Valentine Fun.

We have a fun tradition on making heart shaped pizzas the day before or on valentines day! Check out our pizza's from last year and the year before and even the year before that! Its just amazing how time flies!! This year we had them the night before Valentines day and they were very yummy! I let the kids do pretty much everything and they loved it!!

 Most of the toppings went into Dominic's mouth at first but he finally got the hang of putting them on the pizza instead! ;)

 A little ton of cheese to top them off!

 Ta-da... and so tasty!!

I also always make chocolate covered strawberries to go with the pizza and believe it or not, this entire plate got devoured this night!!  

 Then we sat down to finish Elena's school valentines -- we couldn't pick just one thanks to Pinterest so we ended up with two!  

 Of course Elena insisted on a "Frozen" themed one. The free printable can be found here. We opted to use an orange tic tac for Olaf's nose.

and a word search of her classmates names!! I found an on-line word search generator here. You just have to type in the names and how large and challenging you want the puzzle to be, then I just copied and pasted into Microsoft Word and added the rest (nothing fancy!) Add a cute pencil with some fun washi tape and we were set! The kids absolutely loved these!!   

Elena was so excited for her party the next day...

Recipe Round-up!

Not exactly a new years resolution, but one of my goals the past few months has been to try and eat more at home. Mainly to save money but also to start eating healthier. Here are some of the winners that my hubby and kiddo have actually requested for me to make them again! I am also much more up for trying a recipe after I have gotten a review from it so I thought I would share!

1. Chicken Tortilla Soup -

I adapted this recipe from Martha Stewart's Tortilla Soup with Black Beans Recipe.

I followed the recipe but I also added shredded chicken and cilantro to make it extra yummy.

2. Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers -

I have really started to like cooking with peppers and these were a big hit with me and Robert loved them too. His only request was that I cooked them a little longer so that the peppers would be softer next time. Here is the link for this recipe.



3. Baked Cauliflower Poppers

I made these to go with the stuffed cheesesteak peppers instead of unhealthy french fries and my cauliflower-hating husband was shocked and said he could eat them every other day! Yay! This recipe came from Delighted Momma.

4. Crash Hot Potatoes

from the Pioneer Woman. I found these and thought they sounded wonderful! Mine were not near as pretty, and I think I should have boiled them a bit longer too - but they were still very good! 

5. Baked Spaghetti

This is what my husband always orders when we eat at Fazoli's, or any other place that has baked spaghetti - so when I came across this recipe I thought I would give it a try. He and Elena gobbled it up! This recipe came from here.

 6. Crock pot Stuffed Peppers

Another yummy stuffed pepper! These were very good! Elena even ate them (well everything inside the pepper!) I will make these again. Here is the recipe. 

7. 5 minute key lime pie

 

This pie is so easy! It is light and yummy and would be a wonderful summer treat but we are sure enjoying it this winter! I have tried over flavor combos too! As long as there is a Jell-O mix and a yogurt the same flavor you can make it a pie! We have tried Lime, Lemon, Orange, and Strawberry-Banana. Orange is the favorite so far!

8. Skinny Funfetti Dip

I can't get enough of this - it literally tastes like I am eating cake batter!! Love!

The rest of these recipes I forgot to take a picture of!

9. Beef and Bean Chili Verde

My 4 year old loved this and the hubby asked me to double this recipe next time so he could have more leftovers! I added corn and cilantro and omitted the cayenne pepper (only because I didn't have any) This has become a regular meal for us!

10. Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup

 I put this in my magic bullet and made it into baby food! Dominic (6 months) loved it!

11.Chicken Alfredo Roll Ups

Yum! Who doesn't love alfredo though?

12. Ham and Cheese Sliders

Ever since I got to try these yummy sandwiches at Bunco they have become my go-to snack for a big group! They are fabulous!!

Valentine's 2013.

We had a lot of fun activities this Valentine's season. First off, I made pink chocolate chip cookies with my little princess. :)

Then we debated and debated on which Valentine's for Elena to make this year and she decided on this little cute idea - so adorable!

Elena loved putting these together! And the best part is that I found a free printable for the project here!

Then we made some Valentine's Popcorn for little party favors too. Yum! 

Elena was so excited about her class party this year. She loved handing out her little fishbowls. :) 



They also scored loads of sweets and fun goodies at the party.

Their little craft was these heart magnets. 

Since her class party was actually the day before Valentine's Day - I made sure to make the real Valentine's Day just as fun. We started the day out with pink heart pancakes! 

Then after Robert and I got home from work we had more Valentine goodies for the kids to open!

Dominic was actually really excited about his new bibs! Lol.

I had ordered Elena this sing along CD where the princesses actually sing your child's name in the songs! (I found it on this website) She was in awe that they were singing to her! She promptly had to put on a princess outfit and dance around! :)

Then we started making heart pizzas for dinner. :) 

While the pizzas were cooking I let E decorate some sugar cookies we had made earlier. 

These pizzas were fantastic!! 

I made a special treat for dessert too - chocolate covered strawberries! They were delicious.

My parents were kind enough to watch the kiddos for us the next night so that Robert and I could have a romantic dinner date! We also hit the casino after, were I doubled my money playing blackjack! Granted, it was only $40 to begin with but hey, I'll take it! :)

Happy Heart Day!!