Fall is in the air...

It's getting to be that time of year! No, not for football. No, not scarves and boots. No, not pumpkin spice lattes. It's time to plant wheat people!

Mikey spent two long days on the tractor, only slowing down long enough to reach out of the door to grab his lunch! Lucky for him the tractor has AC and radio! I'll admit, it's quite luxurious!
Liam & I headed out to give Mikey a helping hand, learn about the process, and let Liam ride in the tractor of coarse!

Excuse me,  DRIVE the tractor! 

Gotta learn sometime, why not now! 

This is the first year we've planted wheat, and rye. We plan on putting our calves out onto the wheat to get them through the winter months. Once spring gets here the rye should be growing and we'll bale hay out of the pasture. It's been a week or so since we planted and already the wheat is growing! I can't wait to re-post with progress!

Here we have Mikey giving Liam a little tutorial on how all the knobs and switches work! (As long as the radio is on you can bet Liam is having a good time!)

I sure hope Liam loves farm work, because I have a feeling Mikey will have lots for him to do when he's old enough! 

You know he also really pulls off the business look well....

That's what you call well rounded!

Yesterday was the most perfect fall day, way too perfect to not take advantage of! I could tell Liam was aching to go outside all day the way he looked curiously out the window. After a go on the outside swing I decided to let him loose in the grass, why not?! A little dirt never hurt. 

It didn't take long for the "motley crew" to surround Liam.  (The "Motley Crew" is our herd of dogs which consists of a border collie, mutt, the neighbors' dog,  & a miniature chihuahua, yea.) 

 Don't worry, she was gentle! 

"Can we keep her mama" (Ok, well he didn't actually say this, but his face says it all.)

Cauliflower Pizza Crust...Seriously Yummy!!

It's true, I love pizza. For me pizza most definitely falls under comfort food but I always feel a tad bit guilty after I've eaten my third slice! (Okay 4th slice, lets get real.) Finally I've found the answer to guilt free pizza-eating my friends, and I'm letting you in on my secret. Cauliflower crust!

Ingredients

1 cup cooked riced, cauliflower

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 beaten egg

1 tsp. dried oregano 

1/2 tsp. crushed garlic

1/2 tsp garlic salt

Olive Oil 

Pizza Sauce 

Mozzarella Cheese (or any other cheese of choice) 

Additional Toppings

Directions

Preheat oven 450 degrees

1. Rice cauliflower using a food processor or grater. 

2. In a dish add cauliflower and 1/4 cup water. Microwave cauliflower for 8 minutes stirring halfway.

3. Grease pizza pan with olive oil.

4. In medium bowl combine cauliflower, mozzarella cheese, and egg. Add oregano, garlic & garlic salt. 

5. Transfer to cookie sheet and shape into 9 inch circle. Brush with olive oil so crust will brown in oven. 

6. Remove crust from oven and allow to cool slightly. Add sauce, cheese and toppings and place under broiler for about 4 minutes. 

7. Allow pizza to cool and serve. 

I mostly love this recipe because it's delicious, but it doesn't hurt that it's simple too! 

And just in case this blog wasn't worth your time today, here are a couple pictures of the monk...                          

Even more delicious than pizza!! 

Like Father Like Son

I haven't had a lot of time to post lately. Now that Liam is, what we like to call "crawl running", I haven't stopped wrangling him from outlets, breakables, and sharp edges. He's finally down for his nap so I at least want to share a few pictures.

I just love this picture. The golf channel must have been on. 

Love. 

Hanley Family Vacation Part I

We recently took our first family vacation to California. We had a wedding to attend so we made a whole week out of it. Since we flew into San Francisco I had two things on my to-do list.
1. Golden Gate Bridge (obviously)
                &
2. See the "Full House" house (silly, but c'mon you wanna see it too. Oh, you don't? Well, anyways.)

Unfortunately we drove by the "Full House" house so quick I couldn't get a good picture, but I promise you aren't missing much. 

The stars must have been perfectly aligned because we were able to catch the U.S. Open in San Francisco before having to drive to Fresno. I would love to share pictures with you but they didn't allow us any cameras or cellphones! Instead I'll just give you the run down. It just so happened to be Father's Day when we planned to be at the U.S. Open, so appropriate! Mikey's face lit up as we entered through the gates, it was like looking at a five year olds face seeing Disney World for the very first time! Loved it.

