Artichoke, Spinach and Tomato Pizza

This is the pizza recipe that my friend shared with me. It is from Everyday magazine by Rachel Ray and it is probably one of the best pizza recipes that I have ever made! It is amazing!

Artichoke, Spinach and Tomato Pizza

5 TBSP olive oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 TBSP parsley, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
Pizza Dough
2 cups Mozzarella cheese, shredded
5 TBSP grated Parmesan cheese
1 can artichoke hearts, diced
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
2 cups spinach, chopped

Combine oil, garlic and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Spread 3 TBSP on top of pizza dough leaving 1/2 inch border, then sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and 2 TBSP of the Parmesan cheese. Toss the artichokes, tomatoes and spinach in the remaining garlic mixture and arrange on top of the cheese. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Bake at 500° for 15 minutes or until crust is crisp and golden.

Menu for week of June 21

Last week I tried out an amazing pizza recipe. I am going to see if my friend who shared it with me would not mind me posting the recipe. I hope that she will, because it was healthy and so so tasty! Stay tuned! This is a fairly uneventful week, so eating at home should come naturally for us- I hope! Here is what we will be fixing here:

Sunday: Fish and Chips

Monday: Whole Roasted Chicken in the crock pot. We didn't get to this last week so we are trying again!

Tuesday: Queso Steak with lime cilantro rice

Wednesday: Pasta Casserole- recipe to be posted later this week

Thursday: Brushetta Chicken Bake- I will post this later as well.

Friday: Sub Sandwiches

Saturday: Dirty Rice- I am looking for a mom made recipe vs. a box mix with who knows whats in it. If I don't find one I will do the Zattarains anyway. We will be having this with corn on the cob.

This is menu is linking up with Orgjunkie's Menu Plan Monday

Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival

On Saturday we went to downtown Salt Lake City to the free Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival. We really did not know what to expect. We were blown away by what we saw. It made me want to get down on the sidewalk and start drawing.

This is just a small sampling of the neat things that we saw. The ballerina is one of my favorites.

Happy Fathers Day to a special dad . . . my husband!

Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there. Thank you for all the balls caught, all the bikes fixed, for the wrongs corrected, and mostly for being there. I am so blessed to have a husband who gives of himself to his boys and loves them unconditionally. I hope that they grow up to be as wonderful of a person as you are.

We wanted our Dad to know that he truly "rocks". We followed this really easy tutorial to make him some very special rocks to take to work with him.

♥♥ I love this picture. My boys- all of them. ♥♥

Hot Cheddar Beef Subs

rThis is a very simple, quick and thrifty dinner.

Hot Cheddar Beef Subs

4-6 sub sandwich buns
1 lb. ground beef
1 medium bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 can cheddar cheese soup, undiluted
4 slices American cheese

Cut a thin slice off the top of each bun, and set tops aside. Carefully hollow out bottoms, leaving 1/2 in. shell. Set aside 1/2 cup of bread. In skillet, cook beef, bell pepper and onion until meat is no longer pink. Stir in cheddar cheese soup, Worcestershire sauce and reserved bread. Spoon into buns, top with a cheese slice. Place on baking sheet . Bake, uncovered  for 5-7 minutes in a 350° oven or until cheese is melted.

Chicken Cacciatore

I try to make this often because it is very tasty and my hubby really likes it. I am still hoping that Son #1 and #2 will grow out of their aversion to dishes that have "red sauce" in them. Time will tell. It just leaves more for my hubby and I!

Chicken Cacciatore

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. basil

1 medium onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

2 cups fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 28 ox. can crushed tomatoes in puree

2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 tsp. basil

Parmesan cheese

Wide egg noodles , cooked and drained

Season chicken with 1 tsp. basil. Saute chicken in oil until no longer pink in center. Remove and saute onion, bell pepper, mushrooms and garlic in same skillet until onion is transparent. Add chicken to vegetables and add all remaining ingredients except cheese and noodles. Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve over noodles and top with cheese.

This is also great when you serve it over hot cooked rice in place of the noodles. Just depends on your mood.
I am linking this recipe to the Grocery Cart Challenge's Recipe swap. I always love finding new recipes to serve my family. Don't you?

My Latest Projects

I have been busy sewing these past few weeks. I made this car cozy for a sweet two year old who will be sitting in a car for 2 days. I hope that he will get a few hours of distraction with this! I used this tutorial to make the cozy. Easy directions to follow.

My next project was an eye-spy bag for another busy two year old. She has a serious case of the wiggles! I hope this will give her mama a few minutes to catch her breath! I followed the directions from this tutorial.

And lastly, I made up a couple of  pool bags with new towels for two of the sweetest girls that I know. I hope that they will look nice for them when they get a chance to go to the pool or the lake. One of the best things about these bags is that they are soft and wash great! I followed these great steps from this tutorial to get the job done.

