English Muffin Pizzas

This has quickly become a staple in our house. I picked up the general recipe from a book of kid's recipes. This one has been altered to fit our needs. For example: I don't make my own pizza sauce. Ragu does it for me. It's pretty tasty too! Paige loves to help with this one and it's really quick & easy on the weekends. I make ours in the toaster oven since it's also a convection oven & a microwave. (Definitely one of my best wedding gifts!!)

Ingredients:
English muffins
Ragu Pizza Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Ham
Olives
Mushrooms
Pepperoni
Whatever pizza topping your kids love

Cut the English muffins in half and lightly toast
Put a spoonful of pizza sauce on (more or less to taste)
Generously spread the cheese
Add toppings

Bake at 350 for 13-15 minutes, or until cheese is all melty and gooey.

I consider this one to be somewhat healthy for Paige. I mean, English muffins are decent enough. I use a skim milk based cheese & fresh mushrooms. The olives are definitely from a can.

Paige helps tear the ham up into pieces. She also helps to put the toppings on her pizza. I think more olives go in her mouth than on the pizza. She will sit and watch the microwave waiting for her pizza to come out. I think the fact that she gets to make it is part of why she loves it so much.

Paige help

Paige inherited a stool. It's a little wooden stool that my dad made. It makes her just tall enough to really help out in the kitchen. We have now got a little helper in the kitchen. And, oh, does she like to help. If she discovers you've sneaked into the kitchen without her she comes running in screaming, "Paige Help! Paige Help!" She then drags the stool over to where you are. Lovely sounds of wood scraping tile fills the air.

Once your ears have recovered, you realize you have a 2 year old attached to you at the kitchen counter. And it is always her turn. She likes to help stir, whisk, and eat olives. She will help put stuff in a bowl. Especially olives. She puts things in the sink for you and then insists on washing her hands. If you're holding a knife she really likes to get up beside you. Knives seem to be a Paige magnet. The larger the knife the more quickly she comes running.

Paige has recently discovered that her stool lets her do other things too. Like reach the shelf with the cookies. Or get her own ice water out of the fridge door. She can't open the cookies by herself so she still brings them to us. And she hasn't discovered how to unlock the ice dispenser. When she realizes that we're in trouble.

My day

I intended this blog to be more about our family and stuff we do. Lately, it's all about me. Like today for example. Yesterday after lunch (which I didn't even really get to eat) I started feeling bad. I came home and laid down before going to get Paige. It felt like someone had a hammer and they were beating me just below my bra strap. Great, huh? I decided if it continued today I would call my doc.

This morning I called at 8:02. I tried to call at 8 but the phones were still forwarded. The very nice receptionist told me my doc has an available appointment in mid July. She then asked if that was OK. Ummm, no. I'm sick and in pain today, not in 3 weeks. Yes, I really said that. She was speechless for a few seconds there. After 17 minutes on the phone I had an appointment for the nurse to call me back.

Around 9:15 my left arm got all numb and tingly. I called Ronnie, who was about 2 miles away. He picked me up and took me to the ER by our house. I was there about 6 hours, mostly back in the room waiting on lab results. The EKG came back normal. The blood work came back normal. The X-Rays showed something that could be something, or maybe nothing. I got a CT scan.

The results of my day? 1 ovarian cyst (left ovary), 4 count them 4 kidney stones (2 in each kidney), and SEVERE acid reflux. I was told to avoid caffeine (I would rather cut my arm off than give up my 1 Coke each day), drink plenty of water (I already do), and to avoid spicy food. Avoid spicy food? Hello, my husband is a cajun chef! If I avoid spicy food I'll never eat! If he tries to cook bland food I'm not sure if it will be edible. Really. I don't think the man has ever cooked bland food. Besides, I know Paige won't eat bland. She turns her nose up at it.

Looks like I'll be living on that uber strength Prevacid he gave me.

While Daddy is away...

Mommy will play. And do housework. And surf the internet. And read. What an exciting life we lead, huh? Ronnie went out of town on a business trip yesterday. He'll be back late tomorrow night. Not a long trip at all. But, he's also been working lots the past week. Paige. Well, she's been possessed by the Flying Spaghetti Monster of bad 2 year olds. You know, it wouldn't be so bad if he would clean up his own marinara stains. But that's an entirely different post.

