Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Italian Herb Bread

Today's bread recipe is derived from a book entitled Breaking Bread with Father Dominic 2 by Father Dominic Garramone, OSB. [This book has amazing bread recipes in it including the Pizza Dough recipe I wrote about earlier.]

(Originally titled Italian Onion Herb Bread, however, much to the horror of my sister-in-law, Beth, I personally omit the onion step)

*This recipe make 2 loaves and also freezes well*

2 T vegetable oil
1/3 cup finely chopped onion *optional*
1 cup milk
1-2 T dried Italian herb seasoning (use more or less to taste)
2 packages active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 T brown sugar
2 tsp salt
5 1/2 to 6 cups AP Flour

Optional Onion Step: Heat 1 T oil in skillet. Add onion. Cook until onion is translucent but not browned. Remove skillet from heat. Add remaining 1T oil, milk, and Italian seasoning. Stir to mix. Set aside to cool to lukewarm.

Where I begin: Pour milk into a microwaveable measuring cup. Heat on high for roughly 45 seconds until warmed (roughly 110 degrees). Add 2 T oil and Italian seasoning. Stir to mix. Set aside.



Combine yeast, warm water and a pinch of the brown sugar in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Let stand 10 minutes or until foamy.



Combine milk mixture with the salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir to mix. Stir in yeast mixture and the remaining brown sugar.

Add 2 cups of the flour. Mix thoroughly. Add 3 cups of flour, one cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add as much of the remaining 1/2 to 1 cup flour, about 1/4 cup at a time, as needed to make a stiff dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl.



Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until dough is smooth, shiny and slightly tacky. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl. (You can use your mixing bowl once it's rinsed or just grab another one.)



Cover with a dish towel and let rise in a warm place about an hour or until doubled. I like to let my dough rise in a warm oven (turned off after warming).



Punch down dough and knead in bowl for a minute. Form dough into 2 long loaves [if you are cooking both immediately] and place on greased baking sheets. Let rise 30-45 minutes or until nearly doubled.



If you only want to cook one loaf and save your other dough half for the next night, then double wrap the dough in plastic wrap, place in a container and refrigerate. The next day, remove the dough from the fridge, let it come to room temperature, shape into a loaf, and let it rise as stated above.



Preheat oven to 375 degrees (make sure you dough that is rising is NOT in there). Bake loaf for 15-20 minutes or until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from baking pan and let cool on wire rack. Brush with butter if desired. Yum!



*Note: I place it on a wire rack after removing from the oven and brush with butter, so that the baking sheet I already used catches the butter drippings rather than my counter. And, yes, I learned that the messy hard way.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Novel idea...

I find myself getting so busy with my day-to-day life of being a stay-at-home mom that I sometimes forget the real reason that I am staying home...to be with my kids. To raise them up in a godly home, to train them up the way the Bible instructs, to impart godly characteristics and wisdom into their little minds, to love them and be patient with them unconditionally and to reflect Christ's love to them at all times. Wow! Sounds like a huge job and IT IS! But, thankfully, because this is God's charge to me...He will give me the insight, the strength, the wisdom, the courage and the perseverance to work at this job everyday. To try, try again! His mercies are new every morning and He extends His grace to me every time I ask (and even when I don't ask but need to)! My kiddos are not perfect or even close to it. I am not perfect or close to it. I struggle every day...many times a day with:

  1. impatience and pride
  2. being curt and demanding
  3. not taking the time to listen to my 5 year olds looooong story about why he needed to hit his sister
  4. expecting my 2 year old to not spill her drink 6 times a day
  5. allowing the "house work" to rob me of my joy of being with my kids
My list of internal struggles could go on and on, but I don't have to dwell on those. I don't have to beat myself up over my mistakes or bad choices. God doesn't beat me up over my sins. He welcomes me with open arms as I draw near to Him. He restores my soul. He builds me up with whispers of encouragement as I lean on Him for strength and wisdom. Hallelujah!

