Abbott is 5 months old!

 

 

This little man is 5 months old today! He's getting so big and is such a good little baby, I couldn't ask for much more. He's pretty content playing by himself unless he's tired or hungry, or just wants some cuddle time! The other day, I mowed the lawn and he sat in the bumbo seat outside the whole time just looking around.....while Elsie followed me around screaming. It was fun.

But he is just growing so much. He still loves playing in his jumper and playing with Ellsworth. He also loves taking baths...even when he's crabby! And as always, watching Elsie could probably entertain him for hours.

He started blowing spit bubbles and trying to make other noises....it's pretty cute!

Mmmmmm!

Yeah....I'm pretty cute!

 

And of course, Elsie had to get ready so I could take her picture! She looks pretty awesome in this outfit though. She needed to put the diaper on too, even though she only wears one at night.

 

I started giving Abbott oatmeal cereal at night to see if he will sleep better. I had intended to take some cute pictures of his first food, but they didn't turn out so great.....

 

I just love this little guy though!

 

Apple Cheddar Pizza

 

It feels like fall here....it's pretty awesome! So, I decided to make chili last night, and then decided to make a fall-ish side pizza. I had found a list of different kinds of pizza from Food Network magazine a while back, and apple cheddar with bacon pizza was on the list. I thought it sounded good, so we gave it a try!

I made my go-to thin crust dough, pressed it onto my old and gross pizza pan.

 

Then, added a little olive oil to the top.

 

Thinly sliced an apple. I'm not sure what kind they are....the little red ones. And got about 1/2 c. of sharp cheddar cheese out.

 

 

Then, I arranged the apple slices on the crust.

 

Added the cheese and it was ready to go into the oven!

 

While it was baking, I chopped up some fresh thyme (because I always have this on hand. Actually, I rarely use fresh herbs because they are expensive and I don't use them often enough, so I don't buy them.  But I decided to try some on here). I also fried some bacon earlier and crumbled that.

 

Pizza is all done baking

 

 Next, I drizzled a little maple syrup on top. ( I think this was too much...I would have liked it more with a little less)

 

 

Then, topped it with the thyme and bacon.

 

Chili and apple cheddar pizza

 

 

 Elsie INSISTED that I take a picture of her plate too. Then, she proceeded to not eat anything off of the plate. :/ It's hit or miss sometimes with her.





 

I have mixed feelings on this pizza. I really like the first piece right when it was fresh out of the oven, but then the next piece I wasn't so sure. Tom said it was ok. I had forewarned him that it was a side pizza, not just pizza for a meal. He decided he wants things either sweet or savory, and he just couldn't decide what this was. Elsie took one bite and said she didn't like it, but who knows with her.

 

 

 

 

Shrimp Scampi Pizza

 

Shrimp scampi is pretty delicious. Tom and I both really like shrimp, and we used to have it more often, but we haven't had it for a while. So, I decided that we needed to have pizza with shrimp! I have made a pizza similar to this before. This turned out really good though.

I started with the thin-crust dough recipe that I seem to be using all the time now. 6T. water, 1/2 tsp. yeast, 1 c. flour, 1/4 tsp. salt. It really does make a great thin crust.

My helper today (My usual helper was taking a late nap)

I made chicken alfredo a couple nights ago and saved about 1/2 c. of the alfredo sauce from that, but the recipe I use is 1 stick of butter, 8 oz. cream cheese, some garlic, 1 c.? milk, and 1/3 c. shredded Parmesan, and some parsley. Apparently, my sauce got chunky after refrigerating it after cooking it. It still turned out good though. So, I spread that around on my crust.

Added some Mozzarella cheese and "Pizza" cheese (a blend of Mozzarella, Parmesan, and some others)

 

 

 I layed the shrimp on top. and then baked at 475 for 10 minutes.

 

 

While this was going, I melted some butter with some minced garlic.

 

 

Tired little guy.

 

 

And it's ready!

 

I brushed on the garlic butter after it cooled for a little bit.

 

 

Mmmm shrimp.

 

I had some salad and garlic bread with my pizza. Pretty.

 

 

We both really liked it. I may use a different alfredo sauce when I make it again though. It was a little too cream cheese-y for me. Tom said I "nailed it" though.

 



Southwest BBQ Burger Pizza

 

 

After taking a break from pizza making last week due to our crazy schedules and never being home at the same time, I decided to make another kind of pizza. I decided to test out a Southwest style burger (you know, the ones with BBQ sauce and onion rings on them) as a pizza. I wanted it to have ranch and BBQ for the sauce, but we didn't have any Ranch dressing and I was too lazy to make some, so I just used Ranch seasoning spices.

 

First, I sliced some ground beef off of a chunk that I had just bought, and added some Lawry's seasoning salt, then seared both sides. (I think it would make a better pizza if it was cooked less I have decided)

 

For the crust, I wanted a thicker crust, and used a basic yeast pizza dough recipe.

 

My little "helper" was here too....she loves to pick at the dough and eat it. Added the Ranch seasonings (Parsley, garlic, onion powder, dill, pepper, salt)

Swirl of BBQ sauce

 

Add the burger

 

Mozzarella and a little parmesan cheese

Then, this is where I should have done it differently. I baked the pizza without the onion strings on it, but I think it would go together better if they are added before baking the pizza. So, here are the onions soaking in the milk. After this, I coated them with flour, salt, pepper, and a little cayenne pepper. Then, fried them in hot oil.

 

It got a little more done than I would have liked....

 

And we STILL need to get a different pizza pan. Topped with the onion strings (Again, you should add them before cooking.....these just fell right off the pizza. I don't think they would get too burnt if added before cooking. But if you are scared, add them midway through baking the pizza.)

 

Mmm....It was pretty good. Just needed Ranch dressing instead of seasoning, meat added before it is fully cooked, and onion strings added sooner to be in the cheese. It came together pretty well though.