Pizza Pocket Bites

I can't believe Superbowl is happening Sunday this is a huge deal in our house! 

My Dad and Colt have both been avid Seahawks fans long before it was ever cool to be a Seahawks fan.

My Dad held season tickets on and off over the years.

When I was in high school we went to games in the good old Kingdome and sat up in the nose bleed section, I'm pretty sure I was married off in exchange for guaranteed game tickets over the years but I've never been able to verify this.. Just kidding..

In 2005 we were blessed enough for my Dad to fly in from New York to surprise us with 4 tickets to the Championship playoff game, all I can say is it was amazing! 

I was sad this year we didn't make it to any of the games because of my back problems but we did enjoy eating tons of tasty food while kicked back at home.

Like these little Pizza Pocket Bites.

So good and pretty easy to make.

A few pictures from over the years.

On the top left hand corner is my little Mas at his first Seahawks practice when we were at Husky Stadium practicing years ago.

 I think he was about 3, isn't his little #1 finger just so precious I could eat it right up.

The middle picture is at a Kaboom event Colt and I did with Home Depot and Marcus Trufant / NFL to build a play ground for a school in West Seattle. All I can say is he is such a nice guy.

 Colt was working on painting a Husky on the playground for the schools mascot and Marcus Trufant came over and commented on what an amazing job he did and helped paint in the picture. 

We also did another event later with Kaboom and Bobby Engram for the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club. It was such a surprise just how down to earth these guys are. 

Bobby Engrams kids played football with the other kids and just hung out. Colt actually helped plan the 2nd event and so much time went into coordinating it all to bless some kids with a cool area to play.

I just wanted to point out the good so many of these players do, so much time and publicity go into the bad things a few players do but most of them are really great people with huge hearts that do wonderful things in the communities they live and work in.

The pictures on the far right are Mas's new haircut, Colts been shaving the Hawk and 12th man into his hair for the last 4 weeks. 

I don't know how he does it, I can barely draw on paper let alone shave my kids head with a Seahawks emblem or number 12..lol..

The last 2 pictures speak for themselves...

I hope everyone has tons of good food and fun no matter what team you root for, after all it is a game and not a matter of life or death! 

On to the Pizza Pocket Bites....

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Homemade Pizza Sauce Or Marinara

This post is long over due. I've made it like a million times but never seem to snap a photo.

Homemade Pizza Sauce is so easy to make there's no reason to buy pre-made pizza sauce ever again.

A good sauce is an essential for Homemade Pizza and a staple in our house.

Not only is this sauce delicious for pizza but we love to use it to dip our fried mozzarella sticks and Homemade Easy Cheesy Garlic and Herb Breadsticks.

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Homemade Nacho Cheese Dip

Last night at Life Group we had a great conversation about having visions or goals.

It came to me at a time I really needed to remember not to beat myself up for things not going the way I planned and to keep my eye on the goal.

I've been struggling the last 2 weeks after an injection into my back didn't bring the immediate relief I was hoping for, being released from physical therapy still with chronic pain and a bit of blogger burn out.

I felt disappointed by so many uncontrolled circumstances in my life.

As everyone was sharing their visions and goals P.Nik (Pastor Nik) called me out because I didn't step right up and share my vision for the blog or life for that matter.

It was obviously one of those God moments where it was put on his heart to point it out just how wonderful this thing I've been doing is.

A time when I felt disappointed because I would love for the blog to be bigger like We Are That Family or Pinch Of Yum and to be able to not only help support our household financially but also to help support missions.

It's been a long term goal, a dream I've kept for almost 3 years.

I think dreams, goals, visions, whatever you want to call them are important in life because it helps you to strive for more.

Every person who succeeds has failed before success was ever achieved.

Just like in the game of football every one of those players headed to Superbowl has lost at times in their lives but instead of letting it be the end or giving up they look at what didn't work the last time and  work harder to succeed.

Which means we can gather together and enjoy tons of delicious Superbowl worthy snack foods like this Homemade Nacho Cheese Dip with Soft Pretzel Bites, Pico De Gallo and Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip.

Thank you God for Homemade Nacho Cheese Dip, it warms my soul! 

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Soft Pretzel Bites With Step By Step Photos

We are so stoked the Seahawks are going to the Superbowl!

This is a huge deal in the Northwest because it's only the second time in franchise history. 

One of our game day favorites are Pretzel Bites they are so easy to make, chewy and amazing dipped in a little Homemade Nacho Cheese Sauce.

Dear lord have mercy on my thighs! 

I can't wait for Superbowl not only because my team will be playing but it's a smorgasborg of all the finger foods my heart could desire.

These Pretzel Bites will keep the crowds at bay whether your rooting for the Seahawks or Broncos, a game day must make! 

