I'm A Lucky Dog!

Last night, I fixed Baked Ziti, Caesar Salad and Garlic Bread. Yum! This baked ziti has provolone cheese as well as sour cream.  I normally would just add mozzarella cheese to it, so this was different and it was good.

½ lb dry ziti pasta
½ onion-chopped, ½ lb ground beef chuck
8 oz tomato sauce
4 slices provolone cheese
½ c sour cream
8 oz pkg shredded mozzarella cheese
(Cooking spray, 1 T grated parmesan)

Boil ziti until al dente, 7-8 min. In large skillet brown onion and ground beef. Add tomato sauce, simmer 15 min. Preheat oven to 350˚. Grease an 8x8" baking dish. Layer as follows: ½ of pasta, ½ meat sauce, provolone, sour cream, remaining pasta, remaining meat sauce, mozzarella cheese, and top with grated parmesan. Bake 30 min or until cheese is melted.

Baked Ziti  - look at all that cheese!

Here's Joey:

Why am I a lucky dog? Well, is started about a year ago when I met Teddy Palmer of Halfway Home Greyhound Adoptions.   I knew it was a big day because if she liked me, I was going to find a forever home. I guess I charmed her because she chose me and the next thing I knew, I was on her website and then my future Mama and Dad saw me and in less than a month I was in my new home. Teddy was my first Guardian Angel, but then I found out that everyone at Greyhound Companions of Missouri are my Guardian Angels.  They made sure I got the best care possible when I needed the surgeries on my leg.  They sent me a soft crate and an x-pen to use while I healed.  They were there for me and Mama the entire time.  They are still there for us even though we are miles from home. They read my blog and read what happened with my medicine and they are trying to come up with a better solution for us.  Mama was able to cancel the order she had placed because it had not yet been approved by the vet.  It sure is nice to have Guardian Angels.  Mama says she can't imagine a better group.  She knows that other groups don't do nearly as much.  You are never alone if you adopt from Greyhound Companions. They are always there to answer questions and support you, if you need it. Mama says we can never repay them for all they have done to help me.   If you click on their link, you will see photos of me and Scout.  Jack's photo still pops up from time to time.

Mama checked me again for corns.  She hasn't found any.  She has poked me, squeezed me and examined me.  She did order us some Glucosamine from Greyhound Gang.  She has heard good things about that company.  Thanks for all your comments and suggestions.  Hopefully, I am on back on the right track.

Mama, I want a treat!

Handle over the treats, woman!

Come on, you know you want to.

My charm works on Mama, too.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Has Guardian Angels Here On Earth

Day 61 - 105 - A New Record

We set a new record high for June 26.  It was 105. It was 97 by 11 a.m.  Mama had to check that on two sources because she didn't think that could be true.  Our air conditioners ran non-stop and were only able to keep it around 82-84 in here.  We have a fan that we use and that made it okay.  We didn't have the awning out yesterday due to possible storms. It does make a difference having it out, so even though there is a small chance of storms today, we have it out.  Mama will just have to take it down if storms pop up.  It was 99 at 8 p.m. The air was so still, so it was very stuffy.  Our living room air conditioner finally took a break around 9 p.m.  It's hot all over, so we are not complaining.  We are just reporting the conditions here.  LOL

Joey's unique sleeping position

Mama will not be doing her Emeals report today.  She did fix dinner last night, but she didn't eat it and she forgot to take pictures. She was very upset with my vet (surgeon).  He called last night at dinner time and she told him how the Previcox seems to be working. She had talked to him last week and he said he would give me a generic which is $4 for a 30 day supply.  Last night, he said I should just stay on the Previcox since that is working. Why mess with what is working?  Well, the Previcox is $75.  My budget for food, bones and toys is $75 a month.  Ack!  He told Mama that she can order it from the company that he gets it from and it is cheaper than online.  It is not.  It is $20 more.  He told Mama she could go to a vet here and he would send them a prescription.  She called two vets and they both refused to do that. Mama was crying when Dad came home. Dad told her she is silly for getting so upset, but she has been so worried about me and now the medicine is going to be $71 more than she expected. Dad told her to call Scout's vet.  He has only seen me once.  Mama said doesn't know if he will prescribe anything without see me.  He is very budget conscience though and she will take me to see him when we get back home.  She didn't want to push the other vet into giving me a generic if he didn't want to because he must have his reasons, right?  It is a human drug, but she knows several greyhounds that take it. She finally placed an order online, but the vet will have to approve that before it can be mailed to us. She ordered a 60 day supply in hopes that it lasts much longer than that and we will be back home when it's time to refill it.  She hopes it all goes smoothly.  If it doesn't, she will just take me to a vet here and hope they work with us.  It would have been so much easier to have the generic ordered at Walgreens.

