Pita Pizzas

I've been really hitting up the cooking blogs lately! I decided a few weeks ago to try and go meatless at least one night per week.  I figure if I make it delicious, even the hubs won't complain.  But then, hey, if he's complaining about having a plate of food set down in front of him upon walking in the door from work...well let's just hope he likes PBJ's.  I stumbled upon a post for this pizza made on a pita.  It included avocados, which admittedly seemed kind of weird.  But, since I had some going south in my fridge, I decided to give it a try.  I will totally cop to the fact that my laziness in not wanting to go to the store for something else was what nudged me to make these.  I made a few modifications to this recipe; I added some red onion to my pizzas and topped them with crushed red pepper and a little more cilantro after they came out of the oven.  I doubled the sauce recipe and used lots more jalapeno that it called for and less oil.  I had lots of leftover sauce and I plan to use it on taco salads for another dinner.  I can best describe the sauce as a cilantro pesto.  It's so pretty and fresh!  These made for an easy and delicious weeknight supper, but would just as easily be perfect at a party.  I think they would taste great at room temperature so you wouldn't have to serve them straight from the oven (not that I'd know since I pretty much inhaled mine as soon as it was done).

Oh, and for the record, the hubs really liked these too.  He dodged the PBJ bullet!

Overnight Oats

These aren't your typical oats, I think these would be more aptly called breakfast pudding. So don't let the idea of cold oatmeal turn you off, try these!  I used this recipe for the base but  I didn't add any fruit until ready to serve; I did sweeten all of my jars with Stevia as I made them.  After searching the web for other versions, I found the basic recipes to all be pretty similar, but the sky is the limit as far as add-ins.  We did fresh strawberries and bananas this morning.  I added a sprinkling of cinnamon and nutmeg to mine and it was really good.  I found it to be easier to put the oats into a bowl so I could really stir the fruit in, the jars were pretty full. 

If you've never used chia seeds, you will love them.  You can read all about them here, there are also some other inspiration recipes for overnight oats.  I can't wait to try the pumpkin and the peanut butter!

Pretty for the Prom

It's prom season! My daughter had hers this weekend.  Her school does a junior/senior prom, she's a junior this year so we will get to do this again next year.  Prom is easy for boys, I'm not saying it's cheap, just easier! When my son went to prom we rented a tux, gave him money for tickets and dinner and that was it.  Girls are whole different ball of wax.  The dress shopping starts early, luckily we found the winner pretty easily.  I loved the dress my daughter chose and it was it was well within our budget.  I have heard horror stories of girls trying on dozens of dresses or finding the dress they really wanted only to find that it's way out of the price range.  Hallie did try on several dresses but she found the one pretty easily. It was really fun to see her in all the different colors and styles, but the one she ended up with was just so perfect for her.  Mom was with us on the dress shopping trip and she purchased the shoes for us, thanks Nana! After the dress, there's the hair, the makeup, the nails, the accessories...the primping seems to be endless.  We opted for Hallie to do her own hair, but she did have her makeup done.  We felt this was a good compromise since so many girls that do have their hair done for prom end up hating it anyway.  Some even redid their hair themselves after taking the time and spending the money for someone else to do it.  We have always had good luck with makeup at the MAC counter.  The makeup artists are so fun and really want the girls to be happy with their look.  Hallie wanted something really bold and fun, and we were both thrilled with the results. The prom was on Saturday and lots of the kids were taking the ACT that morning too.  Since she had to be up early and needed to be well rested, Friday night we went to the nail salon.  We both got pedicures, then she had her nails and brows done.  It was fun mom and daughter time, we even ran into some of her friends doing the same thing.  I thought I'd share some pics with you guys so you can see the fruits of our labor, hahaha! She looked gorgeous, but more importantly, she had a great time. 

 

Somehow, getting measured for a tux just isn't near as fun!

Easter

This Easter is one of the best I've ever had.  The older I get, the more clear it becomes how very blessed I am in the family department.  My sister was home with all of her kids in tow, and both my kids were able to join us since neither of them had to work.  It's not very often that we all get to be together even though we really don't live that far apart.  My family went to church the Friday before Easter Sunday so we were able to have the whole day at mom and dad's.  I got up early to boil eggs for the deviled eggs I took for lunch.  I also picked up a carrot cake, I just think Easter calls for it.  However, this wasn't my smartest move since all I can think about is eating the rest of it.  I finally threw out the last piece last night, not before I ate plenty of it after school. 

One funny thing we did was take my new nephew's picture in an Easter egg hat and bib that my son had his picture taken in on his first Easter.  They share the same birthday, 20 years apart! We even got Drew to let us snap his picture in it too, I'll spare him the embarrassment of sharing that with you, but trust me, it'll be good for a laugh for many years to come!

Sweet Things

Babies and cupcakes, does it get any sweeter than that?  I went to visit my new nephew this weekend. It was a quick trip and I didn't get near enough time with my sister, but at least I got my snuggle fix.  While my sister was busy with ball games, we went to shop the outlet mall in Oklahoma City.  On the way there we stopped at Green Goodies, a cutel little cupcakery my sister told me about.  I'm sorry to say that I did't take any pictues of the actual cupcakes.  You'll just have to trust me, they were fabulous.  I did snag some pics from their website to show you the contenders.  The Hostess was the clear winner, followed closely by the Red Velvet.  If you live near the area, get there soon.

 

I did however take plenty of pictures of this sweet boy...

Hallie meeting Sam for the first time