Bacon Dog Biscuits
Yields 40 cookies

5 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup milk
2 eggs
10 tablespoons vegetable oil or bacon fat
1 pinch onion or garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold water
1 tablespoon vegetable oil to grease pan

1.  Preheat oven to 350˚.  Grease cookie sheets.

2.  Mix all ingredients well.  Pinch off pieces of the dough and roll them into two-inch balls.

3.  Bake biscuits for 35 to 40 minutes.  Let them cool, then store in an airtight container.

Are my posts getting sporadic or what? Geez!  Still not really hanging out much on the computer, which is always a good thing for me and the family, so I'm not trying to feel too badly about being on much - my online life seems to ebb and flow at times.

So what has been happening around here? Not too terribly much, just the same routine for the most part.  Lance Jr had another follow up appointment last week for his arm, and its coming along.  Last week I was really concerned about the way it is healing, but his doctor assured me that his arm is right on track, and his arm will correct itself in regards to how "bent" it is.  He said that he may always be able to feel a slight bend in his arm where the break was, and that is common.  There is a lot of new bone growth and his arm is really stable, and so he said he would have almost suggested to go ahead and take the brace off now, but he saw how concerned I was in regards to how it was coming along.  In two weeks time, the doctor said, we could take his brace off permanently and have another follow up in a month.  Over the past few days, however, we have been taking Lance's brace off in the evenings for him to get comfortable without the support and work on his mobility, and he just looooves his newfound freedom! He even took a shower all by himself finally, woohoo! He wants to keep his brace off all the time and he acts as if he never even broke his arm, but I'm still going to make him wear it at school, at least for the remainder of this week.

What else?  The weather has been crappy forever now - thats what I get for living in Washington.  We haven't really gone anywhere, both for the weather's sake and for my wallet's sake.  We got our taxes done last week, which was a huge weight off my shoulders, and now we are going to get caught up on bills and reevaluate our spending habits and try to start saving more.  We are in our thirties now... time to be grown ups!

I have started cross stitching again, and old hobby of mine that I pick up and put away here and there (one reason I'm not on the computer as much lately!). I bought a van Gogh pattern from Etsy (pic and link below), and I'm hoping to have this finished by Christmas and give it to Lance as a gift - its a huge pattern!  He really likes this painting (a big deal for a man who doesn't like art), and I thought that would be a very thoughtful homemade gift. Good thing he doesn't really read my blog - I don't have to worry about the gift spoiler :) Alex was really interested in learning to cross stitch, so Big Lance went and bought her her own loop and a cute, easy pattern, and she is just zooming right along!

van Gogh Starry Night pattern

Alex's monkey pattern

And finally - the reason for my off-color post title.  My husband has found a new love in his life.  She has stolen him away from me, and he spends all of his free time with her these days, and the kids are even smitten with this new lady.  Heck, I think she's pretty sexy myself.

Her name is Stella.




I stole these pics from Lance's FB page - I'm not one to take a picture of the "Hemi" logo on the hood.  Thats a man-thing, for sure.  We really needed a second vehicle but have been waiting to get one for a while, and it was finally time to bite the bullet.  Lance did his homework and figured out what he wanted and looked long and hard for a great deal.  Its an '09 Dodge Challenger, and he was able to get a nearly top-of-the-line model buying it used.  We've bought one car brand-spanking-new once, and though I loved that car, I don't think we'll ever buy brand new again - its just not worth it.

Anyways, needless to say, its a 6-speed, and I'm sure I don't have to tell you that I don't know how to drive a dang stick shift!  As I said earlier, the weather has been atrocious, so we've been waiting for a decent time to take me out to learn to drive it (on a side note, the weather did not stop Lance and his buddies from all washing, waxing, and detailing their new cars in the horrid weather... lol).  Monday night we went to the parking lot of a city park, and it was interesting, hehe.  I only stalled out once, but I still don't have the balance of the clutch/gas down quite yet.  I got a teensy weensy taste of the power of this beast of a car, and I can't wait to finally be able to drive Stella.

Well, that's whats been going on around here! Time to top off my coffee and finally get ready for work!

I'm so excited to share a recipe with you, its been so long!  And, be warned - this one is so fabulous, you'll make it over and over again.  Seriously.  We just tried this on Friday for the first time, and I have already made this twice!


