It’s The Little Things: Truly

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My children were gone for eight days. They went camping with their grandparents. I am not going to lie. It was a wonderful feeling to have a continuously clean house. Alone time with my husband. A whole house just for adults. It felt wicked. And calm. Serene. Partly empty. But still. And free.

And now the kids are back.

And with them, messes.

And more messes.

Did I mention messes?

And more food to prepare. More people to feed. More worries.

But more cuddles. And more laughter. More stirrings.

It was interesting to get a small glimpse into how my husband and I will be in a few short years when the kids are out of the house. You never know what an empty nest will feel like or the impact it will have on a marriage. It is good to know that we are fine in the silence. And in the calm. We had movie nights and even indulged in popcorn. This is rather a big deal, because popcorn has been banned from our house in the last three years of ongoing teeth braces for the children.

But it was also nice to appreciate the moments with my children now that they are back.

It made me realize how quickly that empty nest is approaching. It is something I will not be able to fly away from.

So, whilst I deal with yet another load of dishes. Another load of laundry. A random sock on the floor. And an unwanted eye roll here and there.

I know that these are the little things.

That make everything big.

I will not take them for granted. At least for a little while.

Although, I will admit that now that I have had popcorn after the long break, it is all that I am craving.

With extra butter.

I guess that will be something else to look forward to, in the long years to come.

But for now, I am enjoying the rustling.

The pitter.

And the pattering.

Of ever-growing feet.

Because, too soon those feet will have stopped growing, and will walk right out that door.

It will not feel little.

And with every pop of that long-anticipated popcorn, the cracks in my heart will pop a little, too. I now feel like despite the cracks, the structure will remain true. The house will survive. I will survive. Our marriage will survive. But I am not quite ready for that moment yet. And so I am taking each of these days, and enjoying them. With the laundry. The smiles. The dishes. The laughter. The quarrels. And the mess.

Little by little.

The Lord Of The Pizzas

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No. This pizza is not really “Lord of the pizzas.” Nor am I, “Lord of the pizzas.” In fact, the title was simply in reference to some silly movie quotes throughout this post.

Blame my thighs. They lord over everything around here.

One of my favorite things to make at home is homemade pizza. We take the term “homemade” a little loosely in our house. We made it in our house. But everything is bought and put together. As in pre-made. And put together.

As in my lazy soul continues to be happy.

And my thighs continue to rule them all.

Isn’t that how the saying goes?:

“One thigh to rule them all. One thigh to wine them.
One thigh to eat it all and in the kitchen dine them.”

Or somethin’ like that.

I have tried almost all of the different store’s pre-made pizza dough. And I know which dough is my favorite. Safeway’s pizza dough can’t be beat. And I will not use any other pizza sauce except for Pastorelli. As for the cheese, I use whatever I can get on sale.

So, my ingredient list has my preferred labels for the pizza I make at home.

With school being out for the summer soon, I know my kids will want to be in the kitchen cooking more. I wanted to post this in case you, too, want to trick get your kids to cook dinner for you this season.

This would be great for second breakfast, too.

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Ingredients for two pizzas:

2 Safeway Select Traditional pre-made (but not precooked) pizza balls of dough (usually found next to their pre-made take and bake refrigerated pizzas and usually $1 each)
2 8 oz. cans of Pastorelli Pizza sauce (you can use a 15 oz. can and split it in half. I buy the two little cans so each child has their own can to work with)
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Optional:

We use:

1/2 cup feta cheese
1/2 bag pepperoni
1/3 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes

Any other topping you like. Maybe Po-ta-toes.

Directions:

Let refrigerated pizza dough rest on counter for thirty minutes before using.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Since I have two children, I let each of them roll out one ball of dough. Stretch the dough. Pull the dough. You really cannot hurt it. The more you work pizza dough, the better it gets.

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My kids do all of the following instructions. What do I do? Well, somebody has to drink the wine.

I always have them make it in a rectangular shape. This is so the finished product fits on my baking sheets.

The baking sheets should be lightly oiled with olive oil.

Once the dough is made into the desired shape, place each pizza dough on a baking sheet.

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Pour one can of pizza sauce on to each pizza dough. Sprinkle two cups of cheese onto each pizza. Then top with your ingredients. One of our children likes plain cheese. The other, pepperoni. And our whole family likes sun dried tomatoes and feta.

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Those last two ingredients are not added until there are only two to three minutes left to the baking time. I want them warmed up but sun-dried tomatoes burn very quickly, so you can not put them on at the beginning. I feel like feta dries out if I put it on for the entire baking period because the flakes are so small. But you can definitely add it for the entire baking time if you prefer.

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Bake pizzas for 13-15 minutes. The cheese should be melted but not brown.

