Skinny Mashed Potatoes

Soooo, my dog has a tumor and my oven exploded.

Let me back up.  We discovered a lump on The Dog's neck on Sunday.  Actually, my MOM discovered it and I've felt guilty for not noticing it.  Although, even though it's the size of an extra large golf ball, she is quite, ahem, hefty, so it's hard to see unless she's standing just right.  Which is never, because she sleeps all day.  I digress.  I took her to the vet yesterday to have it checked out.  No diagnosis by just looking at it, of course, so I was given three recommendations, none of which are free.  Biopsy.  Blood tests.  Thyroid testing, which is completely unrelated, but because of her weight, was recommended.  I told them it was the bottomless trough she eats from that is most likely the culprit.   The first is the cheapest, if you can call $100 bucks cheap, but wouldn't really solve anything, other than possibly letting us know what it is or isn't.  Cancer would mean a surgery we could never afford.  And even if we could, if removing it didn't get it all, chemo is financially waaaay out of the question.  So, I brought her home and will keep my eye on her.  She's still eating normally and it's hard to tell if a dog who sleeps 23 1/2 hours a day is lethargic, so I'm hoping it's just some sort of harmless cyst.

Onto the exploding oven.  I had enchiladas baking last night and was standing at the counter making a salad.  The Girl was in the naughty corner screaming her face off and The Kid was on the floor, directly in front of the oven, coloring.  All of a sudden, there was a white light bright enough to make you think you were either goin' to God or havin' a seizure, coming from inside the oven.  The light was accompanied by a loud, electrical humming noise.  All I could do was stand there and stare.  I couldn't figure out where any of it was coming from because I was blind and having a seizure.  Then the light went away and the inside of the oven burst into flames.  Still, picture me just standing there like an idiot.  Then there was a pop and it was over.  I was afraid to touch the dang thing 'cause of the electricity noise it had made, but I knew I wanted to turn it off.  So I did.  And I'm still here, so it didn't electrocute me.  The first thing out of The Kid's mouth was how much it had scared him.  HIM?!?!  I'm still amazed I came through with dry undies!  I did realize, once I could see and hear again, that The Girl had finally shut up after 30 minutes of uncontrollable crying over a ripped coloring book page and the fact that I had colored Snow White's dress red instead of yellow.  Anyway, short story long, I'm pretty sure it was the heating element that caused the drama and it should be interesting trying to find a part for an oven that's 300 years old.  Okay, maybe that's not quite accurate, but it IS old.  Like 1940's - 50's old.  So we shall see.

ANYWAY, the point is, my oven died so we grilled tonight.  (Wow, that was a lot of side stuff just to get to a recipe, eh?)  To go with our steak, I made Lindsay's Skinny Mashed Potatoes, aka, pureed cauliflower.  Oh man was it good!  Now there is no way this carb whore will be givin' up potatoes anytime soon, but these would be good as a side dish any ol' time.  AND, The Kid ate FOUR helpings!!!!  The Girl wouldn't touch 'em, but she's going through a picky stage, so I don't count her.  Did I mention there's cheese and garlic involved?  The Dad and I were fighting over the last scoop in the dish.  The Baby won.  :o)  So, so good.  Thank you Lindsay!  Definitely goin' into my Keep binder.

We had grilled rib-eyes and a salad with mixed greens, spinach, blackberries, apples, candied nuts and triple creme brie to go with.  So good.

Here's dinner on my plate:

Baby Day is officially one week from today!

At this time next week, we'll be a family of five.

Wow.