Pizza Braiding

If your house is anything like mine, pizza is a huge favorite!  It seems like every time I ask the kids (or the hubby) what they want for dinner, the answer is pizza.  Well, I am a mom first of all.  Second of all, I get tired of eating pizza all the time!  :)  Now, don't get me wrong, I love pizza.  Just not two or three times a week, which is how often we would eat it if my children had their way.  Consequently, I am always looking for new, different, yet still the basic pizza idea!  As I was searching for a little something different, I came across a recipe for a Braided Spaghetti loaf.  I did try this recipe and it turned out pretty good.  Here's the link for that recipe:

http://rhodesbread.com/blog/blog/braided-spaghetti-bread

I started playing around with the idea of using the same concept, but for pizza.  After a few attempts that were not exactly successful...I came up with one that everyone seems to love.  We have used it over and over now and done so many different combinations that have worked out, I am sure anything that you generally have on a pizza would work.  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 tube refrigerated pizza dough

1 jar of marinara/spaghetti sauce (your favorite will work best!)

1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

pizza toppings of your choice (pepperoni, sausage, ham and pineapple, mushrooms, black olives)

1 tbsp olive oil

garlic powder

Italian seasoning

1.  Roll out the roll of dough onto a cookie sheet.  Just like if you were using it for home made pizza.  Spread 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce down the center of the dough.  Sprinkle the cheese on top of the sauce and then add your toppings. 

2.  Using a knife, cut one inch strips diagonally down each side of the dough.  Fold the strips up and over the stuffing, alternating sides to get the "braided" look.  Brush the tops of the strips with the olive oil and then sprinkle garlic and Italian seasoning on top.  (You can use as much as you want, it is really dependent upon your own taste.)

3.  Bake at 400F for 16-20 minutes until the top is golden brown.  Let cool for about 5 min.  Slice and serve with the reserved marinara sauce (either cold or warm, again your choice!)

We have tried pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, black olives, ham and pineapple.  In the pics, we had actually tried cheddar cheese just as a different addition once again.  We changed the marinara sauce to BBQ once and did diced chicken breast.  It was fantastic!  You can really play with this recipe and make it exactly the way you love your pizza!  Enjoy!

Why?

The current question of the day, week, month around here is Why?  Sophie is pushing 3 years old and her why button has gotten activated in a big way.  Generally, the questions start easy.  Why are you washing dishes, Mom?  Why are you brushing your teeth?  As the day goes on, the questions become more unrelenting.  Why do the plants grow?  Why do they need water?  One day, after the 73rd why question, I must admit, I was getting desperate for the why's to stop.  Why are the plants growing, Mom?  Because that is what God wanted.  Then, she stopped.  We go to church on Sunday, we say prayers before bed, but that is about the extent of the discussions or conversations about religion around our house.  When she stopped asking me why, it was my turn.  Why is that a good answer?  That is when it happened.  My almost three year old daughter looked at me with innocence and said, "Well, Mom, if God wanted it that way, then it is."  Turning around, she went to play with her toys.  I was speechless.  My daughter had taken the exact meaning of so many sermons, so many ambitions of people and boiled it down into a simple sentence.  If He wanted it, is was.  To have the faith of a child would be such an amazing gift.  I try every day to bring God into our lives, even if the only way it happens is with prayers at bed time.  Of course, we fail, every day.  But, after listening to my daughter answer my why, we try harder, every day.  And to be honest, thank you Sophia, because we may be doing something just a little right if she was able to tell me, if He wants it, it is.

Sophie's Mickey bed

Sophie has officially joined the big girl group!!  She moved into her twin size bed today!!  We had the bed made for her and then my Mom and I made the extra throw pillows and the body pillow for the end of her bed.  It was such a fun project because we knew she would be SO incredibly happy with the finished product.  She is totally in love with anything Mickey Mouse, so this new setup has gotten two thumbs up from her (and tons of smiles and giggles and happiness!!).  The body pillow fabric was a fuzzy remnant that I got from the clearance bins at Wal-Mart, while I used www.fabric.com to order the two panels for the throw pillows.  It is a fabulous site for getting material, quilting needs and just about anything else that you could possibly need for sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting, crafts and so much more!  For the body pillow, we  measured the length that we wanted out of the fuzzy piece from Wal-Mart, then matched it up with a plain cream colored piece of cotton material for the back of it.  Simply sewing around three sides while inside out with the sewing machine, flipping it right side out, stuffing it and stitching up the end was the extent of the work on that one!  For the throw pillows we took each panel and measured an extra two inches on length and width.  Using a red piece of cotton material, we measured out the pillows with the extra inches added on for the "border".  We then sewed on each panel to the front of the pillows, then used the same process as the body pillow.  Sewing around three sides while inside out with the sewing machine, flipping it right side out, stuffing it with cotton and hand sewing the 4th side shut.  A little bit of work and a supremely happy 2 year old!  Happy day!

