For the last couple weeks Elise has been going through the growth spurt. She's an impressive 17 pounds 12 ounces and 27 and a half inches at five months old, which puts her in the top of her heighth and weight. But I swear she has just shot through clothes like none other in the last two weeks and nothing fits like it used to. So, sadly today I was putting a bunch of her clothes away in a tub, never to be worn by her again when I spied this adorable outfit that my parents gave her. I've been trying to make sure that I have pictures of her in the outfits that I think are cutest and/or seasonal. And low and behold I couldn't think of a single picture I had of her in this outfit so she had to suffer some pants that are a bit too snug for her but I got pics of her enjoying trying to sit up on her own and then her tipping over. I hope you like them too.

I blogged a week ago sharing my favorite recipes for foods that we used to go out to eat. And in particular I shared a pizza dough recipe I had found online. Now I had only ever tried her slow rise pizza dough when I blogged the link to her recipe. This week was a bad one as far as anyone getting enough sleep in this house and Ellie cried for hours straight two of the afternoons. I had been putting off making dinner and decided I would try her quick and easy pizza dough since for a couple minutes I wasn't having to hold elise.

Oh my goodness! That pizza dough was fabulous! It came together in five minutes and took fifteenish to cook. That is less time than it takes to order out pizza and have it be ready! I will never again order pizza (unless it's BJ's). If I have the 20 - 30 minutes to wait for it, I can cook my own and save some money in the process. Oh and it makes a large pizza so I took a third of the dough and made papa john's style cheese sticks and I almost liked mine better! Not quite as greasy but still packed with flavor. So, here is the recipe. (from melskitchencafe)

Fast and Easy Pizza Dough and Cheesesticks

3 cups flour
1 heaping tablespoon of honey
1 heaping tablespoon of oil
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon yeast (I just had those packets of yeast and it ended up being a package and a half)
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Mix all dough ingredients together, except the flour. Add flour and knead a bit (I just through the ingredients in my kitchen stand mixer and then added the flour and mixed it again and let it run for a good five minutes). Then roll it into your pizza shape and place on pan. ( I like to use a little cornmeal on the bottom of the pan to make the pizza easier to get off. It also gives it that pizza texture that I really like). Cook it for 12 minutes or until crust is browned and cheese is bubbly.

For the cheesesticks I took a third of the dough and rolled it out like a mini pizza. I spread like a tablespoon of butter on and then sprinkled some garlic powder on top. Ten I topped generously with mozzarella cheese (freshly grated melts a lot better than the packages of grated cheese you buy at the store, but hey time is time in my book). Then I don't remember how long it cooked but I think it only took like 8-10 minutes.

PS cool discovery, I really like turkey pepperoni.

Try it out and let me know if you liked it as much as me or if I am simply crazy.

Kylie got home from her mission recently and since Ryan is in the throws of busy accountant tax time we weren't able to go to her homecoming. (Yeah I wasn't about to travel alone with a four month old) So, Ryan's parents and Kylie came down to visit! We didn't do anything too fun and Elise decided to wake up at 5 and 6 AM the two mornings that they were here. We did a little shopping and outfitted Elise with nine month clothes (which she hopefully wont be into for a little bit longer). Here are some pictures they captured as we were living our weekend.

I've been trying to find some good recipes that would replace some of our going out to eat. 1 because we don't have time when Elise's bedtime is 7:30 pm and B it saves us money and bonus it usually is healthier too. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Honey Glazed Chicken
Pizza
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Cafe Rio Pork

Are there recipes that you like?

So I should be cleaning, I haven't gotten anything done for my in laws to come visit tomorrow. (Mandi came and visited for the last two days, I blame her for my slacker-bility) I should be playing with my daughter not just leaving her in her bouncer seat of neglect. I should be grocery shopping for the weekend because I'll have a lot more mouths to feed than usual. I should be working on one of the many projects that are waiting in pieces around my apartment. I'm ashamed to say I still have Thank You cards to write to people and presents that she never fit into to return. I have my calling stuff I should be working on that I promised would be done by Sunday.
And what have I decided? That shoulds are no fun!
So here is some video that I wanted to get before Elise grew out of doing it. She makes these "Mmmmm" sounds as she exhales between gulps of her bottle. Let's just say she's always been a formula girl and enjoys her food.