Olive Cheese Bread & Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Where did 2012 go? The year flew by and I can't believe we're already three days into 2013.

2012 was a year of changes for my family....we added a member to our family with the birth of our baby boy, we bought a new car, Madeline started kindergarten and I started a new job. I hope the changes continue into 2013.

We were busy the last week of December with trying to get our house back into order, figuring out what we need to finish this winter/spring to prepare our house to go on the market for sale and Cooper was sick. We ended up at Urgent Care on Christmas night because my mommy intuition just told me something was wrong. He's still not 100% but at least I don't need to hold him 24/7 and he's sleeping and eating regularly again.

I've made a few resolutions for this year.
1. Losing the rest of the baby weight. I've lost about 10 pounds and would like to lose another 10 (or more).
2. Eat cleaner
3. Make some changes to this blog. I'm planning to redo the layout and add a recipe index. I should have started the index from the beginning but I didn't, so now I have hundreds of recipes to go through. Lesson learned!
4. Document our life one photo a day. I'll be blogging about it over on my family blog, Silly Goose Adventures.

Now onto my new favorite appetizer - olive cheese bread! I know I'll be making it quite often since all three of us loved it. It's simple and easy and I like that I can throw it together the night before and bake it up right before a party.  I want to make the suggested variation next time using artichoke hearts and Parmesan cheese instead of the black olives and Monterey Jack cheese.

14.5 oz can black olives, drained and chopped
6 oz jar pimento-stuffed green olives, drained and chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup low fat mayonnaise
16 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 loaf crusty French bread

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper.

Slice the bread in half. Spread the olive cheese spread over each slice. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and beginning to lightly brown. Let rest for 5 minutes before cutting the bread in diagonal slices. Serve immediately.

Source: Pioneer Woman