Food for Thought

I've been having some doubts about decisions Garrett and I have been making in the past few weeks. The talk "Cast not away therefore your confidence" by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland are a must read.

"It would not have been better to stay and serve the Egyptians, and it is not better to remain outside the Church nor to reject a mission call nor to put off marriage and so on and so on forever. Of course our faith will be tested as we fight through these self-doubts and second thoughts. Some days we will be miraculously led out of Egypt--seemingly free, seemingly on our way--only to come to yet another confrontation, like all that water lying before us. At those times we must resist the temptation to panic and to give up. At those times fear will be the strongest of the adversary's weapons against us." -- Jeffrey R. Holland

Homemade Pizza & Sauce

Okay, first the recipe for the Pizza Sauce. I got this from allrecipes.com and then tweaked it a bit.

Ingredients:
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 tablespoon ground Oregano
1 teaspoon dried garlic
1 teaspoon ground paprika
1 teaspoon basil
1 tablespoon white sugar

Directions:
Honestly, this couldn't be easier. Dump everything in a medium bowl and mix very well. That's it! This recipe made enough for two large, heart shaped pizzas with enough leftover for a single-serving lunch of spaghetti.

Next, our heart shaped pizzas. Normally we don't make shapes, but it was Valentine's Day. This recipe is enough for one large pizza. Naturally, we doubled it — it makes great leftovers.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
4 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
3/4 cup warm water

Directions:
Mix sugar and water in a small bowl until sugar dissolves. Add yeast and allow to activate for 5 minutes. Add oil.

In Kitchen Aid, add dry ingredients. Mix for 15 seconds then add wet ingredients and continue mixing until it becomes a ball. One in a ball, add flour until the dough is no longer sticky.

Place covered dough on counter top for 45 minutes to rise. Knead and allow to rise 45 minutes more.

Here's where the fun starts! Flatten dough onto pizza pans so it is evenly distributed. You should look something like this handsome young man to the right.

Once flattened, you can take this opportunity to shape it as desired. You can choose the classic circle, the heart we chose or any other festive geometric pattern.

Now, top with sauce, cheese, toppings and more cheese. I chose tomatoes and bell peppers, he chose pepperonis — let your imagination be your guide.

Bake at 425 for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is lightly brown and bubbly. Make sure to allow some time for it to cool before taking your first bite.

Most of all, enjoy!

My First Valentine

Around this time last year Garrett and I started dating, but my hot/cold personality made it so I wasn't wholly appreciative of last year's flower and visit. However, all that is long in the past now (thankfully!), so I finally got to spend my first Valentine's Day with a Valentine. Best of all, he's my one true love!

For Valentine's Day this year I had only one request — I did NOT want to go out. I know I'm supposed to be romantic and have dinner and all that jazz, but I'm not a huge fan of large crowds and Valentine's Day (at least in my mind) is just one giant, lovey-dovey crowd.

So, we decided to make heart shaped pizza :D

The recipe itself is pretty simple, and I'll include it tonight, but I just wanted to get some pictures up of what we did :D

Of course, Garrett and I exchanged Valentine's Day gifts.

The best part of it all, to me—not him—was our mini photo shoot I made him take. What can I say, I like to have pictures of us :D
               
   

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Today I actually had time to make a real meal for my hubby and myself. Now, when it comes to cooking, I have a history of making some pretty awful mistakes (I once left out the sugar in the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie!). However, this recipe is super easy and takes only 30 minutes from start to finish.

Ingredients:
3-4 large green peppers
1 chopped onion (we don't use this... Garrett hates onions)
chopped green pepper from tops
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 tsp. salt
3 tsp. dried parsley
2 cups tomato sauce
1 medium sized tomato

Directions:
Cut of the top, seeds and membrane of the green peppers. Simmer in boiling, salted water for about 5 minutes. Remove, drain and salt and pepper inside.

Brown meat. Add onions and chopped peppers. Add seasonings and mix with 1 cup tomato sauce, brown rice and tomatoes. Stuff peppers and pour 2 Tbsp. tomato sauce over each pepper.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Add shredded cheese to the top if desired, once baked.

Now, cut it up and enjoy! This is such an easy way to hide a whole bunch of vegetables!

A New Beginning

On June 11, 2011 my life changed forever. I knelt across the altar and was sealed for time and all eternity to the most amazing man I've ever met, Garrett Nelson McCoy. Taking his name, I became Allison Christine McCoy. Forever.


Since then we've had a blast. Between being full time students at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, having callings in our church and working full time jobs we've been busy. Our number one goal, however, is to make the time we have with each other count.

I'll keep updating on the ramblings of our life, but for now I'll tell you a bit about us both.

Garrett dreams of one day being a doctor, and starts applying to med schools in a few months. He graduates with a BS in Biology in December and then has at least 8 more years of school left. He loves the Raiders and the A's, goldfish and fruit snacks. And Slurpees. He won't let me forget that.

I'm quite a bit different from my handsome husband. I'm a print journalism major and I graduate in June! Yes! I love the Braves, the color yellow and Utah winters with no snow (thank you 2012!).

That's just us. We're working hard on being forever newlyweds.