Monday, May 3, 2010

Grilled Veggie Pizza Recipe (so yummy)




1 cup warm water (100* to 110*), divided



10 ounces bread flour (about 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons)



1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)



10 teaspoons olive oil, divided



1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided



Cooking spray



2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal






or...






Pillsbury ready to cook pizza crust






then...






1 zucchini cut into 1 inch think slices



mushrooms cut into slices



1cup sliced olives



1 tomato sliced



1 small red onion sliced



1 large red bell pepper, quartered and seeded



3 garlic cloves, minced



2/3 cup basic pizza sauce



1/4 teaspoon black pepper



1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese






1. Pour 3/4 cup warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer with dough hook attached. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups or spoons; level with a knife. Add flour to 3/4 cup water; mix until combined. Cover and let stand 20 minutes. Combine remaining 1/4 cup water and yeast in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes or until a soft dough forms. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray; cover surface of dough with plastic wrap lightly coated with cooking spray. Refrigerate 24 hours.



2. Prepare Grill to high.



3. Remove dough from refrigerator. Let stand, covered, 1 hour or until dough comes to room temperature. Punch dough down. Press dough out to a 12-inch oval on a lightly floured baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Crimp edges to form a 1/2-inch border. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap.



4. Brush veggies with remaining tablespoons of oil; place in bowl. Grill zucchini and mushrooms 3 minutes on each side or until tender; place in bowl. Place pepper quarters, skin side down, on grill rack; grill 6 minutes or until blistered. Place peppers in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 10 minutes. Peel peppers; add to vegetable mixture. Add garlic to veggies; toss to combine.



5. Place pizza dough, cornmeal side up, on grill rack coated with cooking spray, and grill for 4 minutes or until blistered. Turn dough over; grill 3 minutes. Remove from grill. Spread pizza sauce evenly over top of crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Arrange veggie mixture evenly over sauce. Sprinkle evenly with remaining salt and black pepper. Top with cheese. Return pizza to grill rack, and grill for 4 minutes or until thoroughly cooked. Cut pizza into 10 pieces. 5 servings.

Sleep-Over

I've been meaning to post these pictures. I've been busy and time has been flying by but last month the girls got to come over for a sleepover. I was so excited to have them. We made butterflies and went swimming. They are such sweet girls. I hope they know how much we love them and although we are gone a lot that we always miss them and are thinking of them.

Here is a picture of the butterflies we painted and made.

Kimberly had my camera for about an hour so I just let her play. I couldn't wait to see what she was up to. It looks like she had a photoshoot for herself with the goggles we got her for her birthday. Ha... I love her!










Chicago

Last month I had interviewing in Chicago and ended up staying there for 4 nights so Trev flew out to spend the day with me. It was nearly 80 degrees the day we decided to go downtown. We went to Navy Pier by way of the Giddy up Water taxi, the "bean" and ended with a grocery store run into Trader Joes. We had a great time!

Monday, March 29, 2010

Bike Ride





































Trev bought me a bike for Easter and we have been going on fun bike rides lately. The day we picked my bike up after is was assembled we went to Apreal's to take the kids for a ride to play at the park. It was such a nice fun little day. Baby Carson fell asleep in his stroller but he woke up with enough time to sneak in some play. After our bike ride we had yummy lasagna dinner that Apreal made and spent the night laughing at how cute the kids are. I love my new bike and my sweet nephew and nieces. What a great day!






Help me decorate!











Trev and I have lived here for about a year and a half and I have wanted to decorate my livingroom soooo bad! Our contract said we couldn't hang anything or paint the walls. There are nails left in the walls from the previous owners so I used those around the house as best I could but there weren't any in the stupid livingroom. I finally just decided to ask our landlord if they would mind if I hung things in the livingroom and they said to go for it! I was so excited! Here are the pictures. (Dont judge- it's my first time trying to decorate.) I need help with that one wall above the loveseat if anyone has an idea. =)






















Thursday, March 18, 2010

Awesomely WICKED!


March 16th Trev and I went to Wicked in San Francisco and had such a great time! We loved the show. It is so well done and so dang funny. My favorte character is Galinda- she is a crack up! I recommend it to everyone! I would go again and again. I will never view The Wizard of Oz the same way. It's a MUST SEE! Thank you so much Trev for taking me. You are right- it was the best birthday gift ever. I love you and look forward to sharing more memories with you everyday!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Happy Birthday to me....
















So February 23 I turned 26 years old! 26 years old! I cannot believe it. I am so bummed. I feel so old. Mainly because I thought by the time I was 26 I would have things that I do not have yet, but I will say that everyday that goes by we are closer to our goals. (Trying to stay optimistic) This year I was lucky enough to have my Birthday off of work and I was excited to spend it with my friends and family. Trev had been building me up for weeks about "THE BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT EVER" and I couldn't wait to see what he had in store for me. I spent the 14 days before my day guessing everything from a baby to a bulldog puppy but never guessed the actual gift. He had me so excited that I was losing sleep over it and if for some reason I got my mind off of it all it took was a look from him and an excited "OHOH OHHHH" to have me searching my mind for hours all over again. This was torturous! I couldn't wait! We flew down the morning of and Trev teased me the entire day. That night my mom make yummy pasta and a delicious ice cream cake and strawberry shortcake. They were amazing and I knew they would be. (Side note: I wish my mom would have got into baking commercially. She loves it and I think she could have made a great little business owner.) My aunts Denise and Celeste, Uncle Steve, Tanna, Anton, Trev, Troy, Mom and Tulip were there representing the family and I was lucky enough to have Jaycee and Sara come from the friends group. It was great to see everyone and I loved catching up a bit. Now for the drum roll please.......
Trev got me........ the book Wicked and tickets to see the musical in San Fran March 16th! I am so excited! We are on the 4th row-front and center! He is so sweet. I mentioned to him FOREVER ago that I wanted to see it and he remembered. He is so good. I cannot wait! It's going to be amazing! Only one week to go!
Other thoughtful gifts I received were a big red rug from my mom for my livingroom, a beautiful green stone pendant from Denise and family, and a pretty Hummingbird framed art piece from Celeste, Steve and Chareese. THANK YOU EVERYONE! I love you.
After flying home Trev and I were excited to see his side of the Family on Thursday night for dinner. We all met at Olive Garden and had a great time. We bought a 7 pound chocolate cake from Costco and all dug right in. My beautiful nieces sat on both sides of me had looked so cute with their flowers in their hair. Our friends Evan and Mallory were able to join all of us and it was so so good to see everyone! Eldon and Kallie got me a super cute Guess purse, Apreal and Derek got me some yummy VS lotion and a Buckle giftcard (I got a cute shirt and some earrings), and the kids got me the best birthday card entitled "AUNT" and they all wrote their names (I had to hold back the tears on this one) Along with sweet Aubrey drawing me a picture. My In-laws were sweet and gave me some money and a nice card. Thank you everyone! I love you all and loved spending time with you.
Besides turning 26 my Birthday was perfect. I received many phone calls from friends and family that I wasn't fortunate enough to see wishing me a great Birthday. I was able to spend it either in person or in spirit with those who mean the most to me in life. I am a lucky girl! Thank you thank you everyone!