Mama is going to check for corns again on my foot. She has looked at it so many times, but will check it out again.  Wouldn't it be something if it is not arthritis?   I am walking on the pavement now with just a hop or two and if I see a cat in my path, I walk really well.

Scout says it is so hot that her tongue has dried out.  LOL

Yep, that tongue is definitely dried out.

 It's going to be another day of just laying under the air conditioning vent today.  It's very hot at home today, too.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Petitioning To Have His Budget Increased

Day 45, Stormy Afternoon

Yesterday afternoon was very stormy.  Mama was nervous because reports said there were wind gusts that were up to 70 mph.  She asked me if I thought Goldie could handle that.  How the heck am I supposed to know?   Mama was amazed that the local stations didn't report on the warnings.  At home, they put a ticker at the bottom telling you about it and then they break in and tell you about it.  Sometimes they are on the air for hours.  She tuned into the Weather Channel because that is the only place that was reporting it.  There was a warning for us.  We had a lot of lightning, thunder and rain.  Lots of rain.  We did not have the wind though. We were so happy about that.  Scout was a little scared and left the comfort of the bedroom and laid on the couch next to Mama.  I wasn't scared.  I played with my toys.   It was so loud in here with the rain pounding on us.  Mama turned the AC blowers on to try and drown out the noise.  She called Dad to tell him to get ready for the storm at work.  It was about time for him to leave and she told him it was going to get bad.  He misunderstood and didn't realize we had already had the worse of the storm here.  He was very concerned when the storm hit his area because he did have the full force of the wind.  He said trees were down all over along with billboards along the road.  He said that all the campers were standing at the RV sales places that he passed, so I guess they can stand up to really high winds.  Dad didn't get home until about 8:15 p.m.

We ended up having about 3" of rain here.  Some of the sites flooded.  People had to move their cars.  Our site was fine.  It's a good thing we didn't have our awning out.  LOL  The whole place is a soggy mess today and we might have more storms this afternoon.    Mama says we will be fine though.  She is always nervous with storms.  She was alone a lot as a child and went through several bad storms by herself and she thinks that is why she gets so nervous.  Maybe she is scared because the weather people at home made her scared by reporting on storms constantly.  It doesn't seem like it's a big deal here.

We have a bonus for you today.  Mama made a dessert yesterday and it is so easy and good.  It is called Magic Peach Cobbler.

1 stick butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. milk
1 3/4 c. sliced peaches, use juice and all 

1/2 c. sugar for topping

Melt butter in a 9x15 pan. Mix sugar, flour, baking powder and milk and pour this mixture over the butter - don't stir.  Add peaches on top of this.  Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes or brown on top.
It tastes great served warm with whipped topping or ice cream.

Magic Peach Cobble

 Mama realized that she used her only casserole dish for the peach cobbler, so she couldn't fix what she had planned for dinner. She had to fix something in the electric skilled instead.  She chose a recipe from her Campbell's Kitchen Recipe Collection.  This is one of her favorite cookbooks and the only cookbook that she brought with us.  The recipes are so easy to make and they are good.

She made Cheeseburger Pasta. Recipe and picture taken from Allrecipes.com

Cheeseburger Pasta - photo from Allrecipes.com

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
• 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Tomato Soup (Regular, Healthy Request® or 25% Less Sodium)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 cups uncooked medium shell-shaped pasta

Preparation

Cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until it's well browned, stirring often to separate meat. Pour off any fat.

Stir the soups, water and pasta in the skillet and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 10 minutes or until the pasta is tender, stirring often.   

Mama usually has to cook it for much longer than the 10 minutes because the pasta needs to cook.  She likes to add mushrooms to it as well as Parmesan cheese, but we didn't have those last night.

Tonight, we are having a ham and asparagus casserole.  We will report back tomorrow on how good it is.  Next week's recipes from Emeals look really good according to Mama.

Joey,

The Greyhound Who Is NOT Scared Of Storms

Day 27, Another Bad Hair Day

We are having another windy day and due to the wind and the high humidity this morning, our forecast is for a bad hair day. Mama walked to the laundry room and when she came back, you should have seen her hair!  She kind of looked like the cartoon that they use on the news when they show the "Hair Day Meter".

We are having a very lazy day today, so there is not much to report.

I rearranged my bed today.  

Scout is starting to like Mama and Dad's bed too much. She wants to sleep there all the time now.

I got Mama up at 2 a.m.  She was not happy with me.  She thought I was just bored, but I wasn't.  I think she felt bad after she saw I really needed to go.

