coconut cupcakes for father's day

If you squint, they look like little lawnmowers. I got the recipe and instructions Here.
My review: Awesome! The cake was light and sweet. I dare say, melt-in-your-mouth. The frosting was simple and sweet and the toppings were too adorable. I wasn't as neat and tidy with my presentation as the original contributor, but I don't think the original contributor had a ten month old who was teething and wanted to be held constantly. These honestly took me a day and a half to finish. They were well worth it. I highly recommend this recipe.

sausage and chicken ...jambalaya?

I'm not sure what to call this. There's no roux, so it might not be exactly a gumbo. It's relatively simple and Baby D can be distracted long enough for me to chop up the ingrediants and then it's a matter of throwing them in the pot.

1pkg Cajun style sausage (I find them at Target)
1 or 2 Chicken breast
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Onion
2 carrots
1 Green Pepper
1 4oz can diced green chilis
1 14oz cans diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup white rice
1/2 tsp Ground cumin
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp Old bay (optional)
1/2 tsp cayenne powder (optional)

Chop onion carrots and green pepper. Heat oil in pot, add vegetables. Stir over medium heat until softened. Add chilis. Stir for another minute. Add chopped sausage and chicken. stir until cooked through. Add spices. Simmer and stir for 2 or 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and water. Add rice. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.

Home Made Pizza Crust

I've been toying with the notion of making pizza for a while now. I even thought about buying pre-made frozen pizza dough, but being the penny-pincher that I am, I finally opted for making my own. (Plus Baby D graced me with an afternoon nap in her crib, freeing up my hands for baking)
I used the pizza dough recipe from Fine Cooking magazine, issue Number 49, March 2002. They had a great article with step by step instructions and lots of photos.

4 Cups flour
1.5 tsp salt
1.5 Cups warm water
1 package yeast
2 Tbsp olive oil

Combine the yeast and water and allow the yeast to bloom for a few minutes.
In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, load the flour and salt in the bowl and pulse until blended.
Turn on the food processor and pour the water and yeast into the bowl in a steady stream.
Turn off the food processor and add the olive oil. Pulse until the oil is distributed.
Turn the sticky dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times.
Cut dough into four even sized portions.
(I chose to refrigerate my dough at this point but the article goes on to explain how you'd freeze, refrigerate or use the dough fresh)
Bring dough to room temperature and proof until doubled in size.
Flatten dough and use knuckles to pull the dough into an even 1/4" thickness. (This takes practice, my first pizza was hideously uneven)
I didn't have a peel or baking stone, so I put my finished dough on parchment paper and put that on an aluminum baking sheet.
Add toppings and bake at 500 degrees for 8 minutes.

My pizza (pictured above) was sundried tomato pesto and Chevre. Yum!

We eat well

D has certainly helped improve my diet. Whereas a soda or pop tart would have been sufficient breakfast for me before, now I slow down and prepare an awesome breakfast with loads of fresh fruit for baby and me.
Every morning I make oatmeal with fresh fruit for D and I. She has her Gerber organic oatmeal for babies and I have Quaker old fashioned oats. I slice up a banana and give her a slice cut into small pieces so she can self feed while I prep everything else. She also likes tiny pieces of strawberry slices. I then start cooking my oatmeal while I mash a few strawberry and banana slices and maybe a couple blueberries. Once they've become a paste, I push the mixture through a mesh sieve with a spatula and combine the resulting fruity goo with her bowl of oatmeal and by that time my oatmeal is done.