Homemade Pizza Night

We had homemade pizza night this week and it was so delicious! SO. SO. Good. In the past I've made my own dough and I'm exhausted before I even start topping the pizzas. I made some shortcuts this time around and couldn't tell in the slightest. 

I bought my pizza crust premade.. it was a bake for 8 minutes kind and it was awesome! So I shaved off that step. I was actually off on Monday so I did my grocery shopping then, grabbed a rotisserie chicken for Brian and I to eat for lunch. I used the rest of the chicken for the pizza... which was a ingenious idea cause I cut out that step too. 

The pictures above are pre-oven. I'll share the recipes and then I'll show you post-oven :) 

BBQ Chicken Pizza + Bacon

I took this recipe from one J Ram sent me on Pinterest but added bacon. We had BLTs the day before and I saved all the extra for pizza night! 

Season your chicken with garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper. Then mix together two types of BBQ sauce-- the recipe used one sweeter one and one hickory-- I just used Corky's and Rendezvous cause that's all I had! Use 1/2 cup of each kind or 1 cup of whatever kind you want. Sprinkle and mix of Mexican style cheeses on top of the sauce, layer some red onions, shredded chicken, bacon- optional!, and then cilantro. 

Prosciutto-Spinach Pizza

The other recipe I just made up because I love Prosciutto. I used pizza sauce, sprinkled with a pizza blend of cheese because I was lazy and didn't get fancy mozzarella, spinach, prosciutto and Italian seasoning. I mean to use basil but forgot. You could really do whatever you want to this pizza! 

 

These were really simple and really delicious. I think I'll make them again-- sooner rather than later. Enjoy and Happy Weekend! 

XOXO

Mushroom Florentine Pasta

I really can't say enough amazing things about this recipe. I found it on pinterest and figured I would try. We don't eat a lot of pasta... actually, we never eat pasta. Generally we're a meat and two veggies-type household. But one pasta dish a week OR month won't kill you, right? Even better- a pasta dish with no butter or heavy cream, etc. Really can't be bad.... 

I have never been a fan of mushrooms but I absolutely love cooking dishes with them now. When the garlic hit these babies, that smell was heaven! We ate this as a side (many leftovers!) with tenderloin tonight. It was so delish. We'll def add this in to the rotation sooner rather than later. 

I made only a couple of changes.. less oil, garlic powder (not minced), smoked gouda and skim milk. Enjoy! 

INGREDIENTS:

8 ounces linguine pasta, uncooked (same amount of other pasta may be substituted)

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup whole milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

8 ounces sliced mushrooms

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 ounces Gruyere cheese (or Gouda), shredded

2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves

DIRECTIONS:

Begin cooking pasta according to package instructions.

Whisk together flour, chicken broth, milk, salt and pepper. Set aside.

While pasta cooks, in a large skillet heat olive oil over medium-high heat. When oil begins to ripple add sliced mushrooms, sauté for 6 minutes. Add minced garlic, sauté for 2 more minutes until garlic just begins to brown.

Whisk flour, chicken broth, milk, salt and pepper mixture into mushrooms and garlic, bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 3-4 minutes.

Add shredded cheese, stir until cheese has melted.

Mix in spinach, allow to wilt.

Add drained pasta to skillet, toss to coat.

to die for Salmon.

One weekend I was cleaning out the kitchen and found our cedar planks... that I bought like 3 years ago to grill Salmon with. So I immediately went and bought Salmon, I committed! 

Last time we had Salmon we did this tin foil pack recipe I found on Pinterest, you cover the fish with a basil pesto, top with cherry tomatoes on a bed of green beans and stick in the oven. It was so good! So we used that and changed it up a bit. 

We did a grill basket of veggies-- I basically just added everything I had in the fridge. Carrots, red bell pepper, green bell, green beans and cheery tomatoes. Topped them with a little EVOO, salt and pepper. 

