So, What Have You Been Cooking Lately?

I get asked that question a lot! As of late I haven't had much "reason" to cook in that it is official now...we are empty nesters! If I talk about it too much I'll start to cry so let's keep moving!

We had a nice long weekend at the beach for our Anniversary and needless to say we ate out a lot! My shorts are uncomfortable today so that proves it! 

Once we unpacked I did my usual grocery store run but I still didn't feel any inspiration....until I spotted the "home made" pizza dough in the bakery section! 

Kudos to whoever thought that up because it is truly delicious! 

I tried the multi grain dough for the first time and I am already craving it again! 
(oh wait...I get to have leftovers tonight!)

I hope you'll give this a try!
 Let me know what you think of it! 

I started the toppings by sautéing the mushrooms in a little bit of Olive Oil for just a minute or two!

Then I quickly added the baby spinach

I only stirred it around for a second because in no time at all it had shrunk to almost nothing!

I cut up the grilled chicken into bite size pieces

I spotted this new pizza sauce and decided to give it a try! It looked really good but I still wanted a splash of the real stuff so I mixed them. I did...I admit it!

If you will let the pizza dough sit out and come to room temperature it is MUCH easier to handle!

Here is the Artichoke sauce

Then I added the regular pizza sauce

Topped it with some parmesan cheese

I added the chicken and then the vegetables came next

I love sliced Roma tomatoes on a pizza!

The fresh mozzarella is one of my most favorite parts!

Then I topped it all off with the 6 Cheese Blend they make for pizzas

Baked it at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes and then I turned the heat up to 400 degrees to finish it off! Mainly because I was hungry! 

Hope you Enjoy!

Mushroom, Spinach and Chicken Pizza

1 Multi Grain pizza crust

1-2 T Olive Oil 

1 jar of Reese Artichoke Pizza Sauce

1/4-1/2 Cup regular pizza sauce

2 grilled chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces

( ours was marinated in greek spices)

1 Cup grated parmesan cheese-divided

1 small carton sliced fresh mushrooms, washed and drained

1 6oz. bag Baby Spinach, stems removed

4-5 Roma tomatoes, sliced thinly and drained on paper towels

Sliced fresh mozzarella cheese

Italian 6 Cheese Blend

red pepper flakes if desired

Place pizza dough on a greased pizza pan. Sauce the mushrooms for 2 minutes in the olive oil and then add the baby spinach. Stir until mixed in and remove from heat. Lay out on paper towels and squeeze out the excess liquid as best as you can. Top the prepared crust with desired sauces. Add 1/4 C of the parmesan cheese. Top with the grilled chicken, the spinach and mushroom mixture and the sliced tomatoes. Next tear of the mozzarella and distribute evenly and top with all of the Italian 6 cheese blend. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes and then turn heat up to 400. Bake until done. Let sit for a minute before slicing. 

Bon Apetit! 

Thank You, Southern Living!

I was doing just fine until I decided to read the latest issue of Southern Living this afternoon. Not a good idea for someone who has been home bound since Monday, it's dreary outside, and I've been cleaning out Miller's closet. Now, my eyes are swollen and my heart is heavy. But he sure does put it well in this article! It's definitely worth reading if you are an Empty Nester like me and need a good cry!

I think it was the part about the dog that finished me off! It's so very true even with our dogs and Miller!  Hope you could read this but if not, it's the very last page in this month's issue. 

( maybe he will surprise us and come home again this weekend! )

They are never really gone until they are married I hate to tell you! The boys that is! The girls stick around…every now and then I just make a trip to Mitch's office and pretend I have something important to tell him! No, I do get to see Mitch…just not as often as I'd like to! We are blessed with three wonderful kids and I appreciate them very much! As well as the best daughter in law and son in law a mom could ever wish or pray for! 

Have a wonderful week!

The Sweetest Things Sunday…"Did We Just Have An Anniversary?"

This Sunday I really don't have any one particular thing to write about….I'm very thankful that we got to help Holly and Brad find a house in New Orleans, I'm very glad that Miller came home this weekend  after only being gone for a week and I'm extremely grateful that I got to share a 29th Anniversary with my best friend and husband!
Happy 29th Anniversary, Jim!

What more could I ask for? Well, the only thing I can think of is that I wish I could've seen Mitch and Britney and my precious Layton!

Other than that…it's been a great week getting back in the groove so to speak and learning how to cope with this new life that we seem to have been forced into! The life of being an 'Empty Nester'!

Which makes me begin to question what an Empty Nester really is? I haven't googled it except to try and find a few cute pics for my blog…that wasn't fun at all! They were all very elderly people that looked like they could be my grandparents and didn't seem to fit my description of what I think an Empty Nester should look like! In my mind when I hear the phrase Empty Nester I will admit that my first thought is sadness! Why? I'm not quite sure except that it means change and I don't like change!

