New recipe, new website, and new addition

Raise your hand if your first thought when you read the title of this post was that I was going to announce that I'm pregnant again.

Nope.

Now that that's out of the way....

I really, REALLY do want to get back to blogging on a regular basis again. I miss it sooo much! But I hardly ever have time to go near a real computer, so I still can't make any promises that I'll post more often. Honestly, up until this week I probably could have snuck into our office and typed something out really quickly while Dallas was playing on her blanket, but since she is now a crawl-master, leaving her alone in a room for more than 30 seconds at a time is just not a good idea. Despite not having a lot of time to blog, I absolutely LOVE that I have the opportunity to stay home with my sweet girl. This is what I've ALWAYS wanted, and being at home with Dallas is truly a dream come true.

One thing that I very much enjoy about being a SAHM is that I have time to cook dinner...most nights. A year ago, I would have called making Hamburger Helper or Stouffers Skillet meal "cooking dinner." Now, I don't even remember the last time we had something like that. We used to eat instant mashed potatoes on a regular basis. I now make homemade mashed potatoes at least once a week. They're Dustin's favorite, and I must say, I make pretty darn good mashed potatoes. The secret: 4 sticks of butter. I'm kidding, of course. I do use a lot of butter, but not 4 sticks. I also really enjoy making new recipes, and I'm even getting over my fear of making something that has more than 5 ingredients.

One of our newest favorite dinners is Stuffed Pizza Rolls from the food blog Our Best Bites. If you've never looked at that website, you should. It's inspiring.

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

1 roll refrigerated pizza dough
marinara/pizza sauce
2 T grated Parmesan cheese
1 T olive oil or melted butter
1/2 t garlic powder
1 t dried Italian seasoning
mozzarella cheese
Pizza toppings of your choice

1. Unroll your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat or roll the dough so it's about 12" by 8". Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into 24 squares.

2. Place cheese and desired toppings (not the sauce!) on each square. Remember that you have to close the squares up, so don't put too much of the toppings. So far, we’ve only made them with pepperoni, and I put about two pieces in each roll. I cut each piece of pepperoni into quarters first so you don’t pull the whole piece out when you take a bite. I’m crafty like that. When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings. Pinch to make sure each ball is sealed shut and then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie pan (or similar sized dish).

3. Brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil or melted butter and then sprinkle with the garlic and Italian seasoning and top with Parmesan cheese. I don't even measure this stuff any more...I just sprinkle each of the seasonings and the cheese on until I think it looks right.

4. Cook them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top. Keep an eye on them! Doughs vary, so I'd check them after even 10 minutes.

5. Serve with warmed marinara sauce on the side for dipping. So good!!

This last picture is a little deceiving because there are only two little rolls on my plate….but that’s only because I’d already eaten the rest of them! Dustin and I can eat nearly an entire pan of these ourselves. We really shouldn’t eat that much…but, well…. if they’re there, I just can’t let them go to waste! This recipe is really enough for 3 adults if you also have a salad. It’s a little bit time consuming, but if you've GOT the time, it's definitely worth it. Enjoy!

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On to the new addition!!

Okay, no -- it's not a puppy or anything like that, either. It's actually a new dining room chandelier! I hated our dining room chandelier from the moment we bought our house. It was pretty much the standard gold and glass paned chandelier that most houses built in the 90’s got…and it just DID NOT mesh well with the style in the rest of our house. I’d been wanting to replace it for years, but just never got around to it.

It is thanks to my good friend Rachel and all of the extreme home renovations she’s done in the last few months that we finally got a new dining room light fixture! And not only that, but she sent us a matching light fixture for our entry way! Rachel is such a good friend to care about the appearance of my house so much :)

So…before….

entry way chandelier

dining room chandelier
(I forgot to take a picture before we took it down)

And…AFTER…

entry way

dining room

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but they are both brushed silver with frosted white globes. MUCH better than the ugly fake gold. I am so happy with them both! Thanks again, Rachel and Jeff!!

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Last, but not least, I wanted to mention a FABULOUS new website that you all must check out RIGHT NOW! My good friend Tiffany has started her own business – an online dress shop. Her site is great because every dress there is under $50, she has styles for every occasion, and the best part – it is all categorized by body type so you know whatever you buy will be flattering to your figure! She’s a genius, I tell you. Check it out at LOVEofDRESSES.com!