Pizza Crust from Scratch

About a week ago, I saw Jill post a question on Twitter. She was looking for a good recipe for blueberry muffins.

Because I am well-known as a cooking expert, I replied. I said, “88-cent mix from the store + water + bake for 10 min = Voila! Muffins.”

She didn’t like my answer. Apparently she was looking for something with more ingredients and less packaged mixes. I still don’t understand that.

However, even though I was joking about that being an appropriate recipe for muffins (though it is, indeed, exactly how I make mine), later that night I had to think twice when it came time to bake something else.

Smitty came over, and I offered to make us chicken pizza. Normally, I use the refrigerated pizza dough in a can, but I was out. What was I going to do?

Oh yeah. I could make like my friend Jill and actually bake from scratch!

So, while Smitty entertained Annalyn by reading her latest favorite book about a dozen times, I pulled out my recipe binder and found my mom’s formula for homemade pizza dough. Fortunately, she doesn’t do anything crazy, like make dough that has yeast or any other needs-to-rise ingredient. [Whew!]

I added Prego spaghetti sauce (sorry, I can’t do that much homemade!), grilled chicken, red onion, mozzarella and provolone. And it was delicious! Here’s my mom’s pizza crust recipe:

Pizza Crust
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup milk
¼ cup oil

Mix together, and press onto baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 425 degrees (or until the cheese melts and starts to brown).

It turned out pretty well, although I definitely used too much flour to keep it from sticking to the baking sheet. Even without too much flour, I wonder if the crust would taste too plain. Next time, I might brush it with olive oil or add a little garlic powder to the dough.

What foods do you make from scratch?

This post will be linked to Mouthwatering Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, What's Cooking Wednesday, Friday Food, Foodie Friday and Food on Fridays.

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Saturday Review: Avatar and Green Zone

To prove that I don’t only watch dumb romantic comedies (like those in last week’s Saturday Review), today’s post is about two serious movies.

Or, should I say, movies with Very Serious Messages.

A quick summary: I found both movies to be interesting, thought-provoking and frustrating. And one of them was way too long.

Avatar: Seriously, could this movie BE any longer? More than two and a half hours seems to be overkill, if you ask me. But I’ll move past that, I suppose. After all, the beauty of waiting seven months to see a major blockbuster that everyone else has already seen is that you get to pause it whenever you need a bathroom break. Or a snack.

Ahem.

The effects were pretty cool, and the animated part wasn’t as weird or childish as I was afraid it would be. Smitty said seeing it in 3D wasn’t as good as she expected, but I still wish I could have tried it.

The characters were good – likeable enough that I cared about them for the good part of three hours. (I'm just saying!) It was interesting to see who “played” Neytiri, the female lead, since we only saw her avatar. Also interesting was the way the male lead somehow got cuter toward the end of the movie. Maybe it was the constant contrast between his weird blue avatar form and his normal, scruffier by the minute human form?

But the most important part of Avatar is, of course, its Very Serious Message. I read several articles back when the movie was released comparing the storyline to Pocahontas, which as an expert these days on all things Disney Princess-related, I can see. What it really reminded me of, though, was Fern Gully.

Remember that movie? Back when I thought Christian Slater was cute and Robin Williams hadn’t gotten weird yet, I loved that movie.

Watching Avatar – and remembering Fern Gully – reminded me how much I love this Earth that God has created. And even made me think I should try being a little more “green.”

So, score one for the Very Serious Message, I suppose.

Green Zone: I didn’t finish this movie nearly as inspired. As a matter of fact, I finished it frustrated and confused. And embarrassed by my lack of knowledge regarding the war in Iraq.

I know Mark was annoyed with me, because I kept making him pause the movie. Not for snacks this time, but to ask questions.

“Is that really what happened?”
“Is that true?”
“Does high-value targets mean what I think it does?”
“What if that is what happened? Why would they do that?”
“Do you think that Iraqi is right?”

I’m the first to admit that I’m ignorant when it comes to politics. I shouldn’t be. It’s a shame that I am. It’s hard to figure out what’s true and important and real when it comes to these topics, though. And I tell you what: watching movies like this don’t make it any easier.

