Carmelized Onion, Sausage & Pesto Pizza

Happy Wednesday Night!

I can not tell you the last time I made pizza for dinner. I mean once maybe six months ago I tried a cauliflower crust pizza and that was a complete flop. It tasted delicious, but crumbled instantly

So here goes nothin..

I decided to try a new version and forget the cauliflower crust this time & opt for premade Publix dough, I mean I did run 6 miles last night so it all evens out right?

Okay first things first, prebake your dough about 8 minutes.

While your pizza dough is baking sautee your onions until they start to carmelize (about 20 minutes on medium heat).
Then add your sausage and sautee until cooked through.

I have to say at this point my house smelled AMAZING! Like an onion, garlic sausage deliciousness!

Set your onion & sausage mixture aside. Your pizza dough should already be baked and ready to go.

Spread the pesto on the pizza evenly (or unevenly.. you know, this is a its okay-to-color-outside-the-lines-kinda-dish)
Add your sliced tomato.

Honestly, I could stop right here, but alas my carniverous nature comes out.

Next add the onion and sausage mixture & top with the cheeses. NOW for the secret ingredient! SHHHH don’t tell anyone,
TOP with PANKO Breadcrumbs. So I’ve never cooked with these before, I wasn’t sure what all the hype was about, but seriously it makes a huge difference, trust me.  The texture and flavor it adds to the pizza is amazing!

Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 more minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Once it’s cooked perfectly, I broiled the pizza on low for about 2 minutes. And VOILA, OMG get ready for yummyness! You can thank me later.

Carmelized Onion, Sausage & Pesto Pizza
Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
-Premade pizza dough (I used the Publix brand) (Or you can make your own, if your an overacheiver )
-1 large tomato
-1/4 cup of pesto
- feta cheese (enough to be sprinkled on top)
-parmesan cheese (4 tablespoons)
-2 large onions
-1/4th of  lb of sausage
-panko bread crumbs

-Okay first things first, prebake your dough about 8 minutes. While your pizza dough is baking sautee your onions until they start to carmelize (about 20 minutes on medium heat). Then add your sausage and sautee until cooked through. Set your onion & sausage mixture aside. Your pizza dough should already be baked and ready to go. Spread the pesto on the pizza evenly (or unevenly.. you know, this is a its okay-to-color-outside-the-lines-kinda-dish) Next add the onion and sausage mixture & top with the cheeses. NOW for the secret ingredient! SHHHH don’t tell anyone, TOP with PANKO Breadcrumbs. So I’ve never cooked with these before, I wasn’t sure what all the hype was about, but seriously it makes a huge difference, trust me.  The texture and flavor it adds to the pizza is amazing! Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 more minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Once it’s cooked perfectly, I broiled the pizza on low for about 2 minutes.

And VOILA, OMG get ready for yummyness!

You can thank me later.

Happy Birthday.. now eat some fruit

This past weekend was my neices birthday party. I wanted to bring an appetizer but the idea of adding more cupcakes to the already-hopped-up-on-sugar children, seemed like a bad idea. I thought fruit would be a good snack and if it was “cute” maybe the kids would want it more than the cupcakes.. Okay who am I kidding.. what child doesn’t want cupcakes. BUT the fruit boquet was a hit! And was ALL gone by the end of the party. I guess kid’s liked it afterall.

I have to say I was really intimidated of this idea at first and thought it was going to be SUPER hard. It wasn’t necessarily “easy” but once you get the hang of it, its smooth sailing. And I do apologize I didn’t take any pictures of the “in progress” action.

AND see that adorable mermaid cake in the picture.. her Dad made it. YES her dad, it came out sooo cute and all the kids loved it!

Supplies Needed:
-Fruit ( I used one large cantalope & a bag of grapes)
-vase or container for your boquet
-ribbon for accent
-dipping sticks
-styrofoam base to stick your fruit into (I used a 4″ one from Micheals”
-kale or lettuce to “fill the vase”
-cookie cutters – I used flower shaped ones

So all you have to do is slice flat peices of your fruit. Honestly cantalope was hard to  work with, trying to get the slices to have enough “flesh” to fill the cookie cutter was annoying, I might use watermelon next time. But just cut your shapes out, then use grapes to stick either in the middle or on top of them. Push with the stick and insert into the styrofoam base. Now do this about a hundred times..haha maybe not a hundred but at least 30. I also added chocolate dipped marshmellows too.. because come on, you have to have a little chocolate in the mix! Once you fill your entire vase just insert small peices of kale or lettuce into the base to hide your styrofoam. I tied a pink ribbon to finish it off. And there you have it! I’m definitly going to be doing this one again.. maybe I’ll take more pictures next time

Did someone say Chocolate?

