March 31, 2017

Quick & Delicious Homemade Pizza

It's no lie that pizza is one of my toddler's favorite foods. In the past, we have made individual pizzas using tortillas, but tonight when the pizza request was made we didn't have any! To avoid an epic melt down, I thought it would be fun to MAKE some pizza dough and go from there. Brilliant! I was excited, the kid was excited...and then I realized that we don't ever have yeast on hand. Does anyone?

Thank goodness for the internet because I found this quick recipe from Recipes.com that uses 5 simple ingredients, none of which are yeast. Pizza date back on!

After reluctantly helping me to mix all of the ingredients, his enthusiasm picked up when I told him he got to knead the dough. He may have heard that we were going to EAT the dough, which could be the reason why he came running back into the kitchen so fast. This step was perfect for even the littlest of hands, and Cade totally thought it was the coolest thing ever.



I also caught him eating the sauce off of the spatula, and spilling it on the counter, and dropping it on the floor. No clothes were harmed in the making of this pizza.

Sauce on, cheese on, time to bake!




I was pleasantly surprised with how well this pizza turned out, and it tasted pretty yummy! Baby and toddler approved--that's the biggest thing right? Not only was the taste on point, but it was ready to eat in under 45 minutes.



Ingredients and Directions:

Ingredients for dough:
1 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp olive oil


Mix together the dry ingredients.

Add in milk and olive oil.

Mix thoroughly to create dough..IT WILL BE STICKY!

Lightly flour a hard surface and your fingers---knead the dough 10 times.

Roll dough into a ball and let rest under a bowl for 10 minutes.

Bake at 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes.


Ingredients for sauce:
2/3 cups tomato sauce
Italian seasoning to taste (we used garlic power, basil, and oregano)


After dough bakes for 6-8 minutes, spread on sauce and top with cheese--add other toppings at this point.

Bake for another 10-20 minutes, or until pizza is golden brown

Cut and serve! Delicious!

March 30, 2017

Freshly Picked Customer Appreciation Sale

Did you know that it's Customer Appreciation Week over at Freshly Picked? Who am I kidding, of course you did! They have had giveaways galore, and fun scavenger hunts, but today they are giving everyone a last chance to score BIG! Why are they have another huge sale? Well, because they LOVE all of their customers and want to spread some more of that love.

The sale begins at 10 am MST (12 pm EST), and will run for 24 hours.


Go grab some of your favorites for 25% off. Click my link here for faster access.

March 3, 2017

The Second Greatest Life Moment

Unmedicated childbirth was my goal with both pregnancies. My first labor experience was rough. Baby was sunny side up, which introduced a whole new level of pain and sickness to join it. I ultimately asked for an epidural that only set things back when I couldn't feel anything. Nothing, I couldn't tell if I was pushing when I thought I was and my total PUSH time was 5 hours. My OB let my epidural run out because it only set me back. This was definitely a bigger push to go the unmedicated route with #2.

The morning started like most mornings did at 39 weeks. I was having some contractions that were continued from overnight, but I knew they would stop so I was getting ready for work as I had a formal observation that day. I called my OB to ask when I should go in if contractions continued, and of course word of contractions spread like wild fire through my school and even though I told my team I needed to stay because of my observation, they insisted I go have a baby instead. I apologized to my AP, but I think she would rather me miss my observation than observe me have a baby in my classroom.

On the way to the OB, I could tell my contractions were nothing measurable, but we were already expected to show up so we decided to just go and humor ourselves. She monitored me for an hour or so, and I knew she was going to send me home telling me to come back when something actually happens. When she came back after looking over the report, she told us that my contractions weren't much, but there were multiple dips in baby's heart rate which usually indicates low fluid. Earlier that week I had thought I was leaking fluid, but it only happened sometimes so I brushed it off, maybe I wasn't crazy afterall! The OB said that since I was so far along, it was safer for the baby to be out than in so she was sending me to be induced.

At 39 weeks, you didn't have to tell me twice..let's go!! (But first, Chic fil A....)



As mentioned before, I really wanted to go unmedicated, but since I was having to be induced due to low fluid levels, I was worried something would go wrong and would have to get an emergency c-section and I wanted to be awake if that were to happen. After a heart to heart with my OB explaining how awful my epidural was with my first, I opted to receive a low dose epidural once labor was strong enough.

The OB broke my water and started me on a low dose of pitocin at 1:00. Contractions started right away and intensified quickly. I didn't bring up the epidural until after 2:00 when the pain was strong and the contractions were coming pretty regular, the nurse was still going through all of the paperwork so it kind of got shrugged off until closer to 2:30.

I'm not sure why the nurse didn't check my progress before the anesthesiologist came to administer my epidural, maybe because it was an induction so she thought I'd be in for the long haul? Anyways, they got my epidural in place and had me lay back down. This was when everything changed in an instant. My pain changed, my demeanor changed. I started shivering and crying and telling the nurse that I hurt, but it wasn't contractions. She FINALLY decided to check my progress, ran out of the room, and when she came back in she flipped on all of the lights and said "we're having a baby!"

My OB didn't even have time to completely suit up for the birth, my body was THAT ready, and it wasn't until after he was delivered that my OB was able to tie his gown. Of course, the epidural worked it's magic AFTER baby boy had made his arrival at 2:45.



Because it all happened so quickly, little guy came out perfect--no bruising, little swelling, not even a funky shaped head. It was the perfect labor and delivery and nothing compared to his brothers long and grueling birth. The whole labor and delivery process lasted only an hour and 45 minutes. From my water being broken at 1:00, to having him on my chest at 2:45. Talk about an efficient labor! He was an angel baby from the start, and we are so lucky to have him in our lives. We've had 1 amazing year, and I cannot wait for all of the fun times that lie ahead.