As I said, I made this dish (which I found on TastyKitchen a while back) on Friday and made it as directed - as a pasta dish.  I know, I know, the picture below isn't very pasta-y, but we'll get to that.  I was very, very hesitant about making this sauce because of how incredibly calorie and fat laden this dish is, but I forced myself to push those thoughts away.  Once we tasted the sauce, however..... all thoughts of keeping my heart healthy just flew out the window! Words just can't even describe how rich and decadent this sauce is! Lance kept sneaking in the kitchen to taste it, and he kept saying that this was most definitely a restaurant worthy sauce.  He grilled chicken and we served it over penne.... and the rest of the night we were groaning in misery because we ate way too much.




Over the weekend, I also had in mind that I really wanted to try to make a great Philly cheesesteak sandwich.  Lance for years and years has been bragging about this amazing Philly he had down in Key West.  It was the cheese sauce that made it out of this world, he keeps recounting, and it is one of his life's goals to recreate it.  Lance thought that using this alfredo sauce would work, and so we gave it a try.  I made the sauce exactly the same (just halved the recipe), and Lance cut up a roast really thin and sautéed it along with mushrooms.  Again, I cannot give this dish high enough praise - it was utterly amazing!  Perhaps you may want to substitute half of the parmesan for a white cheddar cheese - I asked Lance if I should do that for next time, but he refuses to "mess with perfection."

It was pretty perfect.  Promise.




Bella Alfredo
Serves 6 (generously!)

1 quart heavy cream
1 stick butter
4 ounces cream cheese
16 ounces fresh parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 ounces dry white wine
1 package baby bella mushrooms
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 whole onion, thinly sliced
1 package penne pasta, cooked
grilled chicken, shrimp, etc., to taste

1.  Prepare pasta according to box directions.

2.  In a large skillet, saute onion and mushrooms in olive oil and wine until the mushrooms are stout and onions begin to caramelize.  Let simmer until ready to add to the sauce.

3.  In a large saucepan, add butter and cream cheese.  Melt together on medium heat, using a whisk to incorporate.  Once that has melted, add the heavy cream and seasoning and bring to a simmer.  Add the parmesan cheese, reduce heat to medium-low, and stir regularly until the cheese is blended with the sauce and it begins to thicken.  Mix in the mushrooms and onions.

4.  Serve over penne pasta alone, or with grilled chicken, shrimp, or other meat.  Enjoy!

Needless to say I ended up taking a computer hiatus for a bit. No particular reason, just sometimes being online too frequently makes me feel so out of touch with real life and burnt out in online life, so I just have to step away for a bit.  Like a vacation :)

Anyhow, here's a quick recap of what we've been up to!

Lance and his brace after bath time.  He's been into styling his hair lately :)

Lance's arm is coming along, I suppose.  I wish I felt a bit more confident in the way its healing, but I have to admit I have my concerns.  He is wearing a brace now, so I am able to take it off when need be, and I've noticed that when I do take it off of him for brief bath times, you can clearly see where the break in his arm is.  His arm isn't set as straight as it needs to be, and you can see and feel a lump at the break.  Tomorrow we have another follow up and X-rays, and Big Lance is sneaking out of work to tag along with me so he can listen in on what the doctor has to say.  It may be time to ask for a second opinion if I still feel unconfident - here's hoping!

Suki and Lance enjoying an amazing day at the park while the kids are off playing

The weather here has been all over the place! A few weeks back it was snowing like crazy, shutting the schools down for the entire week.  Last week was outrageously gorgeous and felt like spring was here, and we took advantage of it as much as we could - trying to go on walks a lot, visit a few parks we've never been to, and get the dogs out of the house as well.  This week we are back to reality - gloomy skies, drizzling rain and quite chilly.  Ah well.

We haven't really done much worth writing about otherwise, just our normal routine here.  We've seen some movies (most recently The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - time to read the series!).  This past weekend we went to a rock and gem show held in town, and the kids spent a bit of their allowance buying a few things for their collections (Alex has been collecting rocks since she was about 4 or 5, and Lance almost as long).  Apparently there is a kids' rock club in town, so I'm going to look into that.

Speaking of "looking into," I've been wanting to sign the kids up for various things, but keep getting held back.  Baseball and softball tryouts are soon, and Alex is wishy-washy over whether she wants to give it a try finally, and of course Lance just had to break his arm.  I'm not sure that signing up for baseball is the wisest idea :P  Swimming lessons go on year-round it seems, and I didn't sign Alex up this past session because I didn't want Lance to feel even more left out due to his injury.  I guess we'll learn more tomorrow about how his arm is coming along, and when thing should be going back to normal.

So - there you have it.  A pretty boring rundown about what we've been up to - or better yet, not really been up to :)  I think I'll be back to posting more regularly now - I miss writing to you guys!