 Other than that…I don't really know why I'm sad because I pretty much enjoy a quiet, very straight, peaceful house when I come home from the shop! I also enjoy being able to make a tiny dinner if I want to or just running to pick up something at the very last minute. I really enjoy just sitting on the sofa with my husband of 29 years and watching what ever we feel like watching on tv! I REALLY love being able to go to bed whenever I feel like it and not fretting too much over curfews. I love getting up when I want to and exercising or not…if I WANT to! And besides that….as Miller said as he was heading back to Auburn today…

"See, we do come back"! And he is oh, so right!

 He was such fun this weekend…all one and half days we were with him! We drove in from New Orleans Saturday at 2:00 and he was here by 2:30….we spent the afternoon with him, took him and precious Sarah out to dinner, went to church on Sunday and by the time we got home, ate lunch and I made food to send back it was time for me and Jim to go to dinner for our "official" Anniversary dinner! Mind you, we've just returned from New Orleans where one is NEVER hungry thanks to the over abundance of spectacular food but nonetheless, we went to dinner to celebrate! 

 As Miller headed back to the Plains it hit me that yet another week is ahead of me that I will have to get used to…it's always something! Now, Holly and Brad are returning to live with us for almost a month before he takes on the position of owning his own store with Chick Fil A. After that I see visions of moving them again…and decorating their cute new home!

( it's the one in the middle!)

 So, my life as an Empty Nester was really quite short lived….I should have savored it, I suppose!

 Oh well, surely after 29 years we can roll with the punches so to speak!

I don't have an actual recipe this Sunday…I'm too tired to be "sweet"! But I will show you all of the incredible desserts that were compliments of John Besh and his AMAZING restaurants in New Orleans…one being Domenica and the other, Restaurant August. They were all divine!!!

Hope you've had a great weekend and that your week ahead will be filled with joy! That's what I need for sure! His joy that can see me through even the emotions of being a new Empty Nester!

A Very Odd Monday, Indeed!

Have you ever been awakened on the day you move your last child to college…and stepped out of bed crying? I have…yesterday! Have you ever been awakened and had to face the first day with NO ONE coming home except for your sweet husband? I have. Today. It was scary, it was weird, it was VERY quiet and I didn't even get dressed until 1:30! Now granted, I did my treadmill…I had to! I had to let some stress out! And then I cleaned up the playroom. I had to do something NORMAL! Then that made me cry because I realized I should never have complained about it being messy all of these years in the first place because now it's never going to be messy again! And then I did the unthinkable! I went into 'his' room! He had left the door shut to keep the puppy out…but I opened it…only to find that it looked just like it always did!!! Bed unmade, shutters still closed, "just like he likes it!" What did I do, you ask? I cried! I made up his bed…because I could! I opened those shutters like I always have…and then I checked  his drawers only to find them almost empty…I opened his closet only to find it pretty bare and so I cried…some more! Then I ran to Holly's room and saw just how crowded it is with all of her belongings that have been here for over two years…and I knew it would be ok! They DO come back! They always do and it's always a huge growing process! It's normal and it's healthy!

You see, it's not that I'm worried that Jim and I won't love having more time together…it's the fact that it's not normal to me yet! I'm a huge creature of habit and so are both of my boys for that matter….I would give anything to see what he's doing right now!

But I'm also seriously enjoying the fact that we can eat when we want, sleep when we want, travel when we want, etc…and I know that he is still coming home…that is what keeps me going! That and a huge love for Jim, my own personal time and for the first time in our lives….ALONE time as a couple! Our 29th Anniversary is this Sunday….we've NEVER been alone!!!

So tonight I thought this would be a fun way to start off the next chapter in our lives...

 I wouldn't trade these past 29 years for anything in the world! In fact, if truth be told….I would rewind those years just so I could savor every moment and remember what it felt like to have young children again. However, it's time to move forward…and do those things we've always dreamed of doing!

One of my dreams has been to travel….maybe now we can!

One of my other dreams is to be able to go to bed at 9:00 if I want to! And to know that I don't have to wait up on anybody! I will say that it took EVERYTHING in my being last night to not call Miller at 12:00 and see if he was in safely. He's always been in by that time and I've never gone to sleep without knowing where he was…even if we gave him permission to come in later my angel of a husband would wait up for him….

A new dream has started….it's a dream of Miller being happy at Auburn and enjoying it to it's fullest…These years will go by just as fast as his high school years and for that matter…his life! All of my children's lives flash before my very eyes… I am making a promise to myself to stop and smell the roses…much more than I did before! 

I have been blessed beyond measure and am so very thankful for ALL that God has blessed me with! These next years will be wonderful…I just don't know what to expect yet! Thankfully, I don't have to! God has it under control…just as He always has!

Much, much love and many happy tomorrows! These next years will be the best ones yet! For all of us that are either first time empty nesters or just sent one of your children off to college! God is good…All the time!!!