I like to take time on Sunday evenings and get ready for Mondays. 

Monday brings a work day for me, a new school week and a new week of menus.  This evening was nice.  In addition to having chicken and garlic pizza – a treat around here - I got a lot of planning done for the upcoming week.  I also managed to declutter and clean up the girly-girl mantle in our bedroom, the place where all my hair thingys live.

It was hair pins and clips gone wild, but now all is under control, I’m happy to report.  I threw things away that were no longer usable.  I fished out a few nails and safety pins (gasp) that had gotten mixed in with hair pins and put them in their proper places.  I got really inspired to try to do more with Michaela’s hair on Sunday mornings, rather than just let her fly out of the house with a ponytail.  Yes, it was pretty bad.

An assortment of combs wait in an old tray that came out of the house I grew up in.

As far as school, I have copywork lined up for this upcoming week.  Michaela will be copying from Matthew 5, verses 3 through 11.   Joseph will be copying from Robert Louis Stevenson all week.   Math lessons are ready.

For Five In A Row, Michaela will begin studying

Grass Sandals : The Travels of Basho

I am really excited about this book because Joseph is studying Japanese and I think he will enjoy listening in on some of Michaela’s lessons, and I think Michaela can learn some things from Joseph. It should be fun!

I am also planning to start teaching Michaela to play the piano tomorrow.  Our budget really only allows for one type of lesson at a time, and that is going to karate, which we are enjoying immensely and don’t want to give up.  I don’t play piano myself, but played the clarinet and bassoon in school, so I think we can learn together.  I found some very simple books at the thrift store and we do have a nice keyboard, so here we go!

It’s time for bed now, and I’m confident I shall sleep more peacefully knowing that all of my pretty hair pins are nail-free and where they belong.

Good night!
Lynn

I’m just not willing to waste anything that’s good.  If the prices of food were not enough to make me feel this way, knowing that there are people who go hungry certainly is.

We’ve stopped making pizza regularly since we are trying to eat less cheese, but I think very occasionally, with low-fat mozzarella, it’s probably okay, especially if we can knock each other away from the table in time to not eat five or six pieces each. 

Yesterday we had some very good BBQ chicken.  It was all white meat, so I knew it would be awesome on pizza.  I had about a quart container of it left over–not enough to feed six of us as a main dish but enough to do something with.  It was really, really good chopped up and put onto homemade pizza crusts with garlic-flavored tomato sauce and freshly minced garlic.  Yum. 

NOTE:  This pizza can actually be even healthier.  Sometimes I sautee spinach leaves in olive oil with fresh garlic, just long enough to wilt them good, and we add those too.  Also, thinly sliced roma tomatoes are great!

For the dough I use a recipe from a packet of Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast.  I double the recipe and get four thin pizzas from it.  I checked out the Fleischmann website Breadworld, which is great, by the way, but I did not find this particular recipe, so I’ll share it here.

PIZZA DOUGH

• 1 envelope Fleischmann’s Active Dry Yeast
• 1 cup warm water (100-110 degrees F)
• 2-1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil (I use olive)

Soften yeast in warm water, in a mixing bowl.  Add 2 cups flour, salt and oil.  Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.  Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth, about 4-6 minutes.

Place in greased bowl; cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30-45 minutes.  Punch dough down.  Pat dough into a greased large pizza pan.  Top with desired toppings.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until done.

The above recipe is calling for the dough to make just one thick pizza crust.  I use the same recipe for two thin crusts, doubling the recipe to make four crusts.  I roll them out and bake them on a flat pan with toppings of choice.  It makes a FANTASTIC pizza crust.  Being thin, it doesn’t need to bake as long as stated above.

For sauce on the crust, one 8-ounce can of Hunt’s tomato sauce flavored with basil or garlic, etc. will be enough sauce for two pizzas.  This makes a really good pizza sauce that doesn’t compete too strongly with the toppings.

Lynn