Pizza Time!

What is that picture of you might ask...or not really since the title gives most of it away. Of course it is pizza. The kids and I LOVE pizzas a (Trooper does as well). On weeks when he is in Dallas, I think we make pizza just about every other day. I have been tweaking a recipe I found for a few weeks and not I am in love with the results. It is so easy (and crazy cheep) to make your very own dough. For much less than the cost of pre-made crust or refrigerated dough, I can make 4 pizzas worth of dough.

As you can see...

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The kids...


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love it!



Okay so you might be wondering about what I put on top of this pizza...well as some of you know I can be a little crazy about making sure my kids get all the veggies they need. Trooper was out of town, I needed to use up stuff in the fridge vs. going to the store with 3 kids. I looked and found a zucchini. I pealed it, sliced it very thin, tossed with extra virgin olive oil, and my salt, pepper, and garlic powder mix. The kids and I tossed it on the pizza (well Parker and I did because Paige and Peyton ate about 8 slices each vs. putting them on the pizza). Of course I put the cheese and tomato sauce on the pizza as well. It turned out great! The kids and I ate it all.

Now for the dough I mentioned above...

In a bowl put 1 package of dry active yeast
mix with 1 1/2 cups of hot water and 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar

let sit for about 5 minutes until foamy

add:
about 1 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

On counter mix and then create a well of:
4 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

Add the wet in the center of a well of the flour mixture and kneed by hand for a few minutes or do it all in the mixer with a dough hook (my choice). Once it is together, put in a clean bowl sprayed or brushed with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap and sit in warm place until it doubles (about 1 1/2 hours).

Preheat your oven to 500 with a cookie sheet or a pizza stone inside preheating.

From there cut into 4 pieces (if you are not using all now, you can put in baggies and put in fridge or freezer). Put a little corn meal down and roll out the dough...make sure you do not let Paige do it all because she will eat more dough than you realize. Put it on top of parchment paper that is sitting on another cookie sheet (not wax paper...found that out the hard way at my parent's house that they are mostly the same thing, unless you bake it). Put your toppings on. Slide the pizza and parchment paper from the cool cookie sheet to the hot one in the oven. Bake for about 6-8 minutes.

Enjoy...I know we do!!

New pancakes!!

I know a few months ago I mentioned my sweet potato pancakes. This morning I adjusted them. They are great and I love them even better...here they are. By the way, the sweet potato keeps them from getting dry so you have to try them. Trust me!

1 part sweet potato puree (put in oven at 400 for about 40 minutes or until soft, then blend up with a little water as needed...Vicki, take the skin off before you blend...great for baby food as well!)
dash of Cinnamon
2 parts water
2 parts pancake mix
a few tablespoons of flax seed meal.

Mix in the order listed above, cook as normal (we added blueberries to some today as well...Yum-O).

Thank me later!

Crock Pot Breakfast

I cannot remember what blog I saw this on (I checked back on a few I look at regularly and could not find it so who knows), but I stumbled upon it about a month ago and knew I needed to try it.

Crock Pot Oatmeal

1 cup of steal cup oat (must be steal cut)
4 cups of water
dash of salt

Put above in your crock pot, place the lid on, turn on low, go to bed. In the morning your oats are ready for any add in...butter, sugar, honey, agave nectar, cinnamon, dried or fresh fruit, flax seed meal (a.k.a. brown sprinkles in our house), or whatever you want! We had ours with butter, agave nectar, flax seed meal and blueberries today! Yum-O as my mother-in-law (Happy Birthday yesterday by the way) and Rachael Ray would say! Peyton had 8...yes I said 8, serving spoonfuls of it this morning!

If you have a large crock pot like I do, place about 3 cups of water in the crock pot, put a corning wear dish inside that will fit. This will make it like a double boiler and allows it to work in large crock pots. Fill the corning wear dish with oats, water, and salt. Put the lids on and turn on low.

Hot Potato!

What is that...4 baked potatoes? What am I going to do with 4 baked potatoes to feed my family of 5 for 3 different meals you might ask...Well let me show you!

First...of course...I baked the potatoes in foil in the oven until soft.

Day 1...baked potatoes with squash puree, cheese, S&P, green onion on Paige and mine, and butter. This evening Trooper was not home se the kids and I only used 2 of the smaller potatoes for the 4 of us.
Yes this is Paige eating green onion...a girl after her Grumpy's heart! She did it more than once too!

Day 2...brinner (breakfast for dinner you non-Scrub watching blog viewers)...we had breakfast burritos with eggs, beans, cheese, bacon, salsa, whole wheat tortillas, and one chopped up potato.

