Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

Yesterday I posted a recipe for homemade Alfredo Sauce. The other day I really wanted to use this fantastic recipe for some thing new! So I decided to make a Chicken Alfredo Pizza. I had never made this type of pizza before, so I wasn't completely sure how it would turn out.  However, we were pleasantly surprised at how amazing it is! So I wanted to make sure to share this fantastic recipe with all of you.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza
Pizza Crust (I cheated a little bit and used pre-made crust. We have several packages that we got on sale when I first moved and I am trying to get rid of them, however I will be posting a pizza crust recipe in the near future)
1 block of Mozzarella Cheese
1 Chicken breast
Garlic 
Any herbs you enjoy: We used basil and a little rosemary. 

Step 1: Take a medium sized sauce pan and boil some salted water with the chicken already in it. (You want to boil the chicken slowly so that it isn't dry)
Step 2: If you are making Alfredo Sauce from scratch begin cooking that. If not, skip this step. 
Step 3: Once the chicken has been boiling for a few minutes take a knife or some scissors and make sure that it is done in the middle.  Once it is cooked through take it off heat. 
Step 4: Begin Making the Pizza Crust (if you are making it from scratch you should make this at the same time as step 2)
Step 5: Cut the chicken into small chunks
Step 6: Spoon some Alfredo Sauce onto the pizza (The quantity will depend on the size of your pizza. You want to leave about 1 inch on the sides to make sure it doesn't spread off the pizza). Then add the chunks of chicken on top of that. 


Step 7: chop up some garlic (you can always choose to omit this step if you aren't a garlic fan. I though, put garlic in nearly everything!)
Step 8: Sprinkle the cut garlic on top of the chicken and alfredo sauce


Step 9: Grate your cheese. You can make as much cheese as you want.  We like really cheesy pizza so we use at least 1/2 block of cheese if not a whole block.

Step 10: Place your cheese on top of the pizza and put in the oven a 375 (unless your pizza crust says otherwise).
Step 11: Watch the pizza, you want to take it out when the cheese starts to brown ever-so-slightly.

Note: If you are making a thin crust pizza, like I did, really want the time it cooks. Mine took less than 10 minutes until it started to brown.  You don't want things to get over-cooked. 

Enjoy!! As you can see, we were so excited I forgot to take a picture of the whole pizza! So here are the last 2 pieces. 

What is your favorite kind of pizza to eat? 

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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Pinterest || My Latest Addiction

If you haven't had a chance to get onto Pinterest yet, you definitely should check it out!

Pinterest is basically a method of "bookmarking" but with pictures.  You can create different "boards" (or folders) and you "pin" things onto those boards depending on what they are.  I have boards with recipes, decoration ideas, organization, fashion, etc.  It is an amazing way to find creative ways to do every day things or to find a new way to look at the spaces around you!  I have tried some recipes that have become staples in our home and found some great desserts that I will never forget!

Another amazing part of Pinterest is that you aren't limited to the things that other people pin.  You can add a small icon on your bookmark bar and click it to pin anything from another website!  Here is a little tour of Pinterest :)


Pinterest

    When you first get onto the Pinterest website you will see a page that looks like this:

1. The Everything Button:  This button allows you to see a random group of everything that anyone on Pinterest has pinned.  You can also choose based based upon your interests as well.

2. Pinners You Follow: This will take you back to the current screen. This shows you all the pins from anyone that you have chosen to follow.

3. These are the actual "pins" that people have chosen to pin.

4. See side image: when you click on your name it will bring up this drop-down menu. If you click boards it will take you to a list of all the boards you have chosen to make.  If you click Pins, it will take you to a list of your pins, etc.


The Boards 

 The above image is what you see when you click "boards" on your drop-down menu.  This shows you all the boards that you have chosen to create. As of right now, I have 30 different boards containing 1240 different pins.

If you click on a specific board this is what you will see. It will show you all the Pins that are included within that Board.  These are just two examples of the boards that I have. 


 Pinning on Pinterest
There are two ways to pin something: On Pinterest and Anywhere else on the web. We'll do on Pinterest first:

This is the "pin" screen.  This basically gives you more information on the pin as well as a chance to do more with that pin.

1. This is the website that this specific pin came from. If you click that link it will take you to the blog post or website that is specific to this pin. So in this case, it would take you to the link for that specific recipe.

2. This is the board that it is currently under, this could be a board you made (if you have pinned this item) or a board that someone else has made.  If you click that area it will take you to that entire board.