Homemade Nacho Cheese Sauce will follow tomorrow! 

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Hawaiian Dinner Rolls

I am totally smitten with these rolls.There's just something about a lightly sweetened roll that makes the angels sing and my heart warm. These are a copy cat of those delicious little Hawaiian Rolls you find at the grocery store but even better because they come warm from the oven.

I know some of you are scared of our little friend called yeast but I promise you it's really not as scary as it seems. Tips when making yeast breads: a) make sure non of the ingredients are too warm, if I don't have a thermometer handy the easiest way I find to make sure the milk isn't too hot is by pressing my wrist against the outside of the bowl like when the kids were little and you would check their bottles to make sure they weren't too warm if it burns it's too hot and let it cool; b) having enough patience to let the dough rise, especially the final rise where the rolls double in size to become nice and fluffy; c) not consuming the entire pan of rolls without sharing, remember caring is sharing.

See nothing to be scared of with these rolls. As my kids would say easy peasy lemon squeezy. 

Shall we get on with the show?

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Eggless Chocolate Banana Monkey Snack Cake

I was trying to decide on something easy to make for dessert the other day and came across this Chocolate Monkey Snack Cake from Cozycakes Cottage.

I knew it was meant to be. I had a freezer full of bagged banana's needing to be used and this recipe requires no eggs or butter. Double high five on that because I had just run out of butter and it's super easy to make. 

But most of all how could I not make Eggless Chocolate Banana Monkey Snack Cake for my monkeys?

With 3 guys (4 if you count Buddy the beagle and just for the record I totally feel I should be able to count Buddy because he is always in some kind of trouble) the house sometimes feels like living in a monkey house. You never know when some crazy wrestling match will break out between the boys and when footballs on watch out our house becomes super loud with lots of jumping up and down, whooping and hollering. They also seem to like to swing and hang from trees when ever possible.

At this very moment the boys are continually singing,  "Did you know a cashew comes from a fruit?"

Only because they've moved on from, "What does the Fox say?" Wa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pow.. Sorry instant response.. Dang I thought I had finally rid my mind of that song. If you happen to see me in the produce isle singing: did you know a cashew comes from a fruit just keep walking I'm not crazy I'm just raising boys.

This recipe was adapted from Betty Crocker and Cozycakes Country Cottage to make a large cake to feed my house of monkeys and a few other adaptations.

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Gluten Free No Bake S'mores Granola Bars

I love S'mores Granola Bars with the little chewy bits of marshmallows and chocolaty goodness.

These are so easy to make and a great treat to add to the kids lunch box.

The secret to these are to press them together really tightly or the edges will be a little bit like chunky granola.

Not that it's such a bad thing because it's the perfect excuse to indulge in chocolaty granola for breakfast over your yogurt.

However if you do press your No Bake S'mores Granola Bars together tightly and you don't have loose crumbs you could always just break a bar up over your greek yogurt for breakfast.

I may or may not have participated in this kind of behavior on a few occasions.

I also may or may not have hidden a secret stash of granola bars to satisfy my own chocolate cravings.

I refuse to answer on the grounds I may incriminate myself and other parties.

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Crock Pot Beef Vegetable Barley Soup

Another souper easy soup..

Get it souper... Ha..Ha.. I crack myself up...

I've been falling in love with my crock pot these last few months and this Beef Barley soup is another winner, winner beef dinner.

Alright I better stop with my corny jokes..

The weather's still showing no signs of spring so I'm sticking to comfort food until I can climb out of hibernation. 

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy..

Sunshine in my eyes makes me cry..

Sunshine on the water looks so lovely..

I'm pretty sure I really miss the sunshine...

Sorry about that I'm totally having sunshine withdrawals and the short days leaves me a limited amount of time to take decent looking photos of food.

I just keep telling myself 2 more months and we will hopefully be back to 60 degrees days on occasion. I'm hopeful my back will finally be closer to normal so I can be up to my elbows in dirt planting lettuce, broccoli, sweet peas and lots of zucchini.

Oh how I miss thee....

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Clams with Linguine in a White Wine Butter Sauce

*Updated 01/13/2014*

We stopped at the grocery store on the way home from the kids basketball game to pick up fixin's to make BLT's for lunch and L.J. spotted $3 a pound clams on sale.

He begged and pleaded for us to make Clams with Linguine in a White Wine Butter Sauce for dinner.

Who could blame him? Not me.

We enjoyed this as an early lunch yesterday after church.

I forgot just how much I love the clam spiked noodles with the creamy white wine butter sauce.

Slurp..

It's quick enough for a nice lunch or weeknight dinner but elegant enough for company.

Unless your a food blogger and are planning on taking pictures then I suggest not making this for company because they'll think your crazy when you tell then they can't eat until you have the perfect photo.