Today, I asked my kids what they wanted to do this morning. I haven't asked them this question in awhile. Normally, I pick what we do based on what chores I need to complete or lessons that need to be taught. However, today I felt a prompting in my spirit to ask them what THEY wanted to do. My son's obvious answer to anyone who knows him was to go play in the backyard with the soccer ball...together. So, that's what we did. :)

Sunday, July 19, 2009

CVS Update...have you started CVSing yet?

Are you convinced yet to shop at CVS? If not, then have you read my shopping trip reports from CVS? What will it take to convince you?! Do I get paid to advertise CVS? lol! Those answers might vary but the last one is a NO. However, I can't possibly stop trying to convince you to shop there, especially when you get so many things for FREE or pretty darn close! See this week's trip below and join with me on a natural shopping high...or just join me. :)

2 packages of notebook paper
2 packages of pens
1 package of panty liners
2 boxes of 24 ct pencils
4 Sobe Life waters
2 Memo pads
1 Sunday Double Edition Newspaper

Subtotal: $20.92
Minus Coupons: 6.18
Used $14 in ecb's from last week
OOP total: $0.93 (tax included)--that's a savings of 96%!!!

And, I received $14 more in ecbs for this coming week!

So, I basically got all of those school supplies and snacks for FREE and I paid less than $1 for our normally priced $5 newspaper! If you want more information on how to "do" CVS, then feel free to look at The Thrifty Mama's CVS 101 guide! And, to see actual coupon matchups for the CVS ad visit SouthernSavers or The Thrifty Mama. Both women do an amazing job of posting deals for drug stores, grocery stores and online deals.

Side note: For those of you familiar with ecb's, I just wanted to clarify that I know it should have been $13 in ecb's but the cashier printed an extra ecb and I didn't catch it until my husband got back. He did the shopping for me since he went at midnight on Saturday/Sunday night. What a guy! :)

Ciao,
J

My little man is growing up...

My son lost his very first tooth on Friday! Well, he didn't actually lose it. He finally pulled it out after wiggling on it for two weeks. Now, he's got a gaping hole in the front of his mouth, but he's pretty proud of himself for growing up. Mommy's proud too but a little sad as well. This is just the beginning...


Sarah wanted to show her teeth for the camera too!

Ciao,
J

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Homemade Deep Dish Pizza Dough

This homemade pizza recipe is so yummy! It's from my sister-in-law, Beth and she taught me everything I know about it. :) [Editor's Note: this recipe was NOT actually created by Beth. It is adapted from a book called: Breaking Bread with Father Dominic 2 by Father Dominic Garramone, OSB]

It makes 2 large cookie sheet size pizzas. When I make it just for my family of 4, I cook one pizza and refrigerate the other dough for the next night. Then I have two meals prepared! Gotta love that!

1 c. warm water (120-130 degrees F)
1 pkg Active Dry Yeast
2 T sugar
1 c. warm milk
1/2 c olive oil (you can use veg or canola oil)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder (optional)
1 T Italian seasoning (can do more or less depending on taste)
1/2 c. corn meal
4-5 c. AP flour

Combine water, yeast, and sugar in large bowl. Stir to dissolve and let stand 5 minutes.



Add warm milk, oil, salt, garlic powder, italian seasoning, corn meal and 3 cups of flour. Stir until well blended.



Add 1 cup of flour and mix thoroughly.

By hand: Add additional flour 1/4 to 1/2 cup at a time until soft dough is formed that pulls away from the side of the bowl. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead 6-8 minutes, adding small amounts of flour as needed to keep dough manageable. Dough should end up soft but spring back when pushed.

By mixer: Use your electric mixers' dough hooks and follow manufacturers directions for speed. Add additional flour 1/4 to 1/2 cup at a time until dough is smooth, not sticky but tacky, consistent texture, spring backs when pushed etc. This will take a while to do...maybe about 10-15 minutes. Add some flour...go wash some dishes...add some more flour...chat on The Thrifty Mama's chatroom...add some more flour...until the dough is finished. I love using my mixer to knead dough--it frees up my hands to do other things!



