Three-cheese tomato and basil appetizer

Experience al fresco dining!

fresh basil and round plump tomatoes

A super easy and delicious appetizer to prepare when wondering what to prepare for Sunday brunch, or a picnic at the park. The recipe is originally from the pampered chef and it called for special kitchen gadgets, of which I had none, so I omitted some steps in the recipe.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 28-32 minutes (I baked it longer)

1 refrigerated pie crust (softened as directed on package)
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 package (8 ounces) reduced fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), softened
1 egg
1 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 garlic cloves, pressed or chopped
1/2 cup snipped fresh basil leaves
3 plump tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons (1/2 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Additional snipped basil for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Prick bottom of crust and sides with a fork and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown; remove from oven and sprinkle with half of the mozzarella cheese;set aside.

2. In large bowl, combine cream cheese, egg, flour and garlic. Whisk until smooth. Add remaining mozzarella cheese and basil; mix well. Spread cheese mixture over crust.

3. Arrange thinly sliced tomatoes in an overlapping circular pattern to completely cover cheese mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake 18-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and edge of crust is deep golden brown. (Note: I baked for an additional 20 minutes)

4. Let stand 5 minutes and garnish with additional snipped basil.

A road trip to Red Rocks and a photography contest

On Saturday we drove to the nearby town of Morrison to surprise Beli with a visit to the kid size village, Tinytown. I think hubby and I were more disappointed than Beli when we discovered it was still closed for the season! So we continued driving west to the next touristic attraction, Red Rocks Amphitheatre. 

We were screaming, "Look Beli, look at the deer!" she could care less. She was more interested in wanting to know, just exactly where was her surprise we promised!

 Surprise!!! 

 She was not amused!

 We walked indoors because it was too windy and cold.

 Hubby and I attended the 1964 Beatles tribute a few summers ago, it was alot of fun!

 Overall, it was a great day, and it was free of charge! I also found out, via this link that Red Rocks is hosting a photography contest. I'm considering submitting some of my photos.  What do you think? Any advice, suggestions?

Getting settled in our new home

 The first few days I felt lethargic, almost jet-lagged. I figured it must be the 12 hours of driving, but it was actually the effect one gets when living at high altitude, we're at 5,280 feet above sea level. We drank more fluids (Hubby also experienced headaches) and after a couple of days we felt much better.

When we lived in Iowa we were always traveling between my parents and my sister's home so it was natural when Beli asked, "a donde vamos?" She wanted to know where we were going. I would say. "Grandma's house" or  "your Aunt's house" depending which house we were staying at. Now that we are in Colorado, Beli wakes up every morning and says, "this is my house!" not once or twice but several times a day. I reply, "yes Beli this is your house, do you like it?" and she beams with happiness as she replies"yes!"

Our home is perfect for our needs. It's fully furnished (a great find since we're on a tight budget), it has a backyard for Beli to run around, we are in close proximity to the city's park and trails, and we have the nicest landlords. We were welcomed  with a handwritten note and a batch of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and a carton of milk!

On Friday we spent the day outdoors basking in the sun as we planted flowers and herbs. Beli chose most of the flowers, the pink ones (geraniums) are hers, the yellow ones (pansies) are daddy's. 

 The following day Beli found all the plants indoors. I explained that it was too cold outside.

 It snowed last night!

Beli insisted that she would take care of the flowers in the meantime.

  There are days when she terribly misses her cousins. Yesterday she told us, "I want Dominik's house, I don't want my house in Colorado."

Overall, she is happy and quite creative with her surroundings!

the last weekend in Iowa

beautiful decorations by the local drugstore

Beli showing the Easter bunny her own bunny she received for her birthday

selecting a toy and bag of candy

happy with her selections

decorations at my Mom's 

photo taken before the Easter hunt

My youngest nephew and Beli

My four older nephews

Bittersweet to say the least. 

We were able to celebrate Easter with my family.  Beli was very excited to see the Easter bunny. And did you notice? She is happily wearing that same red dress which two months ago she totally refused to wear.  

I saw my youngest nephew walk for the first time!
Took my nephews to see the movie Rio, you need to go see it, it's funny!

There were lots of hugs and some tears as we said our goodbyes. Another big change for all of us!

After 4 months of living in Iowa we're moving to Colorado. We began our drive very early, at 2am hoping Beli wouldn't be so tired but she was wide awake and happy.

She did quite well, and was very excited to go to her house, especially when we mentioned that there were toys at her new house.

a park somewhere between Iowa and Colorado

Have a wonderful weekend. What are your plans? I will be unpacking, to be honest, I thought we didn't have that much stuff but our car was stuffed all the way to the roof!