For the fish, I made my skinny basil pesto- basil, a little parm cheese, garlic, salt, pepper and a little EVOO. I also stole this from my favorite, Skinny Taste!  I know it looks super thick in the picture but it really wasn't. The flavor we got from the finished product, was amazing! 

Unfortunately, I  didn't soak the planks long enough so the fish caught on fire giving it the char below. And we ruined the planks! I've already had to go buy new ones. We loved this so much, we made it like a couple weeks later. Anyway, don't let the dark char fool you. This was SO good. 

We actually paired this with a red blend from Bright Cellars. We LOVE this wine. We actually bought some extra from them once we tried it. And we had a nice little dinner on the patio. This definitely had to be in like May. It's way too hot out for this now :) 

And just a quick plug for Bright Cellars, we love it!! It's a monthly wine subscription created by 2 MIT grads that takes things you like (from a quiz) and matches you with wines you'll love. We initially tried it because you get half off your first month. But we loved what they were sending. We've tried wines we never purchased in the store before. We got hooked on Malbec from one of our first boxes about a year ago. The next box hooked us on Red Zinfandel. Brian hates Riesling and they even sold him on a delicious but not too sweet bottle last month. We have a Rose now that I can't wait to try! 

Long story short, TRY IT. You get the first month for only $30 bucks and can cancel after that. But use my link, I'll get a free bottle! Then send it to your friends and you can get one too :) 

Click HERE!

xoxo 

up for a challenge

Last month a sorority sister contacted me about making her a door hanger. She wanted it to be the shape of Massachusetts. Immediately I googled it to see what I thought-- WOW. But I've never been scared of a challenge so I accepted. I actually cut the shape out before she ever purchased just to make sure that I could do it. She wanted to keep the design very simple but incorporate her home state of Texas just a bit.  I obviously think it turned out adorable. Thanks for trusting me to make this for you, Jessica! 

My Favorite Breakfast

I've told you before on this blog that I'm not a fan of breakfast. I know, how? I'm so un-American. But this... THIS I LOVE. 

I found this on my favorite food site-- if you read this blog you probably already know this too-- Skinnytaste.com. And it's only 6 WW points and SO filling! Please, just try it. 

Did I mention how insanely easy this is?? Brian asks for it almost every single weekend now. I think yesterday was my 4th time to make it and I finally grabbed a snap! 

Avocado Toast with Sunny Side Egg

Ingredients:

1+ slice whole grain bread, toasted

1 mashed avocado

cooking spray

1+ large eggs

kosher salt and black pepper to taste

hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

Mash the avocado in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a small nonstick skillet over low heat, spray with oil and gently crack the egg into the skillet. Cover and cook to your liking.

Place mashed avocado over toast, top with egg, salt and pepper and hot sauce if desired!

YUM. 

XOXO

Happy Bachelorette Therese!

Last month we celebrated Therese's bachelorette party in Branson. It was so much fun!! The first night we went to "Top of the Rock" which is part of the Big Cedar Lodge right outside of Branson. We did the Lost Canyon Cave Nature Trail by golf cart and it was so cool. So pretty! You can even stop in the cave and grab a drink! 

Post cave drinks :) 

They have a really neat store where I had to practice major self control. I did come home with a couple cute home things. After shopping we went to the awesome Wine Cellar and split a bottle pre-dinner reservation. So cool! The bartender took us outside to grab a picture and this was the backdrop. Beautiful! 

 We had dinner at Osage Restaurant. Everything sounded (and smelled) amazing. I went with the Scallops and they were so darn good. Like my mouth is watering right now just thinking about them. 

The next day we rented a boat and hung out on Table Rock. We stopped at this place for lunch and they had these fun swings at the bar! 

We finished the night by throwing Therese a super fun shower and closed out the weekend with a Branson show. We even met Elvis! 

Such a fun weekend for such a sweet friend. Therese and Ethan actually got married about two weeks ago. I was extremely sick during the whole thing that I didn't grab a single picture. :( 

BTW-- if you have never visited "Top of the Rock," I highly recommend it. Especially for a fun girls weekend!