Evan’s Birthday Present
I had a fun afternoon breaking in Evan’s birthday present (don’t worry, he told me to). The Vita-Mix, though it was given to me as my birthday present, is definitely for both of us. Evan is just as into food and living healthfully as I am (if not more?) and was equally as excited about our new power-house blender. So when it came time to decide on his birthday present, it was a no brainer. Another appliance we’ve had our wishful, hopeful eyes on since we started eating a vegan diet 9 months ago.
On that note, I introduce you to our new 9 tray, Excalibur dehydrator!
This thing is a beast and proudly consumes an entire corner of our kitchen counter. You’d think this would be a bad thing, but I love having it there as a constant and beautiful reminder of our commitment to treating our bodies well. This afternoon I dehydrated kale to eat with our dinner tonight. Our apartment smelled delicious for hours!
I destemmed the kale, broke into large pieces and tossed with olive oil, cumin, garlic powder, black pepper and a pinch of sea salt. I ended up with 3 trays like this one.
I dehydrated the kale at 118 degrees for about 6 hours. I could have gone another 1-2 hours but decided to pull them out anyway.
YUMMM. They were this beautiful, deep green color which was nonexistent when I used to torch kale in the oven at 400 degrees. There was so much flavor from the concentrated spices and preserved flavor and nutrients in the kale. No ketchup required. Just lovely!
I served the kale chips with our dinner which was honestly, kind of scraped together. We’re out of some essentials, so I worked with what we did have and it was a really delicious dinner. We had regular couscous cooked in vegetable broth and tossed with black beans with a side of roasted potatoes.
These were a fingerling, variety pack of potatoes that my mom bought in North Carolina. Somehow I ended up with them after our trip and tonight was a perfect time to roast them up. I loved the purple ones!
For dessert, I threw some rice milk, raw cacao, agave and ice into the Vita-Mix and made a little milkshake.
Now, Evan is studying for his last exam of the first class he had to take for his job, and I’m thinking about cleaning up the kitchen. Thinking is the key word. I can barely lift anything because my arms are so sore from yoga yesterday and the thought of doing dishes is making them ache. Meanwhile, I’m admiring my new Cali Bowls that I got for a whole 99 cents from one of Kath’s OpenSky coupons! They’re going to be used as HUGE salad bowls for sure (they hold 5 cups).
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Preparing Harvey for the Cat Dentist
Tomorrow morning we’re heading to a veterinary dental specialist with Harvey. He has a severe overbite which is causing his bottom left incisor to pierce a large hole into the roof of his mouth behind his top left incisor (yeah, ouch). He also has a laceration from one of his back molars that is doing the same thing.
This dental specialist is only in the Orlando area once a month, so this is a really important appointment. Harvey may have to have surgery tomorrow, depending on the Dr.’s prognosis. Gulp. I don’t know if I’m ready for that? Wish us luck…I’m trying to prepare for the worst.
Here’s a sweet photo of him to keep in your thoughts. Love him so much!
Be back tomorrow with an update.
Have you ever had to bring your pet to a specialist? Our regular vet mentioned braces (who knew?), a jaw extension, or teeth extractions as the various potential options for Harvey. None of them sound good to me, but if I had to choose, I hope they’ll just pull the teeth that are creating the problems. I was told he’d be able to eat dry food with no teeth at all, so I’m not too worried about him looking like an old, toothless man 
Have a great night and Tuesday morning!
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
A dehydrator is the next gadget on my list!
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Cats can get braces? Would have never guessed that…
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Ryan @ Greens for Good Reply:
December 15th, 2009 at 12:50 am
Uhh…yeah. Sounds expensive, right?
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Julie @savvyeats Reply:
December 15th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Yes! But based on your recent post, he doesn’t need them. Yay!
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Good luck, little Harvey!
That food dehydrator looks AWESOME! I have wanted a food dehydrator since I was, like, 5, and I saw the infomercial for the Ronco Electric Food Dehydrator. So much that you can do with that baby!
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Evan is one mighty lucky man! I wish I could be treated to an Excalibur! Keep us posted on what delicious eats you make from it.
Katie´s last blog ..Random shizzz.
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Asahi had his teeth all pulled and has no problem eating hard food.
Sweet Dehydrator!!
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They can pull the 2 teeth causing the problem; with the incisor gone, his tongue may hang out on the one side though. It looks cute and a little pitiful, but he’ll feel much better.
Chari´s last blog ..Stinky Running Clothes – problem solved!
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DEHYDRATOR FUN!
New SAHALE SNACKS giveaway, music, food + fitness – http://katiechangesforkatie.blogspot.com/
Happy TUESDAY!
Katie
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I won those Cali bowls too (same color, also)! I thought they would be more like mixing bowls, but “huge salad bowls” is exactly what I thought when I saw them too
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I have to take my cat to a Veterinary Cardiologist (she has Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy). She has to have little EKGs and Ultrasounds every so often to make sure her disease hasn’t progressed past the point of her comfort. Animal specialists surely are expensive, but I couldn’t not do all I could for her.
Good luck at the dentist!
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