In My Spare Time....

Recently I have been a little MIA from the blog lately.  It's not because I don't love you!  I promise I do! "I do..I do...I doooo-oooo" (in my nerdiest Orange Soda voice)

My life has been a little more than chaotic lately.  In the mix of raising two tiny, mischievious, most opinionated, and sassy little girls I needed a break. 

After about 5 year, I picked up a paint brush again and I started to paint.  Painting gives me such a fulfillment. Everything is quiet.  I make my own little bubble for me and my canvas and it is pure serenity. I call it "My mommy getaway."  Don't worry.  My getaway is exclusively after bedtime :)  *No child was harmed or neglected in the making of this art*

I thought I might would share some with you.  If you think they suck...please be nice and lie to me ;) 

I painted this Dumbo from the Disney Smiles Collection.  I did not create this piece.  All I did was recreate.
Angie from Big Bear's Wife LOVED it for her birthday!!

This was for Angie's sister in law, Meghan.  She loves owls, japanese cherry blossoms, and all things teal JUST LIKE ME!!!  She wanted this piece for her future kitchen!

Olaf.  Of course you already knew that!  Frozen and Olaf have been my most requested pieces.  Frozen has definitly taken over the world this past year!

Ariel from the Little Mermaid.  She was also a part of the Smile Collection I believe.  I simply wanted to paint her on my own for my own amusement.  Soon I am going to have enough Disney paintings on my own to have an entire "Disney Art Wall".

This abstract flower I found on google and thought it would be a perfect piece for my sister in law Ariel.  She hung it in her new apartment :)  I LOVE the bright colors with he dark contrast.

This I painted for one of my nephews.  I thought they were all Avengers....until I went to his party and saw all of the characters on the table cloth lol.  WOOPS!  He loved it anyways thank goodness.  Silly me!  I really need a boy so I can stay up to date on things other than Disney Princessses.

Strawberry Shortcake was a request from my friend Heather's little girl who looks just like Strawberry!

This was the biggest painting I had ever tried.  Too big to sit at my kitchen table, so I set up camp in my bedroom floor.  It was SOOO much fun and I really shocked myself. Those are the pieces I love the most. The ones where I am so positive I'll never be able to pull it off and I do.

My brother in law, Josh asked me to paint this picture of the dam in our city.  It is now hanging on the wall of his office for all of his clients to see!

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza

Pizza is pretty much everyone's favorite.  It's the "Im too lazy to cook" food.  It is the "WOO! Party time!
Let's have pizza!" food.  Pretty much whatever situation you have going on ... pizza is always the answer.






















When I was dating my husband we ate a LOT of pizza.  Too much pizza probably.  We found out about the
Domino's online ordering and LOVED to order and play.  Something about watching your pizza process online is just so much fun!

Eventually we got bored of our "usual" pizza orders and decided to branch out.  We tried the chicken bacon ranch pizza.  I fell in love at first bite!

I wanted to try to recreate it at home so I knew at any moment I could make it myself.  It was a very close contest.  Matter of fact my husbands first words were "This is damn good!" (Sorry for the language ;) )

Chicken Bacon Ranch:
3 boxes Jiffy Pizza Dough (or your own pizza dough)
6 chicken tenders
8 slices bacon
3 tbsp grilling seasoning (I used "Butt Rub")
1 1/2 cup shredded mozzerella cheese
1 packet dry ranch seasoning
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp olive oil

- Prepare the pizza dough as directed on box.
  Spread onto greased pizza pan or cookie sheet.
  Bake for 5 min on 350

-  Rinse of chicken tenders and sprinkle with seasoning.
    Heat skillet on medium heat with olive oil.
    Place tenders on skillet and cook on each side for about 6 minutes each or until done and tender.
    When done, cut into small chunks.

- Fry bacon in a seperate skillet.
  When done place on a paper towel and pat dry to get rid of most of the grease.
  Crumble into pieces and place in a bowl.  Set aside.

- In a small bowl mix ranch seasoning with mayonnaise.

-  On pizza crust, spread ranch mixture.  Top with chicken pieces, then bacon bits.  Sprinkle cheese on top       of the entire pizza.

- Bake in the oven on 350 for about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted ad golden brown in color.