So I Was Just Thinking

I am here as promised. Since this covers a week...be prepared for a lot of info. This has been a good week. Starting with Monday which will now be known as my lazy day, the day I do nothing and enjoy it. Before when I was unemployed, I felt bad about sitting around doing nothing, but now I savor it. I watch what I want, get dressed or not, eat or not, and I have to time to think about what I want to cook for dinner and make it good. This means we had enchiladas, rice and black beans. I am very proud of my little man who ate it all without complaining. Glad to see he can be bold, too.  I made them in the electric skillet because I couldn't find my baking dishes. Notice that three don't have cheese for my son. They were made using leftover pot roast. It was definitely a good use of leftovers. Tuesday began the busy part of my week. My new class started so I had to be there by 9:30. I am still getting used to being up earlier. When that class was over I had to make it ...

How are things in your neck of the woods? Out here in Missouri, I continue with my daily routine of job seeking, mom taxi and homemaking. The last one is my favorite. I really thought that is would be what I was doing when we got here, but life got involved and now ... well, you've heard me go on about looking for a job so let's move on to the good stuff. Caitlin is going to be in high school this year. We are trying to find a good fit for a dance school. We miss the old one from back home. She registered for classes at school and one of them is band. Even though she goes to a freshman center, she will be participating in the high school marching band. And let me tell you, they are intense. the handbook and the other paperwork they sent home made some good evening reading. Between homework, dance and band, she will be one busy girl. Fortunately, her course load isn't too intense. Next year, we may have to decide which one to give up. In between the registering and busy work...

Another way I want to be creative is with the food I prepare for my kids. For years I fed my kids to keep them fed with no mind to what how interesting it was. Convenience was key because of our hectic schedules. I began missing when I would cook creatively, so I am looking to add that spark back into my food while keeping meals simple. A few weeks ago, I used Betty Crocker's pizza dough mix to make pizza with the kids, but something went wrong and it was too crispy, the reduced fat pepperoni dried up and in the end no one was happy. I had bought two packages of the dough mix and only used one, and since the first go round didn't work, I had to get creative. I mixed the dough as the package directed, split the dough into four balls and then spread the balls into circles about 5-6 inches across. I spooned some pizza sauce onto the dough, keeping it away from the edges and then added the cheese and pepperoni. I folded over the dough and sealed it with a fork and brushed it with a...

We made pizzas this week. My blog friend Hilde Iren posted on Facebook that she was enjoying her Saturday and that she would be making pizza. It made me want to make pizzas, too. So when Caitlin and I came home from dance practice, we stopped at the grocery store for pizza fixings. The kids had a nice time making dinner. James doesn't care for cheese decided that he didn't want to have any on his part of the pizza. It made the final result look funny, but he ate it and that's the important part. Now if I can just get him to like some veggies. I, on the other hand, had a veggie pizza. I also limited the amount of cheese that went on my pizza. James helped make mine, too. The kids' pizza went in first. It was only after I was putting mine in the oven that I realized that Caitlin had only put the temperature up to 400°F instead of 425°F. This made the center of theirs a little softer than I would like, but they ate it. James wants to make an...