Next Up......

A new driveway!   Now that the house is all finished it's time to get our driveway re-done!   In the very beginning of our addition we were told our driveway would be fine after the whole process....wellllllll.....it's NOT fine!  It was in bad shape before and now it's even worse!  We kinda figured it would happen with all the trucks parking in it for 8mths straight...but wanted to wait until everything was done before we went ahead and did it! 

So the time is now!  In the next few weeks our driveway will be completely re-done!  YAY!  We are making it much larger, so we can fit 2 cars next to each other and no one has to "BABE.....Can you move your car?"  That will be so nice!

So here are some befores!!!

WAYYYYY BEFORE....

This is what it looks like now....

Stay tuned for the new and improved driveway!!!!

We are also getting a bunch of trees removed that are dead or dying as well as doing all the grading and landscaping!   And we will be moving our swingset also!   Just in time for spring......I hope it's on its way!!!


~Gianna~

Crockpot BBQ Ribs

I decided today to brush off the dust of my crockpot and use it!  I had pulled out some country ribs with the bone in and defrosted them in the fridge 2 days prior...and it was now or never!   And I decided to try to make ribs in the crockpot! 

I just threw some ingredients into my crockpot and let it work it's magic...and BOY DID IT EVER!!!!
Everyone ate them up...and I served them with corn bread and a salad.

CROCKPOT BBQ RIBS
In a crockpot combine
2-3 pounds of ribs....I used country ribs bone in, but you can use whatever. 
A bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce or homemade BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays...Mmmmmm...)
3 gloves of garlic (minced)

Set your crockpot to HIGH for 4-6 hours, cover and let cook!

~Gianna~

Friday Fun!

In early February Joe and I decided to start (or I should say re-start from my childhood) a family tradition!  Making pizza!     Every Friday, when I was growing up was pizza night!  We would sometimes order pizza if we were busy or if my brother's or I had something going on...or my Mom would make her own!  I can still remember the smell that took over my house on those nights!  It may be the BEST smell in the world!    Gravy (aka tomato sauce) bubbling on the stove, dough being rolled out, cheese being shredded....and then once it was in the oven......Mmmmmmmmmmm

Now that I have my own family and the girls are getting old enough to help out I am excited to start this tradition and have it continue as long as we can!  Friday nights we normally don't have anything going on.  For the past (almost) 2 months Olivia has been taking ice skating lessons locally from 5-5:30pm.   As soon as we get home we get to work!     This is when those familiar smells begin to take over my kitchen!   My girls love spreading the sauce and sprinkling (and eating) the cheese and then it starts "Mmmmm.....it smells so good!"  "How much longer?"   "Is it almost ready?"

Approx 20 minutes later.....DING!  It's done!  Fresh, hot, homemade pizza for my family....and it makes me happy because it's one meal I know everyone will eat!

Homemade Pizza

Olive Oil
Garlic (minced)
Large can of crushed tomatoes
Pizza dough (2 pounds = enough 2 pizzas)
Parmesan cheese
32oz of mozzarella cheese (shredded) -- I get the chunks and shred them myself!


Bring pizza dough to room temperature.  While waiting.......



Heat 1TBSP of olive oil in a pan.  Add garlic and saute for about 1 minute.  Add can of crushed tomatoes.  You can add any kind of seasonings to it that you'd like...oregano, hot pepper seeds, etc.  (My girls don't like "brown stuff" in their gravy so I don't add anything extra!)  Bring to boil and then lower to simmer.  Simmer on low for approx 25-30mins.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.   While waiting for your gravy....

Using a small amount of olive oil grease your cookie sheets.


Once dough gets to room temp, begin rolling and kneading on well floured counter top until it gets to the size of your cookie sheets and the thickness you like your pizza..  I normally do rectangle cookie sheets, and like my pizza on the thinner side..but not extra thin.    You can use a round pizza pan, you can make your pizza crust thicker..it's really whatever you like!

Once it's to the thickness and size you'd like, carefully lift dough and place it on your cookie sheets/pizza pans.
Pinch gently around the perimeter to form a slight crust.
















Using a cheese grater, shred your cheese.

Your gravy should be done, or almost done.   Once it's finished, ladle it on top of your crust and spread it evenly on top.  Make sure you leave some room around the edge for your "handle".  

Next sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and then nice handfuls of mozzarella cheese!  Spreading them evenly and using as much as you'd like! 

Cook pizza in hot oven for approx 20-25 minutes, but keep checking it and cook to however you like it (crispy, well done, doughy, etc).   Normally 20 minutes is good for us, but we have a brand new oven and it really cooks everything evenly.  I know my Mom's oven doesn't so she has to cook it for longer and she sometimes rotates them during cooking time!