The kids were circling around Colt yesterday afternoon like little vultures once lunch was done.

I think we pushed them passed the point of patiences and Colt was trying to plate the pasta and get a picture, so I finally stepped in and served the kids in an effort to avoid chaos from breaking out in our kitchen.

Hungry kids = Cranky kids.

I'm pretty sure the children of food bloggers are going to need counseling by the time they move out of the house because of all the times we make something and then tell them they can't eat until we have the perfect photo. 

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Savory Pear Pomegranate Gorgonzola & Walnut Salad with White Balsamic Vinaigrette

Colt and I started making a salad very similar to this years ago when Lorna was about a year old and we wanted to enjoy a Valentines Day dinner date but choose to stay in.

Sometimes to lay the kids down to sleep and put a little makeup on when they were little was so much easier then trying to find a sitter and worrying if they were ok through out our date.

Our menu usually consisted of delicious flavor combinations we would order if we had gone out and the Savory Pear Pomegranate Gorgonzola & Walnut Salad with White Balsamic Vinaigrette was born out of a necessity to step away as Mom & Dad to become Husband & Wife in the comfort of our home.

The sweetness of the pears & sweet and sour pomegranate combined with the buttery bite of the gorgonzola, earthy rich crunch of walnuts with a light creamy white balsamic vinaigrette to round out the flavors to pull the salad together as one of our favorites.

It was this flavor combination that made Colt start to love bleu cheese.

This salad pairs deliciously with grilled chicken for a light dinner or lunch.

 Most of our dates in the last year have been dinner in with the kids at their Aunts or Grammies and us at home cooking dinner together learning to truly enjoy our time alone.

It was a slow road to learn date nights didn't always have to include a fancy dinner and a show but sometimes a simple and delicious dinner at home alone in the silence of our busy day to day lives is refreshing and rejuvinating.

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Happy Birthday To The Most Gorgeous Girl I know!

I don't know where the time went but my gorgeous Girl turned 14 today!

I've spent the better half of today crying when I think about just how much she's grown.

She is so amazingly brilliant, kind, sweet and courageous! 

Happy Birthday Lorna! 

11

Alphabet Vegetable Soup

 I made this Alphabet Vegetable Soup last night because it's always a family favorite and it's been so cold outside..

I love that it's loaded with veggies, perfect for meatless Mondays and a great way to use up any leftover veggies in the fridge.

The kids love to play with the letters and seem to forget just how much vegetables they're consuming.

We spent the better half of dinner playing with our food and building words.

After all we are big kids at heart! 

14

Gluten Free Crock Pot Clam Chowder

Did you have a wonderful weekend?

I made this Gluten Free Crock Pot Clam Chowder and Colt's been on vacation the last few days and we were able to have some much needed family time. Our niece came over to spend the night with us last night, and we went to see Frozen. It was such a cute family movie, well worth seeing in the movie theater.

Our sweet niece woke up at about 2 am with a tummy ache and couldn't sleep.  So she climbed into bed next to me, boy I don't know how I forgot just how miserable it is to share the bed with a little one. I slept in the middle. She somehow pushed us over to about 1/4 of the bed and hogged the rest.

Colt had to get up to move her over twice so we could try to reclaim our bed.

Eventually at some point she headed back to Lorna's room and went back to sleep because we snored too loud.. Ha..Ha.. I guess we won the battle of the bed.

The only down side was we were all to tired to get up in the morning, and snoozed through the alarm.

As much as I miss having a little one around the house it was a great reminder how much I love that my kids sleep through the night in their own beds.

This Gluten Free Crock Pot Clam Chowder is so easy to make and a perfect fix it and forget it meal whether your struggling through sleep deprived nights or busy days. It requires so little effort and is full of flavor. I've been making Chowder like this for as long as I can remember and actually prefer it without any added thickener because the mashed potatoes make for a naturally thick creamy chunky soup.

According to Colt and the kids it's the best ever but I'll let you be the judge of that. I can promise this will satisfy the gluten free and gluten lovers alike, no one will miss it. 

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Perfect Waffles with Strawberries and Whipped Cream

 *Updated*

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a fabulous New Years! 

We were lucky enough to visit with some of our closest friends, eat great food, like these Brown Butter Brookies and play a few games. Then we returned home to find one my recipes was published in Foodie: Game Day Eats Edition! How awesome is that!

On another note way back in September  Colt threw out our 15 year old waffle iron when all the waffles kept sticking and his patients grew thin, no matter how well he greased it and we were blessed with a new waffle iron for Christmas. I can't believe we haven't had a waffle until now! It feels like forever! 

What a perfect excuse to update the pictures for the blog and indulge in these perfect waffles. I can't tell you how much I've missed these. So light and crisp, perfect to smoother in strawberries and whip cream. The perfect start to any morning. 

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