Family Fun Day at the “K”

I happen to love baseball, not really watching on TV (until the playoffs). But in person awesome! The sights and sounds the stadium food it is all good with me! And through highs and lots and lots of lows I have remained a Royals fan. That’s right I am for those boys in blue and not afraid to admit it!

Well the company my dad works for happens to purchase some pretty spectacular seats each year to share with their employees, and Sunday my dad happened to be the recipient of the tickets! And by golly he decided that in addition to my momma he wanted to take my crazy trio!

It was an amazing day for it! The weather was gorgeous, the sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, and the ball park was buzzing, just a perfect day! Charlot kicked back shades on and enjoyed the game, ok she enjoyed seeing slugger on the screen all the time, but she did have a blast. Even though the Royals couldn’t pull out the win it was an awesome afternoon spent as a family.

If you are looking for a Sunday afternoon activity I would highly recommend heading out to Kaufmann Stadium. Home game Sunday’s are family fun days complete with Sluggers Mini Golf, Sluggers Batting Cage, Face Painting, Running the bases after the game, and so much more. Now you may be thinking yes lady that does sound like fun but seriously the prices are crazy. Well tickets start around $12 and the stadium allows you to bring in bottled water (they even let me bring in a juice for Charlot) and snacks. Plus the whole Little “K” Experience is $10 for an all-day pass. And seriously every kid deserves to know the awesomeness of America’s Pastime. Give it a go and enjoy your own day at the “K”

If you would like more info about Family FunDay at the K click Here.
Note: The Hubs and my Dad were their I just didn't get any pictures taken of them! Thanks Dad for the wonderful afternoon!

Ranch Pasta Salad

During the months of January-March at my office we have dinners each Thursday as a reward to all our workers for a job well done. Most of these meals the office provides the main dish and everyone brings all the remaining dishes. I guess you could call it a partial “carry-in” dinner. I don’t know all I know is there is always amazing food and tons of it! I love this because you can try out each other’s dishes and just enjoy. I also love it because when I find a dish I really like I try to see what I can do to it to either add a Tiffany spin on it or to cut some of the calories out of it!

This particular recipe was awesome. The lady who brought it said it was super easy and when I asked for the recipe she said there wasn’t really one. Just make pasta of your choice, veggies of your choice, pepperoni, and cheese, and then top it all with Ranch Dressing.

Well that is simple enough and it was great. But with me trying to lead a healthier lifestyle, I thought I could surely I could redo the ranch dressing and it still be really tasty. Well this is the result of my efforts. It is a great summer salad, nice and light and refreshing. Plus with the pepperoni and cheese in there Charlot loved it as well. Give this bad boy a try next time you need a quick and easy side dish!

Ranch Garden Pasta Salad

1 box garden rotini

1 bell pepper (I used ½ of a green ½ of a red), diced

1 bunch green onion, thinly sliced

4 stalks of celery, diced

1 pint of cherry tomatoes halved

1 bag of mini pepperonis

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Dressing

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

½ cup sour cream

¼ cup milk (more if needed)

1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1 package ranch dressing mix

Salt and pepper to taste

Cook noodles according to package directions. When they have cooled for a few minutes add all your veggie, meat, and cheese ingredients.

In a mason jar with a lid combine you dressing ingredients in the jar. Close the lid and shake shake shake!!! Taste for seasoning and add more milk if you think the dressing is too thick.

Pour over the pasta mixture. Gently stir to coat everything. Chill this salad for at least a couple hours overnight is even better!

Thankful Thursday’s…

Why can I not get a decent image of both of them!

I am incredibly thankful I married the man I did he is funny, smart, sweet and annoyingly honest to me all the time! But I didn’t really realize what an amazing man I married until he became a father. I have a quote on a canvas in Charlot’s room that describes this to a tee! “I never knew how much I loved your daddy until I saw how much he loved you.” The hubs would walk on water and walk through fire if he knew that’s Charlot or I needed him to.

Last weekend in true hubs form he came up with the plan to go “camping” with Charlot. Camping in her room to be exact. So I am thinking ok we will get out some sleeping bags and play in her room until she falls asleep. Oh no that isn’t what the hubs planned, he instructed me to fix something with hotdogs for dinner and have supplies for S’more’s, so I did what any good momma does. I fixed pigs in a blanket and Charlot and I made the S’more’s in the oven while the hubs prepared the camp site.

We walked in to a tent (a tarp covering most her room), blankets, pillows, books, and a lantern to round it all out. It was a great night playing in the tent, the sleeping on the floor part well I think I am still paying for that!

I have no words for this picture, except I love it!

She is totally my daughter! The love of S'more's is officially passed down!!

So thank you hubs for being you and for loving me!

Mid-week Randoms

Sorry this post is going up so late but it was a little crazy today!

