Things That Make Me Smile 9/28/18

Jake (12 1/2), Alyssa (10 1/2), Zac (8 1/2), Tyler (6 1/2), Nicholas (3 1/2)

This week Leighton and Jake went deer hunting, we practiced being cold case detectives, played a rousing game of hide-n-seek, made some crafts, and just enjoyed the benefits of homeschooling. 

1. Zac: "I love making dinner. I never thought cooking would be this much fun."

2. Jake: "Want to hear my joke? A knight is preparing his horse for battle. He gives him a long speech about his importance and then asks, 'Are you ready to carry me into battle?' The horse says, 'Neigh,' and walks away." (nay)

3. Me: "How much do you love Mama?"

Nicholas: "All of them and a half!"

4.

5. Nicholas: "Mama, was dis Tyyer's cup when he was a baby?"

Me: "Actually, this mug was mine when I was little."

Tyler: "Whoa! That's old! I'm surprised it's not broken."

6. Tyler's drawing.

7. Alyssa, cleaning up her craft area: "I'm going to try to keep my desk clean from now on."

Me: "Good idea."

Alyssa: "It's not an idea; it's common sense."

8. Zac, walking up to me: "I want to tell you something . . . I love you."

9. Zac: "Whoever created pizza, I'd like to shake their hand and talk to them for hours. And sit and eat pizza with them for hours."

10. Nicholas really got into making his personal pizza.

11. Tyler: "I can survive one whole hour without eating."

Me: "Wow, a whole hour, huh?"

Tyler: "Yeah, one time I went from 2 o'clock to 3 o'clock without eating."

12. The problem with raising readers . . . 

Me: "Please do not run through the parking lot."

Jake: "Can we hasten through the parking lot? Ooh, maybe we should canter through it. Walk briskly?"

What made you Smile this week?

Tasty Tuesday: Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza

This is one of those recipes that I've been meaning to get posted for a while. When my friend asked me for the recipe, I knew it was time to get typing.

We love homemade pizza and make it often. Pepperoni, supreme, slices made-to-order, bbq chicken, personal pizzas, taco, Hawaiian--we're not picky. But my absolute favorite is cheeseburger pizza. Bacon cheeseburger pizza, at that.

I first started making it a few years ago, when I was wanting something different. I love cheeseburgers and figured I could use those same flavors to create a pizza. I stood looking at my dough, ready to be covered in yumminess, and got to work. The end result was delicious and instantly became a family favorite. We've been making it ever since.

  
I don't have specific amounts for the ingredients, because I never measure. I just cut and add until I have a desired amount. Use as much or as little of each ingredient as you want. Make it your own. That's one of my favorite things about cooking!

I hope you enjoy this pizza as much as we do.

Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza
Ingredients:
pizza dough
ketchup
mustard
ground beef, cooked
onions, diced and cooked
bacon, cooked and crumbled
shredded cheese (cheddar, colby jack, whatever is in the fridge)
lettuce, shredded
tomatoes, diced
pickles, diced
 
Directions:
1. Place your prepared pizza dough (optional recipe below) into pan. For this particular pizza, I like using my rectangular stoneware pan, instead of my big round pizza pan, because the thicker crust holds up better to all the toppings. Also, I add some onion and garlic powders when preparing the dough to enhance the flavors.
2. Squirt a generous amount of ketchup and mustard on the dough and spread it around. Add beef and onions, bacon, and shredded cheese. 
3. Bake for 18-20 minutes (14-16 for a thinner crust) at 400*.
4. When it’s done baking, add lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles. Let it rest a few minutes before cutting.


Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

1 3/8 cups water (70-80*) 
3 tbsp olive oil 
3/4 tsp salt 
4 cups flour 
2 tsp active dry yeast 

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in bread pan in order listed. Select "dough" setting. When dough is finished (will take 90 minutes) pat dough into pizza pan and top as desired. Bake at 400* for 14-20 minutes, or until desired doneness.

April Fools Fun

Happy Belated April Fools Day! Jake thinks this is a great holiday, and I really wanted to make it fun this year. So, we had dessert for dinner and dinner for dessert! These are not original ideas, but are plenty fun just the same.

Our menu consisted of cupcakes and Kool-Aid. The kids were ecstatic to have cupcakes for dinner - confused, but ecstatic.

Of course, they all tried to take a drink first. Poor Zachy. He got it the worst. The other 2 kids were confused at first, but poor Zac just did not understand. He kept sucking and sucking on the straw, but nothing would come up! He told us, "Mine not working. I don't wike dis one." We explained that it was really jello, but he still kept trying to drink it. 

Jake thought it was great though!

The real fun was using the straw the slurp the jello. It makes the funniest sounds! One of my favorite childhood memories of my cousin is when we were vising family in Wisconsin. He and I were eating jello  - with straws! He was laughing so hard that red jello came out his nose! We had so much fun that day. And now I was able to carry on that excitement with my own children.