Last night, Mama fixed a pork roast in the crock pot aka slow cooker.  She heated up Bob Evans Mashed Potatoes (pre-packaged) and corn.  It was a pretty good dinner.   Tonight, she is fixing chicken pot pie from her Emeals menu.

Tomorrow, she needs to go grocery shopping.  She does not like shopping here because the cashiers seem to move in slow motion.  It takes so long to get through the line.  She is going to go early in the morning in hopes that there are less people there.   After she gets back from grocery shopping, she hopes to stop at a vacuum store that she called today. They said they have the part that we need for our SpotBot.  She wants to clean the carpet, but we left an important part at home.  Then, the folks are going to do some sightseeing.  I guess Scout and I will just stay home and watch the world from our windows.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Knows How To Fluff A Bed

Day 26, Wind Advisory - Bad Hair Day

We have a wind advisory for today. It should be interesting to see how much Goldie sways today.  The good thing is that we are not traveling in Goldie.  It is not fun traveling in a RV when the wind is strong.  The news has a hair meter and today is a "Bad Hair Day". They said that hats wouldn't help because they will just fly off your head.

We thought the park was filling up with holiday campers yesterday, but two of the campers next to us pulled out this morning.  I bet we will have new campers pulling in today or tomorrow.  It's always interesting meeting our new neighbors.

Last night, we went out for our evening walk and we met the people who live across the lake. They have a very nice motor home.  The lady bent down to pet me and spilled wine all over me.  The good thing is that it was white wine.  Can you imagine if I would have been stained with red wine?  She was a nice lady. She was wearing some sort a furry long thing in her hair or on her clothes and I grabbed it.  She didn't get mad, but she kept waving it in front of me while she petted Scout.  It was hard to resist.  She really liked Scout, of course.  Everyone thinks that Scout is the sweetest thing.  If they lived with her, they would see that she can be bossy.

Scout is feeling better now. Mama thought I had what Scout had, but I think it might have been from taking all the medicine for my leg.  I'm better today.  Scout didn't want to go to sleep last night.  Mama had to take her on two long walks after 10 p.m.  Mama was not happy about that, but we both slept all night, so that was good. 

What am I looking at?

It's a black cat in the woods.  Not a very good photo, but it moved fast when it saw the camera.

No pictures of last night's dinner.  It was good, but probably did not look appetizing.  Mama put stew meat in the crock pot and covered it with onion soup mix and cream of mushroom soup and let it cook for about 6 hours.  She then boiled noodles and added those to the beef.  They also had garlic bread.  They were supposed to have green beans, but Mama forgot they were in the microwave until she was in bed last night.  Tonight, they are having a pork roast, mashed potatoes, corn and garlic bread.  Mama said the Emeals menu for next week looks really good.  She really likes food too much.  Scout takes after her, I think.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Was Bathed In Wine

Day 19, It's Getting Hot

We've been having some really nice weather here in Texas, but now the temperatures are heating up. We will make limited trips outside today. Last night, Mama made the Ham, Caramelized Onions and Cheese Panini for dinner. She said it was really good. She made a sauce of Dijon mustard, horseradish and honey for the ham. The bread was buttered and then heated in a skillet until it was golden brown and the Swiss cheese melted on the ham. Mama had never caramelized onions before, but that is the nice thing about Emeals because they give instructions on how to do things. She has learned a lot of cooking techniques since she started using them. She used to not know how to make gravy, if you can believe that. Sometimes the meals take a while to prepare and would be hard for people working outside the home, but Mama has the time to cook and she likes it. Tonight, we are having a Mexican casserole for dinner. Mama loves Mexican food, so she is looking forward to it.

Mama met the neighbor who lives next to us. She has a three-legged Irish Setter named Gus. Gus shattered his front leg about a year ago when he jumped from their fifth wheel instead of taking the steps. He is 8. His Mom decided to amputate his leg instead of putting him to sleep. He gets around well, but his stamina still needs improvement. It looks exhausting watching him hop around. They have been here for 6 months and will probably be a year more.  She is a nurse and works nearby. Mama asked the neighbor if she minded if we hung our hummingbird feeder from a tree that is more on her property than on ours. She said that was fine with her. We can now view it from inside our RV, so that's nice.

We sat outside this morning. Scout even joined us. We took a quick walk around the lake and then we headed into the air conditioning. Here are a few photos from this morning.

Come on, let's do something.  I'm bored.

A squirrel!

Ducks!

Scout says "Okay, I'm done, let's go back inside."

Posing next to the Texas star.

Have a great day!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Keeping Cool Inside Today