For the Love of Alfredo

Don't judge me. I really am making a concerted effort to eat healthy during this pregnancy, but Alfredo has always been my weakness. You'll be happy to know that I have recently replaced my cream-laden recipe with a nice low-fat-but-still-tastes-good version. However, when the craving hits and I really need 'the good stuff', I turn to this pizza. Oh my, it's good. Even on a store bought crust it's good. 

This recipe was adapted from some of the best comfort food cooks, The Neely's.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza
Adapted from The Neely's via The Food Network

• 1 (3/4 pound) boneless skinless chicken breast
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 (16-ounce) ball pizza dough
• 2 cups baby spinach, well washed and dried
• 1 cup red grape tomatoes
• 1 cup grated mozzarella
• Olive oil, for brushing crust

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Adjust racks to the middle of the oven. Put pizza stone in the oven to preheat while you begin the sauce. Preheat a grill pan over medium heat.


Season the chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Put the chicken on the grill pan and grill until cooked through. Remove to a cutting board and dice. Set aside.


Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and and cook until fragrant. Add the flour and cook until light blonde in color. Whisk in the cream, reduce the heat to low, and let simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan and season lightly with salt and pepper, to taste.


Flour your work surface and roll the pizza dough into a 13-inch diameter. Carefully remove the pizza stone from the oven and put the dough on top. Ladle the sauce to cover the bottom of the pizza. Evenly top with the baby spinach, grape tomatoes, grilled chicken and the mozzarella. Brush the edge of the crust with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bake the pizza until crisp and golden, about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately top with another handful of spinach. Slice and serve.

As a Side Note: The sauce and the toppings make this pizza pretty heavy, so I would suggest avoiding a thin crust. Also, because we just love calories, I usually brush the edges of the crust with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt and herbs before baking.

Who will I blame all this extra weight on AFTER the baby is born? :)

Breakfast Goodies

Now that things are slowly settling down in the house, I'm trying to get back into the routine of cooking. I have a few go-to meals that I freeze for when I need to fix dinner in a pinch, but I haven't been as diligent with breakfast foods. I'm slowly going back through my recipe files to find muffins, waffles, and other breakfast goodies that are 1) at least marginally healthy and 2) super quick to reheat. 

When I'm looking for something a little more savory, I turn to these Bangin' Bacon and Cheddar Scones. I think my favorite part of the recipe is grating the butter. It just makes the mixture come together so easily, and eliminates the need for me to use my hands to mix everything. If you're looking for an easy make-ahead breakfast bread, I would definitely recommend these.

Bangin' Bacon and Cheddar Scones
Adapted from The Food Network

• 3 cups self-rising flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
• 1/2 cup cold butter
• 1 1/2 cups grated sharp Cheddar
• 10 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 large egg, for egg wash
• 1 tablespoon coarse sea salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Add the flour, salt, and pepper to a large bowl. With a box grater, grate the butter into the flour. Mix the butter into flour with your hands until well incorporated. Add the cheese and crumbled bacon. Mix until evenly distributed. Add the buttermilk and mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a stiff dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle a 1/2-inch thick. Cut wedges of dough out to preferred scone size and arrange on a half sheet tray lined with parchment paper. 

In a small bowl, beat the egg and brush each scone with the egg wash. Sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt and bake until nicely browned, about 14 to 16 minutes. Remove from the oven and arrange on a serving platter.

Bump Update

How Far Along: 19 Weeks

Size of baby: Baby T is the size of a summer squash (about 6 inches)

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I honestly have no idea. We just discovered our scale again in the moving boxes, but unfortunately it has no batteries. How tragic. I can tell you it's probably around 10 pounds.

Maternity Clothes: I'm wearing my normal clothes but I have a feeling I'm going to live in tunics and leggings. I'm ready for fall to be here!

Gender: Can't wait to find out!

Movement: Sometimes I think I feel a flutter, but no really strong feeling.

Sleep: I'm so tired that I sleep pretty good. I'm having to get up during the night sometimes when my bladder is screaming at me, but I suppose that's not too much of an inconvenience.

What I miss: large glasses of sweet tea at Mexican restaurants and Feta cheese (the Friday special @ Tazikis!)

Cravings: fruit, fruit, fruit, and french fries

Symptoms: Still feeling great with no morning sickness(Praise the Lord!)

Memorable Moment from this week: Arriving to work on a particularly rushed morning only to discover that I was wearing 2 different black flats. (At least they were the same color.)

Sharing the News

While we weren't able to capture each one on film, these are 2 of our favorites.

In this video, filmed on Father's Day, we took my family on a guided tour of our house construction. In the very last room we walked through, I mentioned that, "This room would be the nursery, but not until January." They were all so used to me describing each room that they gave the same, "Oh, Ok." response as every other time. A few seconds later, it sunk in. (My Mom, Aunt Sandy, and G-Daddy are seen in the video.)

Untitled from anna tyson on Vimeo.

The next video is from our closest group of Birmingham friends. We had made a day trip down to Birmingham to celebrate sweet Madelyn's 3rd Birthday Party at the pool. It had been a long day, but everyone still managed to drag themselves to dinner, kids in tow. (I have to insert this picture of everyone at dinner at Full Moon BBQ. In case you can't count, that's 10 adults and 7 kids age 3 and under.) 

After dinner, we moved outside to the patio to say goodbye. I asked the girls to take a quick picture with me. Of course no one wanted to, seeing as how we'd been at the pool all day. But they obliged, and that's where the video starts.

"She's a beaut, Clark."

Sorry - I couldn't resist the Christmas Vacation reference.

On a more serious note, the jumble of wood and concrete we saw in May....

....has now turned in to this little house, and we couldn't be more thrilled!

I can't wait to start 'nesting' and make it feel more like a home. Lord willing, we are set to close on the house this Thursday, and we sincerely covet your prayers during this time of transition. And, we can't wait to have you all over for dinner :)