Loaf of Heaven!

Today I met up with Notes from the Dungeons at the gym for an early workout. We got to talking about one of our favorite things - food (which is why we need the gym in the first place) and I decided that I would go home and make us something to eat for dinner later tonight. I don't really know what to call this but it's a my recipe for spinach and artichoke dip morphed into a calzone-type thing. Just for grins, I'll call it Loaf of Heaven. Here's how I made it:



Preheat oven to 375*

Mix together:

-3 cans of artichoke hearts, diced
-2 packs frozen, chopped spinach (thawed in microwave)
-16 oz. fat free sour cream
-12 oz. Hellman's Mayonnaise
-2 cups finely shredded mozzerella cheese
-1/4 cup shredded parmesean cheese
-about 3 oz. REAL bacon bits
-1 carton sliced mushrooms that have been sauteed in olive oil with 1/2 bag of frozen, chopped onions

Add to taste:

-cracked black pepper
-sea salt
-tobasco
-Tony's seasoning
-garlic powder
-dash of worchestershire sauce

After all is combined, crack 1 egg in a seperate bowl. Beat the egg and add it to the spinach mixture and stir to combine.

Unroll 2 pizza crusts. Top each crust with half of the spinach mixture. Sprinkle crumbled feta cheese over the tops of both. Then pull the long edges up towards the center and pinch together. Pinch the sides together to seal. If desired, brush the top of loaf with either beaten egg or lightly spray with Pam and then sprinkly coarse sea salt over loaf. This just makes it look pretty and get a nice golden brown.

Place on a cooking stone or cookie sheet and bake for approximately 45 minutes. Enjoy!

Here are a few pics:

Mix it all together!

Add your egg

Lay out your dough



Place your mixture on the dough



Top with crumbled feta and close up the loaf

***I experienced some "technical difficulties" as I was closing up the second loaf. The dough kept tearing so I just kinda shaped it into a round loaf and covered up as much as I could. Some was left uncovered on the top. I baked it with the foil wrapped around it for 40 minutes and just went and uncovered it and put it back in the oven for an additional 15 minutes. As soon as the buzzer goes off, I will take a picture of the finished product.

Here it is!

It turned out YUMMY! I will do a few things different next time: use a better quality pizza dough, not put as much salt because the salt in the bacon really comes out when it cooks, maybe divide the mixture between 3 pizza doughs instead of 2 because it was really thick. Try making it....it's so good, you'll slap yo' mamma!

Kelly, I expect a full review tonight after you and Tyren try yours!

It has been forever since my last post. I hope to start blogging on a regular basis once things settle down around here. Mardi Gras is quickly approaching and that means it's a busy time in my household! So much goes into planning for the Krewe of Eve, which is the parade I ride in. My best friend and I have our own float of 30 women and our float is "Red Beans and Rice" this year. As soon as I have pictures to post, I will put them up. Until then!

I Love the Holidays!!!

Things have been so hectic around here! We spent yesterday shopping for Christmas lights to decorate the outside of the house. We put up white icecicles along the roof edge and we trimmed the windows and front porch with multi-colored lights. We also have a white spiral tree and an animated white reindeer in the front yard. Oh...can't forget the blow-up snowmen and tree that Andrew HAD TO HAVE. He's so funny. He told us that Christmas lights just make him so happy!


Over Thanksgiving holidays, my neice Kaitlyn came over and spent some time with us. We went to the New Orleans Children's Museum. We also took some pictures to use for Christmas cards. Everyone thinks that Bailey and Kaitlyn are sisters, sometimes even twins. They are a year apart. I put one of the pictures in my header and here are a few more of my favorites:




Andrew



Bailey

Kaitlyn

Gone Too Soon

It stinks that my first real blog has to be about something so sad. Yesterday, Shane's cousin passed away. Tommy was Shane's best friend growing up. They lived right next to each other and they spent their free time playing together as little boys. As they grew older, they sort of lost touch.

Shortly after Shane and I got married, he ran into Tommy and they started to talk once again. My fondest memory of Tommy was when he took us to dinner at Emeril's restaurant NOLA, where he was a chef. We were given the royal treatment. I also really enjoyed when he taught me how to make alligator eggrolls at a cooking demonstration he put on for our friends.

It seems like life got busy and before you know it, we lost touch with Tommy once again. We got a call Sunday that he was in a coma, an apparent drug overdose. He passed away yesterday evening. So tragic. I can tell my husband is hurting, but he tends to keep his emotions in. I know that it is upsetting to Shane that Tommy chose the path of drugs. This ended up becoming a good conversation starter for us with our kids in regards to drugs. We sat them down and had a long talk with them about what can happen to you if you choose drugs. They were very receptive to this conversation as they just had Red Ribbon Week at school. They are very sad that their Daddy lost his cousin.

So please say a prayer for Tommy's parents, sister, child, friends, and extended family.

Gone, but not forgotten.

My First Attempt...

Well, I decided to try this blogging thing. It looks like it will be fun! Hopefully my family and friends that live out-of-town will be able to keep up with us better by coming here to read about what we've been up to. If there is anything that you would like to see or have any suggestions about my blog, please feel free to let me know!

Thanks!

-Jamie