Weekend Recap #7

This weekend recap is coming to you a day late because, honestly, I just didn't feel like writing anything yesterday and my Easter style post had been typed up last week and was just waiting for me to hit the "publish" button on.

So here we go...

Friday night was a date night in and after we put the little guy to bed, husband and I watched Mockingjay Part. 1. We got halfway through the movie before we realized we'd already seen it. Woops! It didn't matter though, because we had enjoyed it the first time and did so again the second time.

After the movie was over, I crashed hard and went straight to bed, at 10 PM, on a Friday. Party. Animal.

Saturday I was up early with my little man and we whipped up a batch of blueberry greek yogurt muffins. They were so good and good for you too! Then we were off to the store to pick up snacks for a little ladies + babies action. I've mentioned this a time or two before, but essentially its a group of mama's who get together with our little ones (all around the same age for the most part) and the mom's get to drink wine and chat/catch up while the little ones play. It's a win! win! for all involved.

That evening was dedicated to a little mommy/Lincoln time while dad got some much needed time off to go hang out at our local brewery. Lincoln and I made dinner and watched some shows before heading to bed early!

Sunday Funday has a whole new meaning these days and we made our way over to the park for some fresh air and play time. Lincoln is quite the explorer and hiked up a HUGE hill all by himself. He is so in love with doggies these days and gets so excited when he sees one in the park. He then proceeded to get down on all fours and "woof woof" like a doggy through the park. Kids. They are hysterical!

After we got back from the park, we made some home-made pizza and curled up on the couch for a Sunday family movie. I was pretty proud of my new pizza concoction - saute'd broccoli and leeks in a little butter and thyme and topped off with burrata. So good! (Oh and ever since our car accident, I've been right back on the dairy wagon eating all of the comfort food I can get my hands on....bring on all the cheese! Maybe next Lent I'll be better ;0/).

Because Lincoln is so into dogs these days, we downloaded Lady and the Tramp (I had no idea it's from 1955!) and he was mesmerized by it! Then it was bath time and off to bed. We're a pretty exciting bunch these days :)

Ham & Green Pepper Calzones

hi friends! it's been a while since i've posted a recipe post hasn't it? life has just been so much fun lately getting ready for baby boy alexander and our big move back to spokane, that cooking and photographing recipes sort of fell on the back burner.

the next few weeks as we get through the move will continue to be a little crazy, but eventually i'll get my cooking mojo back ;0)

in the meantime, here's a super quick and super easy recipe for a homemade calzone. the pictures aren't the greatest, but i'm a pretty firm believer that the recipes that taste the best, photograph the worst ;0)

we had a TON of ham leftover from easter a few weeks ago. so much so that i was worried i was going to have to throw a lot of it away, and i hate throwing food away...but i did a quick internet search and learned that you can actually freeze it for up to two months and still use it. so that's just what i did. i chopped it up, put it into individual serving size baggies and stored a bunch in my freezer.

i took a baggy out of the freezer and placed it in the fridge to slowly defrost (note: all my research told me that you need defrost the ham slowly in the fridge, no microwaving and no leaving it out on the counter to bring it up to room temp). 

then i stopped by my local grocery store to pick up some pre-made pizza dough, sauce, cheese, green peppers and a jalapeno. i divided the dough in half (one baggy of dough is the perfect amount for two large calzones), rolled it out into two "circular" shapes, topped one half of each rolled out circle of dough with marinara sauce, shredded cheese, ham, green peppers and jalapenos.

then i folded the untopped side of dough over the toppings, pinched the two sides to seal up the calzone, and popped them in the oven at 415 degrees for about 15 minutes.

they came out slightly browned, oozing with cheese and so stinking good and rather "rustic" looking dontcha think. and you better believe this pregnant lady finished her entire calzone all on her own. baby likey ;0)

i'm not posting ingredient measurements because i think pizza and calzones are best made when you eyeball the ingredients. some people like LOTS of cheese on their pizza, other's like a little....same thing with the veggies and your protein of choice. you could also easily adapt this to your pizza toppings of choice instead of using ham and green peppers! get wild with your bad cooking self;0)

Bon Appetite's Wild Mushroom with Caramelized Onion Pizza

husband and i have had a lazy start to 2014 and i'm more than ok with that. there have been lots of dinner's in, lazy weekends, book reading and movie watching.

starting the year out slow has been nice and it's also meant super lazy weeknight dinners. most recently, we had this AMAZING wild mushroom and caramelized onion pizza, a recipe i found online from bon appetite!

it is sooo good and i had to share. i only changed it up a little, using olive oil instead of grapeseed oil and skipping the shallots, not because i didn't want them, but simply because i forgot to pick one up.

you can find the original recipe over at bon appetite!

Summer Squash, Goat Cheese & Balsamic Flatbreads

i don't know about you, but i have so much squash in my kitchen, i'm running out of ideas!

i've put it in eggs, used zucchini in breads, muffins, fritters, the list goes on and on.

and from the looks of it, my csa basket doesn't appear to have an end date for the ample supply of summer squash heading my way.

but i found a new way to eat it that is so good! 

remember when i made these using these way back when?

well i used the same basic recipe for the flatbreads, but switched up my toppings, using summer squash, marscapone, mozzarella, carmelized onions, balsamic chicken and goat cheese and holy wow was it an explosion of flavors in my mouth. 

it's so good and so easy that you have to go make this tonight! 

enjoy!

Summer Squash, Goat Cheese & Balsamic Flatbreads

Makes two overflowing flatbreads

Lavash Flat Breads (you can get these at Trader Joe's)

4 tbsp Marscapone Cheese

1 c shredded mozzarella

1 summer squash, thinly sliced

caramelized onions

shredded chicken 

balsamic glaze

roasted garlic 

1 c crumbled goat cheese 

Lay out your flat breads on a cookie sheet. Spread about 2 tbsp of marscapone cheese on each flatbread. Layer your squash, sprinkle with mozzarella, layer the chicken and carmelized onions and sprinkle the goat cheese and roasted garlic on top of the pizza. Grill on your BBQ for about 5 minutes. 

When the crust gets nice and toasty, take them off and drizzle the balsamic glaze over the pizza.

Enjoy!!