Apple Cranberry Spice Muffin

I am always on the look out for a new and happy muffin recipe.  My littlest, Henry, is a huge breakfast eater.  I like to have a variety of different "healthy" options for him so that he always has some thing a little different available for him.  I stumbled upon a recipe for Cranberry Muffins and decided to change it up a little and add a few things.  I came up with Apple Cranberry Spice Muffins.  I did half of them as "Caramel Apple Muffins" for the older two and half just as the plain muffins.  The top 6 in the picture are the "Caramel" muffins and the other ones in the pic are the regular muffins. 

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups flour
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil (I used coconut oil)
1 cup sour cream (light works great!)
1 large Granny Smith apple (or other tart variety), peeled, cored and finely chopped
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup dried cranberries

1.  Heat oven to 400F.  Grease the bottoms only of 12 muffin cups, or use liners. 
2.  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and salt.  In medium bowl, whisk the honey, eggs, oil and sour cream until well blended.  Add the egg mixture, apples and walnuts (if you are using them) and dried cranberries to the dry ingredients.  Stir just until batter is blended and divide among cups.
3.  Bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of one comes out clean.  Let the muffins cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes before removing them.  Makes 1 dozen.

If you choose to do the "Caramel Apple Muffin" addition, the directions for the frosting and toppings are as follows:

Ingredients for toppings
1 pkg cream cheese
4 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
food coloring to make the "caramel" color
chopped walnuts
Popsicle sticks
1.  In medium bowl, mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and food coloring until frosting is smooth and creamy. 
2.  Spread frosting on top of each muffin after they are completely cooled. 
3.  Sprinkle walnuts around outer edge of each muffin and place Popsicle stick in the center!
These were a huge hit at our house and have been made many times since the original baking.  Healthy, fun and good for the kids (and adults!) in your house!  Enjoy!

Granola

A few months ago, I started making my own Granola Bars.  We seem to go through them at the speed of light around our house and I was tired of buying them every week and the awful things that were going into my kids' bodies.  Shortly after I found a recipe for making my own granola for the bars.  It turned out I liked to adjust my own recipe a little for each kind of bar that we made.  Here is the general recipe for the granola, but remember, you can add whatever you want to this mixture.  Including; almonds, raisins, any kind of nut and just about anything else that you want!

Ingredients: 3 1/2 cups Quaker Oats (uncooked)
1/3 cup coconut oil (or butter)
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla 

 

Preparation:
Melt butter in microwave.
Heat honey in microwave for 45 seconds. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
Pour into a 15 x 10 baking pan and spread evenly.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring after the first 10 minutes.
Cool completely.
Store in an air tight container for up to one week.

 

There are so many variations for making your own granola bars that it is impossible to list them all, but so far the favorites around our house have been; peanut butter with chocolate, cranberries with dark chocolate, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin and the list goes on and on!  I will post my favorite recipe for the bars soon!

Buffalo Ranch Chicken Bites

I came upon a recipe a couple weeks ago for ham and cheese bites.  The recipe looked good, but not something that we would really eat around here much.  Recently, we are beginning to think that Henry is lactose intolerant.  It has been a rough road, but we are hoping we are on the track to recovery now.  Anyway, I started researching other kinds of "bites" and came across one for Buffalo Chicken bites with blue cheese.  Now, that sounded amazing to me, but the rest of the family didn't think so.  So, I did a little modifying and came up with Buffalo Ranch Chicken Bites.  Turned out pretty amazing and was a huge hit!

Buffalo Ranch Chicken Bites

Ingredients:

1 cup finely diced chicken breast (I used regular pieces of chicken and boiled it, then pulled it off the bone and diced it.)

