Chicken & Spinach Alfredo Pizza!

Yummy! This was super easy (with my pizza dough and chicken shortcut) Pilsbury now makes a pizza dough in a can... just like their biscuits and crescent rolls.. all you have to do is roll it out! We have used it several times before to make homemade pizzas and it is GOOD. Wes said we should never buy frozen pizza again.. hah.



Anyways, the alfredo sauce was homemade. I guess that was the only difficult part, but if you have never made alfredo sauce, don't be scared... it's easy. You just need butter, heavy whipping cream, and flour. You have to add salt and pepper to taste so be careful not to get too much or too little, but that gets easier with practice :) This recipe called for some garlic and crushed red pepper added in the cream sauce. Once that is done, just spread it out on the pizza dough. Then put about a handful (or however much you want) of baby spinach. After that, you can add the chicken.... I did not go to trouble cutting up and making my own chicken... I am all about what is easiest. I bought one of those rotisserrie chickens from Kroger, deboned it, and added that to the pizza.

I bought a whole tomato and sliced it up to put on with the chicken and spinach. The recipe called for cherry tomatoes.. the change was just my preference. Then, of course, add mozzerella cheese!

Little Wes or Brittany on the way...

So I have been telling myself to get on and blog about this for quite some time now, but things have been busy and...believe it or not... I have been too tired to come sit at the computer and blog! Anyways, it is true. We are having a baby! He/she is due August 23rd. We are very excited.. we have been waiting several months for that home pregnancy test to turn positive! God's timing is perfect, we know that. Wes is kindof freaking out a little bit.. haha. As for me, I am every pregnancy sign and sympton by the book! I have NO idea why they call it "morning" sickness... It has been quite more than that to me leaving me nauseated at all hours of the day. Thank goodness my DR got me some Zofran- it has helped me to feel less miserable. The fatigue is strange. I am tired a lot anyways from working night shifts, but this tiredness will just all of a sudden hit me like a train and I won't be able to keep my eyes open. The urinary frequency is very annoying. And that will last until the end(and probably get worse). I never have been one to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, but that happens at least once if not twice now :( Hopefully this nausea will pass soon... I think I can handle the other stuff. I am 8 weeks and 3 days now. I heard the heartbeat and got sonogram pictures at my appointment when I was six weeks. I was definitely not expecting to hear the heartbeat that early!! If I would have known, I would have made sure poor Wes was there, but he missed it :( We go back in 2 weeks though.. it makes me a little anxious to be in between appointments not knowing what is going on. I am praying that Little Prather is growing strong.

I will follow

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow...

All your ways are good
All your ways are sure
I will trust in you alone
Higher than my side
High above my life
I will trust in you alone

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow you
Who you love, I'll love
How you serve I'll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow you
I will follow you

Light unto the world
Light unto my life
I will live for you alone
You're the one I seek
Knowing I will find
All I need in you alone, in you alone

In you there's life everlasting
In you there's freedom for my soul
In you there joy, unending joy
and I will follow

-Chris Tomlin-
As this is my prayer. Not to make my own plans, but to wait for God's plans and to follow wholeheartedly.

Turnip Green Soup

What a spin on a southern classic. It probably does not sound very good to most, but after hearing some co-workers talk about how good it was, I found a recipe!


Very easy. 16oz bag of frozen turnip greens (or fresh), 2 cans of northern beans, 4 cups of water, 1 can of diced tomatoes(these could be optional), s&p to taste, 1 pkg. of Knorr vegetable soup mix, and 1 lb. of sausage- I used deer sausage because we had some... and I just 'eyeballed' it, probably not quite a pound. Heat in large pot and simmer for 1-2 hrs. It smells so very good while it is cooking :)
You could probably use a crock-pot as well...

Life as a Coaches' wife

Wow. So there is a long road ahead of us. For the past 7 years I have watched my husband take on the role of becoming a coach.... from elementary volunteering to now being the youngest coach in the MAIS (formerly known as MPSA). I have had the opportunity also to watch 4 of the boys from Wes' very first 5th grade team play up until now, their senior year, I cannot believe how fast the time has gone and how different these boys play and act now. Everything is a learning process.. even for me, I have to learn to be a coaches' wife! It is not without difficulty that I sit in the stands for each game. Plenty of other coaches' wives have told me that they have to isolate themselves from the fans because of ongoing 'bashing of their husband' during the games. As of now, I don't do that... for now. I like to be behind the bench cheering the team (and my husband) on. Last night I had the pleasure(insert sarcasm here) of hearing a.... we will just say "fan" bash my husband's coaching ability after a loss of 2 or 3 points in which the TEAMmate that this "fan" was watching did not play enough. This "fan" chose to speak these words within my earshot. Thankfully, I was able to give a quick glance and a smile without saying a word in order to NOT give this person the reaction they wanted. Although, I would have loved to share my thoughts.
Wes, of course, is a big TEAM builder. Let's face it, this is basketball. Absolutely nothing that happens on that court happens because of one person. I imagine that even the amazing Lebron James could tell you that. If it is individuality you are looking for, then maybe you can go find that in the game of golf or tennis, not basketball. On this team it is about TOGETHER. Not everyone is going to understand that, I know. But I like to think of it in this way: When you try to live your life without seeking Christ within it. We can make plans, dreams, goals, etc. all day long, but does anything ever really work out perfectly?? Why do we (myself included) try to do things on our own, without HIM, when with Him we can accomplish so much more TOGETHER? In this way, the game of basketball cannot be played by one person alone. So much more can be accomplished by the coaches and players TOGETHER as one.
"You don't understand because you don't have children." This is probably the number one phrase that I cannot stand. It has been fed towards Wes and I so so so many times. You're right. I don't have children... God has not chosen to bless us with those yet. But I will tell you right now what I do understand... teamwork. I do not understand those parent's that encourage selfishness over teamwork.. never will... children or not. And this goes in all aspects of life, not just sports. It is together that battles are fought and goals are accomplished.
Colossians 1:17(NIV) and 1 Corinthians 12:19-24(The MESSAGE) read them or look them up on Biblegateway.com! Wow.

Christmastime is here at The Prather's

Spinach stuffed chicken

Going through the cabinets and fridge trying to materialize something out of not much of anything creates a challenge... a challenge that I won! This is what I decided to make for supper tonight with a few modifications:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spinach-Stuffed-Chicken-Breasts/Detail.aspx

This sounded great, but when I scrolled down to the nutrition facts I let out a gasp at the 40g of Fat and 500+ calories. Blah. No wonder it sounded so good.... Anyways, I did not have any feta cheese at the house so for the spinach mixture I used 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese instead. I omitted the mayo completely (didn't have mayo anyway) and used 1 egg mixed with the spinach and cheese. I also used 7oz. of mushrooms and 1tsp of garlic, which I chopped in my food processor and mixed it in as well. I followed the directions for stuffing the chicken except I didn't butterfly... b-c all I had on hand were thin cut chkn breasts...so I just rolled it over the mixture. I wrapped them with prosciutto instead of bacon (again to cut down on fat content) and used a toothpick to hold them together. I sprinkled some pepper and EVOO on top and baked in oven as directed. Served it up with instant mashed potatoes and english peas. Quick & easy:) Cannot believe I just got my husband to eat spinach! =Success.