It was so special to see Mikey and Liam enjoy the U.S. Open together on Father's Day, but I'll admit I was a bit nervous. I had watched golf tournaments on television and was well aware how quiet everyone must be while the golfers Tee off, Putt, etc. I also knew that Tiger Woods is known to have a temper and I could only imagine how he would react to a screaming 6 month old!  It was a questionable decision bringing him along, but I'm glad we did. At one point we were only a few feet away from Tiger as he was putting for birdie. Mikey and I weren't worried because Liam seemed to be in a deep sleep, until Tiger leaned down to read the green. His eyes opened wide and we were sure a scream was to follow, probably the most nervous I've ever been in my life! By the grace of God he was quiet. Matter-of-fact he was the most perfect baby all day!

After the tournament it was off to Monterey/Carmel. Although there was a much quicker route we chose to take Pacific Coast Highway, and I'm so happy we did!

 Gorgeous. 

I didn't want the drive to end. 

Cows! Suddenly I felt right at home.

Wouldn't you love to be these farmers!? 

All of my pics from Monterey and Carmel are on my phone which I have yet to put on my computer so I'll catch you all up on the rest of our vacation later. 

To Be Continued...

This Just In: Liam is crawling!

Yep, you heard right, crawling!

 One day he's rolling around the floor playing with his toys... 

the next day he's halfway across the room chasing them! 

Bubba has taken off and hasn't slowed down since. He doesn't let anything get in his way, he is one determined little guy. 

The same day he started scooting around the floor he sits himself up from laying flat on his back.

 Liam tackled two huge milestones in one day, you can only imagine what proud parents we are! As far as we know this is unheard of and he's gotta be the smartest baby on the planet. (Yup, we're those parents.) Anyways, this has been the fastest 7 months of my life. Where is all the time going?!

  

As Liam reaches new milestones I can't help but reflect on these past months and how much our lives have changed for the better. I could have never imagined I would enjoy being a mommy this much! I could care less if my shirt is soaked with slobber, I don't gag at a blowout here and there, and I quite enjoy the challenge of using the aspirator. I know, I know. I guess that's what they refer to as "motherly love".  It's bitter sweet watching him take off so fast. I know there will come a day when he'll be too cool to hug and kiss on his mommy, but with every new thing he learns I couldn't be more proud. 

So maybe I'm having a bit of a hard time letting him grow but there's nothing I can do to stop him! (We've looked into it) For now I guess there's only one thing to do...baby proof.

Homemade Pie Crust 101

I can officially report our first attempt at making pie crust was a success! I found a foolproof recipe compliments of a fellow Okie whom I pay homage to almost daily in my kitchen, thanks Pioneer Woman!
So here it goes, one of the best pie crusts I've ever tasted.


Recipe makes 2 9-inch pie crusts

Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

                     1 tsp. salt

                     1 Tbs. Sugar

                     1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into chunks

                     1/4 cup cold water

Directions: 

Mix the two cups of flour with salt and sugar. Cut butter into the flour with a pastry cutter (or in a food processor). Add the other 1/2 cup of flour and work in. The mixture should look like large crumbs. DON'T OVER MIX! Sprinkle the cold water over dough and with your hands or wooden spoon mix until the dough holds together.

Now shape the dough into two discs.

 From this point you can wrap the dough and store it for later use or you can go ahead and roll the dough out for your pie. (Or in this case, for your quiche!) 

I gave Mikey the honors. He loves stuff like this.

 If your dough starts sticking sprinkle a little more flour over top and that should do the trick. 

I mean is there anything more awesome than a husband who loves to cook with you? Nope. 

 And look who else loves hangin' around the kitchen....

Mommy's little buddy! I'm a lucky girl!! 

So here's our dough almost ready to fill. (If you look really close you can see the chunks of butter in the dough, ahhhh)

 We decided to use our crust to make a breakfast quiche. We roasted mushrooms, sauteed green onions in some butter, yummm, added swiss cheese, prosciutto, and combined all the ingredients with eggs and heavy cream. The quiche baked for 45 minutes at 400 degrees. 

                      

Voila!

This crust is perfect, and flaky and just delicious. 

And the mushrooms, I die!