Quick, Easy, Delicious Home Made Pizza

* Please excuse my ugly stove photo, I was so hungry, I didn't think to display better!It's not delivery or Digiorno, it is easy on my finances because it was free! I had all of the ingredients on hand to make this delicious dough. When I got married, one of my Mom's friends gave me a great gift. It was her family recipe book. There is something about family recipe books, you just know the recipes are great, they have been handed down for generations. We had pizza night the other night complete with root beer, because really pizza and root beer are a great combo! I even let the kids make their own individual pizzas by rolling out the dough and using a bowl to cut out a small pizza. Sorry there are no photos of my mini pizzas, but of course my camera battery died, and they were devoured quickly. I have listed the recipe below, my notes are italicized, I am getting pretty pro with my family constantly requesting this meal.

Pizza Dough or Bread sticks:

1 TBSP yeast

2 TBSP sugar

3 Cups flour

1 1/2 Cups warm water

1/2 TSP salt

Combine ingredients and mix well. Knead for 3 minutes (I use my Kitchen Aid Mixer), adding more flour if needed for a soft, but not sticky dough. (I usually add about and additional 2 TSBP while it's kneading, just add enough so as it is kneading it pulls away from the bowl.) Let rest for 10 minutes (the thicker you want your crust, the longer you can let it rest). Roll out dough with a rolling pin and fit into a pizza pan. (You can also use a thick cookie sheet, greased with a little shortening if you don't have a pizza pan). Top with your favorite toppings. (This part is super fun for the kids!) Bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes until crust is golden brown.

For bread sticks, roll out dough onto a cookie sheet. Cut the dough into rectangles and brush with melted butter. Sprinkle lightly with garlic salt and Parmesan or mozzarella cheese; or for a dessert bread stick, brush with butter and dip in a cinnamon sugar mixture. Let rest 10 minutes, then bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.

The whole process from start to finish was about a half hour, which is what I normally spend making dinner. The nice part is the dough doesn't take forever to rise, while it is rising you can get your toppings ready.

Enjoy!

Tick, Tock, I found a little clock

Look at this portly little chap that I found at a yard sale this week.




All he needed was a little love...

I took him apart and ordered a trip to the Spray Paint Place. A quick coat of primer and paint and he sure looked happy, but I wasn't done.


I scraped him up a bit, but he didn't mind.


I painted him up with some brown acrylic, and rubbed it off quick ~ just to show off his figure.



Fancied him up with some scrapbook paper and a coat of Mod Podge.




Added some numbers and replaced his pretty hands.



Found him a new home on a bookshelf, and he's all set to tick and tock.

Around the Town Tuesday

I spent the morning in Bountiful(Utah) with my sisters. We went exploring on Main Street and happened upon the cutest little shops.

All Tucked In... Extraordinary gifts books and toys.




They are all ready for Fall and Halloween, and the store is filled to the brim with cute decor for the season.



They have beautiful books, delightful collections, and decor for kids rooms and around the home.



I DIED when i saw this adorable "pumpkin head" doll...



A girl can never have too many pretty jackets, especially in Utah.



Be sure to visit All Tucked In at:

115 South Main Street
Bountiful, Utah

www.alltuckedin.net

Adventures In Homemade Baby Food: Peaches.

I love food. I love cooking, trying new recipes, and going to new restaurants. A year ago, while I was at the gym, the Today Show was on and they were featuring Matthew Amster-Burton author of a cute book called, Hungry Monkey . Matthew and his daughter Iris are adventurous eaters, so I picked up the book and loved reading about the different eating adventures they had. Then a few months later I was at Barnes and Noble browsing the bargain section when I came across a book called Wholesome Food for Babies and Toddlers which has tons of fun recipes, I picked it up and I was set on making my own baby food. My determination was even more set in stone when we played “guess what your eating?” at my baby shower, the store bought baby food was processed, bland, and gross!

Last week a friend of my husband gave us some freshly picked peaches. I was excited to can them, but when we brought them home, they were too ripe. I thought about making jam, but my baby had just started on rice cereal and I thought peaches would be a fun food for him to try! So my adventures in home made baby food began! First, I cut the peaches in half and removed the pits. I placed them pit side down into an old cake pan with the bottom of the pan covered in a thin layer of water.

I baked them at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes, until they were just soft. The skin peeled off perfectly and I threw them into a bowl with a spout. (The spout makes this process even easier.)

Baby food doesn’t need any additional salt or sugar, babies digestive systems aren’t ready for that yet. I did read somewhere to help babies have a wider pallet add a small amount of spice to their meal. I added a dash of cinnamon and then used my immersion blender to get a fine puree. If you are planning on making your own baby food I highly suggest an immersion blender, quick use and clean up.

I poured my puree into ice cube trays, covered them with foil, and froze them. I can just pop out a square and warm it up when I need them and it is the perfect portion.

I also picked up a few of these containers at Babies R Us for when I need to take some food on the go.

The whole process from start to finish took around 45 minutes and I have enough baby food for a month! It was free, quick, and tasty! My baby loves the peaches and I think they are quite tasty as well. So far adventures in home made baby food is a success!