I love love love to make things, but I really enjoy to make things for others. To my dear friends who received these gifts, I hope that you enjoy your time away. No one deserves it more than you all do. I love you ! Mwah!!

My beautiful yard

I am cursed with the blackest thumb. Which is why I am very intimidated by my new yard. The previous owners planted beautiful flowers all over the yard and it is terrifying   amazing to me! I had to take some pictures because I can't believe all the beautiful things that God put right outside my door.

What beautiful things do you see out your door? Take time to look- you will be glad that you did!

Menu for Week of June 13

Another week, another menu. Here is what we are eating at my home. As always check out orgjunkie for Menu Plan Monday for other menu ideas and recipes.

Sunday: We were supposed to do a leftover buffet but we felt really lazy- must be the rainy weather, and we brought home some In-n-Out burgers and fries. Yummy!

Monday: Today is my birthday! We will eat out tonight.

Tuesday: Chicken Cacciatore- I will post the recipe tomorrow. Yummy recipe!

Wednesday: Tacos with homemade salsa

Thursday: Hot Cheddar Beef Subs- I will post this recipe on Thursday

Friday: Homemade Pizza night

Saturday: Whole Roasted Chicken in the Cropckpot

School is Out!

This year has been a harder year for us in many ways. Moving 700 miles away in the middle of the school year really disrupted us. However, we persevered and we finished this past Friday. I don't know who is more relieved to be done with this school year, the boys or me? To start off the summer  with a bang, the boys woke up on Friday to this summer stash. I have been stockpiling all sorts of fun summer things. They got a slip-n-slide, mini-lacrosse set, horseshoes, water cannons, glow sticks, marshmallow roasting sticks, water ball slingshots, Crunch-n-Munch, pop rocks and squirt guns. They were so excited! I also left them a note telling how proud I was of them for finishing the school year strong when I know that it was hard for them at times.  The bowl holding the glow sticks and the pop rocks was a fun craft that I did one afternoon. I followed this tutorial and got messy. It took me two bottles of glue, but it turned out really cool. I am going to use it for the fourth of July! Happy Summer! I hope that you get to go out and play in the sun!

Boys and Airplanes

One thing that most boys love is airplanes. Being that I have 4 boys, we seem to find our way to numerous aerospace and transportation museums. This past Saturday, we went to Hill Airforce Base to tour their aerospace museum. It was great! Everyone got see their favorite planes: the Mustang, the Jolly Roger, a Wright Brothers replica, a Curtiss P-40, an

F-16 and the impressive SR-71!

This is the Mustang- we all liked this one.

This is Son#1 with a Wright Brothers replica plane. We studied the Wright brother for several weeks this year and we really enjoyed seeing something similar to what we have been learning.

                                         This is a cool WWII era bomber. 

         Son  #2 has always loved pirates, so it was natural for him to declare the Jolly Roger to be his favorite!

                        Son #4 really liked all the planes. He is standing in front of a B-19 wheel. It was huge!

           Son #3 who is my natural tough guy, could envision himself flying this Curtiss P-40 with the face on it.

I am so humbled by the men and women who serve in the armed forces. We were blessed to get to talk to a few gentlemen who shared with my boys some of their experiences flying many of the aircraft that we viewed. Thank you to all who serve or have served our country. May God Bless you and your families! 

Homemade Pizza Sauce

We are having homemade pizza every Friday night this month. I wanted a tasty sauce for our pizzas and I searched for one and tweaked it to make it a little more spicy for my hubby.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

3 Tbsp water

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp olive oil

1/4 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp basil (when in season, use fresh)

1/8 tsp thyme

1/8 tsp garlic powder

2 shakes red pepper flakes

Combine all ingredients in sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Let it cool before using on top of the pizza. I think that it would also make a great dip for bread sticks. I am going to have to try that soon.

Menu for Week of June 6

I LOVE that summer has finally decided to arrive. In my area of the world, we were almost 90° yesterday. The snow melt off has been greatly accelerated and a creek that runs near by my church is overflowing. All this warm weather means that I am searching for and planning meals to prepare that don't heat up my kitchen much and are easy so I can enjoy the beautiful evenings. Here is what we are having.

Sunday: Leftover night
Monday: Chicago Hot Dogs- Yummy! I follow my own recipe, but it is similar to this one. We prepare our dogs out on the grill instead of boiling them.
Tuesday: Steak Sandwiches- Thinly sliced steak cooked on the grill and served up in a hoagie bun with grilled onions.
Wednesday: Spicy Pulled Pork from Pioneer Woman cooks cookbook.
Thursday: BBQ chip chicken
Friday: Homemade Pizza Night- I am going to try out a new pizza. I will post a review and recipe after we eat it.
Saturday: Fish and Chips. The boys have been begging me for this for weeks now. It doesn't fit in with the keep the kitchen cool requirement, but it is so tasty!

I hope that you have a wonderful week. I am linking up with Menu Plan Mondays hosted by OrgJunkie.