These were incredibly simple to make. I made a packet of jello according to the directions on the box, and poured the liquid into individual glasses. Then, I stuck in a straw and placed them in the refrigerator to solidify.

We moved on to the "cupcakes." Alyssa tasted the frosting and was a little disappointed that it wasn't sweet, sugary frosting. Jake tasted it and said, "Mashed potatoes??? But what's the cake?" As soon as he tried it, he was happy to find out that it was actually meatloaf. That boy loves meatloaf. This particular batch was made with venison from a deer that Leighton shot last fall. All the more special.

These were easy to make. I made a batch of meatloaf and filled my silicone muffin cups. I topped each one with a bit of ketchup and stuck them in the fridge on a cookie sheet. When I was ready to bake them, I just popped the cookie sheet in the oven. Then, I made mashed potatoes, filled my dessert decorator, and piped the potatoes on the cooked meatloaf cakes.

I couldn't think of anything fun to do with a veggie, so we just had plain ol' broccoli. Exciting, I know, but we all love it, so it worked out fine. Our meal was filled with much laughter and talks of tricks that the kids could play. We had so much fun!

After church, we ate pizza! Or rather yellow cake crust, red colored frosting sauce, white chocolate shavings cheese, and fruit roll-up pepperonis.

Even after being tricked before, they were still surprised that it wasn't real pizza. Gotta love their innocence. And their smiles.

They gobbled this "pizza" right up. Jake was leery at first about the "cheese" because he thought it might be coconut. He had no hesitations when I assured it him was white chocolate though.

This one took a little bit more to prepare. I baked a yellow cake mix according to the directions on the box in two 9" cake pans. (I used only one half. To be more realistic, you could put less batter in one pan to make a thinner "crust.") Then, I used what frosting I had in the fridge (about 3/4 cup) and added quite a bit of red food coloring. As I suspected, it still had more of a pinkish hue than red, so I added some strawberry jam. I don't think it helped much with the color though. It did, however, make the frosting even sweeter. For the cheese, I used a potato peeler to scrape off curls of a white chocolate bar. The pepperonis gave me the hardest time of all. After trying multiple things to make the circles, I found out that the easiest thing was just to cut them out using kitchen scissors.


What fun we had! The kids have been talking about the tricks all day today.

And they're already talking about next year. I'd better start planning now!

Valentine's Day Fun

I never really was one to celebrate Valentine's Day. I didn't want someone telling me I had to show love on a certain day, that I had to buy gifts, I had to spend money. Yes, I know Christmas comes with the same idea, but that's different since we're remembering the birth of our Lord. And birthdays and anniversaries celebrate 1 or 2 people, not the entire world. Besides, I never liked chocolates (before having kids), flowers die, and spending $5 on a card seemed a bit steep.

Then I had kids. 

Now, I realize it's fun to celebrate any sort of day. I mean, I never observed Dr. Seuss' birthday or National Nothing Day or half birthdays before either. I never took the time to set aside an entire day in honor of peanut butter. But it's fun. Kids find joy in the little things of life. If making cupcake that look like George Washington make them laugh, then I want to laugh too. I want to soak in all the fun and excitement while my babies are still young. I want to truly enjoy them, life, and our homeschooling journey. 

So, yes, we celebrated Valentine's Day yesterday. 

I made the kiddos heart pancakes for breakfast. I started with regular batter and added accents with pinkish-red dyed batter. They were so pretty - until I flipped them oven to cook the other side. Then you could barely see the color. I ended up adding red to the rest of the batter and just making pink hearts. Not quite what I was going for, but they didn't seem to mind. Maybe next time I'll try coloring the majority of the batter and accenting with regular-colored batter.

For lunch, they had heart-shaped pb&j sandwiches with a fruit roll-up heart, a cup of strawberry applesauce with sprinkles, and a cup of raisins & craisins.

 Of course, we stuck to the theme for dinner as well - heart-shaped personal pizzas!

We all love homemade pizza. It's much cheaper than buying it, and you can customize it to your liking. Alyssa likes just about everything - and a lot of it.

Yum! I was going to use the rest of the dough to make a heart pizza for Leighton and me too, but I just spread it out in my stoneware pan from Pampered Chef in whatever shape it went. I hope he still knows that I love him, heart pizza or not.

And what better to eat with your personal heart pizza than heart strawberries!

As you can see, I definitely embraced Valentine's day this year. We also completed many Valentine themed worksheets, made cards, created yarn hearts, and baked shortbread sandwich cookies. We read books and played with blocks. Leighton even brought home flowers for me the day before, though one rose found its way into a vase in Alyssa's room. We exchanged cards yesterday and he stopped at the video store to pick up a movie for the kids. 

I still don't believe I have to show my love for them just because it's Valentine's Day (because I should be doing that every day), but it is fun to participate.   