Oil the bowl. Place dough in and flip to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and towel. Rise 60-90 minutes until doubled. (I like to turn my oven on to warm, then turn it off and place my dough in to rise. A warm oven makes a wonderful place to rise dough! Make sure it's not too hot, though.)



Second Rise is optional: Punch down dough and rework into a ball and place back in bowl. Rise again for 30-45 minutes.

OR if you are lacking in time, then you can move on to next step.

Divide dough in half to make two pizzas.



Lightly grease a 14 in deep dish pizza pan or a large baking pan for each pizza. Stretch out dough being careful not to tear the dough. Place it in the pan and use your hands to spread the dough to the edges of the pan. If it tears, then just smoosh it back together.



This next step is one of the most important, in my opinion! Let dough rest for 15-20 minutes. Gather up toppings and sauce and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Add sauce to dough, place toppings on, smother in cheese. Be creative or use tried and true toppings. Go veggie or meaty. Who cares! It's your pizza. Own it! :)



Bake 12-15 minutes until bubbly and lightly browned. Cool slightly; cut and munch!



**If you are saving half of the dough for another time, then wrap dough (after first rise) in two layers of plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 days. Take out of fridge a couple of hours before you want to cook it and let the dough come to room temperature. Then, place in a slightly warm location (like your oven) to warm and rise again. Then proceed with the above directions.**

Have I mentioned how much I love Kroger?


When they have deals...they have good deals! Here's a quick rundown of what I purchased today at Kroger. I forgot to take a picture before I put it all away--we were running late for lunch, so I was focused on getting my kids fed before they had a meltdown!

3 bottles of Sunny D smoothies
4 packages of Yoplait kids yogurt
2 boxes of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes
2 packages of Keebler cookies
1 bag of Chex Mix Snacks
2 bottles of Softsoap
2 Speed Stick Deodorants
2 packages of Lender's Bagels
2 Kraft Dressings
1 bag of tortilla chips Kroger brand (these are $1 all the time!)

Subtotal: $48.03
minus coupons and sales: $37.41
Total OOP: $10.62!!
(savings of 77%)

To see great coupon matchups at Kroger for these items and more visit: SouthernSavers.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Baked Mini Corndogs Recipe

My husband loves corndogs, but I don't love the fried aspect of it. Or the nutritional value of frozen ones. However, I found this recipe on The FoodNetwork website and made some changes that work better for me. (Feel free to visit their site to see the true recipe.) My family liked them a lot and I think they'd be a great dish for a football party or appetizer night!

1 cup milk
1 package active dry yeast
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T packed light brown sugar
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour;
plus more for kneading (about 1 1/2 c to 2 c)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or paprika
9 hot dogs, cut in half
1 large egg, beaten
1 T black sesame seeds (optional)

Heat the milk in the microwave until warmed thoroughly. Pour into a medium bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast and let soften for about 2 minutes.



Stir in the olive oil, brown sugar, and cornmeal with a spoon. Add the flour, salt, baking soda, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Stir thoroughly.



Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead. Add more flour as needed until the dough is smooth but slightly tacky. (I had to add almost 2 cups of flour so don't be alarmed if you have to keep adding flour.) Shape the dough into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap and a towel.


Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and spray a large baking sheet with nonstick spray. Cut each hot dog in half. (Side note: this is where the original recipe said to insert a wooden stick or skewer into each hot dog half, but I chose not to use skewers...because...I didn't have any.) Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 18 equal pieces. I rolled my dough out into a rectangle and then used a pizza cutter to divide into equal slices.



Wrap each piece around a hot dog half, tucking and pressing the edges to seal. Place them on the baking sheet.



Brush the dough-wrapped hot dogs with the beaten egg; sprinkle with sesame seeds (I didn't have any so I just used the egg on mine.)



Bake until golden about 12-15 minutes. (I cooked mine for 13 minutes and it was about a minute too long...the bottoms get easily darkened so watch them.)



