Grilled Pizza Goodness

It's almost the middle of July (AH!!! When did that happen??!?), which means the weather is extra hot here, and I am always on the look out for different grilling ideas so I don't have to cook inside. Also, grilling usually requires less dishes, so less clean up all around, for the win.

Unlike most households, I am the person that 'mans' the grill at our house, and I get lots of inspiration from my older brother, who is a MASTER of the grill. Seriously. It's pretty amazing. I digress, however. I originally found this recipe at $5 Dinners , which is an excellent place to get great meal ideas, and for not a ton of money. She does a weekly menu/shopping list, and I just happened upon this grilled pizza one by chance. Best thing to happen ever. She is also currently compiling a 30 days of non-gluten meals, so you should check that out as well.

Now first, let me just say that you can really make this with any kinds of toppings you want, not just Hawaiian. But I have discovered the wonder of grilled pineapple, and there is just no going back. If you decide to make a different kind of pizza, I would suggest grilling your toppings first, either in a tinfoil packet, or sauteed on your stove top. This method doesn't really cook the toppings so much as reheats everything together and melts the cheese. I love grilled pineapple, and Zach loved Hawaiian pizza, so that's what we have stuck with so far. The kiddos just get a cheese pizza, and everyone is happy.

So, first things first, you need to make your crust. Now, there are LOTS of grilled pizza crust recipes floating around out there. I would recommend one that uses olive oil, as that is what has worked best for me when grilling the dough. I also like to use whole wheat flour, so when you sub that in, just take into account that you will probably use less of it than normal white flour. I got my dough recipe here. Gotta love Martha. Anyways, when adding the flour, mix in the first cup and a half or so, then slowly add in the rest if you are using whole wheat flour.

Ok, so while your dough is rising, you need to get the rest of your things together. First, I cut up my pineapple. Never cut one before? Youtube it. But instead of cutting it into cubes, I take off the outside first, then slice it into thinner rectangles in order to grill it. Start your grill, and let it heat up. Then place your pineapple on the grill for about 3-5 minutes per side, tops. DO NOT BURN THE PINEAPPLE. 

MMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Ok, during those few minutes that your pineapple is cooking, you need to slice up your ham. I like to buy ham steaks, which are thicker, and you get way more bang for your buck than if you buy the precut ham that they sell for pizza toppings. So cut your ham into small-ish rectangles or squares or basically whatever you want. It's your pizza, don't let anyone tell you how to top it ;)

You also need to grate your cheese (you could buy preshredded cheese...but just don't), and I have no measurement on how much you need. I made 2 good sized pizzas tonight and used about a pound of mozzarella. Once you have your toppings all chopped and ready, and the pineapple is off the grill and chopped as well, it is time to clean your grill.

I take an older dish towel, and get it damp. I also take out a spray bottle of water. Spray down your grill to get any pieces of pineapple or anything that could be stuck on that baby. Let it preheat itself back up to medium heat or so. You don't want it too hot or it will burn your dough and not cook through.

Head back inside, it is time to roll out your dough. Punch down your dough a bit, and get it work-able again. I take a cutting board (just for measurement purposes) and get a piece of wax paper

Just set it on top of your cutting board, or on your counter. 

Now drizzle a bit of olive oil on there, and spread it out with your hand into whatever shape you are making your pizza (I typically make rectangles, as they fit better in my grill). Get a handful of dough, and place it on the wax paper and start working it into the right shape. You can use a rolling pin, if you like, or you can do it the real way with just your hands. 

This is the smaller size that I make for the kiddos. Once you are done with one, if you are planning on making more pizza's, just slide your dough on the wax paper off the board, get a new piece of paper and do it again. I typically make 2-3 pizza's depending on size. Once you have them all rolled out and shaped how you want on the wax paper, it is time to take them outside to the grill. 