A review in Salon.com says it perfectly: "Green Zone [is] a fictional movie teased from the tangle of facts, almost-facts and squelched facts surrounding the search for weapons of mass destruction in the early days of the Iraq war… This is a movie that recognizes there's no straight line to the truth, which is part of what makes it vaguely unsatisfying – though it's also what keeps it honest.”

This time, the Very Serious Message almost completely overshadowed the movie itself for me. It didn’t have cool special effects, unless you count the shaky cam and gritty film. And Matt Damon was his usual Jason Bourne self, but none of the characters – Damon included – were so compelling or lovable that I really cared about what happened to them.

I was too busy trying to figure out which part of the movie was based on truth and which part was completely made up. Even now, after reading several reviews and commentaries, I’m not sure.

Which I guess was the point.

I’m really enjoying this movie binge that we’ve been on lately. But I have got to find something to watch that is both entertaining and good! (As opposed to entertaining and lousy, or difficult and good. In case you weren’t paying attention.)

Have you seen these movies? Did you find their Very Serious Messages to be too heavy-handed or just right?

Affiliate links were used in this post.

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More Than Defined: I am SO cool. {Or not...}

As I’ve been thinking about the things I consider myself to be, one adjective keeps coming to mind: cool.

That’s right. I think I’m pretty darned cool.

[Of course, anyone who says “pretty darned” anything might be a little delusional when it comes to a cool factor. Likewise, if you have to tell people that you’re cool, it’s possible you might not be.]

Regardless, I have moments every now and then when I honestly think, “I am so cool.”

Stop laughing. Just stop it.

When could I possibly think this, you ask? Well, this is where it gets really funny. I think I’m cool when:

I drive with my windows down and the stereo cranked up.
I drive through downtown at night.
I wear high heels and swishy pants.
I travel alone.
I wear a suit.
I sing along with Top 40 hits. From the current year.

I know. It’s not my definition of cool, either. But for some reason, I truly feel like I might be cool when I do those things.

Of course, I more often find myself feeling the opposite of cool. Nerdy, you might even say.

A few days ago, I realized that I might be . . . a science fiction geek. No, I can’t debate the pros and cons of the Star Trek movies and the TV shows. And I have never in my life played War of the Worlds or Dungeons & Dragons.

Actually . . . Is that science fiction? Okay, maybe I’m not a sci fi geek. But I do really enjoy a lot of those types of things. In two days this week, I convinced my husband to rent the movie, Serenity, and got completely hooked on a SyFy show called Warehouse 13.

Thinking about that reminded me of all the other movies and shows in that sci fi/fantasy genre that I love. And that brought me to the conclusion that I’m a GEEK.

So, which is it? Am I cool? Am I a nerd? Can you be both?

I think maybe you can. Or at least I can. After all, I am the same girl who was captain of the academic team and member of the jazz band. (Yes, I’m considering the jazz band cool. Deal with it.)

What do you think? Can you be cool and nerdy? [Are YOU?]

For more More Than Defined, read about why I consider myself Generation X, Southern and patriotic.

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Literally.

According to Wikipedia (and NASA, but are we really sure that’s a reliable source? Oh, calm down. I kid. I kid.), a total eclipse of the sun will take place on July 11. I’m pretty sure it’s only visible from a few places, but that’s really beside the point.

My point is this: Finally, we have another excuse to talk about the literal video version of Total Exclipe of the Heart.

Have you seen it? It cracks me up (and kind of creeps me out. I’m glad I never saw this video as a kid!) every time I see it.




Click here if you can’t see the embedded video.

For more ways to waste time funny literal version videos, check these out:

Love is a Battlefield
Billie Jean
Daydream Believer
Making Love Out of Nothing at All
One Week

I love these videos. That’s why I’m linking up to Things I Love Thursday at The Diaper Diaries.

Did you watch music videos in the 80s? Because I didn’t, often, and these videos are cuh-razy!

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The dangers of potty training

Sometimes I think it would be easier to just keep her in diapers.

For instance, when we drove to my cousin’s house a few weeks ago for a family birthday party, that three-hour drive would have been much simpler with a baby in diapers. Instead, we had the pleasure of stopping more than once on the way there for potty breaks – and stopping to mop up a wet car seat on the way home.