Homemade pancakes have never been so fun!: Weekend Website

I will admit, at first glance Jim's Pancakes look super intimidating to make, but after watching the bacon and eggs tutorial; it is not as hard as it looks. You will be amazed at some of the pancakes: a dinosaur, sushi, and a ferris wheel! Jim has got pancake making for his adorable daughter down to an art, literally. There are great recipes and each pancake is rated by difficulty level, so you can start off slow. Tomorrow, when you are whipping up your Sunday morning pancakes, try out a few of these, you kids will love it!

Treasure hunting is FUN

Look at the gem I found hiding in my neighbors trash pile. Can you believe it? She was going to toss it out without a backward glance *gasp*. (You probably can believe it from the looks of it) ~before~



I kindly asked my neighbor for the chance to give the old dear a makeover. She obliged and we got to work.


After a light sanding, I popped the darling into the spray paint place and went to town. First we needed a coat of primer...



When the primer was dry I got started on the color coat. American Accents Aqua...



a quick coat of poly for protection, and we were good to go...



I just love to treasure hunt! ~after~


and look, now I have a matching pair....

Dollar store quick craft: Magnet Board Tutorial

This is a great, EASY, quick craft that I threw together with items from the local Dollar Tree.

I found these great metal "art" sheets, and knew just what to do with them.


Out to the "spray paint place" it went.


I should have skipped this step all together, because look what happened...



These metal sheets are almost exactly the same size as a 12 X 12 sheet of scrapbook paper, and really didn't need to be painted.




Using my favorite crafting medium....



and adding a few embellishments.....




I ended up with this...




It's perfect for my daughters' room.



If you'd like a kit with detailed instructions, just let me know!

Tidy Tips: How to Fold Bags to Save Space

I am not a fan of plastic bags, not only are they not good for the environment, they are a mess to have around the house. As much as I try to remember my reusable ones when I go to the grocery store, I have many times that I forget and end up with a bunch of plastic bags. They can be bulky and a pain to store, but they are good for sack lunches and dog duty. My Mom taught me this great trick which helps store your plastic bags without taking up a ton of room.

First, flatten your bag, then fold it in half twice. Next, start folding it in a triangular pattern, until you reach the end of your bag.

Once you are at the end, tuck the end tab into the folds, and you have your bag in a small triangle. I store them in one of the Tupperware containers that I don't use (remember THIS?) and put them in my drawer with all my other bags. Then my drawer stays tidy!
Easy to use and easy on the eyes!

Weekend Website

This weekend check out my friend Becky's cute blog, Random Acts of Obsession. If your looking for a fun, cute, useful weekend crafts, there are several, but one of my favorites is this...

Can you believe that was once a rat trap!?! Check out the full tutorial HERE. Have a great weekend!

Home Improvement

Five years ago we bought our current home. Here are a few pictures of what it looked like then:

Lovely pink bathroom. That is carpet on the floor. With really cool roses on it, actually. :)
Wall-O-Mirrors. When I first walked through the house the thing that shocked me was how many mirrors there were. EVERYWHERE. I don't like to see how bedraggled I look at every moment of the day, so I took most of them down. This wall was actually a little harder then some of the others, because each mirror tile was attached with adhesive. I used heavy gloves and safety goggles and a painter's putty knife to pry each one off the wall. After they were off it really only needed minor touching up and was ready to paint.
The wall in this picture of wooden paneling came down one day while my hubby was at work. I decided I was done with the paneling and I thought, 'This can't be all that hard' so I pried off a section and hauled it out, then the next, then the next. It wasn't hard at all. AND, lucky me, the wall behind the paneling only needed minor touch-ups as well. (It also needed us to frame in a window opening that opens into the garage, but you get the idea).
Ah, the kitchen. A friend of mine recently admitted that she refused to eat at our house when we first moved in because the kitchen was so gross. I don't blame her, I hated the kitchen as well. We have known that we wanted to change the kitchen quite a bit, but we needed a band-aid job to make the kitchen livable (and hopefully make it less gross so that our friends would come play). I did some sewing for a friend of Hubby that makes cabinets. He graciously accepted the sewing as payment for the labor of making new cabinet faces for all of our kitchen cabinets. We covered the old formica with new. We pulled out the carpet. Yes, carpet in the kitchen as well. I sewed curtains for the windows and we purchased new appliances. So, here is our band-aid job and pics of the other rooms as well.

This is the once-pink bathroom. Right now, we are in the middle of this room's renovating, so you can't see the finished product just yet, but trust me it will be improved. :)

Living Room, wood paneling gone.
Kitchen. Improved. For now. In the next twelve months we will be doing a lot of projects around this old house of ours and I will post occasionally to let you know how we did certain aspects of the projects, and maybe Hubby can do a guest post about painting--he's pretty sure he has it figured out. ;)

It's scrunchie time again

I know that 80's and early 90's fashion is back in a big way. I just don't think that I can "pull off" the scrunchie trend. So I'm going to find another use for these...



I picked my favorite color of the bunch, and got my matching thread.



I used a gather stitch all the way around the scrunchie.



I knotted it off and ended up with this...



I searched through my mom's vintage button collection and added a fun yellow one.





I cut my green scrunchie in half, and folded each piece over and sewed up the end.





I attached my "leaves" to the back of my flower with a little hot glue.



This is what I ended up with...



Added a pin to the back and used it to dress up my daughter's denim jacket.



Can you "pull off" the scrunchie look?