{bruschetta pizza}

prep. 25 min. / bake 10 min.

• 1/2 pound reduced-fat bulk pork sausage
• 1 prebaked 12-inch pizza crust
• 1 package (6 ounces) sliced turkey pepperoni (we only used half a package)
  
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1-1/2 cups chopped plum tomatoes
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced (we used 2 tsp. dried)
  
• 1 tablespoon Crisco® Pure Olive Oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• Additional fresh basil leaves, optional

Directions

• In a small skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Place crust on an ungreased baking sheet. Top with pepperoni, sausage and cheese. Bake at 450° for 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted.
• In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes, sliced basil, oil, garlic, thyme, vinegar, salt and pepper. Spoon over the pizza. Garnish with additional basil if desired. Yield: 8 slices.

If not using fresh basil, we would cook it with the tomatoes on it. either that or use a little bit of sauce, maybe just a tad dry. But the flavor was to die for. Not for those with heartburn though. :)

Nutrition Facts: 1 slice equals 346 calories, 17 g fat (6 g saturated fat), 62 mg cholesterol, 1,044 mg sodium, 26 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 24 g protein.

{lettuce wraps}

PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps

INGREDIENTS:

3 tablespoons oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup water chestnuts
2/3 cup mushrooms
3 tablespoons chopped green onions
1 teaspoon minced garlic
4-5 leaves iceberg lettuce

Special Sauce:

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 TB soy sauce
2 TB rice wine vinegar
2 tsp ketchup
1 tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp sesame oil
1 TB hot mustard
2 tsp water
1-2 tsp garlic and red chile paste

Stir Fry Sauce:

2 TB soy sauce
2 TB brown sugar
1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl. Then add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil. Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve.
2. Combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well. Eventually add your desired measurement of mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps. (I actually just leave the mustard and chili sauce separate because I don't like them mixed in with the special sauce.)
3. Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan. Saute chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or done. Remove chicken from the pan and cool.
4. Place water chestnuts, mushrooms, and chicken in the food processor and chop until all pieces are bite-size.
5. Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl.
6. Chop green onions and garlic.
   
7. With the pan on high heat, add a tablespoon of vegetable oil.
8. Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts, and mushrooms to the pan.
9. Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it in the lettuce"cups".
10. Top with Special Sauce.

Kind of labor intensive for just a side dish or appetizer, but I surprisingly loved these. Does anybody know where to get those little rice noodle things, though?

{creamy chicken noodle bake}

This isn't my type of meal, but Nate LOVED it and I liked it pretty well. Just tastes like good 'ol home cooking.

4 cups uncooked egg noodles
6 T butter (can use less)
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. white pepper (we used black)
3-1/2 c. milk
4 c. cubed cooked chicken
2 (12 oz.) jars chicken gravy
1 jar (2 oz.) diced pimientos, drained
1/2 c. cubed process cheese
1/2 c. dry bread crumbs (we wanted more of these on ours)
4 t. butter melted.

Cook noodles according to package directions. Cook chicken. Meanwhile, in a dutch oven, melt 6 T butter. Stir in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in the chicken, gravy and pimientos.

Drain noodles; Stir into chicken mixture. Transfer to a greased 9x13 baking pan. Cover and bake @ 350 for 30-35 min. or until bubbly.

Combine the cheese and bread crumbs and 4 t. melted butter. Sprinkle around edges of casserole. Bake, uncovered, for 10 min. or until golden brown. Let stand 10 min. before serving.

12 servings
prep: 25 minutes Bake 40 min.

Courtesy Taste of Home Magazine. (Shirley Unger, Bluffton, Ohio)

{mexican layered salad}

4 cups torn romaine
1 large cucumber, peeled, halved and sliced
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 medium ripe avocados, peeled and sliced
2 large green peppers, chopped (I only used 1/2 green pepper - we're not big green pepper fans.)
1-1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/4 c. canned chopped green chilies
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 c. crushed tortilla chips (we used tostitos 'hint of lime' chips as well.)
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

In a 2-qt. trifle bowl or glas serving bowl, layer the first five ingredients. Combine the mayonnaise, chilies and seasonings; spread over the top. Sprinkle with chips and cheese. Serve immediately. (we added dressing to individual servings and then topped individually with chips and cheese)

Served with homemade bottled pinto beans. SO good! Just tastes refreshingly healthy too.

{self portraits... prego}

I actually had a lot of fun with this shoot and learned a TON. First time using window light. Aria had fun posing with me.


When I was editing this photo I could not BELIEVE how big my belly is.

Just having fun...

