Cauliflower Pizza Crust

For those of you looking to cut back on carbs, this is a WONDERFUL alternative. I was pleasantly surprised! Thanks to my great friend, Holly for the recipe!

You'll need:
2 cups cooked riced cauliflower
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp crushed garlic
a little olive oil (optional)

Pic taken from this blog, although mine looked just the same!

To rice the cauliflower: Take on large head of fresh cauliflower and remove the stems and leaves. Chop the florets into chunks. Add to food processor and pulse until it looks like grain. Don't overdo it or you'll get a puree, which is not what you want! Microwave the riced cauliflower in a bowl for 8 minutes. You don't need to add water because there is enough water already in it to cook. One large head should produce approximately 3 cups of riced cauliflower and extra can be stored in the fridge up to 1 week.

To make:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Mix together all ingredients (except olive oil). Transfer this mixture to your pizza baking sheet or stone and form a 9" round pizza crust. Optional: brush olive oil over the top to help with browning.
3. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes.
4. Remove from Oven.
5. Top the crust with sauce and any other toppings and cheese you would like. Place under a broiler at high heat for 3-4 minutes, just until cheese is melted.

Note: Obviously the toppings, like meat, should be precooked since this isn't adequate time in the oven to cook them completely.

The crust is not as hard and formed as bread, and probably has to be eaten with a fork, but I have found that it's irrelevant to me because it's just THAT GOOD. :) Happy cooking!

Happy Mother's Day (and Truett's video)

What a wonderful weekend it's been. So full of love and celebration! This morning I woke up to quite the day of surprises. I walked into the office to find this green computer screen (kill me cute), which led me to watch this video (which then melted my heart):

Also got some really sweet words:

 We went out for a family brunch at FirstWatch (I got some enormous chocolate chip pancakes), caught some church, watched a movie at home, Jonathan washed my car, I snuck in a 2 mile run, and we made some pizza with cauliflower crust for dinner (thanks to Holly McHargue). I'll have to post that recipe next. Wow, it's a winner for those of you that are feeling pretty adventurous! Much love to all you moms out there. Hope you had the most wonderful day with your family and your kiddos!

5 Year Anniversary

I feel blessed to be part of such a sweet family. My husband is better to me than I deserve. We haven't always gotten along this way, which makes me even more thankful for the ways that we've grown to show our love for each other, even in the small things.

For our anniversary this past Friday, we had planned on going to breakfast, but as the morning got started a little late, we opted for lunch instead and went to Cool Greens. Five years ago we may have chosen Subway or Jason's Deli for lunch, so our taste hasn't changed that much, right?
My parents were in town for my SIL Britani's graduation (woohoo Britani!) and so my mom watched Truett all day. I'm not sure who was happier--my mom or the baby. Either way, it was such a blessing.

My parents watched Truett for us all night too which allowed us to go on an overnight date. Jonathan picked me up and brought me some roses (that just happened to match my dress). He totally should have played it up, but he was just too honest to admit that it was on purpose. What a missed opportunity, right? :) He took me to this fun little Italian place called Stella (totally recommend). We did a little shopping after that and stopped by The Mantle to finish up with some of their Chocolate Gateau and coffee.  Sweet guy even rubbed my feet, told me how pretty I looked, and bought me some chocolates. :) Doesn't get any better than that, right?

What I thought about Motherhood

Five short months ago, I became a mother.

I thought it was going to be hard. Guess what? It is. But it's also worth it.

I thought Truett would look like a Dawson with big brown eyes, but as it turns out, he looks just like his handsome dad (bonus)!

I thought Truett was going to let me dress him cute every day. Turns out, he just spits up on everything I put him in and ruins his clothes before they ever get on his body.

I thought being a mother would require a little extra effort and a forfeit of some sleep. Turns out, that's kind of an understatement. :) It also requires a dirty house.

I thought being a mom would be so rewarding, and guess what? It really REALLY is.

I thought loving Jonathan was all that my heart could hold. I didn't know my heart.

I love being a mom. I. Love. Being. A. Mom.

