Friday night=pizza night

Somehow, my "lady of leisure" time is coming to an end. I start my new job right after the holiday weekend and while I'm definitely excited for the new challenge, I'm also sad to see my time off coming to an end. As I've mentioned before, Adela has been home with me since we moved. I can definitely tell she's ready to get back into a routine and be around lots of children her own age. At the same time though, every time I bring it up, she makes a sad face and tells me to stop talking about it.

Yesterday, I was trying to think about what I felt like I had accomplished in the last 2.5 months. Obviously, we've moved twice, so there has been a significant amount of packing,  unpacking, re-packing, unpacking, etc. I've also made more trips to the DMV than I care to admit. My favorite thing though has been having to little bit of "extra time" to do all of the normal stuff. I've certainly taken advantage of the time off to take my kids to parks and museums and movies, etc. which has been really great. But my favorite things? Taking Adela to get a chocolate frosted donut and then strolling through Target to look at shower curtains or picking Bodie up from school and watching him ride his bike at 4pm on a Tuesday. It's been so nice to not be in a constant rush... And I'm hoping I can remember that as we get back into our routine.

Another thing I wanted to try with my extra time was making my own pizza crust. I've never done it before and it seemed like the perfect way to spend a rainy Friday afternoon. I turned to my trusted Betty Crocker cookbook and substituted half the the flour with white whole wheat flour, but otherwise followed the recipe. The crust was just ok...not bad, but I feel like I could do better...so I'll keep working on that. (Actually, who am i kidding...I'm going back to work, so i'll probably be ordering pizza ;) )The recipe that I did want to post though was for the toppings. One of the most important things to do when you move is find a great pizza place. Brett and I had a really great white pizza with chicken and hot peppers (which has never occurred to me to put on a pizza before) when we first moved and it was SO good! 

The recipe 

1 pizza crust

3/4 cup of ricotta cheese

2 cloves of garlic

1 long hot pepper, seeds removed and cut into thin strips(that's what it was called at the grocery store... I'm not sure what the technical name is)

2 links of chicken sausage, cut into small chunks (I bought the jalapeño flavored one)

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450 (or whatever your pizza crust directions are). Roll out crust on a greased baking sheet. (tip.... When we buy the refrigerated ones in the bags at the grocery store, we put them in the microwave for 45 seconds and it's way easier to roll it out.) 

In a small bowl mix the ricotta cheese, garlic and salt and pepper. Spread in a thin layer on the crust. 

Top with the pepper and sausage slices. Top with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until it's browned.

Parmesan chicken bruschetta

Since our move I've been enjoying some work "transition" time...meaning I've been unemployed and enjoying every second :). And since I've not been working, Deli has not been attending any sort of school/daycare. One of our favorite things to do during our "spend all of Daddy's money" time has been to make salads and watch shows together during lunch. While we were at the rental, we didn't bother getting cable since it was such a short time period, so there was a lot of Tinkerbelle and Barbie movies. Now that we are in our new house and have been visited by the Cox Cable man, we've had a little more variety. Surprisingly, one of her fav new shows is the Pioneer Woman on the Food Network which is one of mine too. (Well, one of my fav shows that is appropriate for children...I haven't pushed the Real Housewives on her yet ;) ) 

Seeing as we got cable all of a week ago, I only have 2 episodes of PW on my DVR. We've watched one particular episode like 100 times and Adela still keeps asking for it! In this episode, Ree is home alone for the weekend and cooks all sorts of "lady-foods" while her husband and kids are away. The other thing that happens in this episode is that she feeds her dogs, cats and horses and also gives her dogs a bath...which I suspect is the draw on this episode, but I'll take it.

One of the things that she makes is bruschetta...which looks SO delicious (although it could be the butter soaked bread). I've literally seen this episode so many times it's not surprising that I'd pull something for it for dinner. I had a package of those individually wrapped chicken breasts in the freezer which I LOVE (you can literally put one in a bowl of hot water and it defrosts in 10 minutes) and a big package of "gourmet tomatoes" which I've been using wherever possible. 

If it hadn't been for my "anti-chicken" son, I would have just grilled the chicken, but I knew a breaded variety would increase my chances of him eating it, so I loaded it up with Parmesan cheese and this recipe was born! For the record...he ate it dipped in ranch minus the tomatoes.

The recipe

1 1/2 lb chicken breasts

1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

2 tblsp olive oil

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved

3 scallions chopped

2 tblsp balsamic vinegar

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp basil

Mix the breadcrumbs with the parmesan cheese in a shallow bowl wait lack pepper (the ones I usually buy are pretty salty, so I never add salt.)

 in another shallow bowl, whisk the eggs and olive oil with salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken breasts in the egg mixture and then the breading. Bake at 400 for 20 minutes for smaller chicken breasts...if you have larger ones, bake for 25 minutes (insert inappropriate comment about large vs. small chicken breasts here.)

While the chicken is baking, preheat a small skillet over med. heat. Add garlic cloves and sauté for 2 minutes. And your halved grape tomatoes (or whatever smaller tomatoes you have). Sauté for another minute, then stir in the balsamic vinegar and add the chopped scallions.

Spoon the mixture over chicken and garnish with additional Parmesan and chopped fresh parsley (neither of which I had). Enjoy!

Cooks note: if at any point you need to stop what you are doing a pour yourself a glass of wine because your kids (who have a million dollars worth of toys) are fighting over a bubble gum machine bouncy ball, feel free. If you then have to pour another glass because your 4-year-daughter tells you to speak "properly" during dinner like the mom from Sofia the First, I won't judge ;)

A tale of boxes and burned burners

Hello!!

To say the last year has been nutso would be an understatement. Here's a recap: we had been planning a relocation. Our house was on the market for well over a year, which entailed frequent showings. If you've ever tried to sell your house with small children, I'm sure you can empathize. Suffice it to say more than a few bottles of wine were consumed in my house. In January 2013, we got an offer on our house which meant we had to address an inspection, appraisal, etc. and prepare to move to a new town...thus leaving my job, my son's school district, my daughter's daycare and all of our local friends. Also, we had to pack up our home, find a place to live and basically find a new everything...all the while, it seemed as though my husband was away on a work trip every day. As you can imagine, writing my blog fell to the bottom of my to-do list.

Unfortunately, we were unable to find "the" house before we moved, so we secured a rental house. I'll spare the details on the rental, but let's just say it was an "antique". Let your imagination roam...

Fortunately, 2 days after we moved we found "the" house (in the middle of a a snowstorm). A septic system, new mortgage and a month later we moved in!! Fast forward to today (a week after we closed) and things are starting to progress. We are not settled by any stretch...I think the packed boxes still outnumber the unpacked ones. I'm still in the process of looking for a new job and a new preschools/daycare for Adela. But, we are in the new house, I finally have cable, Internet and phone (after going 7 weeks without), and my kitchen is completely unpacked (and is oh-so-pretty).

Tonight, I decided to break in the kitchen and try a recipe for Cajun shrimp tacos from Cooking Light. Now, I'm not a "follow a recipe to a t" kind of gal, but I use a recipe more as a guideline.

What I did follow on the directions was to "char" the corn tortillas on the burner. I have a feeling this direction was meant for the lucky individuals who have a gas burner...since it left a bit of a mess on my electric burner. That combined with my dogs "accident" on the carpet in our TV room means we have already broken our house or truly moved in.


Ugh...either way we're starting to settle. I hope to be back to a regular schedule on my blog and to share recipes. I can say that I've definitely missed sharing my recipes and bits of life with you (and by "you" I mean the two of you who are reading this...probably my husband and mom ;) )

Until then, I'll be buried in boxes!!