B is for...

Let's kick this post off with a bit of an explanation regarding our weekly poems. Angel Sammy's Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge takes place on, of course, Thursdays. We always participate in this fun challenge, and we will continue to do so in April. That being said, just for the month of April, we'll be sharing our weekly poems and their accompanying illustrations on Sundays instead of Thursdays. This is simply because the April A to Z Challenge takes place every day except Sundays, and so to make things easy and simple that's the day that we'll share our weekly poem and its doodle during the month of April. So, if you'd like to see our Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge poem and illustration, visit us on Sunday!

Okay, now we'll move on to today's A to Z Challenge contribution.

As we've mentioned before, our theme for the A to Z Challenge is "A Day at Rosie's Restaurant". We're currently sharing some of the breakfast foods on the menu at my calico angel Rosie's restaurant. Yesterday, Rosie shared her apple turnovers for the letter A. Today, for the letter B, Rosie has some tasty breakfast burritos.

Help yourself to a breakfast burrito, or two! They're stuffed with beans, eggs, cheese, and anything and everything in between. Head on over to Rosie's Restaurant for a taste!

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As is the case every Thankful Thursday, Thimble will now share some of the things for which she's grateful.

Thimble is thankful for lights and reflections on the ceilings and walls of the house. Those lights are just so fun to stare at and chase! This time around, Thimble caught sight of some fun reflections on the ceiling while she was getting a belly rub. Of course, a good ol' belly rub is yet another wonderful thing for which Thimble is grateful.

We're of course also thankful for all of you!

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Last but not least, we have for you the fill-in statements for tomorrow's Friendly Fill-Ins challenge. Ellen of 15andmeowing is the mastermind behind the first two, and I came up with the second two.

1. April is a good time to _________.

2. This time last year, _________.

3. I am determined to _________.

4. I have no intention of _________.

We'll see you tomorrow, friends!

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Tip of the Day

As we said yesterday, we're doing our best to make our tips throughout this month relate to our alphabetical doodles. Since today's item on Rosie's menu was the breakfast burrito, how about we have a little discussion on an ingredient common in burritos? We're referring to beans, such as black beans, lima beans, pinto beans, and so on and so forth. So, are these beans safe for kitties and pups? The answer is both yes and no. If the beans are prepared properly, and if they are fed only in moderation, beans can make for a relatively healthy treat for cats and dogs. After all, beans in general are a good source nutrients such as protein, fiber, antioxidants, vitamin B, and iron, just to name a few. Plain, cooked beans offered as a moderate treat can therefore provide some benefits to our furbabies. Then again, beans can also cause some increased flatulence even for our furbabies.

The above all being said, there are times when beans can do more harm than good to our furbabies. As we indicated above, plain, cooked beans are the way to go. Raw beans can potentially be dangerous, especially in the case of raw red kidney beans. What's more, don't feed your kitty or pup beans from a can, unless you are absolutely certain that it contains just plain beans. Many canned beans contain preservatives and lots of added ingredients that can be dangerous to furbabies. For example, beans with added salt, sugar, garlic, onion, extra fat, or other various ingredients can lead to a variety of health concerns for a cat or dog.

Beans can indeed be healthy as a small snack for a cat or dog. We didn't mention green beans above, but they're a great example of a healthy bean, as long as they are served plain and preferably cooked. Given the vast variety of other beans out there, though, if you have any doubts about offering them as a treat, consult your veterinarian.