Homemade Pizza

Well, as you can see, I have not stuck to my challenge! But, I do have a good reason as to why :) Last week was a crazy week! Returning to work after 7 years of being a SAHM. . . having an exchange student trying to adjust and then having to get her packed up again (her grandfather had a massive stroke and they did not think he was going to live, so she was back on a plane, not even 5 days after being in the states!). . . . So I had vowed to start THIS week! And I had all intentions of starting Monday -- however, I must have jinxed myself!

Monday AM as I'm preparing to put the crock pot on for veggie soup that night I realized that the items in the pot were probably no longer any good, so I unplugged the pot, and when I did we had a massive white flash come from the plug! Seriously, I'm just glad I have eyebrows still! Yes, it scared the holy tar out of me! In the process of this mega flash, I melted the plug to the crock pot (*sniff*sniff* Crockpot, you served your time well, enjoy your new vacation), the pan that was on top of the toaster oven has a scar now from the plug landing no it (freaky), and the darn stove and entire wall of items were kicked off! UGH! I was not a happy camper!

So, I called NIPSCO since we have a wire plan with them (note to self: thanks for being so smart to purchase that plan -- we've used it twice now this summer alone). They sent someone out yesterday who replaced the GFS (it was toasted), and reset everything. He was a nice guy who even fixed the light switch to our porch light :) Well, after he replaced the GFS, the stove started working again (THANK GOODNESS). So, yesterday *I* made my first challenge.

Although this did not come from a cookbook, it was a nice challenge! I had purchased a pizza dough ball at Meijers a few weeks ago (frozen, of course). So I defrosted it out and used the rolling pin on it! It was much easier than using a couple boxes of Jiffy Pizza mixes! Just roll, smoosh and PRESTO :) So, Thomas and I rolled out the pizza dough (OK, so *I* rolled out the dough while Thomas played in a flour pile), slopped on some generic pizza sauce, mini pepperonis (I think TomTom ate more than we put on the pizza - ha), and then we sprinkled the cheese on the pizza.

Not only was it a cooking challenge, it was a patience challenge as Thomas was helping me. Now, had we had guests and I was cooking this pizza for them I would not have let him munch on the peperoni's while we were compiling our pizza, but it was just the four of us, so I was not too concerned (OK, for you germ-o-phobs, just disregard that). . . and we had a nice time bonding during the process! So, it was cook-a-peutic (therapeutic) :)

So, there we have it, my first challenge! I do wonder what tomorrow will bring. . . since Eluides has meetings tonight and tomorrow, WHO KNOWS! :) Stayed tuned :)

Susie Homemaker

So, after seeing the movie Julie and Julia and a comment a friend made about cooking her way thru the Betty Crocker cookbook, I came up the perfect blog topic for me, instead of random rambling! :) I have decided to take it upon myself to CHALLENGE myself! I am not one that really likes to cook! Well, I should not say I dislike cooking itself, but rather the prep and clean up times! It can become time consuming when you prep it all, slop it onto the table, and then have to clean it all up! Actually, it gets kind of old having to load the dishwasher alone, wash the dishes I don't trust in the dish washer, run the dishwasher and then put the dishes up! So, cooking takes a lot of time, and I would rather just let someone else cook FOR me! But, with having a budget cut back, I'm going to challenge myself! Are you ready folks -- Naw, I'm not going to cook my way through Betty Crocker nor Taste of Homes (one of my favorite cook books mind you). . .I, Stacey Lynn, am going to pull out all of the cook books I have (and lemme tell ya folks, there are a LOT of them), get the Swiffer duster out and dust those bad boys off, and them I'm going to cook a new meal TWO times a week! I'm challenging myself to serve my family dinners more often at our table. Yeah, so it might be a wee bit cheaper to hook the boys up with Happy Meals, or grab subs on my way home from the gym, but I need to show them that I do know how to cook more than tuna casserole, tacos, spaghetti and hotdogs (Ok, I do make more than that, but it's late and my brain isn't cooperating!)

So, I'm starting this week. :) Wednesday will be the first day. :) I'm not setting a time limit for myself like Julie did. HOWEVER, I'm opening up my challenge to YOU! My faithful readers! All 10 of you -- and I think my Dad is trying to get counted twice!

If you want to submit a recipe to me to try, send it to me! (StaceyPagan@verizon.net) But I do have to warn you -- it cannot be loaded down in carbs because the ol diabetes will not appreciate that, and remember I'm gong to be serving the meal to a 4 and 7 year old, so they have to be a wee bit kid friendly. Now, it doesn't have to be octopus in noodles (hot dogs on top of green ramen noodles), but it cannot be something like Steak A La Mode (HA HA) or something like that!

So, be on the lookout, b/c I'm going to post the recipe I try (if you submit it, your name will be in the blog as a thank you) as well as my thoughts prepping it and what my family thought of eating it :)

My next door neighbor when growing up with could me Susie Homemaker because I liked to cook (well and I had to do things like hang clothes on the line to dry so the entire world could see my bloomers and over the shoulder boulder holders when I was a kid). . . so, now I'm going to put it to the test. . . . beware world, here comes Stacey Homemaker