Running errands is also a tad more difficult these days. Because my curious – and slightly conniving – little sweetheart insists on visiting every single public restroom in a 25-mile radius of our house.

Finally, I’ve recently discovered the danger potty training poses during timeouts.

Weekends are always difficult, partly because our schedules are different and that throws all of us for a loop. But it’s also due to the expectations we (okay, fine - I) place on the two days we have together. I mean, it’s our only family time. [I may have said that a time or twenty.]

Whatever the reason, most weeks present a struggle with patience and behavior and attitudes and obedience. Annalyn has some issues, too.

So last weekend, when my darling daughter spent several two-minute stretches in timeout, it was life as usual. What was new, however, was her decision to pee in her crib during timeout.

[Yes, she’s still sleeping in a crib. I know, I know. We have to move her to a big girl bed soon, but she hasn’t tried climbing out since that one time that scared both of us out of our minds. We’re on borrowed time, I know, but I’m enjoying it as long as it lasts. Bedtime is just so darned easy now!]

But back to the issue at hand: She peed in her crib out of anger!

My father-in-law said, “Oh, she just got so mad she couldn’t control it, huh?”

Um, no. She was mad and out of control, yes. But she decided to take control the only way she could – and PEED!

The second time she did it (so I had already stripped and remade her bed), she sat on her PILLOW and did it! She PEED on her pillow to get back at me for putting her in timeout!

Well, joke’s on her. Because have you ever tried to wash a pillow? It never comes out the way it started. It’s lumpy and fat and generally uncomfortable. So there.

Seriously. I anticipated wet pants and weeks of bare feet. Once I recovered from the initial shock, I wasn’t even that surprised about this episode. But I never guessed that my sweet little angel (ha!) would respond to timeouts by peeing on herself.

Crazy.

Then again . . . I guess I do some pretty stupid things when I get mad. No, I don’t typically stomp my feet, spit, throw myself on the floor, wail and whine, or otherwise act like a certain two-year-old I know.

But I do hold on to hurts and bitterness, instead of letting forgiveness and time ease them away.
I decide that fine, I’ll just be perfect from now on, so you won’t have anything to criticize – instead of apologizing for a mistake or explaining my viewpoint or decisions.
Or I eat. I push my feelings down with salt and sugar and a round of carbs for everyone.
Sometimes I clam up.
Sometimes I scream.
Sometimes I cry.
Almost all the time, I give myself a pounding headache.
I really don’t behave well when I’m mad.

Well, well, well. Once again, I’m forced to see the similarities between myself and a toddler.

How do you behave when you’re mad? (Please tell me you don’t pee in your bed!)

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Top Ten Tuesday - 4th of July

Is it hard to get back in the swing of things after a long weekend or what? I could definitely go for another day or two to hang out and eat and nap. Anyone else?

Since that’s not going to happen, I’m going to hold on to that holiday feeling with a look back at my most memorable 4th of Julys. (4ths of July? I don’t know about this one…)

1. The one where the corn field caught on fire. We visited my parents’ friends in Wichita and sat in their backyard watching their neighbors shoot of fireworks. I remember that we got to play with sparklers and snakes (the fireworks kind, not the reptile). And I remember that somehow, their neighbors set the field behind their house on fire.
2. The one where my granddad died. It’s interesting to me (although, I’m pretty sure, not technically ironic) that my granddad, who instilled such a fierce patriotism in our family, died just before the 4th of July. I remember, the night after his visitation, standing out on my grandparents’ driveway and watching a fireworks display in the distance.
3. The one where my cousin got married. I was a personal attendant, not a bridesmaid, which would have bummed me out if I hadn’t gotten to hang out with my cousin and her friends the whole weekend. Despite taking place outside in the middle of the summer, the wedding was beautiful. (And not even that hot!) My favorite memories are from the reception, though, from my aunt shaking it to Brick House to swing dancing with my cousin Craig.
4. The one where we missed the fireworks. The first summer after we were married, my parents came up to visit for the 4th. In typical fashion, we arrived at the town’s event super early, endured a painful performance by a local musician and then, just before the fireworks were finally going to start, we headed home. Because my parents were tired of us getting eaten up by bugs and decided it wasn’t worth it to stay. Not my favorite 4th of July.
5. The one where Mark didn’t shoot his hands off. The summer after I graduated from college, I worked for the Chamber of Commerce. It was our job that year to put on the town’s Independence Day event, including the fireworks display. The guy in charge of the large – and dangerous! – fireworks needed help, and of course my accident-prone husband volunteered. He managed to not get hurt, have a lot of fun and come home with several hundred dollars worth of fireworks. Which he and a friend proceeded to shoot off in our apartment complex parking lot, narrowly missing both our car and the wives!
   

