Biggest Loser inspired Tortilla Pizza

I have been wanting to make this since watching the Biggest Loser and discovering that you can actually make a pizza crust with flour tortillas and save a ton on caloric intake. This is way easy and way more affordable! Just make sure that you don't defeat the purpose of being health conscious by loading up on extra cheese and sauce.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Spray cookie sheet with non stick cooking spray.
Cook a few tortillas on the sheet for three minutes. Take out from oven and add light marinara cheese. I use mozzarella because it is the healthiest.  Load it up with lots of vegies.
Then cook an additional 10 minutes

Chalkboard inspired birthday wrap

This project is so easy. I have seen chalkboard paint used on other gifts before, but I wanted to take that idea and create a  mini chalkboard with a border around it to make it look like a perfect frame and a gift in itself. This was used for my mom's birthday gift to wrap a canvas print I had made of Doodlebug for her. I was very proud of the creation I came up with, as many times I never know what you will concoct when I come up with these crazy ideas.


Materials


Brown wrapping paper
chalkboard paint ( you can buy small cans at Lowes)
decorative/fun wrapping paper for border
heavy duty tape ( it seems like regular scotch tape doesn't hold the brown paper together well)
chalk
  


First I wrapped the gift
Then,I drew a rectangle shape out as an outline
Next, I filled it in with paint and let dry overnight.
In the morning I added the border and wrote on the chalk

Here is my mom with D being presented her gift

I also decorated my nephew Boston's christmas bag with a  Large and small type B ( because I adore typography) with old wrapping paper. I hope this inspires you!!!!

      That's a Wrap!!!!!!!!!

Pear Pizza Deliciousness

January 13th 2012

Pear Pizza

This pizza is a new spin on  the classic pie. It's light, fresh and best of all easy to make!

Ingredients: 

For pears

• non stick cooking spray
• 1  medium pear
• fresh ground black pepper

Spray the cookie sheet evenly with nonstick cooking spray

slice pears to make rounds and remove any seeds or tough spots from the middle

Grind pepper on top of each slice and then lightly spray the pears

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Cook the pears for 10 min until the edges are crispy

for the pizza

I used a Boboli pre-made pizza crust.

1 tbsp EVOO

1/2 c monterey jack cheese

2 tbsp goat cheese

1/2 c chopped hazelnuts

Spread olive oil evenly in center of dough going outward and leave a 1" border on the outside.

Spread monterey jack cheese evenly over the crust

Then place the pears on the pizza making sure to cover the pizza. 

Next place chunks of goat cheese on the pizza. I used a little extra because it is yummy. Then cover the pizza with chopped hazelnuts.

cook on pizza tray at 425 degrees for 15 min.

If you would like to make the pizza crust on your own then here is a site where you can do that:

http://milkeggschocolate.blogspot.com/2008/05/better-than-deschutes.html

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my wonderful mom's birthday! There is truly no right words to capture what she has meant to me growing up and still does. A lot of people always say, " I hope I don't end up like my mom when I am older." Well I feel the opposite and I have strived to be more passionate, patient and have a servants heart as she does. She has ALWAYS been there for me through thick and thin and knows me better than anyone (besides my hubby). 

Mom I want you to know that you are AMAZING and that I miss you everyday and wish that we were closer in proximity so I can see you whenever I want. You are an amazing mom AND as I knew you would be an AMAZING grandma to my precious Delaney. 

Pics below are in random order

Mom and dad at my wedding ' 06

                                                 

                                                        Mom with her first grandchild Delaney ( Hollister)

Chico, CA

Dec 2012

San Juan 2006

Mom wine tasting with me for my bachelorette

Mom standing on "the surfboard" at the top of Half Dome ( daredevil)

 Moss Landing with Penney

Mom with grandchild #2 Boston 

San Juan

Love you!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy Birthday!!!!!

Doodlebug's (for fun) Photo Shoot

My absolute fav thing to do is take pics of D. I am in love with her smile, her walk, her laugh and especially her beautiful strawberry blonde hair. The fact that neither myself or my hubby have red hair makes her very unique and special. I am SO afraid that one day it will no longer be this color that I am constantly snapping photos of her in preparation. Here are some of the pics from yesterday.

one little piggie

D sitting on the hood of an old firetruck

silhouette of D and her auntie!

DIY- unique personalized birthday wrap

January 9th 2012


 DIY  wrapping paper, with birthday girl's pic and an extra touch!!!!!




