Vegetarian Sloppy Joes and Kitty Feeding Frenzy

Last night was a strange night. There was a mood floating around the house that affected myself, my roommate, and our herd of cats. It wasn't a bad mood...just a mood...that made us all crazy. I couldn't stop giggling over the smallest things, and my cat Flow kept zooming around the house banking off walls, furniture, and us. Eventually, we all got hungry. Yes, I was hungry enough to cook something...it only took about 10 minutes in prep work though, so it was easy and I didn't expend a lot of effort. It was well worth it though. Last night I made Vegetarian Sloppy Joes. I used the recipe at this site, but instead of a pound of ground beef, I used Morning Star Farms Recipe Crumbles, and instead of a green pepper, I used a yellow bell pepper. It was delicious.


I started by "browning" the crumbles, onion, and bell pepper...just like you would ground beef. No need to thaw...I just pulled the bag right out of the freezer, put it straight into the skillet, and heated it till it was hot. If you do try this recipe, make sure to stir the crumble often, because they tend to stick to the bottom of the pan. After they were hot, I added the ketchup, brown sugar, garlic powder, and mustard.

Here is the end result. Don't they look FABULOUS?? They were pretty amazing. They tasted like sloppy joes. The only difference between these and joes made from meat was a slight texture thing. But that didn't really bother me. And the cheese is vegetarian as well...I checked the ingredients and there weren't any animal products in it. I must say, pre-packaged vegetarian food has come a LONG way in the last 10 years. I remember my very first experiences with vegetarian cheese or meat products. The cheese tasted like poop (yes, poop..) and "meat" patties were like cardboard in the shape of a burger. Now it's pretty darn amazing.

Ok, enough with my veg-friendly non-rant rant. Back to the subject of my crazy cats. I decided it was a good night to give them a treat (because I'm crazy after all), so I gave them canned food. They love the stuff. I made sure to call them all into the kitchen before I even opened the cans because I secretly get a kick out of their reactions. With five cats, it's hard to hear anything over the meows when they're all excited. Plus, it's hard to move when they're all circling your feet. I didn't think about that part. But in the end, it all worked out and everyone was happy. I was able to snap a photo:


See how Anna has her own dish? (In case you don't know who Anna is, she's the one with her own dish.) She had the same amount on her plate as all the others, so two servings for JUST her. AND she finished first and tried to steal from her neighbor's dish. Which prompted this photo:

We had to lock her in my roommate's room until the other cats were finished. I felt bad, because I'm sure she doesn't remember the treat, just the fact that I picked her up and threw her on the bed while the other cats got a treat....