The Heartbeat at My Feet: A Furry, Four-Legged Love Story

It's Valentine's Day, might as well write a mushy ass post... 

Whether you know me in real life, from the ppk or just from the blogosphere, it's no secret that I love my little vegan dog more than anything or anyone in this world. Every day is an adventure with her and the unconditional love she gives is like no love another person can give. Here is our story....

Almost 2 years ago I was volunteering at a no-kill shelter and a girl I worked with found this adorable little Chihuahua mutt with a sick ass underbite roaming around a park in Quincy. She brought the dog home and was never able to find her parents so she kept her. Then it came time for her to leave for college and she obviously couldn't bring the dog with her and unfortunately(for her, not for me) she couldn't leave the dog at home with her family because she didn't get along that great with the other dog in the house. I heard her story and immediately offered to either adopt her or if the boyfriend I had (and was living with) at the time wouldn't let me, I could bring her to the shelter with no fear of her being put down. The girl brought the dog to the office so I could meet her. It was love at first sight, she had to be mine. I sent a picture of her to Jeremy and asked if we could keep her. Based on the few shitty picture texts I sent him, he said yes immediately. The thing was, we were living with his dad and already had 2 other dogs. We decided to tell him a little white lie, that we were temporarily short term fostering her until the shelter had room for her. The very next day we took her to get a name tag, food and toys, as soon as his dad saw it he knew we had no intentions of giving her up. Luckily for us, he was cool with it. She became our daughter that day and even though we aren't together anymore (we are still best friends) she is still our daughter and we both love her as unconditionally as she loves us. We have no idea exactly what mutt blend she is, except for the obvious Chihuahua in her or how old she is but it doesn't matter. The love and joy she has brought to both of us actually has me tearing up a little right now. (I know right, I actually have emotions?!) Even though she doesn't see him everyday anymore (I got custody in the split), as soon as I say, "Where's Daddy?" or "go get Daddy" her ears perk up, she starts wagging her tail and runs to the door to wait for him.

She is such an amazing little creature... She gives hugs on command, stands up and walks for treats, gives kisses even when you don't ask for them, sleeps in the crook of my arm under the covers every night with me and eats her vegetables with a wagging tail. In fact, I have never met a dog that loves vegetables, especially green ones more than her! Kale, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, beets and dried pineapple rings are her favorite things. I feed her Natural Balance Vegan Formula supplemented with VegeDog products and make batches of homemade wet food for her with rice, beans, steamed and/or pureed veggies. Half of the time she eats better than I do!

She is even learning Spanish! One of my best friend's, Jorge, is her "tio" (Spanish for uncle) and just as she knows "daddy" when I say "Donde esta tio?" she gets so excited! Seeing her reaction when her tio or dad walk into my apartment is priceless every single time. If it's been too long since she has seen either of them she will even let out a few little cries of happiness. It melts my icy black heart.

In the spirit of the "holiday" I hate the most, I decided to give my little baby some Vday love and make her pink pupcakes! But, before I get to the recipe, check out a few of the thousands (literally) of photos I have of her...

Hiding in a tree

Mother Daughter love

Gizmo and Gramps

Going for a ride!

Gizmo and Daddy

Gizmo and my nephew. I swear we did not coordinate their outfits!

Happy Easter

Tired rainy day

Gizmo loves her car seat!

Her favorite pitbull

We did the MSPCA walk

Gizmo and her Daddy

One morning I woke up to her laying like this on my arm. 

Okay now that I have relived some amazing memories going through these photos and killed you with the adorableness that is Gizmo, let's move onto the pupcakes shall we?

Pink Vegan Beet Pupcakes

2 cups oat flour

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking pwder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup of canned sliced beets with the beet water

1/2 cup veggie broth

Pink food dye. I didnt measure, but not a lot. 

3 tblspns oil. I use olive. 

• Preheat to 350 and lightly spray mini muffin pan with cooking spray
• 
  
• Puree the beets with the liquid, then mix with veg broth oil. 
• 
  
• Mix wet and dry ingredients with whisk until combined. 
•  
• Pour 1 tblspn of batter into mini muffin reservoirs. Bake about 10-12 minutes until toothpick comes out dry. 

Makes about 36 mini muffins.  

This recipe is something I randomly came up with tonight. Gizmo loved them as is but I think next time I will play around with them a little more by leaving out the food dye, adding parsley and carob chips. Or maybe making a carob frosting? Who knows! The possibilities are endless!