Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Pizza Fridays: 2 Ways

In an effort to make life a little easier as far as meal planning & preparing goes, I have officially declared Fridays as pizza nights at our home!  We've been at it a few weeks now, and we all look forward to Pizza Fridays!

I love pizza.  I could probably eat it every single day.  Hot, cold, lukewarm....doesn't really matter.  It's kind of the perfect food.  I also love the variety you can have with pizza.....it's not just about cheese & pepperoni!

The first Pizza Friday we did have just the normal pepperoni and cheese kind.  I used this recipe (from my dear college roomie) for the dough.  I had some string cheese so i cut it lengthwise and wrapped it in dough around the edges - stuffed crust!

There is just something sooooo good about homemade pizza!!!


Our real favorite though, is grilled pizza.  Have you tried it?  I love that the weather is getting warmer and we can grill more....pizza on the grill is delicious!  Here's the recipe we use (courtesy of another dear friend.....my friends make some good pizza!!)

Ingredients:
  • 2 c flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1 pkg quick rise yeast
  • 3/4 c warm water
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
Add the yeast into warm water and let sit for a few minutes.  Make sure it gets foamy, or else you need new yeast!


Mix yeast mixture with the rest of the ingredients.  It works perfectly in my KitchenAid with the dough hook attachment!






Let rise.


Divide into 4 or 5 sections and roll out, adding flour as necessary.  Spray both sides with cooking spray.  (I roll ours out pretty thin....use your own judgement on this one!)


Grill over medium heat until it is cooked enough to flip....you'll be able to tell when it's done.  Instead of flipping, now is the time to add the toppings to the grilled side!  We like to set out a topping bar like this one....



Pizza sauce, pesto, ham, pineapple, bacon, spinach, green peppers, pepperoni, mozzarella, parmesan, red pepper flakes, italian seasoning.......anything you want.....time to clean out the refrigerator!

Here's J with his pizza.....so proud!!


Now that the toppings are on, grill again until dough is cooked and cheese is melted!


ENJOY!!!



Linking to: Thrifty Decorating, For the Mommas, Craft-O-Maniac, Raising Homemakers, The Frugal Girls,

Friday, April 13, 2012

What We've Been Up To....

I've definitely been slacking in the whole "posting more often" thing.  We've been so busy lately I haven't taken much time to do anything uber-creative....and when I do a fun project, I've typically forgotten to take pictures  :)

Just for proof that we're still alive and well, here's what we've been up to lately...

Playing outside & being cute


Making Resurrection Rolls

Dyeing Easter Eggs

Sightseeing with our new friend from India
Disney on Ice ~ loved watching her!

A few other random things...
We've enjoyed hosting two international students over the past two months (a high school boy from Japan for 3 weeks in March and a college student from India over Easter).
J started tee-ball!
We're gearing up for the school year to be over......J & I started making a list of things we want to do over the summer.
I've decided to start going through the book Operation World with J each morning.....we've been having a great time learning about other countries.
I'm getting ready for a new summer season with 31 - I have the new catalog and I'm loving it!  There's also going to be a 31 outlet sale coming up.....if you don't already have a consultant and would like to receive information about it, you can email me at angiem31 (at) live (dot) com .... and I'll be sure to get you the info!

Hope you all had a Happy Easter!

Monday, April 2, 2012

4 Months DTE

It has now been 4 months from our DTE (Dossier to Ethiopia) Date.
 
(Image Source)
You might remember that earlier this month we received the news that our estimated wait time has been extended again, this time to 18-24 months.  Quite a jump from the 10-16 months we were hoping for only 4 months ago.
 
As of today, 4/2/12, we are (unofficially)....
#70 for an Infant Boy
#34 for Twins/Young (<4) Siblings
#22 for a Toddler Boy
 
If you saw last month's DTE update, you will recall that we were #69 for an infant boy and #33 for siblings.  Backwards movement can be very disheartening!  We are thankful that although we haven't moved up in the toddler boy line, we are holding steady at #22.  No movement is better than going backwards!

So in summary, this was a pretty stinky month for us, numbers-wise!  BUT, we have had encouragement in other ways!  Our friends the Webbs brought home their sweet little guy from Ethiopia this month.  And in the last week, our church friends received a referral for their daughter in China, and some more friends got the call that there was baby waiting for them domestically!  God is in the business of setting the lonely in families!  (Psalm 68:5-6).