G is for lots of Great Greens & Grub...and for Grrrrr!

***Note: This post took FOREVER to get uploaded. I don't know why. There were supposed to be 3 videos on here as well, but they never finished processing, even aftet I left the camera in all night to let it do its thang. Ah well. Here it is, kind of all over the place, but I'm through trying to edit this one for now. Frustrated. Grrrrrrrrrr!"***

G is for Green Beans---
Steamed until tender, because it is easier on an elder dog's tummy. (I can lose myself in Shirley's big, soft brown eyes. :-)
G is also for Ginger. I love this stuff. Crystallized ginger is so yummy. I always have some on hand. That slight spicy sweet bite is addictive. Fresh ginger I use to boil for tea (Suz, boil some and add honey...it will kick all the germs' butts!!!) or to add to dishes. Ed always comments that my fresh ginger looks like a piece of poop just hangin' out on the counter top. Nice, huh?

G is for garlic in our house. And lots of it. We. LOVE. Garlic. I use it in everything, raw or cooked. Love to mix raw garlic paste with yogurt, mint, black pepper, and lemon juice. Makes the BEST dip in the world. I smear it on everything. (My garlic pictures didn't make it in the uploads. Grrrr.)

Shirley: “Every night with dinner, we get a glucosamine tablet. Just like the fish pirrs I told you about last week, mama gives one to me, one for my sis Laverney, one for my bestest brother Milo Bear, one for papa, and one for mama! Papa is the sous chef and “preps” our dinner bowls for mama. That means he chops up our glucosamine and mixes it in with our kibble. Mama says it digests better that way. Fish pirrs and glucosamine have made me and my sister feel a lot better. We didn’t feel or look too great when we first arrived in our forever home. Now I’m the prettiest Golden Girl in the whole widest world!”

Dinner with homemade "mix-ins"....I think I made the best batch I've ever made for the babies. Dog food is pretty expensive, so I make homemade batches of their wet food with complex carbs and lean proteins that I add to their commerical kibble. A giant 8 quart stock pot costs me about $30 to make (counting all the ingredients, not the time I spend making it) and it lasts about a month. Compare that with a can of food at about $2 per can, that only lasts a day, and I not only have enormous savings, but a much healthier option for them.

I portion it out into containers and freeze them. Makes life so much easier for me, especially with 3 dogs, 1 bird, 1 husband, and a full time job. :-)

Milo, Laverne & Shirley: “Our mama is keen on sumfin she calls “roughage.” Sometimes she calls them “greens.” She runs around after us and papa making sure ALL of us get plenty of it. We gets rots and rots of dericious green beans. Sometimes they are steamed and we just nom nom nom on them plain."

"Other times, mama adds it to our yummy food. Once a month she makes a giant pot of the good stuff for us. We get chicken, celery, carrots, parsley, peas, and green beans in there. It sits on the stove simmering for HOURS and HOURS and the whole house smells yummo. This weekend she even added lamb and “g”arbanzo beans! Then she mixes it all up with our kibble. Please join us for dinner sometime. We will share our green beans with you!”

G is for Granny Smith apples, our favorite. And that means mine, the pups, and Captain Morgan.

Gingers Snaps, too. There were supposed to be videos here of Milo enjoying his day's ginger snaps and of Laverne & Shirley running off with their Grannys, but those videos will have to wait for now.

Captain Morgan: “I like green grapes, but red ones will do as well. I prefer them peeled and sliced in half. Because I’m special that way. So, what's it to ya? That mommy lady (the stingy one) also prefers green grapes (must she compete with me over everything?) and we are also big fans of Granny Smith apples. It is our favorite type of apple. She gives them to the four legged furry fat ones also, but she makes sure to feed me a slice. Or two. I make her peel the apple for me too. Again, it is because I’m special that way. Have you noticed I'm a very handsome "g"reen fella? This whole post should be dedicated to ME and my favorite foods. But, of course, I am once again usurped by the Gaggling Gang of Golden Gremlins. Sheesh."

"Now go away. I'm concentrating on my Green Grape."

Please see Jen over at http://unglazed.blogspot.com/ and check out the wonderful things other Bloggers have done with the letter G this A to Z Monday. I 'g'uarantee their posts will be better than this hodgepodge of mine. Have a 'g'reat week!!!! :-)