Materials:
Brown wrapping paper
tape
 pretty or funny pic of person
earrings
double stick tape to secure the photo


Take a nice pic of the person and enlarge it to fit the top of a present. Then cut it to size. I made a color pic transform to sepia. I use the Picnik software because its easy and free to use. I wanted to change it to sepia so I could put earrings on the packaging that would  add a pop of color against it. It helps if the earrings have a backing with a hook so that you can poke a hole in the pic to secure them. Also, make sure you attach the earrings before securing the photo. It's  easy peasy!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to Dan and Bekah!!!!!!!!!!

Today is a special day because it is the birthday of 2 VERY important people! My sister in law Rebekah and her hubby ( my Brother in law) Dan. This is a special birthday because it is their first as a married couple. Just because they share a birthday doesn't mean they get one shout out. I want to recognize them individually for the AMAZING Peeps they are.

 Rebekah
   Is currently in the credentialing program with a focus in special education and is getting close to being done. Ben and I are so proud of her and KNOW that she will be an awesome teacher! I love spending time with Rebekah she has a unique, contagious energy and everyone that meets her falls in love with her! She loves her family, her doggy Lucy and is great with kiddos. My own daughter Delaney  ADORES her and can even say her name, " Bepah"


 Happy Birthday SIL!!!


Dan
Dan is an electrical engineer. To be honest I get a little lost when he starts talking about work, but it is interesting all the same and I do know what an MR7503.0t is.He is also very adventurous and is an active member in the Butte County Search and Rescue team ( a real hero).
He is is a great balance for Rebekah. As Bekah is a little more loud (at times) he brings the mellow. I always have the best conversations with Dan and feel that he is a genuine person and a great listener. One thing I admire about him is that he places a high emphasis on maintaining friendships with those he is close with. Rest assured that if you are a friend of Dan's you will probably be for life! 


Love you guys!!!!!!!!!


Tiffany

                                     

Happy Belated Birthday Little Brother!!!!!

My little brother, Matthew James Tavares just turned 31 on January 3rd! Eek that makes me feel extremely old.  Me and my bro are kind of opposites but in a good way. I think it helped my parents out growing up. I was always kind of the drama queen     ( especially when I was sick, or when we would drive by  cow dairy's) and he was a lot more chill. As kids we were sort of competitive at least from my perspective, but over dumb stuff like who had a bigger foot. I always won until he was in like the 7th grade and hit a growth spurt. We moved to the country when I was 9 and he was 7. I have a lot of great memories playing outside with him and my cousin Adam. We would build forts, explore the dry creek bed, play hide and seek in the walnut orchard. We also would go skiing a lot with my family and Matt was such a daredevil and would always go off the trail and come flying in the air out of nowhere,  landing right beside me.  I miss being close to him and being a part of all his life changes. The most recent the birth of his son Boston. It is so fun to watch him as a daddy and see how happy he is. Happy Birthday Matt!!!

Matt and Ben

Matt and his son, Boston

Me and my brother



Love you Matt!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Years Celebration!

Here is how we opted to spend our New Years. Ben refers to it as celebrating the NewYear Senior Citizen style!

Some friends came over at 4: 30 pm who's kid has similar sleep schedule as D

I tortured them by insisting on getting pics in these hats

I am glad I did because look at how funny they are. Hee Hee

Jaden and Delaney got to first   I mean second base

Coneheads

Then 2 hrs later the festivities were over and sweatpants were on

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

From, The Doolittles

DIY little boy Dinosaur themed gift wrap

This is literally the easiest  way to make a little boys wrapping paper fun and exciting!!!! I was tipped by this little boy's mama that he  LOVES dinosaurs. So I got him an animal planet dinosaur set that includes mountain ranges and  and other landscape for them to roam on as his main gift. I wanted the wrapping to match the theme  of the gift. I have seen other people use old maps  as gift wrap before and have been wanting to try it for awhile now. Then  thought I could get some more dinosaurs to affix to the outside and make them appear as if they are roaming the earth

All you need is:

• Brown wrapping paper
• tape
• Set of dinosaurs ( I got mine at Toy's R us) they came in a big container
• old maps ( I used an image of Northern California)

You wrap your gift with the brown wrapping paper

 then cut out a piece of map or however you want to place the map on the paper and secure it to the brown wrap.

Then you arrange your dinosaurs on the box and  tape their feet down with some good tape as they will fall over if you use regular scotch tape. I used heavy duty packaging tape, 

Then instead of using an ordinary tag for the gift I used old paint chips that I had laying around after a home project we completed. The birthday boy loved the gift and his reaction totally payed off  for just putting in a minimal amount of effort. I can't  wait to go to another kid's party because this was way too much fun!! Thanks for letting us celebrate your special day with you Parker

Happy 2nd Birthday Parker

I am totally impressed by how much cake little D was trying to shove in her mouth

Awkward, when your kids wants to ride other kids gifts