Even with no one to cook for, I make amazing dinners

Homemade Pizza, AKA distracting myself from my husband's deployment. This is ABSOUTELY delicious and very simple.

Ingredients for the Whole Wheat Crust

·         1/2 teaspoon molasses

·         3/4 cup warm water

·         1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour, plus extra for rolling and kneading

·         Nonstick olive oil spray

·         1 tablespoon cornmeal

Preparation

In a large bowl, dissolve the molasses in the warm water. Sprinkle the yeast over the liquid and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes

Stir the salt into the yeast mixture. Then stir in the flour until the dough starts to come together. Turn the dough out onto a work surface that has been sprinkled lightly with flour. Knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place the dough in a large bowl that has been sprayed with olive oil spray; cover it loosely with a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough sit in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Gently punch the dough down. Spray a 7x11-inch baking sheet with olive oil spray, and then sprinkle it with the cornmeal. Using your fingertips spread the dough out to completely cover the baking sheet. Spray the surface of the dough lightly with olive oil spray. Cover it lightly with plastic wrap, and let it sit in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake until the crust is golden brown, crunchy, and cooked through, about 12 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Turn on broiler.

Top with your favorite toppings and sauce, pop under the broiler until the cheese is melted and starting to brown. Remove and serve!

e whole wheat pizza crust, topped with pesto, grilled chicken, tomatoes, garlic, and green olives. ABSOL

My brilliant idea at another's expense

Like most housewives, a majority of my time is spent cleaning. Granted, I tend to not pick up after myself, so hours later I turn back around and notice there are messes in at least a few corners of the house. Terrible habit. I don't recommend it.

Anyway, I got to thinking about how much of my time is spent picking up after either myself, my daughter, my dog, or, except recently, my husband. I'm sure it is at least a good 2 hours a day. There are so many things I would much rather do with that 2 hours! Like make MORE of a mess, or nap. Those are pretty much my two favorite options.

So, how, without paying for a maid to come in a few times a week (yes, I can be that lazy), or even better yet, a live in maid, can I get back those hours spent cleaning and straightening? I sat and thought about it, as I stared at the piles of laundry needing to be put away, the dirty dishes slowly collecting at the sink (I swear, they multiply like rabbits), the scraps of fabric from my latest project, a pile of Tori's toys scattered around, and the crackers ground into my couch. After a few minutes, I decided, the best action to take care of this (besides doing it myself, because that is just too much work) is to find myself a wife. I mean, I am currently in the correct state for that afterall! Might as well take advantage of the opportunity. Only problems are, I'm not sharing my husband, and unless I have a couple cocktails in me (probably more than a couple...) she won't be of any use to me either, although I'm sure the husband would disagree.

So, now I've got myself a predicament. How do I convince someone to become my friend, and then pick up after me every day. I cook, and love it, but my cooking is not THAT great. Perhaps if we made her think that cleaning was her rent she would consider it.

Time to place my ad:
WANTED: Wife, without the "benefits", free room and board, and will only have to cook 1-2x week. Please contact Tiffany. Thanks. P.S. Don't forget your rubber cleaning gloves.

A report from the sickly's

First off, I just wanted to know that Tori and I are in the stages of recovery right now. So, we've survived the flu/cold from hell. I didn't need to go into the ER to get an IV, although it was close. I wasn't keeping anything, water included, down for about 12 hours. I was praying to the porcelain gods every 30 minutes and drinking at least half a glass of water in between in hopes that it would partially absorb into my body and make the next “session” a little more bearable. Usually, I don't think I would have been so concerned, but since I'm very pregnant, I didn't want to take any chances. I was very light headed and my whole body hurt and was on protest. As of yesterday I was finally starting to eat some real meals, and although I still don't have much of an appetite, at least I'm eating and keeping it all down. So, here’s to hoping I haven’t lost any more weight since I’m sure my midwife won’t be happy if I have. So far, I’ve only gained 5 lbs. Good new is, Anneliese is very healthy and continuing to steal all of my body’s nutrition since she was 3.5 lbs last week at almost 30 weeks along.
Tori is on day 5 of her diarrhea (I'm sure she'll hate me for saying that a few years down the road) and still pretty lethargic and snuggly, but she is loads better than she was just a few days ago. And, best part is, unlike 4-5 days ago, she is actually telling me when she poops (not that my nose hasn’t already informed me). Looks like we’re slowly creeping closer to the potty training stage, I just hope it coincides nicely with post Anneliese and John coming home. I won’t have the energy to devote to it before then, plus, she’ll revert back during any huge life changes.

Other than that, everything is going well. I’m beginning to catch up on housework that has been neglected recently, and fold all the laundry that was mounding up on the second couch. So, that has been… fun. I’ve realized my energy is waning not only from this past immune system failure, but because I am getting more and more pregnant as the days go on. I’m remembering just how tired I was during the last couple months with Victoria, and that I am I’m hitting that stage now. Oh joy. Wish me luck. I officially have less than 10 weeks left until my due date. I suppose it’s time to finally clean out the office and go out and buy that nursery furniture!