New Recipe: Chicken Bacon Ranch Pockets

Another great recipe found on Pinterest. Michael hates having the same thing all the time, so I'm always looking for new, quick and easy weeknight meals. This definitely fits the bill. I used a rotisserie chicken which was easy and it added a lot of flavor. They were really yummy and they re-heat well for leftovers as well!

Ingredients
1 pizza dough or bread dough

2 chicken breasts, cooked, chopped (I used white meat with the skin removed from rotisserie chicken)

4 -5 slices bacon, cooked, chopped

½ t. dried parsley

1 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded

¼ c. Ranch dressing 

2 T. butter, melted

¼ c. Parmesan cheese, shredded

½ t. dried parsley
* I also added a little onion powder and garlic powder

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. 
2. Mix chicken, bacon, ½ t. parsley, mozzarella cheese and dressing.

3. Divide dough into 2 equal piles. Roll each pile into a 12”x12” rectangle. Using a pizza cutter, cut each square into 6 equal portions. 

4. Place 2-3 tablespoons of chicken mixture in the middle of each portion of dough. 
5. Fold dough edges to center and seal tightly. 

6. Turn filled dough over, seam side down onto parchment lined baking sheet. 
7. Brush tops with melted butter and top with mixture of Parmesan cheese and parsley. 

8. Bake for 20-25 minutes till golden brown. Cool on racks till warm enough to handle.

Recipe makes 12 pockets

Wordless Wednesday: Mustaches for Movember!

Get paid to shop with Ebates!

Last year my Christmas shopping was done about 95% online. It's so nice to not have to go out to the stores when everyone is cranky and its cold out. Outside of Christmas shopping I probably do 60 - 70% of my shopping online. What I didn't know was that you could get cash back for shopping online, with Ebates. I really wish I would have knowm about Ebates like 5 years ago!

With Ebates you set up an account on their website, you get a free gift for signing up once you make your first purchase. I got a $10 Target gift card! Basically every time you want to buy something online, go to Ebates' website first search for the store you are going to shop online at and then go to that site through Ebates. It's super easy. I use the search bar on the top right to search for the store.

Every store has a different cash back percentage and they change all of the time. Stores also have special rates from time to time. I've made 6 purchases so far and have earned almost $17 in cash back! You can get a check for the money or they will add it to your PayPal account. Another great thing is when you go to the store page they have coupon codes to help you save more money. 

So if you do a lot of online shopping like I do, I would definitely recommend signing up for Ebates. 

I was not compensated in any way for this review, however if you do want to sign up, use the link below and I will get a $5 credit if 10 people sign up, no pressure at all, just wanted to be honest. 

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=ELwvm9hj6252FrrF4CKr6g%3D%3D&eeid=23552 

Weekend Recap

We had a really nice low-key weekend. On Friday I got up and took down all of our Halloween decorations. I like to have a month break with everything looking clean and fresh before all of the Christmas decorating craziness happens!

I don't really have Thanksgiving decorations, but I put up my new chalkboard banner and wrote "Be Thankful" on it. I also swapped out our framed Fall Bucket List with a free printable I found on Pinterest that says, "Keep Calm and Gobble On!"

When Ethan woke up from his nap we headed to JoAnn to pick up some crafting supplies. I had a 25% off coupon so I went through my Pinterest boards and picked out a bunch of crafts I knew I wanted to make for Christmas. I wanted to have everything ready so I can work on Christmas crafts whenever I have time over the next month or so. I'll be sure to share which crafts I make in case you want to make some of your own! Ethan sat in the cart like a big boy for the first time and he loved it!

He loved sitting up and looking around at everything and anything. I picked up lots of craft goodies and we headed home. I had pinned this wreath right before leaving for JoAnn and picked up all of the supplies to make it. I couldn't resist working on a craft right away when we got home and Ethan took a nap so I got right to work. Meet Mr. Tom Turkey!

I think he came out really cute and it was really easy to make. Friday night we went out to dinner with Rich, Tif, the kids and Ken. We had fun hanging out and playing with the kids. We headed home when the kids were ready for bed.

