What About Bob Ka-Bobs?

We watched this last night with our Ka-Bobs and I hadn't seen this movie, probably since the 90's. I remembered it as a silly comedy, which it is, but I didn't remember how hysterical it is! I enjoyed myself so much last night with this movie, and Bill Murray always cracks me up. It's a perfect summer movie, nostalgia movie, and family movie.

Bill Murray plays Bob, a neurotic guy who's anxieties get the best of him sometimes. He found a doctor who can help him, but refuses to because he's on vacation. Bob tracks him down and becomes a persistent annoyance to Dr. Marvin, but an absolute delight to his family and anyone else he comes in contact with. The irony is, Bob improves while Dr. Leo self-destructs. Bob credits his growth to the genius of Dr. Leo Marvin, while Dr. Marvin credits his degradation to Bob. When really we watch these men step by step create their own fates. Very existential for a sweet little 90's comedy.

From 1991, What About Bob?

"Is this some radical new therapy?"

"I'm sailing... I'm sailing!!!"

"Hi, i'm Bob. Would you knock me out please? Just hit me in the face."

"What if I'm looking for a bathroom, I can't find one, and my bladder explodes?"

What about Bob Ka-Bobs?

It's a summer movie, and kabobs are very summer AND it's Father's Day! A big grilling day, perfect for dad to throw on the grill.

Here's what I used on my Ka-Bobs

Tofu

Tempeh

Jalapeno pepper

Onion

Mushrooms

Tomato

Pineapple

Here's the marinade

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup pineapple juice

3 TB maple syrup

juice of one lime

2 TB grated ginger

2 cloves of garlic

Put your skewer items in the marinade for a couple of hours in the fridge, put them on your skewers, then grill. I don't have a grill, so I just cooked them in a pan and put them on the skewers after I cooked them.

I served them over coconut arborio rice.

1 cup arborio rice

1 cup water

1 can coconut milk

1/2 tsp salt

Add water, salt and half of the coconut milk to a pot and bring to a boil, add rice and simmer until absorbed. then add the rest of the coconut milk simmer for about a minute or 2.

I topped the Ka-Bobs with a simple teriyaki glaze.

about 1/2 cup soy sauce

about 1/4 cup brown sugar

about 2 TB maple syrup

stir the ingredients and heat on medium in a sauce pan until reduced to a glaze. Drizzle over top of the Ka-Bobs.

This recipe serves about 2 hungry people.

My Life As A Dog- Doggie Dinner and Treats!

This film is a gem and if you take only one recommendation from me, let it be this one. It is one of the most charming and heart-warming films I have ever seen and it's one of my favorites of all time. It is a Swedish film by Lasse Hallstrom, set in 1959. It is a coming of age story about a special, quirky little boy who has to cope with his mother's illness and being sent off and passed around. The boy, Ingemar, puts his life into perspective by giving us examples of how it could be worse. One of these examples is a dog who was sent into space and never returned. This paired with his own beloved dog being left behind, gives the boy a perspective of how dogs are treated by people, sent off or abandoned, and he can relate too well. The boy in this film is utterly adorable and he will melt your heart! Currently streaming on Netflix, from 1985, My Life As A Dog/Mitt Liv Som Hund... (In the critereon collection)

"And what about Laika, the space dog? They put her in Sputnik and sent her into space... It's important to have something like that to compare things to."
For the menu pairing of this movie, I decided to make it all about vegan dogs! I have just recently became a dog Mamma by surprise. I guess it's kinda like an accidental pregnancy. This guy just showed up at our doorstep one day. We had no intention of adopting a dog, we already have 3 cats, it just wasn't an option. I walked around the neighborhood for a long time, a couple of hours, asking people if they knew him, taking breaks to make phone calls to see if anyone would let him sleep over just for the night, possibly longer. Well, no luck there. Looks like the guy had to stay in my bedroom for the night. I carried him in trying to freak out my cats as little as possible. Gave him a bath, then we went to bed. Thank goodness he was housebroken!!!

We had a lot of drama after that, rescue groups were full, nobody we knew was willing to foster, and my cats were freaking out. We advertised to find out if anyone was looking for him and no luck there. To make a long story short, there was a city shelter involved, there was drama, and before we knew it, our cats were getting along with him (more like tolerating him), and we were the new proud parents of this sweet dog. We named him Henry, and we are so glad that he chose us to be his family. He brings us such joy, he makes us laugh all of the time and now we can't imagine our lives without him.

We are new to this and I'm not an expert on the particulars, but one thing I'm certain about is, yes, dogs can be vegan. So we are trying out vegan kibble, but we really want most of his diet to be food that we cook ourselves, with some supplementation, like vegedog. Here is a free online book about a vegan food lifestyle for a doggie. of course always check with your vet when starting a new diet. Sometimes though, vets just want to push a certain type of food that their office carries (just like a doctor for humans who pushes a certain brand of meds). And some will be against a vegan diet. In either of these cases, get a different vet. Just like any profession, there are good ones and there are bad ones. My sister happens to be one of the very good vets out there, even though she'll probably be mad at me for making this post without consulting her first ;) here is a list of foods that dogs absolutely CANNOT eat! Also on that site are some great treat recipes.

Henry says- "There is no such thing as a responsible breeder when 6-8 million dogs and cats enter U.S. shelters every year and more than half of them end up killed because they no longer have room for them. The average age of animals entering shelters is under 18 months and 20-30% are purebred. And contrary to a popular belief, the vast majority of shelter animals were NOT abused. Most commonly, these animals were abandoned by their families who didn't want them anymore.

Although I don't understand why people don't want dogs like me, just because we are mixed, there are also rescue groups for every breed. There is no reason you can't find exactly what you are looking for without the use of a breeder or petshop. There is absolutely no excuse, don't buy while shelter animals die." ~ Henry

Here is a dinner that I made for Henry on our "My Life As A Dog night." It is barley, baked tofu, korean sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach and some safflower oil...

Look... He likes it!!! That's my vegan boy!!! He's good at portion control though, he didn't eat the whole thing, that would've been too much.

For dessert I made some heart-shaped peanut butter biscuits...

And he likes the biscuits too!!!

CineGrub Movie Contest!

I thought I'd start off the month of June with a contest for my followers! I'm sure many of you are thinking of what movies you would choose for a CineGrub night. Well, here's your chance! Each of my followers get to nominate one movie. When nominations close, I will then open up a poll so everybody can vote (honors system, no voting for your own movie). I will create recipe(s) for the winning movie and make a post for them toward the end of the month. The winner also has the option of telling me what they want the menu to be. If you don't want to take it that far, you can just leave it all in my hands. Aside from the satisfaction of winning, the winner will also receive a small piece of art inspired by the film, created by yours truly.

The Rules:

- Nominations are restricted to only public followers of Vegan Cinegrub. Shouldn't be a problem if you would like to participate, just hit the follow button, anyone is welcome.

- Only one nomination per person

- Choose one movie other than your own to vote for (when polls open).

Leave your nomination in the comment section below, I will let everyone know when nominations are about to close. Then I'll open up the polls! If this is a success and gets lots of positive feedback, I'll do this contest every month! Good Luck!