This is where it gets a little tricky. Getting the dough on the grill takes a little finessing. The wax paper saves you here. The first few times I was doing it without the wax paper, and the pizzas were just not coming transporting well. I spray my grill with some non-stick spray, as just another precaution to burning and sticking. Then you basically take your dough on the paper, and flip it over onto the grill where it will fit best. Let the first side brown up, it does not need to be close to being done or cooked through. You just want to dough to be firm enough that it doesn't fall apart when you flip it.

Once the first side has cooked for 5-8 minutes, take 2 spatulas, and very carefully flip it over. Be careful not to crack the dough, but don't be too upset it something happens. Just go with it. Now is go time to put all your toppings on. Sauce first, then cheese, ham, and pineapple. 

I just bring it all outside with me and top it on the grill. The less you try to transport the crust, the more likely that it won't break or have any issues. 

Once they are all topped, you basically just wait until the bottom of the crust is cooked through. This can take anywhere from 10-15 minutes at medium heat. I put the hood down so it stays hotter inside. Keep checking back on it, and let it get nice and browned on the bottom and the cheese melted. 

Once everything is done, carefully slide the pizza onto your cutting boards and take it inside. Cut it up and enjoy!!! This has become my favorite pizza to make at home. SO good, crisp, delicious, and grilled to perfection!! 

I am just going to say it

I usually like to keep things to myself. Especially if I think it will make someone upset, but I keep hearing this same thing over and over in different settings, and I think this is a lesson that we should have basically learned by now. I do want to say that sure, there are probably some people who are 'exclusive' and don't really want to be friendly with others. However, in my experience, people are nice to people who are nice.

I know. It's a revelation.

Let me term this in the ways I have been hearing it recently. If you are in a group of people, and they aren't really talking to you, you need to step out and say something. Like comment on the weather, or clothes, or shoes, or hair, or any of the millions of things that women talk about. I would be willing to bet that 99.999999% of the time, people weren't talking to you because...wait for it...you weren't talking either.

I am a fairly introverted person. I could spend a whole day, alone, at home, and not talk to anyone or be around people and be beyond happy. I don't naturally start conversations. I am not super loud and aggressive in making friends. I had a really hard time in school because I am not that person. That super funny, outgoing, cutesy person. And I didn't really like those super outgoing, loud, funny people.

I have learned, however, through many years of feeling left out and not wanted, that if you want to have a lot of friends, or feel included in all the friend 'groups' that naturally happen, you have to be friendly. That's right. Pull up your big girl panties here. If you want to have friends, you have to be a friend.

Don't hate me, ok?

But all the people that I see complaining about 'cliques' or about how certain women are just friends with each other, and they are never part of the group, have excluded themselves. Literally. I have yet to actually met a group of women, that aren't willing to add another to their crowd. And believe me, I am more often than not, on the outside of the crowd. And I can let myself get my feelings hurt, and think how mean and awful those women are, OR I can walk into the group and join the conversation.

Is it comfortable? NO! It's awful for a few minutes. What if no one talks to me, or if they just keep talking to each other?!

But that hasn't happened yet. Sure, I have to try, I have to go beyond what is comfortable for me. I have to make the effort to join the conversation. I think more often, women just expect to be included, and when that may not happen, they get their big girl panties all twisted up, and start labeling groups of women.

And that makes me a little nuts. Because, as someone who is a part of all these different groups, I hear it from all sides. I hear that certain women just aren't talking to anyone anymore, and then I hear the same woman complain that everything is awful, people are terrible, and how she hates cliques.

Or, I see a group of women who 'hates cliques' become the most exclusive set I have ever seen. And you want to know the part that is a little funny to me? I am some how able to be parts of all these groups...

Because I...again, wait for...go out on a limb and talk to people. If you wait for everyone to come to you, you will be lonely for a long time. And sure, some people are way more shallow than others, and maybe you don't want to be best pals with them, but don't start labeling everyone before you make the effort. And if you have made the effort, do it again. And again.