Um can you say easiest dessert ever?! Seriously this is super easy. Literally just combine one can of coconut milk PLUS coco powder and VOILA = BEST Chocolate Mousse Ever!

I’ve tried a couple different brands and the “Thai Kitchen” unsweetened, coconut milk, seems to work best for me.

This is what it looks like all mixed up, beautiful right? It should mix really easily and you will barely have to stir the ingredients together.

Ingredients:
-One can of Coconut Milk
-1 tablespoon of coco powder
-OPTIONAL:
-sprinkle of coconut
-sprinkle of dark chocolate chips
Okay are you ready for this… Its intense! Just take one can of coconut milk and refrigerate overnight. It will thicken, dispose the extra liquid. Combine the “coconut paste” with the coco powder. Sprinkle with coconut and chocolate chips. And VOILA thats it! SUPER EASY and delicious!

And now for my love of Chevron…

On my 18th birthday David bought me a sewing machine.. which I had asked for.. and was absolutely elated that I got my dream gift!

For the past 6 years I have “self-taught” myself to sew. Granted I can only sew a straight line and that is really only due to the fact that I spent hours on youtube trying to figure out how to thread the stinkin bobbin. WOW.. was that WAY more difficult than I thought it was going to be.. Have people never heard of zoom feature on their video camera’s.. “I can’t see how your threading your bobbin when its 5ft away from the camera” OMG I thought I was going to freak when I finally found a video with a simple tutorial and a zoomed -in feature.. Um YAY! small feat for me.. but It finally made using my sewing machine an actual option.. I no longer have to sew my pillows by hand (who would do that.. its takes SOOOO long.. & it doesnt look good.. ha did I just rat myself out?! needless to say my house is happier with my new fancy schmancy sewing skillllzz!!

Until all my hopes & dreams came to a crashing hault TWO YEARS ago when I lost my bobbin case.. What’s a bobbin case you ask.. O the little -itty-bitty metal case which holds your thread to do the actual sewing. When I contacted the manufacturer “O we don’t make that model anymore.. UGH” So for two years my precious little sewing machine has sat in my craft closet, just taunting me.. I never thought I could actually find the mysterious bobbin case. Well a couple weeks ago I went online casually seeing if I could find a universal bobbin case… OMG I FOUND ONE! And guess what, it wasn’t a million dollars, a measly $4.99. Did I seriously waist countless craft projects on a $5 dollar bobbin case?! SOOOOOO I bought it and 2 days later my missing craft peice was in the mailbox.. “AAAAHHHH” let the craftin resume.. Can you tell I’m excited? Its the little things in life, right? My world felt complete, okay I’m a bit dramatic, but thats why you love me, right?! I bought this red chevron fabric from Hobby Lobby 6 months ago, thinking it was way too much but maybe I could use it for some scrap project. And then on a rainy Sunday I decided I needed a dining room makeover, you know, because thats a normal thought. I broke out my trusty dusty sewing machine and made a new table runner, placemats and some super cute pillows!

Okay so I bought a plain red table runner from Marshalls for $5.99. And added the chevron fabric to it. So Maybe it wasn’t from scratch but I LOVE it. It looks so cute in our dining room and it adds a special splash of something  

I may or may not have gone a little overboard and sewn 6.. okay maybe 8 pillows for our living room. But they look cute right?! I am now so excited that I can actually use my sewing machine and conquer my project list I’ve been putting off. 
  

Mmmm Brussels Sprouts… did I just say that?!

 

 

 

 

I have to say Im not a fan of the word “brussels sprouts” .. is it just me or does it sound gross?? I have this weird “O I don’t like that word so therefore I’m not trying that food” thing.. kinda weird.. I know.. which made me resist hummus for years, which I now LOVE.. but thats a completely different story.. OKAY so It might be the childhood memories of being forced to eat scary vegetables that didn’t taste good.. but in my old age I’d like to think I’ve matured.