I served these with bowls of ketchup and bbq sauce. But, I think they'd be great with a fun sauce. Can anyone think of one? Feel free to leave a suggestion in the comment section.

Ciao,
J

Amazing how a new haircut...

can change someone's look so much! My son's hair was SOOOOO long before I cut it tonight. We weren't trying for a new look or adopting a fad hairstyle. Just laziness on my part and lack of social awareness of my son's. He's only 5, you know! :)

Anyway, here's our before and after pics!


(I love the punk rock look though!)

(And, now he looks like my little boy again...)

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

So not perfect...

Just in case I've ever given the impression that I'm perfect or that I make the best choices all the time, allow me to let you in on a little secret...I am so NOT perfect! There, I feel so much better. I'm really glad I took the time to clear that up. And, just in case you need proof...here's my example from 2 hours ago...

My son got up from his afternoon nap/rest time/roll around in bed playing with every toy he won't possibly lower himself to play with when it's actually play time and said, "Mom, may I have an apple, please?" [those really were his actual words...woohoo!]

I responded with, "Oh, not an apple. We need to save those for Daddy's snack while he's at work. How about a poptart?"

To which he responded with, "Are you serious? YES!"...

and then ran to get one and tore it open before his idiot mother could change her mind. How his world just opened up knowing that he could choose a processed sugared food over a God given fruit just because his mom is too lazy to go back to the store and buy more apples and for some unknown reason, she only bought enough apples for Daddy to eat.

Good times!

Ciao,
J

Monday, July 13, 2009

My purpose in CVSing...

I've been doing CVS deals for almost 9 months now. I've saved literally hundreds of dollars and have a great stockpile of toiletries and cleaning products that will last us for months. However, this week, I really had to rethink my purpose in shopping at CVS. Last week, I had a wonderful trip and made a great profit in ECB's (extra care bucks). I had lots of ecb's to spend this week to help make my OOP (out of pocket) as low as possible. However, I got frustrated when I had to purchase items that I wouldn't receive any ecb's back on so I essentially "lost" ecb's this week.

I had to really rethink my thought process on this because I wasn't looking at what I WAS able to purchase. I was merely focused on what I "lost" out on. I WAS able to purchase the Sunday paper double edition (which has frustratingly risen in price to $5!), some much needed contact solution that is expensive to begin with, tylenol products, and school supplies for only $0.11 OOP! AND, I still have $14 left in ecb's for next week.

When I was able to get over my ridiculous thought process, then I was able to see that God truly did bless me this week with my purchases and mere cents in spending. I had to remind myself that my purpose in shopping at CVS is to make enough ecb's to buy things we really need without having to spend cash on them. It's not about raking in the ecb's and bronzing them all over the house. :)

I think we are this way in real life too. We easily get caught up in moping about what we've lost in our lives, that we don't see what we've gained through God's perfect design on our life. For example, I can easily get into a wayward thinking funk by considering all that I'm "losing" out on by being a stay-at-home-mom: not interacting with adults regularly, being surrounded by child talk all day long, feeling like my "job" never gets completed because it just starts all over again tomorrow, being looked down upon by others who "work" for a living...and the list could go on and on. However, when I start clouding my vision with that kind of thinking, then I miss out on the wonderful blessings of being home with my children. In fact, when I focus my heart on loving being home, God shows me all kinds of things that I would truly be losing out on if I wasn't exactly where He wants me to be.

I know this post delved away from CVS shopping and deal finding, which is how it started out, so thank you for hanging in there. I had to go to two different CVS's to get all the items I wanted. Here's my transaction rundown for CVS:

5 pocket folders
1 Twin pack of Clear Care contact solution
2 spiral notebooks
3 Tylenol products
1 Sunday paper double edition
2 packages of pens
1 glue

Used $8 in coupons and $30 in ecb's
My OOP was $0.11
Have $14 in ecb's remaining for next week!

Ciao,
J