Or you could just resign yourself to the fact that maybe you won't be friends with everyone, and that it doesn't really matter.

But please stop complaining about these groups that naturally happen. No one is being purposefully exclusive. No one is out to get you. Stop being so self-involved and go make a friend. Everyone is just as self-conscious as you, and feels just as awkward. Or maybe they don't. Some of my closest friends are the loud, funny, annoying-er-endearing people that I would NEVER have been friends with before. I have learned lots from them.

So chill. The sky's not falling. People aren't purposefully being excluded. If you want to be involved in the conversation, go join it.

Saving a little money

I love to get a good deal. Actually, I can talk myself into buying something I probably don't need if it is a good deal. Ask my husband. What I don't like is wasting time. For example, I tried couponing, but I just don't have the time or energy to spend scouring through the ads, cutting out the coupons, then trying to make my grocery list around them. Truth be told, most coupons are for boxed goods and personal things, and we are cutting out processed foods from our diets, so most don't apply. And all that effort for a dollar off a razor?

Meh.

So I have never been a big couponer. I do scan through coupons.com before I go shopping to see if there is something I might actually use, but that's about it. What kills me is that there are super great deals at different stores, but I don't want to store hop for hours trying to find them. I like going one place and getting what I need, then taking it home. Grocery shopping itself is a HUGE chore to me, so really, why would I chose to go to 5 different stores. No thanks.

Last week, however, I was blog reading during nap time (as usual), and I somehow came across this site that seems like the best idea ever. Now, I don't shop at Walmart. I just don't really like it. However, I was willing to give it a try with this site. The basic idea is that you go to this site (which has a free 2 week trial offer- it's only $4.99 anyways), pick the stores in your area, then it will bring up a list of all the best deals for that store for the week. You click through the list the deals you want, and it will generate a list for you. Do you see where this is going?

You print off the list, take it to Walmart, and price-match. Now. To make the price matching easier, the blog I was reading suggests using yard sale stickers, but I just had tiny post-its, so I used those. Basically, I made my regular list, then I went to the Deals to Meals site, picked out what I needed off the lists from the other stores, made a notation next to the item that there was a price match for, printed both lists, and headed to Walmart.

Now, I don't know this Walmart super well (read: I really don't shop there much), so it took me longer than my usual trip through. But basically, I just shopped, and as I came across something I wanted to price match, I made a note of the price on a post it, and stuck it to the item, which I kept basically all together in my basket. When it came time to checkout, I put all my non-price matched items on the belt, then let the cashier know I had some things to price match, and put them all together at the end.

After she rang up my normal stuff, I just showed her the system (tag with price on each item), and would tell her which store it is from (per Walmart policy, you don't need the ad, just the store where the deal is) as she scanned in the new price.

Now, since I was at Walmart, I bought all of our household needs for the next 2 weeks. That includes food, various soaps (laundry, dishwasher, body wash), pullups, and all those things that I would usually buy at Walmart/Target/Winco. I am also doing a juice cleanse, so I bought a TON of fruits and veggies. That being said, want to guess the total?

$174.00. We budget $200 for our family of 4, but that $200 is usually just food only. Not all the other 'needs' like the soaps and so on. So that is really good. And lest you be concerned, I did buy all of our regular foods, including snacks like string cheese, and so on for the kids.

The site Deals to Meals does charge a $4.99 fee monthly. But it paid for itself the first trip I made to the store, and I am still in my 2 week trial period. Anyways, I am excited to use this tool. Let me know if you decide to try it, and how it works for you!!

Well, that's a weird place to find them.

We have a thief in our house.

It is not an adult. Or a child. Actually, it isn't a human at all. Our sweet, innocent, large puppy (she's 8 months) Hammer, who likes to steal things. And she is darn good at it too. She comes in, sneaks something in her mouth, wanders outside, leaves it for later, then comes back in. Unless we actually see her take the thing in her mouth, we almost never catch her until the object (toy, shoe) has been destroyed. Obliterated. In tiny scraps all over the yard that have to be raked up into piles and thrown away.