How did you spend your day?

42 Months

We had reason to celebrate . . . Alyssa turned three-and-a-half!

We started the celebration with a nutritious delicious breakfast. We replaced our beloved letter-shaped pancakes with balloon ones and topped them with powdered sugar and chocolate sprinkles. (Hey, at least I overrode their choice of pop for a beverage!)

We spent the day reading books, putting together puzzles, playing the Wii, playing dress-up, and filling the house with the delicious smells from our play dough bakery, "Leafs' Treats." The pictures show our very own cinnamon rolls, strawberry pie, and apple pie (featuring 2 kinds of apples.) Also for sale in our bakery are cookies, rolls, cakes, doughnuts, and ice cream. We were very busy rolling, cutting, preparing, and baking. It was worth it! It was all sooo delicious!

 

We always give the half-birthday-ers one present. Alyssa was very happy to get clothes for her baby dolls. And for a total of $3.00, Mommy was pretty happy, too. 

Our little Sweetie Pie wanted personal pizzas for dinner. Fresh homemade dough, tons of cheese, and lots of favorite toppings - what could be better?


And for dessert?

Ice cream cones???

Nope! Ice cream cone cupcakes with pink icing and sprinkles! Yummy!

Happy 3-and-a-half birthday, Alyssa! We've enjoyed calling you ours for 42 months. Looking forward to many, many more. 

Want to read about more half-birthdays?  Jake 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 (rainbow cupcakes), Alyssa 2 1/2 (cream-filled cupcakes).

Tasty Tuesday: Personal Pizzas and Indoor S'mores Bars

PART 1
We love making pizza. I toss a few ingredients in my bread machine and 90 minutes later we have pizza dough. (Have I ever mentioned how I love my bread machine?) Fifteen minutes after forming the pie and adding toppings, we have hot, delicious pizza, fresh out of the oven. Usually, we make one big pizza. This time, I decided to split the dough into fourths and let everyone make his own. The kids loved it!

I save left over dipping sauce when we order pizza. If we need more, I use jarred pasta sauce. You can't even tell the difference. Jake, who is the pickiest of the three, had no hesitations in putting mushrooms and banana peppers on his pizza. Alyssa loves toppings. Her pizza would have had a pack of cheese, a whole onion, and half a pig if she had her way! Zachy eats anything you put in front of him . . . and then some.

Pizza Dough for bread machine
Ingredients:
3/4 tsp salt                                             2 tsp active dry yeast  
4 c all-purpose flour                               1 3/8 c water
1 Tbsp pizza seasoning                         3 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in bread pan.
2. Select dough setting and press start.
3. Once the machine is done, remove dough and pat into preferred shape. Prepare as desired.
4. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. Let rest 5 minutes before cutting.

PART 2

We love camping. Jake asks all year long if we can go. He doesn't care that it's freezing temperatures outside. He just wants to camp! One of the best things about it is making s'mores. I love sitting by the fire and sloooowly roasting marshmallows. It is a science to get them just right - lightly browned on the outside, ooey-gooey on the inside. Once it's perfect, you use the graham crackers and chocolate to slide the marshmallow off, leaving a clean stick behind. The chocolate melts into creamy goodness. Mmm, now I'm ready to go camping! Almost.

Currently, it's too cold to go camping, but that didn't stop us from eating s'mores.

Indoor S'mores Bars
Ingredients: 
8     cups Golden Grahams cereal           5     tablespoons butter
5     cups miniature marshmallows             1     teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2     cups milk chocolate chips              1     cup miniature marshmallows, if desired
1/4     cup light corn syrup

Directions:
1. Into large bowl, measure cereal. Butter 13x9-inch pan. In large microwavable bowl, microwave 5 cups marshmallows, the chocolate chips, corn syrup and butter uncovered on High 2 minutes to 3 minutes 30 seconds, stirring after every minute, until melted and smooth when stirred. Stir in vanilla.
2. Pour over cereal; quickly toss until completely coated. Stir in 1 cup marshmallows.
3. Press mixture evenly in pan, using buttered back of spoon. Let stand uncovered at least 1 hour, or refrigerate if you prefer a firmer bar. Cut into bars.  Store loosely covered at room temperature up to 2 days.

We made a few modifications. We made half a batch because somebody ate most of the Golden Grahams. We melted the coating on the stove. We had to use regular marshmallows because that's all we had. I cut some into pieces and tried ripping some to the size of mini marshmallows for the final mix-in. It was actually easier to just tear them apart. As I put the  ingredients away, I found a bag of minis, right where they were supposed to be. Go figure.

The bars don't taste exactly like a s'more. They have a strong Golden Grahams flavor. Strange, I know, since that's the main ingredient. They would be more s'more-like if made with plain ol' graham crackers. They are delicious and very addicting! But, they will never replace a good, old-fashioned s'more.