If you can't tell I'm more than ready to have this baby.
Comments and tips are always welcome. :)

{my new baby}

So we have a new camera!.... yeah, a nice one! yay! I'm so excited about it.
Nate took this and I swear I wasn't posing, but it kind of looks like I am.... This is the only picture of me pregnant that I actually think I look okay pregnant... :)

Do you ever catch the one you love unawares and they just look really good. Here he is just stacking some blocks for kubb, but the sun was just right and I just love him... that's all there is to it.
Finally, my bro is putting his papers in. I did my first 'real' photo shoot so that he could have a nice photo for his papers. Pretty handsome dude, eh? I was pretty proud that I shot this in manual.

The Family: A Proclamation to the World

I read about this great idea in the LDS Ensign on creating a 'scrapbook' about the Proclamation that the LDS church made regarding the family. I thought this was a great idea - a way to share pictures of your family (be proud grandparents) and also use it as a missionary tool to share the gospel with friends and neighbors. It was a big hit and I'm very proud of the amount of work I put into it. I loved the way it turned out. Here are the inside pages.

Created with flickr slideshow.

{baby boy's homemade love}

I loved making this something special for my little something special. I'm excited to wrap him up in it and cuddle with him. I want him here already... I'm thinking it's probably a little early to be thinking that. Third trimester... I'm here! I love the little fishing print and I LOVE the alphabet print. The brown is a suede so it's also really soft... I think I want to cuddle in it myself.

{cilantro lime rice}

INGREDIENTS:
3 cups hot cooked rice
2 small limes, juiced
1 lime, zest of
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:
1. Once rice is cooked, fluff with a fork.
2. Add lime juice, lime zest, cilantro, and salt to rice.
3. Stir well.

We often make this now to accompany our mexican dishes.

{baked creamy chicken taquitos}

We had a hard time wrapping these but the filling is to die for!

INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 cup green salsa
1 TB fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
3 TB chopped cilantro
2 TB sliced green onions
2 cup shredded cooked chicken
1 cup grated pepperjack cheese

small corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.
2. Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.
(You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.)
3. Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it.
4. Place 2-3 TB of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.
5. Then roll them as tight as you can.
6. Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other.
7. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.
8. Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.

{southwest beef wraps}

recipe and image from Our Best Bites

INGREDIENTS:
1 onion, chopped
2 1/2-ish pound beef roast, trimmed of fat but left whole
1 heaping tsp chili powder
1 heaping tsp garlic powder
1 heaping tsp cumin
1 heaping tsp Kosher salt
2 bell peppers (you can use 2 green bell peppers or mix it up a little with red, yellow, or orange; just make sure one is green), chopped
1 14 1/2 oz. can Mexican-style diced tomatoes OR 1 can of Rotel tomatoes (regular or mild, depending on your preference)
Small flour tortillas
Desired toppings: salsa, guacamole, sour cream, shredded cheese, chopped cilantro, etc.

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place chopped onion in the bottom of the slow cooker.
2. Combine seasonings in a small bowl and then rub seasoning mixture all over the roast.
3. Place roast over onions, top with chopped peppers, and then pour the canned tomatoes on top of everything.
4. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 8-9 hours or start this in the morning, cook it on high until things start to boil and then cook on low until dinnertime.
5. Shred meat with two forks and serve in tortillas with desired toppings.

{chicken pot pie}

2 frozen pie crusts (I did my own pie crust... because I LOVE my pie crust... and it's not that hard)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can campbell's Potato soup(I have also substituted celery soup and any cream based soup would probably do-Experiment)
1-2 chicken breasts boiled(I only do one because it saves money)
1 cup of mixed veggies (also found in the frozen section)
1/4 cup milk

Directions:
Let the crusts thaw
Boil the chicken and cut into small pieces (depending on what you like)
Mix chicken, Cream of chicken soup, Potato soup, mixed veggies, and milk.
Pour mixture into one of the pie crusts, Top with the second pie crust. Smoosh the edges of both pie crusts together. Slice holes in the top
Bake 350* for 30min. ENJOY!!

{parmesan chicken strips}

Best homemade chicken nuggets ever!

1c. Flour
1. Tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper
Mix together in bowl

2 Eggs
1 TBSP water
Mix together in a different small bowl

1 c. seasoned Bread Crumbs
1/2 c. Parmesan Cheese
Mix and put in another bowl


2-3 pieces of Chicken cut up in long strips
-dip chicken in Flour mix
-Dip in Egg mix
-dip in Bread crumbs
In Frying pan melt
2 TBSP Butter
2 TBSP Oil

Cook 3-5 min. on each side.
Keep warm in 200*oven for 15 min.

*Serve with potatoes, rice etc...
YUM!

{turkey cupcakes}

I also realize that it's after Thanksgiving, but Aria had a ton of fun making these cupcakes with Grandma! What a perfect treat to spend time with Grandma doing. Aria loved it! Instructions can be found here.

{halloween craft}

We had so much fun making these. Toddlers are able to participate significantly. Instructions can be found here. Can also be done for other holidays... :)