Snow!

Pizza Biscuits

Tonight for dinner my daughters and I made pizza biscuits. They were delicious!














Here's the recipe:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
For the biscuits:

In a mixing bowl combine

      3 cups flour
      1/2 tbsp baking powder
      1 tbsp sugar
      1 tsp salt
      1 tsp garlic powder*
      1 tsp onion powder*
      1 tbsp basil*
      1 tbsp oregano*
      2 tsp Clubhouse Roasted Garlic and Pepper seasoning*

Cut in (we mixed with our hands)

   3/4 cup of margarine

Mix in

   1 cup milk

Form small handfuls into circles (mine were about 4" diameters) & place on baking sheet

Pizza Sauce

1/2 cup of PC quatrro formaggi tomato sauce
1 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder

Spread sauce on biscuits. Put ham and other deli meats on top. Grate cheddar cheese over them then sprinkle with chopped bell peppers

Bake for approximately 20 minutes.

Enjoy

The Stories (we don't know)

Have you ever met someone who thinks you must have had an easy life just because you are always joyful and seem somewhat happy-go-lucky or so untroubled? Have you ever met someone who you have just assumed or never considered that they have gone through tough things?
Once someone told me that I had nothing I could say into a matter because I had a perfect life so what would I know. Ok, that wasn't exactly her phrasing but it is the gist of what she said.
Am I a happy, joyful, blessed person? Yes. Do I have a good life? Yes. Have I experienced sorrow? Yes. Have I had a hard life? Well, let's take a look.

I'll start with some blessings. I was born in Canada. I was born to parents who wanted me and loved me. My parents brought me to church, they read to me, they taught me about God's love, they fed me and clothed me. Now, having said that I was fed and clothed, I should mention that for the majority of my childhood (including my teen years) my parents' income was considered below the poverty line. However, that is not my story; maybe I will tell that another day.

Here are some things that some would say are part of a hard life:
I lived in the middle of nowhere without electricity and running hot water.
My honorary grandparents were killed by a train.
When I was 12 my big sister got cancer.
I basically had no mom for a year while she took care of my sister in the hospital.
My first baby was born with gastroschisis.

Now, to me, living in the boonies with only a generator for power and no hot water was a blesssing. I had the best time living there. I'll tell stories of that another time too. So let's move on to my sister. I know that most people know someone who has had cancer. In fact, the year before my sister got leukemia, my little brother's close friend lost his battle with leukemia. They were 7 years old. My sister lived. Does that make it easier? Yes. Does it mean it wasn't a hardship? No.  I'm not telling that story right now either though. Moving on. My husband and I had been married 5 months before our first pregnancy. At my routine, 18 week ultrasound it was discovered that our baby's abdomen hadn't closed and her guts were hanging out. 18 weeks later we moved into a trailer in the parking lot of the hospital. One week later(full term) our baby girl was born. 6 weeks in the NICU. Anyone who has ever had a child in the NICU knows what that is like, whether your baby was/is in NICU for a few days or a couple years. I'll tell that story later too.

So just remember, everyone has a story.

Cloth diapering

When my second baby was almost one we moved to a place that had an in-unit washer (and dryer but that has nothing to do with this). I had never really considered doing cloth for my first baby but when my second came I decided I would use cloth if we had laundry in our home. Well, we moved and I bought diapers. I paid more than I should have for every single diaper I bought; I was not as well informed as I should have been before starting. At least I only bought 11 diapers, though. I cloth diapered for 3ish months and guess what? I hated it! Then I got pregnat and the smell of the dirty diapers was more than I could bear. So I switched back to Pampers, which I love. When baby #3 came, I used Pampers because I was scared to try cloth again and because I love Swaddlers. I love their smell, their feel and the little yellow line that turns blue when they need a change. About half way through the box I just finished I decided I wouldn't be buying another box. So we have been doing cloth diapers for 3 or 4 days now and guess what? I still hate it! There are all those moms out there who say they love cloth diapering and I believe they do but I don't get it! What is so lovable about cloth diapering? Is it saving 30-35 dollars a month (once your baby has worn the cloth enough to pay them off, which is about 5wears/$ spent)? Is it the 'green' thing? (Which, honestly, unless you use organic cotton, hemp, or bamboo, I'm not so sure how much 'greener' it is. I've read studies etc.) 

We will stick with cloth diapering at least until the new year and hopefully longer since I already own the diapers but I doubt I will ever love it!