Does Pintrest suck anyone else in at the most random times. I can go for several days without browsing then one minute I go to look for one recipe and an hour later I can't stop pinning things.

Speaking of the lovely Pintrest, I pin tons of recipes and rarely do I actually make them. I have plans to I really really do!!!!

Here are two that I actually have made and the turned out pretty darn good. 

7 Layer Dip! Link here

This was SO good!! 4-6 raw chicken breasts new potatoes green beans (fresh or canned-really any green veggie would work. Broccoli is good too). Arrange in 9x13 dish. Sprinkle with a packet of Italian dressing mix and then top with a melted stick of butter. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Charlot is on a "date" tonight with her uncle Zach. They went to the movies to see Mr. Peabody and Sherman. This is their first time out and about together should be fun!!!

I am really addicted to the show Castle. I love the mystery side, but it has a really funn side as well. I have been watching it for several seasons but this one is really good. What show/shows are you currently watching?

Tomorrow Charlot is going to the dentist for her first teeth cleaning. I am quite nervous that this could be miserable....

Well I am now going to enjoy the quiet evening at home with the hubs!!! 

Chicken, Shrimp and Pesto Pizza…

When I moved to CoMo to attend the lovely ole Mizzou I thought that pizza was simply crust, sauce, and cheese. Occasionally I would go out on a limb and add some Canadian bacon on it. Little did I know that my world of pizza would quickly be turned upside down by one visit to one restaurant in particular.

Come here you lovely dear

It was a simple Sunday evening invitation to go eat dinner at “this place downtown.” Sure why not the dorms didn’t have much in the way of good meals on Sunday’s. Then enters a restaurant that since then has never left my rotation of loves, Flat Branch Pub and Brewing a downtown institution. My friends and I start checking out the menu most of them are ordering burgers and wraps. I on the other hand had locked my eyes on the pizza section of the menu. And there it was calling my name “Shrimp and Pesto Pizza.” Good heavens my opinion of pizza changed right then and there forever!!! Lord of mercy it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! I was hooked! I left there a changed woman!

My assistant learning the importance of seasoning chicken early on!

This is post baking you see it is a bit browned but for sure not done all the way through

This is the pesto I used I just thought it was neat!

All the toppings minus the shrimp...I can't help that I am an idiot at times!

Then it happen someone asked if I wanted to go eat dinner at Flat Branch a few weeks later…hum YES!!! Pizza amazingness here I come! My eyes head straight to the pizza section of the menu…it’s GONE. AHHHHHH waitress we need to talk!!! “Miss there was a pizza called amazing on this menu the last time I was here, and now it is gone!!! WHAT IS UP” “Oh yes we rotate our pizzas regularly!” WHYYYYYYYYYY oh WHYYYYYYYYY!!!

Ready to head to the oven

Since that one brief time I have never been at Flat Brach when this pizza has been back on the menu. So this weekend I decided I was making it!!! Heck I might as well try, since I can’t seem to get the appropriate timing! This puppy turned out great! I did add chicken to the mix solely because I was making it for my parents and my dad is a fan of meat! Give this a try, I left one corner without the toppings, just cheese and my kiddo was a fan of that!

Finished product...Let's EAT!!!

Chicken, Shrimp and Pesto Pizza

2 Tbsp Cornmeal

1 can Pillsbury Pizza Crust

1 jar (or tube) of prepared pesto

2 Tbsp EVOO

2 cups shredded mozzarella

1 cup fresh mozzarella (cut in slices)

2 Roma tomatoes (sliced)

1 hand full of baby spinach leaves

1 chicken breast (seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked, then diced)

1lb cooked shrimp (I used raw frozen shrimp and sautéed them in a little EVOO)

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a large baking sheet then sprinkle on the cornmeal evenly over the sheet. Spread your crust dough out over the sheet, and prick with a fork. Bake it for 10 minutes, the curst shouldn’t be all done, but this prebaking is necessary for a nice crisp crust!

While your crust is baking prepare the remainder of your ingredient. Since I took the short cut with the prepared pesto I add a bit more EVOO to it just to freshen it up a bit!

Once the crust has cooled a bit it is time for assembly! Spread a thin layer of the pesto mixture over the crust. It is important to keep this layer thin or it can overpower everything else. Sprinkle on the shredded cheese. Then lay the slices of the fresh mozzarella over the pie! Next comes the tomatoes, and spinach. You want even distribution of all of this. Last is your chicken and shrimp.

Put your pizza back in the oven for another 10-12 minutes. You want your crust to brown nicely and all the ingredients to become friends (in other words your cheese needs to melt)! Take it out of the oven and allow it to cool for a few minutes before you transfer it to a cutting board. Cut it up and enjoy from there!