6. The one where we made a flag cake. Though we’d moved back to Kansas City, we hadn’t made many friends yet. So the summer after the summer I graduated, we headed back to Kirksville to visit our friends. And we were so proud of the berries and whipped cream flag cake we made! (And thankful the boys didn’t have nearly as many fireworks to play with this year!)
7. The one where the boys almost blew up a 6-year-old. A couple years in a row, we celebrated the 4th of July with our Sunday school class, where unfortunately, crazy firework-shooting behavior was encouraged. And you know what they say: It’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye. Well, nobody lost an eye, but I recall some firm words being spoken after an errant bottle rocket flew much too close to the kids!
8. The one where my feet swelled up like balloons. The summer I was pregnant, I took an extra day off around the 4th. I spent my time off registering at Babies R Us and nesting like a madwoman (in other words, organizing every cabinet in the house). By the end of the weekend, my ankles were as big around as my calves. It was quite attractive, and thought I didn’t know it at the time, a sign of things to come.
9. The one where my friend got married – again. After being betrayed and abandoned by her first husband, my friend married a great guy in Hawaii – and then again here. She was sweet enough to ask me to photograph her “home wedding,” and it was so much fun. But more importantly than capturing every moment with my camera, I loved finally seeing her happy again.
10. The one where we saw the ocean. Last summer, we took a family vacation to Florida and Georgia. We didn’t actually watch any fireworks on the 4th (thanks to a cranky toddler, of course), but we did get to watch that not-yet-cranky toddler sit in the ocean for the first time.

And of course, this year, the one where Annalyn saw fireworks for the first time. I was worried that she'd be scared, but she loved it!

For more lists of fun stuff, visit OhAmanda’s Top Ten Tuesday.

How was YOUR 4th of July? And what’s been your most memorable one?


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Weekend Links, 7.4.10

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you have a wonderful, safe and fun holiday weekend! Here are some of the best or most helpful or most interesting or funniest things I've read recently. Enjoy!

• “You just don’t look like a writer.” : Billy Coffey
• CONFESSION: Sometimes I e-ssume | Jesus Needs New PR
• Laugh At Yourself, But Take It Easy | Brass Tack Thinking
• Coupon Terms and Abbreviations :: Money Saving Mom℠
• The Risk of Staying - Blaine Hogan | Catalyst
• Pro-Blogger :: Blogging, Steel-Toes, And Kicking Perfection's A$$
• Hobby Lobby. « Stuff Christians Like – Jon Acuff
• 10 Habits of a Clean Home | iDreamOfClean
• Imperfect Moms Make Better Moms. | Mommy Tracked

For more great reads, check out Elizabeth Esther's Saturday Evening Blog Post and Saturday Stumbles at It's Come 2 This. Image by www.theedinburghblog.co.uk.

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Saturday Review: Bounty Hunters & Killers

We’ve seen quite a few movies so far this summer. That’s not normal. I hadn’t stepped into a theater for about six months before we saw Date Night. But I’ve just been on a movie kick lately, and summer schedules make it a little bit easier to actually see them.

Note that I didn’t say I’ve seen quite a few good movies lately. Because while I have enjoyed myself immensely, I don’t expect to see these films winning any awards. They were both highly entertaining, but neither one was actually good.