Or at least my taste buds have matured.. thats good right? Anyway so we get a “veggie box” from a local farm every other week with yummy organic vegetables delivered straight to our doorstop. Which is pretty amazing & convenient, its great but I don’t always know how to cook these new unknown veggies.. like for example brussels sprouts. What in the world do you do with them? Well pinterest it is! Roast them seems to be the most common form.. and so I tried it. Yes mom I made brussels sprouts for dinner! And I hate to admit it, but they were delicious! Like little mini adorable cabbages. 

Combine with olive oil, cranberries, walnuts and feta.. um Yes Please!!! My scary veggie friend has now turned into my new favorite! I’m definitly going to be making these little yummies more often.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Ingredients:
- one poud of brussels sprouts
-2 tablespoons of olive oil
-handful of cranberries
-handful of walnuts
-sprinkle of feta cheese
(Im not exactly a “measuring” type of cook)
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Trim the ends off of your brussels sprouts, lay out the brussels and walnuts in a large cooking pan. Drizzle with the olive oil, Bake for 20 minutes or until slightly golden. Remove from oven and in a large bowl combine with cranberries and feta. Serve as a side dish or your entire dinner like I did.. Or am I the only one who does that? Thats not weird right? Enjoy

Run girl Run

Okay so I have to admit that alot of my posts lately have been about food & recipes.. haha can you tell I LOVE cooking?! But theres’s also been another hobby of mine that has been making my life more interesting too!! And that is RUNNING!! So this post is actually a little late, I should have posted a while ago BUT you know better late than never, right?! I am creating a new “page” on my blog “Run Girl Run” … which is dedicated to my love of running. And by love, I mean my love/hate relationship with running. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy it.. but theres def days I don’t want to do it, and then I do it anyway and end up feeling so much better! Not only is it a great stress relief but I have been able to do my training with my dad! Which is awesome. My parents only live 45 minutes away, but between working full time and running my etsy store on the nights and weekends, my spare time is pretty full with activites. So my dad and I have made it a point to have our long runs on Saturday mornings. For the past couple of months we’ve met once a week and ran anywhere from 4-9 miles in training for the Donna Hicken Half Marathon.

And then on February 17th, we DID IT!! After working so hard and spending my Saturday mornings getting up at 6 am and driving to St.Augustine and running with my dad, we finally completed the Donna Half Marathon!! This was my fourth half marathon (Ive done the Disney Half marathon twice and did the Donna Half last year too) and I have to say I think it was my favorite Half so far! That could be partially to the fact that I loved being able to spend one on one time with my dad (did I mention I’m a daddy’s girl?!) and he listened to me talk about graphic design, natural life, all about the ups and downs of my etsy store, my latest pinterest project & my adventures with cooking, hes so great! 

Insert Instagram caption “4:45 am wake up call, 30 minute delay start & crazy traffic.. getting ready to run my fourth half marathon with my dad.. PRICELESS!!” And even in Florida it was FREEZING!! OMG the whole race was sooo cold, okay yes I sound like a brat seeing that the average temperatures in Florida are 90 degrees, BUT it just happened to be SOOOOO cold the day of the race! But we sucked it up


The start line!! Finally.. I was so excited & freezing, but mostly excited!

this was my Favorite part of the run.. the beach!!

Only 3 more miles! Honestly I felt really good at this point, except for the bottom of my feet. I started to realize that maybe I need to retire my running shoes and get new ones. They have been very loyal BUT I could really tell after 2 years I need a new pair. BUT I was happy that for the most part I really didn’t feel tired or anything, overall I felt really good! Which made me so happy that my 4 months of training really paid off! I followed the Hal Higdon Training Schedule, which was great! It was alot of hardwork but I could tell my endurance was really up.

We did it!! Woop Woop!! Such an amazing feeling to complete my 4th half marathon with my dad! I think our official time was a little over 3 hours (about a 13-14 minute mile pace) which was pretty good… I will talk about my improved pace in a later post
Okay so now I have to brag a little bit.. my dad has seriously completed like a Jillion Half Marathons (okay maybe not a jillion, but at least 12 or more, hes also done his fair share of FULL marathons probably 10 or more, I dont know the exact number but he is TRULY my inspiration and is such an amazing man!! I’m so glad that he has inspired me to be a runner and encourages me to reach my goals too! Now I just have to pick my next half marathon to train for.. Disney Wine & Dine?! I’ll keep you posted.