When you remove it from the oven, let it sit and settle for approx. 5 minutes.

Cut using pizza wheel or food scissor and ENJOY!!!!!!



~Gianna~

Recipe Swap -- Week #1

This is an exciting entry for me......because I just became part of a recipe swap!!!! 

What does that mean???  Well a bunch of girls on one of my message boards started doing a recipe swap.  Each week they post a new category, everyone emails in a recipe that fits into the category, they get all mixed up and you get a recipe from someone else that you have to make!  

This week's category was "Side Dishes" and the second I got my recipe I thought...."OH NO!!!!  NO ONE IN MY FAMILY (EXCEPT ME) IS GOING TO EAT THIS!"  I know my kids and my husband pretty well and cauliflower isn't on the "LIKE" list!  So I decided to make it tonight.  I knew my cousin, Amanda,  was coming for dinner before our weekly dodgeball game and she was eating here....so I shot her a text asking if she liked cauliflower, she said yes....and it worked out beautifully!

The recipe I received was from Lisa and it's Roasted Cauliflower  (from Simply Recipes) and it was delicious!  I followed the recipe exactly (only omitted the salt and pepper -- I never use it) because I hardly make cauliflower and I didn't want to mess it up!   
Ava (my youngest) was eating raw cauliflower dipped in ranch dressing as I was cutting the cauliflower up!  So much for thinking my kids don't eat it!  ((SHRUG))

Everyone tried it and BOTH of my girls ate it.  Joe tried 1 piece and thought it was OK......but that's to be expected since he doesn't love veggies!  My cousin Amanda thought it was delicious, and we had a surprise dinner guest (my best friend who came over to get ready for dodgeball) and she thought it was delicious too!   It's a keeper in this house!!!  Thanks Lisa!!!  Beacuse it was a dodgeball night I had to make something quick and easy so  I made chicken cutlets and biscuts with it!


Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower

2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and coarsely minced

Lemon juice from half a lemon

Olive oil

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Parmesan cheese

Method

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut cauliflower into florets and put in a single layer in an oven-proof baking dish. Toss in the garlic. Sprinkle lemon juice over cauliflower and drizzle each piece with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. If the oven hasn't reached 400°F yet, set aside until it has.

2 Place casserole in the hot oven, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is lightly brown. Test with a fork for desired doneness. Fork tines should be able to easily pierce the cauliflower. Remove from oven and sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.
Serves 4.

~Gianna~

Meatloaf....smeatloaf....double-beatloaf....I LOVE meatloaf!

I was never a huge fan of meatloaf....in fact growing up my Mom made it all the time and I never really ate it.  And if I did it was smothered in ketchup and the rest would be hidden in a napkin and thrown out after dinner.  I did like the potatoes that she made with it.   As I've grew up I still didn't love it, but I have finally created a recipe that had added meatloaf to our rotation!  It's simple, a one pan meal, and it uses ground turkey instead of beef.  As you will see in a lot of my recipes I don't cook a lot of  red meat (I just don't like the taste)...so I try to swap it out lot of times with chicken or turkey!   It pretty much tastes the same, but it feels and tastes a little "lighter" to me. 

Turkey Meatloaf
Ingredients:
1 lb. ground turkey
1 egg
Approx 1 1/2 c. Italian bread crumb
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper
A nice large, handful of shredded mozzarella cheese.   (Did I say LARGE....Do it!)
1/2 of a Vadalia onion  (You can use any kind of onion)
Potatoes (any kind you like, I used red this time)


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix all ingredients in a Kitchen Aid Mixer on medium until everything is Incorporated.
Using olive oil, grease the bottom and sides of a 13x9 baking dish.
Form it into a loaf and put it in the center of baking dish.

Cut up potatoes into large bite-sized pieces and sprinkle them in the pan around the loaf.

Cut up some onions and sprinkle those around the loaf with the potatoes.

Sprinkle the potatoes and onions with a little garlic salt.

Cover w/ foil and cook at 350 for 45 minutes!  (Oven times may vary)

Halfway through cooking....remove foil and give the potatoes and onions a good stir around the pan so they get browned and don't burn.


Then take the cover off and do another 10 minutes....so it gets brown on the top!   You may want to slice a few pieces and make sure it's not pink inside...sometimes depending on how thick the loaf is...it may need a little more time to cook.

***Don't be alarmed if it starts to ooze white stuff...it's the cheese! I freaked out a little the first time.****

When it's done slice and serve .......I still like mine with ketchup!!!!! 

ENJOY!


~Gianna~