We have done this a time or two, as you can tell.

Anyways, today was a crazy day at the Ivey house. LOTS of people came over, in comparison to the one person we see on a daily basis (Dee), we had upwards of 4 people come over at different times (actually, all in about a 3 hour time frame that I like to call "Nap Time") in addition to Dee.

The back story here is that our internet has been spotty because when Zach build the shop in the back, he may or may not have cut the phone line, then McGuivered it back together with tape/spit/gum, or any adhesive he had on hand. So, internet = spotty.

Which sucks because we 1) pay for it and 2) use it daily for school, both homeschool and college. So, we kind of need that line to be fixed. And thus, a repair team came knocking on my door just after naptime started. Which is the time that anyone comes knocking on my door, if they are going to during the day.

So, there stands a team of guys, ready to dig a trench in my backyard to run a new wire, baby backhoe and all. Which I am actually fine with, so I go and bring the dogs in so they don't bother the nice cable running guys. I go around the side to offer to move my car so they can have better access to the backyard, when, what to my surprise! But I come across, right there in my backyard, a pair of chewed up underwear. MY chewed up underwear. And the repair guys were already back there, making their plan on how they are going to dig up my backyard, that has underwear on the ground. MY chewed up underwear on the ground.

I like to think I was pretty quick about grabbing it and laughing at how silly puppies are and how she chews up everything before running into the house and hiding under my bed.

Ok, I didn't hide under my bed. But I also didn't go back outside, and Hammer for sure didn't get a treat when the other dogs did. YOU KNOW WHY.

As a side note, the repair guys are actually going to have to come back, because they have to get a "dig line" from the gas company before they dig in the back. So I get to see them again. And I plan to THOROUGHLY clean the backyard the day they come back.

Turning 3 is complicated and very pink.

Well, if you are my friend on facebook, you probably noted (or maybe you blocked me from your news feed, which I wouldn't blame you for, but it is strange you are here.) that yesterday, December 16th was my daughter Cadence's birthday. It has been a very interesting journey having a girl, and I love it! She bring so much fun to our life, and has completed our family in ways we didn't know were missing :)

So every year on their birthday, I do a 'survey' of my children, just to see what they have to say. I put these in a journal that I am keeping for them to have when they are adults. Or maybe I will keep them. Meh, I have a couple years to decide.

Anyways, here is Cadence's for this year:

What is your name? Cadence (pronounce Cay-nance)
How old are you? 2! (Bishop: Cadence, your 3!) um...3!!
What is your favorite color? Pink One!
What is your favorite food? Cupcakes
What is your favorite thing to play? Toys! uum...Barbie toys!
What is your favorite snack? Goldfish
What color are your eyes? Pink!
What color is your hair? Um...(twirls hair) Pink!
Favorite song? Popstar (as in Barbie: The Princess and the Popstar)
Favorite animal? Fish
Favorite drink? Chocolate milk! and water
What do you like to play with Daddy? Wrestling on the floor
With mommy? I like to play with mommy.
With Bishop? Play with animals
Who are your friends? Lili, Zarian, Shauna, Daddy, Heidi, Bishop, Lola (which she insists is pronounced La-LO) Jemme, Brooke, Elijah, Levi


She insists that her hair and eyes are pink, though we have shown her several times that they aren't. I blame Barbie. Literally.

A new twist on the Advent season

Well, while perusing a few blogs a couple of weeks ago, I found this really awesome idea that I decided to try out this Advent season with the kiddos. While I was planning on doing an Advent calendar, I have never done one before, and I really liked the idea that was given on this blog for younger kids. So instead of doing candy, we are mixing it up with what we are calling a Jesse tree.