On Saturday we got up, I made some breakfast and then we headed out to run some errands. We headed to Costco first to stock up on formula and some other items. Then we headed to Ace Hardware and then Hobby Lobby. I stocked up on some Christmas ribbon for our Christmas tree and some tins for Christmas cookies. We had lunch at Chick-fil-A and then headed home. Ethan and Michael took a little nap and I worked on a prop for Ethan's November photo shoot. Here's a sneak peek! I don't think you need too many chances to guess what this month's theme is!

Saturday night we went out for sushi for dinner at our favorite place. It was delicious as always.

After dinner we headed home, put little man to bed and just relaxed. 

On Sunday we were up pretty early because of the time change. We headed to breakfast at Great American Bagel and then grocery shopping. Ethan was in a cuddly mood at breakfast, he's so sweet.

The rest of Sunday we relaxed and watched football. Jacob wasn't feeling well so we couldn't do football with Rich, Tif and Ken. We also gave Ethan his first taste of sweet potatoes. He loved them! I'm glad we found something else he really likes besides bananas and pears! He was a mess since Daddy fed him. Daddy might have also painted Ethan with the sweet potatoes too, HA!

For Sunday dinner we defrosted some of the leftover ravioli meat mixture and made manicotti. It was delicious!

I hope all of you had a great weekend too! I'm hoping these next 2 weeks go by fast, I'm excited for a week off and Thanksgiving coming up!

Our week in pictures: 10/28 - 11/3

Sunday, October 28: We made a Halloween card for Ethan's grandparents, cute little ghost feet!

Monday, October 29: My new iPhone 5 case Michael had made for my birthday came!

Tuesday, October 30: My little pumpkin butt playing!

Wednesday, October 31: Happy Halloween!

Thursday, November 1: Wooden monogram for an upcoming craft project.

Friday, November 2: Nap time craft time: I made a turkey wreath! Tutorial here.

Saturday, November 3: Sushi night, yum!

New Recipe: French Bread Pizzas

This isn't really a revolutionary recipe or anything, but they are too darn good not to have a record of. I was looking for ideas one Sunday of something to make for football Sunday at Rich & Tif's and saw these come up on Pinterest. I thought it would be a great idea for an appetizer and it was, they were a hit and gone in like 10 minutes! They are great too because you could do several different toppings on each to go along with everyone's taste. I just love the texture of the bread, crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. We've had these no less than 5 times in the past month. It's a super easy weeknight meal too that you can have made and baked in less than 30 minutes!

Ingredients:

1 loaf french or italian bread

Pizza sauce

Italian sausage or any topping you desire

Mozzarella cheese

Italian seasoning

Garlic Powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Slice loaf of bread in half

3. Add sauce to both halves

4. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and garlic powder

5. Add toppings

6.Add cheese

7. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until cheese is golden brown

8. Enjoy!

Ethan's 1st Halloween!

We were really looking forward to celebrating Ethan's 1st Halloween! I couldn't believe that we had a little man to dress up and take trick-or-treating this year! It's something I've thought about ever since I was pregnant. I'm just loving celebrating all of these firsts, its so much fun!

Our first stop was over at Michael's parents house. He had all kinds of treats waiting for him from Grandma, Grandpa and Great Grandma! We also took him to a few of the neighbors' houses who Michael has known since he was Ethan's age!

Next we headed over to Rich and Tif's for their Halloween bash! They were hosting a Halloween open house complete with a haunted house in their garage! Ken, I mean the grim reaper, greeted everyone as they arrived to dare them to walk through the haunted house.

We hung out for a little while and took a few pictures before we headed out to do some trick-or-treating.

Our safari family

Photo Bomb courtesy of Tif's Dad, HA!

Liz and ladybug Lauren

Ladybug Makayla

Jacob the Neverland Pirate

Trick or Treat!

Ethan had to ring a doorbell too!

Animal trainer Daddy and his little lion!

At this point, Michael and I turned back for Rich and Tif's, it was getting colder, Ethan needed a bottle and we didn't need any more candy to bring home! When we got back to their house the haunted house was very busy! It didn't stop either, they probably had 300 people go through that night.

I fed Ethan and then we ate. They had made pots of chili with all the fixings for everyone and there were lots of desserts too. I made mummy dogs and ghost rice krispie treats. Everything was yummy!

After eating, we just hung out, played with the kids and talked. We also could hear all of the screams from the kids going through the haunted house! It was a really fun night, I can't wait for Halloween next year!