It's the hardest job. It's the best job. And yes, I want to have 10 more kids!

S'mores Popcorn

In my quest to cut back on sugar, I do have an out. It's called the weekend. If I make it through the week, I can have the weekend to splurge a few times. So yep, I made this! Funny thing is, I could barely eat any because it was so sweet. I guess that's what happens when you don't eat as much sugar. Ah-hem. So how to make it. You won't be sorry you made this!

 It took me a total of maybe 5 minutes and then an additional 30 minutes for the chocolate to dry. 

Grocery List:

box of Golden Grahams Cereal

bag of mini marshmallows

bag of milk chocolate chips

2 bags (or 1 large and one small) of microwave popcorn

1. On a large baking sheet, mix together half a box of Golden Grahams, half a bag of mini marshmallows, and 1.5 regular sized bags of popped microwave popcorn.
2. Melt the whole bag of chocolate chips (Seriously? You thought I was going to use half the bag of chocolate? Why would I cut back on the best ingredient?!) in the microwave in 30 second segments, stopping to stir until it is completely melted. (Mine only needed to be cooked twice at 30 seconds.)
3. Drizzle the chocolate on the mixed up mess and let the chocolate dry before crumbling up again.

It's good for you!

Outdoor Living

I love a good makeover--always. I love a well decorated room--always. I love outdoor family gatherings. Isn't that beautiful trifecta of things so well put together in this small backyard? You don't have to have much space to make an outdoor living atmosphere come alive. This yard was featured on one of my all time fave sites, House and Home. Isn't it great?! The color, the soft woods, and the flooring all make this a dream for a friendly BBQ get-together!

Mr. Biggs

My neighbor, Mr. Biggs is somethin else. You might have heard me talk about him before. He's been to my house several times for different things including but not limited to:

2 hour talks about bugs

planting a tomato plant in our front bushes last summer--surprise!

planting rosemary in our front bushes

planting a rose bush by our front door

a cold root beer on a hot afternoon

1 cup of frozen (and covered with reynolds wrap) tortilla soup

a walmart sack full of ding dongs

a plate full of cut up watermelon

feeding our dogs chocolate covered donuts

feeding our dogs twinkles

feeding our dogs strawberry glazed donuts

feeding our dogs milkbones (after the talk Jonathan had with him about dog health & inconvenient night vomiting from them)

a $20 baby congratulations card

All good intentioned things right? Yes, I really do think so. However...yesterday night. Oh man. He just might be a little bit nuts.

I was sitting in Truett's room talking to Jonathan when I heard this really loud noise that sounded like a lawn mower outside the window. I didn't pay much attention to it because I knew Jonathan wasn't mowing, plus it was getting ready to rain. Who would start mowing? But the noise kept getting louder, so I checked to see what it was. Sure enough, there was Mr. Biggs in our front yard WITH A ROTOTILLER...digging a TRENCH in our front yard. I mean...in our front yard of green grass (and yes, some weeds), he dug a huge dirt ditch from the driveway to the street. I knew immediately what he was doing too, which makes it even worse. When we first moved in, he wanted permission from us for him to put in a cement water drainage system in our front yard. Um...no thank you, sir. And although our driveway does catch some rain at times, it's not a constant problem and it goes away as soon as the rain stops. He does not agree. However, ASKING YOUR NEIGHBOR BEFORE DIGGING UP THEIR FRONT YARD would be really awesome, Mr. Biggs! Gosh, I was even starting to like you a little! Oh wait, then yesterday I found a newly planted patch of miracle grow potting soil by our front door next to our bushes where he so nicely planted some seeds of who knows what. Can anyone say trespassing? What do I have to do to take control of a neighbor who never asks before doing...well...anything. I would hate to make him upset though, because quite frankly, I will never deny that that nosey man is the best security system we'll ever have! He meets and greets folks before they ever get out of their cars!

I guess you just give a take a little. He can take a little dirt from our yard, we'll take a new tomato plant every now and then, and maybe someday we'll understand each other. Well, maybe not, but we can at least be friends...I hope.