3. If it's a board someone else has made and you really like it you can chose to "follow" that board. That will make any pins put into that board appear on the "People You Follow" page.

4. If this is something you really like and want to "repin" you can click that button and a menu will appear. This menu gives you the option to chose what board you want to put it on and to describe the pin. (see below)

5. If you don't want to repin something but you do want to show that you like it, you can click the like button. This will simply put it on a like page and show the other person that you like it, very similarly to Facebook.

This is the Repin screen where you can choose what board it will go into and how you want to describe it.

 Pinning Everywhere Else! 

This is the best feature I think.  If you are on a food blog and you really want to remember this recipe or you see a picture and you want to save that picture to see later, simply click the little world icon in the red square above (you have to download this from Pinterest).

Once you click the world icon you will see a page that brings up every (recognizable) image on this website. Simply choose the one you like the most and then hit "Pin This"


This screen is very similar to the one on e website. You will pick your board and describe the pin and it will automatically put it on Pinterest for you!

This is definitely one of my favorite websites out there right now!

If you are already on it, what are some of your favorite pins? Please share them below! 


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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

How to refill the Swiffer Wet Jet!

So I was on pinterest the other day and I found this awesome video on how to open the bottle of a Swiffer Wet Jet so that you don't have to always buy a new one! This is a great thing because it will save significant amounts of money in the future! I filled mine with homemade lysol solution.






Do you have any creative ways that you save money on a daily basis?  Leave some in the comments!

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Thursday, November 3, 2011

The Power of Snail Mail

You know that moment when you go check your mail and you realize that among all those bills there is a card...for YOU! Think of that excitement when you see that someone took the time to send you a card just to say they were thinking of you or hoping you get better soon. There is just something about having something tangible that shows that you were on that person's mind.

The internet is a wonderful thing! Social networking helps people stay in touch and keep connected with old friends. Emails are a great way to make plans, conduct business, and share news with family and friends. However, it should never replace taking the time to hand write a card to someone and pop a stamp on it.  That act is something that is timeless and should never be forgotten.  

When I was growing up, my mom always taught us to send a thank you card after we received a gift for Christmas or our birthday.  This small act wasn't simply to say "Thank you" to someone; it was deeper than that. This taught us to invest in people and relationships. It taught us that people are important enough to take the time to personally thank them. This has carried into my adulthood.  When I moved down here to Texas, I sent personal thank you notes to the families that helped us in the process. I know that if my mom was raising us up in today's internet world, she would still make us send out a personal thank you note, not just say it on Facebook. 

Now I know what you may be thinking: you can send a thank you message on Facebook and it's the same thing, right?  Wrong! A message on Facebook or Twitter is not the same thing as taking a few moments to write out a thank you and stick it in the mail for that person.

Recently, I was invited to a baby shower via an online invitation website. Honestly, my first thought when I received it was, "Did they just click "everyone" on a giant list of people to send this to me?". I didn't really feel invited. Instead, I simply felt like they were trying to find people to ask to come. I chose not to attend this baby shower. However, if I had received a personal invitation in the mail I probably would have gone because that invitation would have told me, "Hey, I want you to come to this event so much that I'm going to take the time to personally invite you!" 

Ever wonder why people still send out wedding invitations? Because that event is so important to them that they want YOU to be there!

But I don't have people's addresses! Then ask them for it. You can easily send out a Facebook message saying, "Hey, I'm inviting you to this event. Can I get your address?" But follow this up with the actual invitation, because that's the important part. Then make sure you save their address so you don't have to ask for it again. 

But I'm tight on money! Do you ever hit up Starbucks when you're out, or grab fast food before work or class?  Well for the price of a cup and a half of Starbucks coffee you can buy 20 stamps! I would say that relationships are more important than a cup of overpriced coffee (I'm not hating on Starbucks, I'm sitting here now!). 

But it's really last minute! I completely understand last minute plans, I think that happens all the time. In that case, at least take the time to call them, not send out a mass Facebook message or email. It's not the same! 

There is nothing wrong with using the internet to connect with people. However, our generation has lost touch with the importance of investing time and energy into people and relationships. 

My challenge to you today: send your friend a card. It may simply say, "I'm thinking of you!" But it shows you care enough to take that time. It may seem small, but just like many of us were taught, "actions speak louder than words!" I promise you, these actions are huge. 

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