I Ate This Week posts from now on. Here’s my first expanded! bigger! better! What I Ate This Week:
Quinoa Spinach Mac & Cheese from Tasty Kitchen // As usual, I replaced the spinach with kale. So predictable, right? I also used less breadcrumbs and butter for the topping because of that whole pesky trying to lose weight thing. (Oh, and I totally burned this too–that’s what I get for turning on the broiler and going back to the computer.) This was all kinds of amazing though. Cheesy quinoa! Who knew?!
Black Bean Dirty Rice // Back in the day, I used to get Zatarain’s Dirty Rice all the time and add beans or tofu to it. I thought I could make my own unprocessed version with brown rice, but it fell a little flat. Do you have a good vegetarian dirty rice recipe? Share it in the comments!
CORE Warrior Raw Meal Bars // CORE sent me some samples of their bars and I’m totally loving them–especially the Raw Almond Raisin bar. These are a little bit pricey for me to buy on a regular basis, but since each bar is a meal, they’d be great for bringing on trips, hikes, etc. And unlike a lot of nutrition bars, they’re made with real ingredients and no sugar.
Swiss Chard, Garlic & Gruyere Pizza from Whole Living // I subbed fontina for the gruyere since I had some leftover from my Portabella & Kale Pizza, but this was SO SO good. I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was.
Chocolate Raspberry Tofu Pie from Eating Well // I made this for my birthday. It’s not really healthy with all the sugar in it (hello, birthday!), but I actually prefer pies made with tofu–I like the texture more.
Soba Noodles with Coconut-Curry Vinaigrette from Cooking Light // The original recipe calls for beef, so I used tofu instead. I added snow peas and red pepper too since I took out the spinach. This was pretty good, but probably not a keeper–obviously, changing the recipe might have had something to do with it.
Green Mexican Chocolate Smoothie // This is my new obsession. You know how I have that Mexican Chocolate Breakfast Shake? So this is like the afternoon pick-me-up version of that. I blend a frozen banana with a cup of Blue Diamond almond/coconut milk blend, a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder, a little cinnamon and cayenne, and Amazing Grass Alfalfa, Barley & Wheat Grass Powder
Peach Lambic // I know I’m going to get angry emails about this picture. I know it! In my defense, I was taking a picture of the lambic bottle with my phone and Mochi decided to photobomb it by gnawing on the top. It was not open! I do not give my cats lambic! They prefer stout. Anyway, lambic is my favorite beer because I’m a girl drink drunk, so I bought a bottle for my birthday.
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Everything looks great! I love the photo bomb, lol.
Wow! What a week you had for sure. I’m SO happy to hear Miso is on the mend. What a HUGE relief! YAY!
<- this deserves at least three smiles!
OK, now to those chocolate recipes. How awesome are those! I'm VERY intrigued by that chocolate tofu pie. Must try that! And that chocolate smoothie with cayenne pepper. I can only imagine how tasty that was after doing my chocolate/oranges/cayenne recipe recently. I've got to try your smoothie too!
Thank you! He is curled up next to me right now.
Have you ever had chocolate mousse made with tofu? It is seriously good! And easy too. You don’t taste the tofu at all–I know a few people who will not go near tofu, but they like tofu mousse. I have another recipe for a pie made with tofu mixed with peanut butter & chocolate and then it’s topped with crushed pretzels. SO GOOD!
I can’t get my kids to eat kale. Which is funny because they eat spinach. I may try the mac and cheese and see if they will eat it then.
And love the photo bomb.
Cheese sauce will get kids to eat anything, right?!
I’m so happy that Miso is doing better! I have got to try that Quinoa Mac & Cheese. That sounds delicious.
It is amazing! If I wasn’t trying to lose weight, I think I would eat it every day of the week.
All your eats for the week sounds so delicious. I want to try each and everything you have listed there
and thanks for sharing the links.. So glad Miso is doing better!
Thank you! And yes, we are very glad Miso is doing better too. Such a relief!
your pizzas always look so good! I really need to get out and get a stone ASAP.
cute cat picture! I have to try the mexican chocolate smoothie soon
I’d love to try that dirty rice even if it didn’t come out perfect as you think
oh I want to try that green choco shake!
Happy to hear that your cat is doing better, what a great birthday present! And happy belated birthday by the way! The pie looks like a great way to celebrate!
Thank you! Yes, Miso being healthy and back to his old self is definitely the best birthday present I got this year.
You are going to kill cats with this post!! (Sorry, i couldn’t resist saying it. You totally know I’m kidding. That photo is hilarious.) And I didn’t know last week was your birthday! Happy Belated Birthday!!!!
Yup, people are going to start buying fancy bottles of lambic to feed to their cats and it will all be my fault. I am a terrible person. Thanks for the birthday wishes! We didn’t really celebrate until this weekend. Well, other than the pie and beer.
I’m SO glad Miso is okay now! I literally gasped out loud when I heard what the first vet said. Hugs for kitty!
Thank you! We are so glad too–and I’ve been giving him lots of hugs.
That Mexican Chocolate Breakfast Shake looks soooo good, but the bananas in it would give me heartburn something awful!
That photo of Miso is hilarious. I am SO glad you were able to determine what’s going on and he’s feeling better. Sounds like a traumatic few days.
Yeah, it was pretty draining–for me, for Chris, and for Miso too!
Your cats have so much personality – love that pic!
Great Photobomb! I’ve just discovered the joys of quinoa and kale (I’m a late bloomer) and can’t wait to try the mac & cheese!
It is so good! I want to make it again soon.