Today I picked her up from school to have her cry and pitch a tantrum. She wasn't done playing yet. Then she started screaming for her Daddy. I finally got her buckled into the van. Before I closed the door I told her I wasn't listening to that all the way home. I handed her the juice I had brought special and she relaxed. After we got home she tried to hit me and to bite me. She immediately said sorry and gave me a hug and kiss.

This is how she's been off and on while Ronnie works. All I know for sure is that I would like my sweet baby girl back. Sometime soon too. I don't like this version of her as much. So, if you see the FSM anytime soon, ask him what his demands are. I'll pay pretty much any ransom he asks. All I ask in return is that he gives me back my laid back, easy going, giggly girl.

Presenting...The Meatloaf Burger

Ingredients:
2 lb ground meat
1T mustard
2T A-1
1/3 c fine diced onion
1/3 c shredded cheddar cheese
1/3c diced ham or diced cooked bacon
2T Mojo (can be deleted if you don't have any)
1/2T Montreal Steak Seasoning
2 eggs
salt & pepper to taste
Progresso Italian Breadcrumbs

Directions:
Add everything in a large bowl EXCEPT the breadcrumbs. Mix well.
Add small amount of breadcrumbs.
Let sit 10 minutes.
Check for firmness. You are going for a meatloaf type consistency.
Slap the mixture (nope, not kidding here). It should be rather still when you do.
If it jiggles like my thighs, add more breadcrumbs. Let sit 5 minutes. Slap again.

Once you have the consistency about that of meatloaf, form into patties and grill.

Ingredients can be added or changed depending on what you have handy or to fit your taste. I think at one point these included green peppers, but I don't eat them. They disappeared.


When making these Ronnie usually does 2 sets of burgers 1 set of meatloaf, 1 set of regular. We usually have regular ones left over and not enough meatloaf.

Please enjoy! Once you've tried them let me know what you think. My office still begs for these at least once a month and it's been a year since he made them. :)

I came out of the closet

The blogging closet that is. I didn't tell Ronnie about my blog until tonight. I don't know why. It's just been something I've been doing while he was occupied doing other things. I never set out to hide it from him, I just never brought it up. You may wonder why I picked now to come out of the closet. Well, it's Caroline's fault.

See, it started about a month ago. She asked for help with good ribs. I asked Ronnie if I could reveal his secret. He said yes. I gave her the secret recipe and some of his special seasoning: Elvis Mojo. She tried it. And loved it. In fact, she blogged about it. Check out Cheaper by the Half Dozen on the side over there. Go ahead, right click, open in new window. I'll wait.

Back? Good. Well, you'll see she mentioned putting it in a burger. I opened my mouth. See, he makes this amazing burger. I call it the Meatloaf Burger; he calls them Elvis burgers. They rock. I once again offered a recipe. Problem is I had to ask for it. He asked if I would be posting it on our Mommy board. I told him no. I then came clean on the blog.

Ronnie has read my blog, and he liked it. In fact, he said he might like to post some too. You may start seeing things from a hubby's point of view. First up: Meatloaf Burger Recipe. Maybe I can talk him into doing a recipe or kitchen tip once a week. He is pretty handy in the kitchen.

Crappy Computers

I missed half a day of work yesterday because of a doctor's appointment. So, I went in half an hour early today to make up some of the time. I get in at 7:30 to be told the computers are down. Great. Tech says it will be 15 to 20 minutes. No problem. We sit around, drink our morning coffee and kill about 30 minutes. Tech finally calls back. The problem is FIRM WIDE. That means not only our office in Mobile, but all 4 offices in Mississippi, both offices in Tennessee, and the office in Arizona. Great. It's an issue with AT&T. It will be at least 10 before it's fixed. They send us home.

I decide to go to the grocery store now for supper instead of after I pick Paige up this evening. I had just pulled into Bruno's when my phone rings. It's the office manager saying now it will be at least 11. And, they've moved the baby shower/ lunch to tomorrow to help compensate. I get my stuff for dinner and head home. I've spent a couple of hours playing video games. I should have been doing something around the house, but I just couldn't help myself. It was a rare treat to have a few hours alone during the day.

The thing is, I have to call at 11 to see if the computers are even back up! Jeannie, our office manager, hasn't called back so I know they aren't up. She said she would call or send a text if they came up earlier. Looks like this day is shot, work-wise. Since I've lost at least 3 hours of pay due to AT&T's issue, can I deduct that from my AT&T bill? I didn't think so, but I'm tempted!