1 pkg cream cheese 

1 pkg dry Ranch dressing mix

1/4 cup hot sauce (I used Frank's)

1 cup warmed milk

2 tbsp brown sugar

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 1/4 tsp rapid rise dry yeast

2 1/2 cups flour

 In a 1 cup measuring cup, heat the milk and then add the 2 tablespoons brown sugar; stir into warm milk until dissolved; place in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.

Add 2 1/2 cups flour and yeast to the stand mixer and mix on low speed until a soft dough forms, adding up to 1/2 cup additional flour, a little at a time, if necessary. Allow the dough to knead in the stand mixer for 5-7 minutes. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead a few times to form a smooth ball. Place dough into a clean bowl that's been lightly oiled. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled and bubbles appear on surface, about 2 hours. 

To make the chicken mixture, mix the cream cheese, dry ranch mix, hot sauce and chicken together in a medium bowl; set aside.

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and cut into 4 equal pieces. Lightly dust your hands with flour, then gently roll and stretch 1 piece of dough to form a 12-inch-long rope. Flatten dough and arrange so a long side is nearest you, then roll out to a roughly 12- by 4-inch rectangle with a lightly floured rolling pin. Gently press one fourth of buffalo chicken mixture into lower third of rectangle, leaving a 1/2-inch border along bottom edge. Stretch bottom edge of dough up over filling and press tightly to seal, then roll up as tightly as possible to form a rope. Cut rope into 12 pieces and transfer to a sheet pan. Make 3 more ropes with remaining dough, filling and cut into pieces, transferring to sheet pans. Let rest at room temperature, uncovered, 30 minutes (dough will rise slightly).

Bake buffalo chicken bites in the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned.  Remove from oven, some cheese may have melted out as in the pic above.  You can also brush the tops with melted butter before serving.  Enjoy!

Mickey Money

Recently on Pinterest I found a great idea for Sophie.  The original project link is below.  I changed ours up a little bit to fit our needs and the attitude of Sophie. 

http://lifesprinkledwithglitter.blogspot.com/2012/03/coin-chart-behavioral-finance-chart-for.html

Here is a pic of Sophie with her Mickey Money chart.  We have a terrible problem with this little monster of screaming.  About everything.  She needs milk, she can't get the bathroom door open, Henry took her toy, she is hungry, she screams.  All the time.  We really wanted to do something to stop this as soon as possible.  So, I took the idea from the website above and came up with the Mickey Money chart.  Across the top of the chart is her "money".  Pictures of each character from Mickey Mouse that she loves.  I laminated each pic for durability purposes and then made a "pocket" for them to fit into.  The pockets are just another piece of laminated  paper with sticky blocks on the back to stick to the page of tag board.  I added some other fun pics of Mickey and his friends along the one side and then drew 5 squares across and 6 squares down for her stickers.  She earns a sticker if she has all her Mickey Money at bed time every night.  But, if she screams (or does anything else not nice) she loses one Money and has to give it to Mom.  I put it in my own pocket on the fridge for safe keeping until she either earns it back by being nice or the day ends and we start over fresh the next day. 

Once she receives 5 stickers in a row, she will earn a special prize.  We haven't decided yet exactly what this special prize will be as we figure we have a little time to do the thinking on that yet!!  ;)  Actually, she is doing quite well and we will probably have to figure this out sooner rather than later.  Losing Mickey Money is quickly becoming no fun.  We give her one warning before she loses any, but that is it.  No multiple warnings, that seems to be the key for us.  Praise for being good is quickly becoming her favorite time of the day.  Even if she is not earning back her money, we have started praising her for no screaming and whining very often.  Hopefully, it continues to work and I can post a new pic of her with her first special prize!

Grape Nuts, Red Solo Cup and Poop Stains

Whose night could be complete without Grape Nuts cereal spilled all over the kitchen floor, a toddler sitting in the dishwasher and another child singing Red Solo Cup?!?!  Oh, don't forget, the ominous poop stains that seemed to be appearing all over my house. 

It was a wild ride around here today, started out with a wonderful Spring Concert at school for my eldest, Logan.  Going to school and seeing all the kids together always puts me in a wonderful mood.  The songs they sing, the happiness they exude, the laughter from the crowd when the little girl in front almost falls off the bleacher because she was dancing a little too much!  ;)  After arriving back home, I started noticing the poop stains.  Where were they coming from?!?!  I could not figure it out.  No big piles of poop anywhere, the bathroom door was shut so Henry (age 14 months) couldn't have gotten in there to examine the toilet again.  What was going on?!?!  I was in total confusion.  Then as I started boiling the water for spaghetti and meatballs, Sophie decided it was time for Grape Nuts.  Now.  She didn't do so well pouring them into the bowl she magically came up with though.  All over the floor.  And as I went to get the dust pan, Henry climbed into the dishwasher and sat down on the door. 