Day 3...twice baked potatoes. I was not here that evening (GNO...Girls Night Out). Before I left I used the largest of the potatoes and cut it in half, scooped out most (but not all...must leave a little around the sinks for it to hold together) of the flesh, added butter, cheese, squash puree, S&P. I topped with a little more cheese and baked until warm. I was told they were great...I did not tell Troop until later that there was squash! He did not even notice!
Yes, Paige has green onions on top and yes she also ate some straight that day as well! Gotta love her!

Happy eating

My Favorite Smoothie

Ever since Parker was little, he did not want to eat his veggies...he is still that way, but will eat them a little better now. Paige eats TONS of veggies. Peyton is eating his great too.

Anyways...I have always looked for ways to put more veggies and different fruits in their diets (Parker only really eats a few choice fruits well either). When V8 Fusion came out...I started buying it for Parker. I have always done 1/2 water and 1/2 juice (too many sugars otherwise). It took a little getting used to at first, but is so much better for you. The kids do not know any different now. Trooper and I drink it as well. That is all I give them as a choice. I also know it is not as good as the whole fruit or veggie and a cup of water!

When the book Deceptively Delicious came out...I bought it! We make something from the book or my own creation about 8-14 times a week. Below is one of my favorites...I will share more soon!

Here is a little recipe for my favorite smoothies...

2 ripe bananas or 2 handfulls of any berries
1 cup of frozen fruit (peaches or mango are our favorite...berries are good when they are out of season)
1 cup of V8 fusion (this has a serving of fruit and veggies in every cup) or 1 cup of carrot juice
a few ice cubes or cruched ice

Blend in the blender...serves 4 people about 6oz each

"Healthier" Sugar Cookies

Recipe below...

Well...since moving into the apartment We have had a little battle with Paige. At the old house we had door locks on several of the doors. Here at the apartment, the knobs are handles and we do not have any of those locks on just yet.

One of the doors she gets into is the pantry. If is not huge, but I keep moving sprinkles higher because she keep getting into them. Yesterday she moved the step stool over to the pantry so she could reach them. Today it was the bar stool. After that, I told her we could make cookies and use sprinkles.

While Peyton was taking his morning nap we made the dough for the sugar cookies. We then put it into the fridge to chill. After all 3 kids took an afternoon nap, we rolled out the dough and cut out our sugar cookies...yes Paige got to put on her sprinkles. Now, I have been trying hard to be sure I make the healthiest choices I can for my family. I know cookies are not the best and good for an occasional treat, but still...white processed flour, butter, sugar...not a my thighs best friend. So here is my version of sugar cookies and are "healthier." Well they do have less fat, calories, and tons on fiber for sure, plus they tasted good!

1 1/2 t of baking powder
1/2 t of salt
1 cup (Next time I am going to try less)
3 cups of whole wheat flour (was regular white flour)
1 c margarine or light butter...I use Land O Lakes (was real butter)
1 egg
3 T of milk (was cream)
1 t of vanilla

***If you are rolling and using cookies cutters, add 1-2 tablespoons of flour and don't forget to roll out onto a floured counter top***

Mix all of above (sift dry to get out any chunks). Chill in fridge until cold. Roll out and cut into shapes or when you put in fridge roll into a log (or as Parker says...a big giant worm...Paige says, Oh, a snake!) and slice. Put on sprinkles if you choose. Bake at 400 for about 6-8 minutes!

My little Sweety

Sweety Potato that is!

The kids love to help me cook. When I say love, I mean L-O-V-E! I cannot make a PB&J with out tripping over a stool that the kids are using while "helping you cook" as Paige says. I don't care if it is heating a steamer bag (who else LOVES those!!!), making sweet potato pancakes, heating chicken nuggets, putting bread/waffles in the toaster, making something (any suggestions for tonight?) for dinner, or even opening a cheese stick, Parker and Paige have pulled up a chair or stool and are there. Peyton...well now days he is either still napping/asleep or he is holding onto my leg.

While at my parents a few weeks back the kids helped my make sweet potato fries with a home grown Sweet Potato from Jami's dad's (Grumpy) garden. How does Jami make her fries? Glad you asked...

First...peal potato (optional)

Second...cut into desired fry size and shape

Third...toss with extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder...do not crowd...you may need 2 pans

Fourth...place in a 450 oven for about 15 minutes

Fifth...take out and toss (don't use your hands Vicki)

Sixth...place back in the oven for another 15 minutes or until done.

Seventh...and last...(TURN OFF OVEN VICKI) Take out of oven and enjoy! Just like my baby is!