Bounty Hunter: As I’ve mentioned before, Gerard Butler is Smitty’s movie star boyfriend. So for her birthday I took her to see him in this movie. We laughed a lot, and afterward debated the pros and cons of things such as Gerry’s accent, abs and hair. The premise of the movie is that Milo is a bounty hunter and he has to pick up his ex-wife, Nicole, and take her to the police station. Of course they’re chased by various bad guys throughout the movie. And course they’re still in love.

I’m a big fan of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books, and I found it interesting to compare those to this movie, since both are about a bounty hunter from New Jersey. When I realized the movie was in Jersey, I had to wonder: is that the only place that has bounty hunters?

And, my apologies to Smitty and all of Butler’s fans, I’m just not sure he’s aging well. Maybe it’s because the last two movies I’ve seen him in, he played a rude, schlubby guy. (Yes, that’s my technical term.) But I’m not sure about him.

As for Jennifer Aniston, I don’t know. I loved Friends, of course. And I don’t hate her. But while I think she’s okay, it seems like most of her movies kind of stink. Salon.com said something that makes sense: “[Aniston] doesn't just sleepwalk her way through these half-baked roles, she actually works at them, and her gumption, at least, is admirable.”

Anyway, about the movie. Was it great? No. Was it a little bit hard to like either one of them at times (ala The Breakup, another Jennifer Aniston movie)? Yes. But did we have fun watching it? Sure.

Killers: I saw this movie compared to Mr. & Mrs. Smith in several reviews. I can see the similarity. The husband character is a spy! His wife doesn’t know! Bad guys show up, and action and hilarity ensue!

Unfortunately, as most the critics noted, the leads of this movie have way less chemistry. In other words, don’t look for Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl to be running off and adopting a bunch of kids anytime soon. (At least, together. They may, in fact, adopt kids with their respective significant others. I really can’t speak to that.)

But again, I really enjoyed this movie. Mark and I went to see it when Annalyn spent the night with my parents. I don’t know if it was the novelty of going to a movie or going somewhere in the middle of the week, period, but we had a great time.

One review said it perfectly: "Somehow Kutcher and Heigl and Tom Selleck and Catherine O'Hara (as her parents) are all fun to watch a fair amount of the time, without the movie they're in being any good at all."

Tom Selleck and his mustache are hilarious, and Catherine O’Hara is a riot, too. I’m pretty sure I’m not a fan of Katherine Heigl (Crazy Izzy on Grey’s pretty much ruined her for me.), but I can’t argue with Ashton Kutcher. Nope, I can’t.

Saturday Review side note: Critics panned both these movies, according to the handy summaries at Metacritic.com. [Bounty Hunter | Killers] I love that I can see in a glance what the general consensus is. But what I don’t love is the way Variety has recently decided to only offer a handful of articles for free each month. I find their reviews to be intelligent, fair and often accurate – and now I may or may not be able to read them. Boo. [I feel like I read somewhere that they were bought out by someone recently, but Google and Swagbucks failed me in my search for evidence. So...who knows.]

Have you seen these movies – or any other ones – this summer? Do you think Knight & Day will complete the season’s trifecta of entertaining but actually lousy romcoms?

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More Than Defined: The Patriotic Version

And no, I wasn’t just looking for any excuse to post this cute picture of Annalyn. Nope. Not me.

When my friend Triple’s husband was deployed to Iraq with the Army Reserves, I made the mistake of reading a Karen Kingsbury book about a soldier. I can still see myself, laying on the couch with that paperback and sobbing my eyes out.

Another time, I sat in my car, parked in the garage, crying the ugly cry to Trace Adkin’s song, Arlington. (You’d better believe I never let that one play on my radio again!)

A little part of me didn’t breathe the whole time he was gone.

Maybe that’s why Ashleigh’s posts (here and here) describing her husband’s deployment to Afghanistan bring me to my knees.

Or maybe I’m a patriotic sap.

In the sixth grade {I think it was sixth grade. Smitty, is that right?}, our class had a patriotic concert. I don’t remember exactly why we were celebrating America that year over any other. But celebrate we did, with matching t-shirts and everything.

We sang all the usual patriotic songs (Battle Hymn of the Republic, America the Beautiful, America by Neil Diamond. I’m kidding. We didn’t sing Neil Diamond.), but what I remember most is rehearsing and performing Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA.

