Climbing the Stairs

Andrew has quite the upper body stregnth. The other day he pulled himself up on the bottom step and climbed all the way to the top. Now of course we have to do this every time.

Attempting Potty Conditioning

For the record I am not potty training - I am however trying to get Andrew used to the toilet so that he doesn't freak out when that time comes. And if he does use it he gets an M&M so hopefully he will be much more ready for it when the time comes. One of the babysitters I was interviewing has been doing this with her 8 month old and he will stand up and go in the potty so I thought why the heck not try it. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. No consistency yet but he sure looks darn cute on the potty! And every time I ask him if he wants to go pee pee he points to his eye.....not really sure what that is about but obviously it means something to him.


Mom is holding on to this pic for blackmail. :-)

Recipe Request

The pizza was super easy to make. I just used a thin crust pizza dough recipe I found online - listed below. Then I used the Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cooking Creme - Garlic Flavor as the sauce and topped ith with mushrooms I had sauteed with olive oil and garlic, arugula, finely diced red onions and thin slices of prosciutto and then a combination of Mozzarella, Asiago and Parmesan Cheeses. It was phenomenal!

Thin Crust Pizza Dough

1 Mix a little sugar into the warm water.
2 Sprinkle yeast on top.
3 Wait for 10 minutes or until it gets all foamy.
4 Pour into a large bowl.
5 Add flour, salt, olive oil.
6 Combine.
7 Knead for 6-8 minutes until you have a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (add a bit more flour if you need to).
8 Cover and let rest for 20-30 minutes.
9 Lightly grease two 12-inch pizza pans.
10 Sprinkle with a little bit of cornmeal.
11 Divide dough in half.
12 Place each half on a pizza pan and pat it with your fingers until it stretches over the whole pan.
13 Try to make it thicker around the edge.
14 If desired, pre-bake at 425 F for 10 minutes (I don't always do this).
15 Then spread with pizza sauce and use the toppings of your choice.
16 Bake at 425 F for 10-20 minutes longer or until bubbly and hot.
17 Makes 2 12-inch pizzas.

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/pizza-dough-for-thin-crust-pizza-70165#ixzz1LXKgbaoy

The Chicken Cordon Bleu is also super easy. Take your chicken breasts and pound them very thin - as thin as you can go without them falling apart. Lay a piece of swiss cheese - or any similar cheese - I like Gouda - on top of the chicken breast. Then lay a thin sliced piece of ham or prosciutto that I had left from the pizza over the cheese. Roll the chicken, cheese and ham together in a spiral and poke a toothpick through the layers to hold it together. Roll it in an egg, and then in seasoned bread crumbs or Panko. Repeat that last step to ensure it is fully coated. Place in a greased pan and bake at 375 for about 30 minutes. Serve with Mustard Cream Sauce and Breaded Asparagus on the side.

Mustard Cream Sauce
½ cup white wine
¼ cup chopped spring onions
250ml PHILADELPHIA For Cooking
1 ½ tablespoons wholegrain mustard
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons wholegrain mustard, extra
Olive oil spray
Vegetables, for serving
Instructions BOIL wine and onions in a small saucepan for 2 minutes or until mixture is reduced to ½ cup. Whisk in PHILLY and mustard and boil for 3 minutes or until thickened to sauce consistency. Season, remove from heat and cover.

Breaded Asparagus

Simple - Lightly brush the asparagus with olive oil and then roll in the seasoned bread crumbs. Bake in the oven at 400 for about 15 minutes. Serve with the mustard cream sauce as well.

Hope you all enjoy them as much as I did!

Lots of new posts coming

All of these posted a bit closer together than I thought so there are like 3 new posts below. I'll try to spread them out a bit better. :-)

I got selected by this website houseparty.com to host a party for Philadelphia Cream Cheese Cooking Creme. They sent me a whole bunch of free stuff - some cool, most of it the junk I don't need to clutter up my house lol. But among the free things they sent me - a new stainless steel pan, coupons for free product and new wooden spoons.

Mainly I got to have fun coming up with new recipes and having people over. I went with St. Patricks Day - something green in ech dish - theme since it was a week away. I made a Prosciutto, Mushroom, Arugula and Red Onion pizza with cream sauce and I think that might have been my favorite dish. Then I made Breaded Asparagus and Chicken Cordon Bleu with a Mustard Cream Sauce and a Key Lime Cheesecake.







So I totally forgot to get any pictures of the actual food but my table looked pretty. :-)

Video at the Playground

Random Videos

Pushing the vacuum



Climbing the Slide