Animal Cruelty

I just really think some people are just cruel to their pets.  Take, for example, this poor soul.  Honestly, what self-respecting dog would allow his people to put this on him?  He looks totally depressed.

Yes, I know animal abuse is actually a serious thing, and I really do feel that being cruel to animals is wrong.  I just thought this hat was flippin' hilarious and had to share it with my readers. 

Ande's been stripping

our motorhome down to the chassis.  It's been a long process with several late nights and hard work involved, but he's pretty much got it down to where we need it to be.  Here's a few pics...

A few windows have been removed and a little bit of the aluminum siding as well

A view from the back

All of the windows and siding gone from the driver's side

If you sit on a kitchen chair while driving your motorhome around your yard, you might be a Redneck.

Most of the floor removed

Right down to the chassis

So, that's where we're at right now.  Just so you know how much I love my readers, I did NOT post the picture of Ande cleaning out the black water (sewage) tank.  Turns out the previous owners didn't empty it before selling it to us, and Ande didn't discover that little tidbit of info until he was ready to remove the tank.  Yeah, it was pretty gross.

As I mentioned before, we found a floor plan we liked, and had the opportunity to go check out the motorhome we are going to be modeling ours after.  It's pretty cool.  Here's a drawing of the floor plan:

We'll have to make a few adjustments to the design for the simple fact that we need more seat belts than this design has, but this is pretty much going to be it.

Oh, and all of this work has been done in our driveway and back yard.  Our neighbors must LOVE us.  LOL

Fresh mozzarella

No, seriously, have you ever tried this stuff?  It's freakin' AMAZING.  I bought some to make a recipe a couple of weeks ago, and have to admit, I will have a hard time eating just "regular" mozzarella anymore.  There are tons of different things you can make/do with fresh mozzarella.  Salads, sandwiches, pizza, lasagna, etc.  SO SO good. 

This is how good the cheese is - Ande doesn't even LIKE cheese, and he not only liked the recipe, he asked me to make it again the next week.  The best thing about the recipe is that it is the easiest thing EVER to make.

2 cups pasta sauce.  You can use canned stuff or make your own.  I used Prego "Traditional" and it tasted really good.
1 package fresh mozzarella balls, drained.  I found these in the deli section of my grocery store.  They come in a little tub like the one shown above.
1 clove garlic, minced.  I used a product I'd never tried before, Chef Garden ready to use minced garlic.  My sister in law used it while we were in Oklahoma, and I thought it was pretty good.  I was right.  It comes in a pretty big jar, which I found in my grocery store near the potatoes.  (Weird, huh?)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (about 1-2 tbsp)
1 package Honeysuckle Turkey Italian Meatballs.  (You could also just make your own meatballs, I just happen to like these ones)
Fresh basil, if desired.  Ande isn't a big fan of basil, so I left this out.

Pour sauce into shallow pan, add garlic and stir.  Add drained mozzarella balls and meatballs (I just lined them up in the sauce, didn't stir or anything)

Bake in 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and meatballs are heated through.  (This may take a little longer if you use frozen meatballs)

Drizzle olive oil over sauce and garnish with basil.

Serve with your favorite pasta.   (You could also make some killer meatball subs with this sauce)

It's pretty tasty and you can make it as easy or as complicated as you want!!

And it's getting bigger all the time

So...we've decided on a floorplan for the "new" motorhome...the good news is that we can re-use several appliances we salvaged from the original motorhome.  The bad news is that what we've decided to do will take a lot more time and money than we originally anticipated.  However, considering that right now we only have about $1000 invested in the RV (which is what we paid for it 2 years ago) and a new one with the floorplan we like is at least $64,000, we're off to a good start.  LOL

I'm very thankful that Ande can do all of the construction stuff pretty much by himself (meaning we shouldn't have to hire any of the work out) and I can sew the cushions and make the window coverings.  Our biggest expense will be constructing the "box", but there are plenty of things we can do while we're saving up for that.

Oh, and the toilet AND the shower are staying.  :)