WHOO HOO! NICKY'S TWO!

Terrible two's...we are finally here!  This would normally be the case but not with my Nichols.  He is such a happy boy.  He has meltdowns and temper tantrums but I still wouldn't call it the terrible two's yet.  He is such a sweetie and literally makes everyone who comes in contact with him smile.

At two he is just recently starting to put multiple words together and it is so cute that I can hardly stand it.  Sometimes it REALLY makes me want to have another baby.  Please don't tell my husband though because that would disturb him.  He LOVES his "doggy" which is really a lamb but let's keep that a secret, K?  He won't sleep without doggy.  He loves his brothers more than anything in the world.  His day is ruled by doing or trying to be included in whatever his older bros are doing.  He is borderline obsessed with baseball.  He wears this baseball helmet all the time while carrying a baseball glove and ball.  He wears this to the store, restaurant's, friends houses where ever.  He gets extremely upset at naptime, bedtime and bathtime when I make his take it off.  At his brother's baseball games he stands behind the fence at home plate and screams, "GO GAYKEY" or "GO BAYDEY!"  It is hysterical.  He loves the pool and is pretty fearless which is good and bad for obvious reasons. He is an excellent sleeper...sleeps in his own crib for about 10 hours a night!!!  Can I get an AMEN?!  He easily keeps himself entertained and really doesn't need me to keep him occupied.  I'm telling you he is the easiest baby in the world.  By far the easiest (thus far) out of my three boys.  He is so quiet that sometimes I forget about the poor little guy.  I'll finally say "where the heck is Nick?"  He's usually jumping on "Baydey's" bed or playing quietly with some toys.  He is not the best eater.  I don't really know many two year olds that are.  He LOVES sweets though.  But so do I so what can I say?  His favorite tv shows are Sesame Street and Yo Gabba Gabba.  He even got an Elmo cake for his birthday.  My friend Heather of Colleens Cakes and Cookies made it.  Go check out her website at http://www.colleenscakesandcookies.blogspot.com/.  The girl makes some cool stuff!

I'm so happy that he is two but I am also a little sad.  When I walked into his room to get him up from his nap yesterday he said plain as day, "hi Mom."  It sounded so grown up and if I wasn't looking I may have mistaken it for my 6 year old uttering those words.  I got a little nostalgic and just realized that my baby really isn't a baby anymore....sniff, sniff.  Time sure does fly.  I'm sure I'll blink and he will be three.  It's so freaking sad!

Love this picture!

I realize his ears look really big (his ears are actually kinda big but not this big!)  He loves to wear his brothers shoes and hats.  The hat makes his ears dumbo..ish!  I love it!

Look at his legs.  Even his baby chunky legs are disappearing.  Okay...now I'm sobbing.

Nicky's favorite people.  Well, besides me and his Daddy of course!

Happy birthday little man.  May your second year of life be full of excitement, learning and potty training!!!

NEW RECIPE #8: EASY STROMBOLI

I know I have been a slacker on the "new recipe every week" issue.  That was my New Year's Resolution.  We all know New Year's Resolutions only last 2-3 months at best right?  Well at least for me they do.  I always start the new year with great intentions and by March it's over.  I actually have done more than 8 new recipes this year but have been to lazy to blog about it.  I need to continue because recently my husband told me that he has really enjoyed all of the new experimentation in the kitchen.  I have found some killer recipe's as well!

Last night I made something called easy stromboli.  I am a calzone/stromboli type of gal.  If you give me the option between stromboli or pizza I will almost always go for the former.  My kids are picky so they are always my judges and they gave me 2 thumbs up for this one.  Brady even said mid bite, "this is soooooooo good."  Awesome!  Mission accomplished!  Let me add that this was so quick and easy that it almost felt criminal. There was minimal clean up too.  Recipe as follows:

EASY STROMBOLI:
1 can Pillsbury Country Italian Bread Dough (13.2 oz)....I couldn't find this so I just used Pillsbury refrigerated thin pizza crust dough.
6 slices Genoa Salami (can add more)
2 pinches Kosher salt (plus more for the top)
A good sprinkling of Garlic powder
A few Pinches of dried oregano, crushed between your fingers (plus more for the top)
A couple pinches of red pepper flake
A liberal sprinkling of freshly ground Parmesan (plus more for top)
6 pieces Provolone cheese, broken in half to facilitate rolling
several slices of pepperoni
pizza sauce for dipping

PREP INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350.  Place a piece of parchment paper on a rimmed sheet pan.  Unroll the bread dough and place on a lightly floured surface.  Unrolling this kind of dough can be challenging, so have patience.  When unrolled, the dough should form a rectangle.  Lay the dough so that the long edge is closest to you.  Make sure the dough is not overstretched in some spots, or the filling will burst out in those areas.

Place 6-8 slices of salami on the dough, leaving a 1/2" border around the edges.  Sprinkle on a little kosher salt, some garlic powder, oregano, and red pepper flakes.  Add the Parmesan and provolone cheeses. 

It's easier to roll the dough when you break the provolone in half when adding it to the top of the dough.  Finally, add as much (or as little) pepperoni as you want on the top of the provolone, making sure to leave a 1/2" border around the rectangle of dough.  Starting from the edge closest to you, roll the dough like a jelly-roll (or cinnamon-roll style).  As you roll the dough, make sure to keep all of the ingredients tucked inside and pinch the ends as you roll to keep the filling from slipping out as you roll.  Carefully pinch the seam shut (and the ends).  And place on the sheet pan seam-side down.  I made two because I have hungry kids and I was hoping for leftovers.  It's a little phallic looking or maybe I just have a dirty mind?

Anyhoo...lightly sprinkle the top of the dough with kosher salt, dried oregano, and grated Parmesan.  Bake for 25 minutes or until the crust is a deep brown.

Let rest 5 minutes before cutting into 1" slices.  Serve with some warm pizza sauce for dipping.

Like I said....2 thumbs up!

I got this recipe from http://www.ourbestbites.com/.  I'm already searching for my recipe for next week.  Stay tuned!

Jules