Cafe. Rio. Pizza.

Thats right.  You didn't read that incorrectly.  Cafe Rio is something I could probably never get tired of.  Homemade pizza is something I also don't get tired of.  We eat it about once a week or so.  Given those two things it made logical sense to use my leftover homemade Cafe Rio sweet pork and creamy tomatillo dressing to make a pizza.  LOVED the results.  

First I whipped up a batch of my favorite wheat pizza dough and rolled it out on a baking stone.  Next I brushed the dough with some garlic olive oil and put a spoonful of that heavenly leftover dressing on.  

 Then I put another several, hmm, many spoonfuls of dressing on and spread it around.  Do NOT skimp on this part.  Don't do it!

Next comes the cheese.  This is also something you don't skimp on.  Ever.  

I like mozzarella, but if you have to settle for whatever is in your fridge, it will do to.  

Now add your leftover ingredients.  Sweet pork, Cilantro and black beans on half is what we decided to try.  (We weren't sure if we would like the black beans on a pizza but it tasted great)  You could also add some freshly made pico we were fresh out of that one but it would make a great addition.

Pop that sucker in a preheated 400 degree oven until your cheese gets nice and bubbly and your crust is nice and brown, usually 10-20 minutes.

The verdict:


YUM!  Of course my hubby said "Hey next time, could you put more meat on it?".  Yes, yes I can.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!

g.g.

Catching up!

I thought I would catch up on my blogging today.  We had a wonderful little birthday party for stinker #1 a few weeks ago.  I can't believe he is already 2 years old!  Anyway, I made a cake for him and we had a party with his cousins and grandparents in the backyard.  We had just finished his new sandbox the night before and I think everyone had a great time playing in it!

A leap of Faith

Well as the title of this post suggests, I took a leap of faith.  I decided that because I didn't want to pay in the neigborhood of 200$ for the dress I wanted for my beautiful little girls blessing day, I would make her dress instead.  I learned so many interesting things along the way about Heirloom gowns and I am so glad I decided to make it.
I started by heading to my local JoAnns to check out patterns.  I found one that was simple and that I liked but I didn't know that finding fabric to match the simplicity I was after was going to be TORTURE.  I looked for weeks and weeks and finally managed to find a place that had what I was looking for.  I ordered my fabric and when it got here I rolled up my sleeves and went to work.

I decided to make a practice dress first as I have never sewn clothing before and I tend to rush through things when I don't know what I'm doing.  My practice dress turned out okay and helped me to work out kinks.  Then I went to work on the real deal.  That was stressful.  Nervewracking.  Mind-twisiting to say the least.  Any way I finally finished it and I think it turned out pretty good for a second-time dress seamstress!

Easter Egg Noodles!

Yes, its been a while. On to happier and hopefully more frequent blogging days. Here is a fun project to do with your Easter egg dye after you are finished dying eggs. It is so easy and quick to dye noodles and the noodles can be used for so many fun crafting projects.First here is what you will need. Of course your leftover dye or make up some new dye with an extra dye packet water and vinegar, lots of noodles, some old cookie sheets and parchment paper to line them with, and some paper towels.

Now for the hard part.

Dump the noodles into your dye bowls and let sit for up to 5 minutes or until the color you want is reached. (not too long or your noodles will be soggy) You can use any type of noodle you would like really or a variety like I did. That wasn't too hard right?

After your noodles have reached the color you would like lay them out on your old cookie sheet

lined with parchment paper first then paper towels to absorb any extra liquid.

Once you have a good tray full of noodles remove the paper towels and spread the noodles

evenly across the parchment lined cookie sheet.

Now you're ready to pop the cookie sheet in an oven preheated to 300. Bake for 10- 20 minutes until your noodles feel hard again instead of soggy. Let them cool for about 5 minutes. At this point I tossed them into a bowl to finish cooling so that I could do another batch. I ended up doing about 3 large bags of pasta.

Aren't all those colors great? Now bag them up and stick them with your other craft or project supplies. They can be used to make necklaces, glue on paper or just to be played with.

Have fun!

g.g.