Summer Veggie Pizza

This pizza is perfect for using some of those vegetables at the farmers market .. and for getting in all your veggies for the day! I was a little skeptical when I first tried this recipe a couple weeks ago, but it ended up being so good, I'm craving it for dinner tonight.

Summer Veggie Pizza
Adapted from Cooking Light
Prep time: 35-45 minutes, Servings: 4-2 slice servings

1 package pizza dough mix or pre-made pizza crust
Cooking spray
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 cup sliced onion
1 red bell pepper, sliced
8 oz asparagus, cut into 2" pieces
2 ears of corn, kernels removed
1/2 cup cherry/grape tomatoes, quartered
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella (add more if desired)
Salt
Pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1. Preheat oven according to directions on dough packaging; prepare dough.
2. Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add 4 teaspoons olive oil and the garlic. Cook 2 minutes then remove to small dish.
3. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to the skillet. Add onion and bell pepper. Cook 5 minutes then place in a separate bowl. Mix in the asparagus, corn, and tomatoes with the onion and bell pepper.
4. Roll out dough. Brush the dough with the garlic oil. Top with veggie mixture. Sprinkle on cheese, salt, and pepper. Bake according to dough instructions. After removing from oven, garnish with chopped basil and red pepper flakes.

My Sister's Birthday: Stenciled Tote Using Freezer Paper

I've been gone so long! I'm sorry, so much has been going on recently that I have not made it a priority to share. I'm actively studying for the GRE, which is very consuming both in terms of time and mental capacity :). Other things have been going on, too, that have made it difficult to write. Hopefully I'm back for good after my hiatus! I've still been working on things and documenting, so you should see a whole lot of catching up in the near future.

This project is so neat, I thought it was necessary to be shared with you. My sister's birthday was last weekend. We had a great day: went downtown to the farmer's market, to lunch then did some shopping before going to our mom's for dinner. I really wanted to make her something special because I feel like I've been lacking and last minute for everyone on the gift front this year. My sis has a totally adorable boxer who she loves very much, so I wanted to incorporate her dog into the gift. I've been looking at posts on using freezer paper for stenciling so I thought I'd give it a shot on a handmade tote bag for her gift! I know this technique has been around for ages but it was my first try and it worked perfectly. If you're going to try this, just don't believe anyone who says wax paper will have the same results. I did not have luck with the wax paper sticking to the fabric, so I had to retrace my stencil. See the results below! I hope to have the personalized tote and the patterned tote in my Etsy shop soon.

My inspiration.

One side of the finished tote.

The stencil.

The patterned side of the tote.

Pretty cool, huh? The tote is a soft linen lined with a fun cotton print, but didn't take a picture of that before I gave it to my sister. She loved it! Having her puppy on her tote is a good reminder of what's waiting for her when she gets home. She plans to use the bag to take her laptop to work. If you'd like to learn how to stencil with freezer paper, check out How About Orange's tutorial.