Of course, I grabbed the camera!  :)  Not wanting to feel left out (that is the only thing I can come up with), Logan says "Mom, it's more than a cup.  It's my friend!  Red Solo Cup!"  So, I cleaned up the Grape Nuts, took the child out of the dishwasher all to the tune of Toby Keith's wonderful song!  

After dinner, I came across the poop stain culprit!  Unbeknownst to me, Daisy's hair had gotten a little long by her bottom end.  When she went outside to do her business, she was getting a little leftovers to bring back in the house with her.  Wonderful.  After putting the kids to bed, sweeping, mopping and giving the dog a bath, I cut her hair.  No more poop stains.  Thank God!  Now, I have to go finish the dishes!!

Cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning

If you have children, pets or just a significant other who is messy, you know all about the cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning that goes into a daily schedule of a Mom/Maid/Significant Other!!  Recently, I have been switching over to green.  I know, I know, it can be a lot of work.  But...if you do it, you will feel so much better about yourself, what you are subjecting your kid and animals and others to that it is totally worth the time spent.  Currently, my newest favorite green product in my house is....COCONUT OIL!!!  It is AMAZING!  There are SO many uses for it that you can literally use it in every day life all day long!  Check out this website for a few of the uses!

http://healthimpactnews.com/2011/80-uses-for-coconut-oil/

Henry had the worst diaper rash that I have EVER seen on an infant.  After starting to use it on his diaper rash, within a day and a half his rash was GONE.  Not clearing up, not getting better, GONE.  He had blisters that had broke open and were starting to get infected.  It was gone.  I was immediately a believer in the wonders of Coconut Oil.  Since then, we have started using it with everything.  Cooking, moisturizer, in place of shaving cream.  EVERYWHERE!  It is one of those miracle substances that can be used in just about everything that you can imagine.   My friend Susan turned me on to this amazing product!!

As time goes on, I will post more on my new green ways of cleaning and living.  Just wanted to get this first SO important post out of the way!  ;)  Thanks for reading and let me know if you have any questions, comments or suggestions!  I am always open for more info!!

Breakfast Recipe

Cooking has become my new favorite past time in the last few months.  I love Pinterest!  It is one of my favorite websites because it makes it SO easy to store tons of information and not have to worry about recipe cards getting lost, ideas from magazines getting tossed or any of the other crazy things that can happen in a house with children and a dog!

One of my favorite breakfast recipes so far is this amazingly simple Monkey Bread.  I changed up the recipe from the original so here it is.

Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

2 small tubes of refrigerated biscuits

3 tbsp butter, melted

1/2 C. pancake syrup (any brand you like, I used Mrs. Buttersworth)

1/3 C. packed light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:

Cut up the biscuits into 1 inch squares.  Spray a fluted pan with non-stick spray. Combine the melted butter and syrup in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Place about half of the syrup mixture in the bottom of the pan. Then sprinkle half of the brown sugar mixture on top.  Place the square biscuit pieces in the pan. Top with remaining syrup and sugar mixtures. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute in the pan, then invert onto a serving platter and enjoy!

Beginning blogger

I am now a blogger.  Not sure how I feel about that yet, but this seemed like the best place to put it all down.  I am a mom of three plus two half's.  For any of you wondering what that means, I have three children of my own.  Logan, age 8, Sophia, age 2 and Henry, age 1.  I also have two step children, which is where my halves come in!  Kaitlynn, age 17 and Kraig, age 15.  Blending a family, starting a new family and continuing to grow with the family you already have can be a challenging situation.  When it began, we had my oldest son and Troy's (my hubby) two children living with us.  As time went on, we added our own daughter, Sophia and lost Troy's daughter to her mom.  Then Henry joined us and Kraig left.  Kind of a pattern.  Thankfully there are no more kids coming because we don't have anymore to lose.  :(  Above is a picture of Logan, Sophia and Henry!  :)    Here is a picture of Kraig, Sophia and Logan.  I have tons of ideas, thoughts, ramblings to share and I hope you will enjoy checking out my blog once in awhile, or often!  :)