For my half marathon training schedule I followed: Hal Higdon Half Marathon Training Schedule 
To learn more about the Donna Half Marathon: Finish Breast Cancer
*PS one of the reasons I LOVE the Donna Half Maraton is that 100% of proceeds go to finding a cure for breastcancer!! So awesome! Go get your RUN on!!

You can never have enough avocado’s

Hi Guys!
I haven’t posted in a while, Life has been super busy.. so this post is actually from last week but I thought I would share a couple recipes I creating using my latest obsession of avocado’s. Maybe because they were on sale at Publix or maybe because I absolutely LOVE them and will eat them on nearly anything, or maybe because they make me feel like it’s summertime (wishful thinking) not sure why I like them so much.. but I’m not complaining. So for breakfast on Sunday I decided I wanted something different than the usual scrambled eggs and bacon or quiche from the previous weekend. 

Baked Egg Avocado’s
Ingredients:
- avocado
- 1 to two eggs
- feta cheese for garnish
-lime
- green onions or scallions (for garnish)
- one small container of plain yogurt (6 oz. container)
Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Cut your avocado in half and scoop out just enough avocado to create a little bowl in each half. Crack one egg into each half of the avocado. Bake for 10-15 minutes (until the egg is fully cooked) While the avocado’s are in the oven, mix your greek yogurt with the scooped out avocado and half of the lime (to create a sauce) Once your eggs are done, remove from the oven and drizzle your yogurt sauce over the baked eggs and sprinkle with feta cheese and green onions. All done! And pretty delish, I have to say I will be making this a staple in the Haley Household!

This next recipe was a delicious dinner I made the other night. It is a great alternative to the typical alfredo sauce. I have to say I am usually skeptical of subsititues but this was amazing!
Pasta with Linguine Avocado Sauce
-one box of whole wheat linguine
-blender or food processor
- one avocado
- 3 TB of olive oil
- one lemon
- one garlic clove (minced)
-green onions or scallions for garnish
Cook your pasta according to directions. While pasta is cooking cut your avocado in half and scoop contents into blender.Cut lemon in half and squeeze one half into the blender, add in olive oil & miced garlic. Blend until it creates a thin sauce (you may need to add more olive oil / lemon juice) until you get to the desired consistency. Then top your pasta with the avocado sauce. Serve alone with a salad or as shown with sauteed green bans, baked zuchinni fries and carmelized onion & mushroom chicken. Happy Cooking… What’s your favorite avocado recipe?!

Hey there Cupcake!

So this past weekend was my two neices joint birthday party, the Oldest Emma was turning six and Alanna was turning 4. So I of course used this opportunity to design every aspect of the party with my Sister. I designed a Custom Party Pack for the birthday party and we spent every minute of Friday Night printing & cutting out the decor to make sure the party was Perfect!

The party was a success & so much fun. Although I have to be honest being around 30 children all day with paint and cupcakes made me sooo happy to go home to my quiet house with my husband and one dog (Can you tell I don’t have kids yet?!) haha I had fun though and LOVED watching the creativity of those little kids!

    

Here is a link to the Etsy Listing of the Invite: https://www.etsy.com/listing/124610772/owl-craft-birthday-party-invite-digital

and the Matching Party Pack: https://www.etsy.com/listing/124607520/joint-owl-themed-birthday-party?ref=v1_other_2

P.S. The CUTE owl mugs are conveniently from my job at Natural Life. http://www.naturallife.com/teal-owl-mug.html I guess I just can’t escape the popularness (is that even a word?!) of the owl!

Buffalo Chicken & a smidge of ranch dressing

So it all started when David came home Sunday night with a bottle of Buffalo Sauce and Ranch Dressing (he sure does know the way to my heart..)  I’m usually not a big fan of buffalo sauce or anything spicy for that matter.. But for some reason I was intrigued by the new ingredients.. So to my handy dandy Pinterest I turned.. And I found this recipe that was OMG mouth drooling over. Once again How Sweet it is, astounded me by her amazing recipe!! I followed her recipe for Buffalo Chicken French Bread. It was super easy and SOOOO delish!

