bad batch

Note to those who'd like to hear more about Madrid and are disappointed with my hermit-like life that leads to me posting only dull day-to-day nonsense like what I'm about to talk about in this one: I'm changing my work hours/habits and so as to allow me to live up to my new resolution of getting out and exploring at least twice a week.

See the decision to divide my two days per week job into five mornings was fine when we were in San Juan because there was frankly nothing else to do in that small town so it was okay to put in extra hours. But here in Madrid it has gotten a bit out of hand, with me ending up working double what I should be and thus not having time to get out much and explore.

That is also because my other duties as the part-timer in the couple include the lion's share of daily housework (which in this huge place is quite a load) and the majority of cooking. I try and also do the production of food for the G so A doesn't have to work on that on the weekends very often (I'm nice, no?).

So, on to that topic! Lately I'd decided to switch up our usual dawg food formula after discovering the site of a holistic vet and reading her recommendations. I've decided to cut down on how much rice and pasta we give her and to instead use legumes and potato/sweet potato for the carb portion of her diet. I also bought some brewer's yeast and started adding a bit of it, some olive oil and some flax seed powder.

The batch before last, I made lentils, which she'd never had before. She didn't love it, but if we were sure to mix it well into the meat, she ate it. On Friday, I cooked up a new batch of pork and potatoes. There was some pulp left after Alain made melon juice for his mom (his parents spent a few days with us here last week). So I decided to pour a bit of that in before topping up with a dollop of green beans.

Well, little Miz Scarfer was not her usual lick-the-dish-till-it-shines self and was leaving food in her bowl, to our complete and utter shock. At first we thought it was because she simply wasn't hungry as her visiting grandparents were spoiling the heck out of her and feeding her copiously from their plates at every meal (no matter what we asked them, which was not to, of course). But we finally realized it was the watermelon. We are thankfully able to pick apart the 3 stratas of each meal and remove most of the melon gunk since we don't usually mix her food when we portion it into containers to freeze.

Also, to counteract any remaining watermelon taste/smell, last night I used the sardine grease that dripped down into the roasting pan when we broiled our dinner (sardines are one of the few fish I allow myself to eat) to coat some bits of bread to add to each of the meals in this batch. Dawg is Japanese to the core and loves her some fish!