Every time we practiced that song, some of the more annoying boys (and let’s face it: in middle school, they’re all annoying) would literally stand up when we sang, “And I’d gladly stand up, next to you, and defend her still today.” Every single time.

And, okay, sometimes the [completely mature and not at all annoying] girls did it, too. So now, when I hear that song, I have this crazy urge to stand up. Which could be disastrous, considering that I most often hear it in the car.

Once I stop giggling at my junior high ridiculousness, I always find myself singing along. Singing along – and crying.

Because patriotism and this country and soldiers and Lee Greenwood get me all sorts of emotional.

I’m not sure why. A lot of it probably comes from my family’s military heritage. My granddad was an Army man, and that really influenced my family. As in jump when I say jump and quarters better bounce off that bed made with hospital corners. But also as in respect and honor this country and the men and women who protect and serve it.

Some of my patriotism also comes from my years in Camp Fire Girls. I learned how to fold a flag, and I know the words to Taps – although I won’t sing it for you, because that’s another one that never fails to make me cry. Since it was played at my granddad’s funeral, I don’t really need an explanation for that one.

I think my love of country is a good thing that doesn’t need analysis. But it’s possible that it gets a little out of control sometimes. In addition to the crazy tears over fictional soldiers and a commitment to watching Every Single Episode of JAG and NCIS, I recently found myself playing the Flag Watchdog at work.

More than once, I’ve questioned whether the flag should be flying at half-mast. Once I was right and they pulled it up. The other time…also known as yesterday…it turns out a senator died and the President had made a proclamation. I just hadn’t gotten the memo.

Oops.

So, welcome to another installment of Meet My Crazy. I’m patriotic and a big bawl baby who cries over anything involving flags or camouflage. How about you?

How will you celebrate our country this weekend? And have you ever told your company’s CFO that he needs to hoist the flag to the top of the pole??

For more More Than Defined, read about why I consider myself Generation X and Southern.

Affiliate links were used in this post. Feel free to click away and help me earn a couple pennies!

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Keep smiling. Keep shining.

When I was in second grade, we sang “That’s What Friends Are For” in our music program. To this day, I still know all the words – and remember to pronounce “for sure” the way our teacher drilled into us: “for shoe-er.”

Anyway. I’ve been a little out of sorts this week.

On Friday, Smitty and I had a, well, I don’t know what to call it. It wasn’t a fight or even a disagreement. But we had a thing. And while we're not mad or anything, it left me feeling weird.

Then, on Saturday, I had dinner with friends of ours. Mark stayed home, because he had some flu or cold or something he didn’t want to pass on, so it was just the three of us and our kids. And for some reason, we didn’t have much to say to each other.

Normally, we talk each other’s ears off, trying to cram in all the latest from the weeks between visits. This time, though, it was awkward. And quiet.

And then there’s the fact that my friend Kevin really did go and move to stinking California. (Not that I actually think the Golden State smells bad. I’m just annoyed that it’s half a country away from here.)

Maybe all that is why I was so deeply touched when I read about 4tunate $4 Friends. [Okay, or maybe it's because I'm a big ol' sap. Whatev. I think it's great.] A group of my favorite bloggy girls have circled around Jen, also known as Quatro Mama, whose family has been going through some seriously hard times.

Jen is an amazing woman who is always giving to others. She recently raised more than $2,500 and gave away a laptop out of her own pocket to help support a March of Dimes campaign. I don’t know her personally, but it’s clear even to me that she is a sweet, funny, giving lady!

Recently, Jen’s family has had to deal with a lot of illness. Honestly, I can’t imagine taking care of quadruplets on a good day, much less on a less-good one.

Until midnight (tonight), Jen’s friends are collecting donations ($4 each. Get it? $4 Friends?) to fill her freezer, refrigerator and cupboards with food. ALL proceeds raised will go to that goal.

If you’d like to help out, you can donate through PayPal. Whether you can donate $4 or not, I hope you’ll join me in praying for Jen and her family.

And now I want to hear from you. When’s the last time a friend did something nice, something unexpected for you? OR, if you can’t think of something (yikes!), what’s your favorite way to help out or show your friends you care during a hard time?

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