Let the pizza rest for 3-5 minutes. Cut the pizza into slices.

Plate the pizza.

Serve the pizza with salad. I use this easy recipe.

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Homemade pizza. Spinach salad. Red wine.

It doesn’t get any better than that.

Isn’t that right, my precious?

Summertime Pasta

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This really should be called, “Cherry Tomato Broccoli Pesto Pasta.” But that’s a mouthful! This pasta reminds me of everything I love about summer. It is fresh. It is quick. It is easy. There is not any meat in the dish, but you do not miss it. My family loves this.

I recently indulged in a similar pasta dish at a local Italian restaurant. I wanted to try to recreate it at home. I searched for a recipe, but the closest I could find was this yummy one. The following recipe is loosely adapted from that one.

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Ingredients:

1/4-1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 cup white wine (I always use Riesling and it is fine. Any white non-bubbly wine will do)
1 clove of crushed garlic (or a handy dandy frozen cube)
6 oz. refrigerated pesto (pick your favorite. A bad pesto will ruin this dish)
1 12 oz. package fresh linguine (if you cannot find this a regular package of dried linguine is fine)
2 pint size containers of cherry tomatoes
3/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
1 head of brocolli chopped (or one small steamable all ready chopped package)
5 small slices fresh mozarella (cut again into thirds)

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First things first. Chop your broccoli heads up into large bite sized pieces and place into a large sealable gallon sized plastic bag. Or you could simply buy a small package of steam-able brocolli. I normally do that, but this time, my store was out. Seal the chopped broccoli crowns, place them in the bag and set aside.

Boil water in a large pot.

Chop three-quarters of your cherry tomatoes into half. Also cut mozzarella slices into bite sized pieces and set mozzarella pieces aside.

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In a large skillet, heat up the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook one minute. Add halved cherry tomatoes and remaining whole tomatoes into the skillet. Add salt and red pepper flakes. Let simmer twelve minutes. Stir occassionally.

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In the meantime, boil noodles according to the directions on the package. I prefer to use fresh pasta found in the refrigerated section. It cooks faster and generally just tastes better. But you can use boxed pasta, just be aware of the time difference. Before draining pasta, carefully reserve a cup of the pasta water and set aside. Drain the pasta and return the drained pasta to the pot it boiled in (with no water in it).

Pierce broccoli bag with fork two times. Microwave the bag for three and a half minutes on high.

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After the tomatoes have simmered for twelve minutes, add wine and let simmer for two more minutes.

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Add a little of the pasta water (about 1/4 cup) and broccoli. Mix.

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Add pesto to the drained noodles. Add enough pasta water to make it easier to stir (about 1/4 cup. Do not add all of your reserved pasta water).

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Add pesto noodles to the cherry tomato/broccoli mixture. Stir. Before plating add mozzarella to the pan and quickly mix. You do not want your mozzarella to melt too much.

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Plate. And eat up! If you have picky kids, and they are old enough, I recommend letting them carefully cut the tomatoes and mozzarella when you are preparing this dish. It will make them feel like they made the dish and they will be more inclined to eat it. Both of my kids always have seconds. ; )

Enjoy! We will be eating this yummy pasta all summer! It just tastes fresh and happy!

P.S. Please do not forget to enter the Blog Giveaway. It ends on the 15th! Thank you!

This post was edited using the fun Afterlight app. It makes the colors richer in the photos.

It’s The Little Things: Small Artwork And I Need Help

Okay. Not necessarily help. I kind of need you to take my side. In a disagreement.

With my husband.

It has been going on for over a month.

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My daughter recently finished these two art pieces. I love them. I think they are so cool. They are pen on burlap. And I enjoy all of the details she put into them. When I look at them, I see the pure joy of a teenager.

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However, I have a dilemma.

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My husband wants to hang them askew. So that one is taller than the other.

Can you imagine what that does to my OCD?

You guys, it can’t happen!

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They will probably go underneath the painting of the vineyard my daughter did in fourth grade.

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There is so much detail around all of the sides, I do not know how to hang them.

But, I do know my heart cannot take unevenness. Especially since I would see these from my place of worship my bed.

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What should I do? Is there any other way or place we can hang them? I think side by side is fine, but they have sat on that chest for over a month, because we cannot make a decision.

Please help!

It’s the little things: well, this painting has little things all over it. But really, I need some advice. I cannot keep walking by these another day.

The guilt.

It.

Is.

Too.

Much.

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And also, he left the hammer in the corner until we could reach an agreement.

It’s been there for over a month!

Things are gettin’ crazy around here!

That hammer is no accident.

It is almost worse than paintings hung at an angle.

Folks.

He’s playing dirty.

And.

I.

Hate.

To.

Lose.