Now, everyone that I say this to has no idea what I am talking about, so let me explain the main concept. The idea is that you trace the line of Jesse through the Bible until you get to Jesus on Christmas. So you learn the lineage, as well as most of the 'main' stories in the Bible. You also get to color an 'ornament' the goes with the story of that day, and hang it on your tree.

While the blog wasn't really specific, she did suggest getting a mini tree, but I had this awesome idea last year (okay, okay, PINTEREST had an awesome idea last year) about cutting out a tree from felt and then letting your kiddos arrange felt ornaments on it to their hearts content instead of messing with the real tree. Since I never got around to that last year, I decided to do it this year (what with all the stay-at-home time on my hands), and then came across this blog, and BAM!! Genius was created. So the littles are coloring their ornaments after we read the story of the day, then putting them on their felt tree.

I know. Creative genius in the house.

So we started today, since it is December 1st and all, and will be tracking our way from Genesis to Luke, I believe. Today we read the story of creation. Tomorrow is the garden and so on. I am excited. Bishop really wanted to do more than one day today, but, alas, Advent does mean "coming" and is a season of waiting for the coming of Jesus. So the boy can wait a whole night. Ah, to be 5.

Anyways, today's ornament was a sun, for creation. We colored them, and then put them on the tree.

I was really excited to get this large piece of felt for a total of $1.40 after all the sales and so on for the week before Black Friday. We will use it again next year! I will keep posting pictures of our tree as it fills up! We will have 48 ornaments by Christmas, so it should be pretty full!!

So, do you have a fun Christmas tradition that you do? Do you have an advent calendar? I would love to hear about it!!

The wandering mind of a 2 year old

Well, it has actually happened. Though, if we are being absolutely accurate, my daughter lost me, not the other way around. And this is not a funny thing to her, as she is my reserved, shy child. Bishop, had he been lost, would have happily joined the nearest family that had brothers for him to belong to without even blinking. Cadence, well, she is a different duck all together. That being said, I do often wonder how well she really hears the things around her, as you will see in a moment. Now, having a fairly intimate knowledge of how her mind works (because, uh...she is my mini), I have OFTEN found myself thinking about something deeply and ended up somewhere in a store that I never meant to be. The difference of course is that I am an adult, and I don't have a mommy I am supposed to be following.

Ok, so as my children have gotten older, and more socially polite, I often allow them to 'orbit' the cart, as opposed to being held hostage within. So tonight, we had to run to Smith's to return a Redbox and because I realized I was out of rice. So there we were, in the back main aisle of Smith's, and Bishop is chatting about dobermans, and Cadence is following dutifully within a couple feet of me. I turn the corner to head to the front of the store, and somehow, in her deep daydreaming thinking, Cadence didn't notice.

Luckily, in my hyper-vigilant mommy ways, I noticed right away, and stepped back out into the main aisle to see her continuing to walk away from me. So I called out to her. A couple time. And she either didn't hear, or was really deep in 'thought' and just continued walking. So I told Bishop we were going to see how long it takes for her to notice, and to not say anything to her. (Mean? Maybe, but I kind of wanted to see how she reacts to being by herself...once she realizes that she is actually alone) So we follow her. From one end of the store to the other, then she turned to corner, and headed into the produce section. She made it almost to the front of produce before visibly realizing that I was no where to be seen.It was like she walked into an invisible wall. At which time, she started to panic, and loudly said, "Mommy?!"

Now, I could have not said anything, just to see how she figured the situation out, but my mommy heart responded too much to the clear distress, and I rushed over to her. She was VERY relived to see that we were behind her. I *may* have scolded her a bit for not paying attention, and then she had to finish out the store trip in the cart, which she was happy with, as she is not my adventurous one by any means.

So no, she was never really lost, but she thought she was. I will say it is more clear that she needs to be watched a bit closer, and even though she turn 3 in less than a month (!!! :( !!!) she is no where near independent. Which is actually pretty okay with me.