    
Ingredients Needed:
-raw chicken breast (approx 2 peices of chicken)
-half a loaf of french bread
- Handful of Shredded Cheese
-Sprinkle of Gorgonzola Cheese
-3 tablespoons of chives / green onions (enough for garnish)
-half a cup of buffalo sauce
-2 tablespoons of ranch
-2 tablespoons of minced garlic

Heat your oven to broil on LOW. I figured this out after slicing my french bread and burning when I turned my broiler to HIGH. So lesson learned, LOW is the setting to choose. Slice your french bread into 2″ thick slices (depending on how many people you are serving). Place your slices on a nonstick cookie sheet and broil on LOW for about 2 minutes then set the bread aside. While they are broiling, dice your chicken up and place into a medium size sauce pan on Medium Heat. Cook the chicken thoroughly for about 8 minutes. Next add your garlic to the chicken, sautee for about 2 minutes. Then add your buffalo sauce to the chicken, sautee another 2 minutes. Then brush your french bread slices with a thin layer of ranch dressing, top with the chicken mixture and a heaping handul of the shredded cheese and sprinkle with the gorgonzola cheese.
Broil your slices on LOW for about 5-6 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and ENJOY!

Pinterest saved my cooking.. well it at least helped

Warning: this is absolutely delicious and you might want to go back for seconds!

So this past weekend I made a quiche for the second time ever. Why do I remember the first time I ever made a quiche you ask? Well because I have to say I was so intimidated by the idea I never thought I knew what I was doing enough to make one and also because I didn’t think I would like it. Let me preface this with the fact that I only started cooking about a year ago. Okay yes I “cooked” dinner before this, but it was always the same.. chicken, chicken or spaghetti.. or maybe chicken again? As much as David appreciated my effort in the kitchen, my cooking was bland and boring. And then something changed, you guessed it, this was right about the time I discovered Pinterest! It completely changed my world!  I basically label my life events B.P. (Before Pinterest) and A.P. (After Pinterest). Dramatic I know, but I have to tell you I use Pinterest EVERY night when I cook. You see I discovered that there are amazing recipes out there of food that I never thought of making, ingredients I never thought of mixing together and a TON of ideas that have taught me even the basics of cooking. And so here I am about a year later feeling more comfortable in the kitchen than ever! I still have a long way to go, but I am actually able to whip something up and it taste good (this was NOT possible B.P.)! So thank you Pinterest, and most of all my husband thanks you Pinterest, for helping me be inspired in the kitchen!

Sorry I’m easily distracted…let’s get back to the Quiche! So here I was 6 months ago making my first quiche. It was a bit of a melting pot of whatever I had in my pantry (eggs, black beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, chocolate chips.. JK about the chocolate chips, I’m not that crazy And about an hour later, I was shocked! Not only did my first quiche ever, turn out delicious but it was actually easy. So moral of the story, don’t be afraid to try a new recipe or dish, you might suprise yourself. With that being said here’s my own melting pot of a recipe for my Chickpea & Kale Quiche.

Ingredients
-5 eggs (you could use more or less depending on how big of a dish your using
-9″ pie pan or any casserole dish
-Premade store crust OR Snixy Kitchen has a great whole wheat quiche crust I followed
- 1 can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
-3 BIG handfuls of Kale
-2 tomatoes diced
-5 small sweet peppers sliced
-1 spoonful of minced garlic
-any other veggies you choose (onions & mushrooms are also good)
- handful of shredded cheese (about half a cup)

So first you want to turn your oven to 350 degrees. Next spray your pie dish with Nonstick Spray place your crust in the dish.
On medium heat sautee your sweet peppers for about 5 minutes, just until they are soft. Next add your can of chickpeas, sautee for an additional 2 minutes. Then wash your Kale and tear / chop it into small peices. (Make sure you scrub away any sediment) Combine your kale with the other ingredients and lower your heat and cover for about 10 minutes. Just until your kale starts to wilt, Note: Kale WILL shrink down so don’t be afraid to add HEAPING handfuls… it will get smaller. In a seperate bowl crack your eggs and add your cheese. After your Kale, chickpea and pepper mixture is nice and soft, transfer it to the bowl of eggs. Mix all your ingredients together and then pour into your pie dish. Bake for 45 – 55 minutes depending on your oven, mine was done in about 45 minutes.
So there you have it, not too hard right?