Tuesday, August 31, 2010

What's For Dinner?

These breadsticks are so good I've built a meal around them. You need to go make them now.


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Seriously, I make these almost once a week. They are that good. Here's the best part....fresh baked bread for dinner and they take only 20 minutes. No kidding! Here's the recipe...

This recipe is adapted from one on Tasty Kitchen.

  • 3-½ cups Flour , maybe a bit more if dough is too sticky ( I use 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 Cups white flour)
  • ½ teaspoons Salt
  • 2 Tablespoons Sugar
  • 1 envelope Quick-Rise Yeast
  • 1-½ cup Warm Water
  • 4 T butter
  • Garlic Salt, to taste
  • ⅛ cups Parmesan Cheese (approximately)

Note: The dough is fairly light and sticky, so I prefer to use the dough hook on the KitchenAid mixer instead of kneading by hand.

Start by combining yeast and warm water. Let it sit for a couple minutes.

Add flour, salt and sugar. Knead thoroughly, for about 10 minutes, until the dough is satiny in texture. If the dough is still too sticky, add 1/4 – 1/2 cup more flour during the kneading process. Let the dough rest for a few minutes before rolling.

-Melt all the butter; use half of it to evenly cover the bottom of a jelly roll pan.

-On a floured surface, roll out the dough to the approximate size of the pan. Transfer the dough to the pan by draping/rolling it onto the pin. Roll the dough to the edges of the pan (this can be a bit tricky).

-Cut the dough to your preferred bread stick size using a pizza cutter.

-Use the rest of the melted butter to top the dough. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and garlic salt to taste.

(Now here is the amazing part. No waiting for it to rise! )

Place the pan in an unheated oven and bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes. While the oven preheats, the dough will rise. Or, alternately, let the dough rise to the top of the pan while preparing the rest of the meal and bake the bread sticks in a preheated oven for approximately 15 minutes.

Yield: approximately 18

Easy peasy, huh? So I told you I've built a dinner around these. Well almost every week this summer we've had a salad and breadsticks dinner night. Soon I'll post about our favorite salad.

If you make these let me know what you think!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Margo's Baptism

What a wonderful day! We had Miss Margo Mae Baptized this morning.



Here's what we believe about baptism:
*We believe that baptism points to the promise from God that just as water washes dirt from our bodies, the blood of Jesus will wash away our sins if we come to Him by faith.
*We believe that for our children, baptism gives them an identity with the people of God. It marks them out as special for they will have the advantage of having the word of God taught to them, of being prayed for, and having godly examples.
*The focus of a baptism should be on God, not the one being baptized.
*Baptism is a sign of the promise, it does not save.



We are so thankful for our related family and our church family. When we stood in front of them all this morning it brought tears to my eyes. What a blessing to look out and see these people that are promising, with us, to raise our kids to know and love Christ. The older my children get the more I see how important this is. We need all the help we can get in pointing our kids to Christ.

I was also reminded this morning of how much I love our church. LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. Love the way we do church, love the people in leadership and their humble ways. Love that the focus is on the worship of God, not anything else. Love the people, oh how I love the people.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

A Mom Of Girls (too)

I think because I gave birth to my boys first, I've always thought of myself as a mom of boys. For my first few years as a mom I knew balls, cars, trucks, dirt, bugs, dinosaurs, striped shirts and khaki shorts, short hair, blue, black, brown. I day dreamed about watching my boys play sports, date girls, I read Bringing Up Boys by Dobson and other boys-centered books. I was a mom of boys.
(Of course there is also a side that is sweet, thoughtful and gentle, but more often than not is ACTION, DIRT, NOISE!)

But now we have these girls. Margo is not yet there, but Charlotte likes things that are pink and sparkly and soft. She speaks of princesses and ballerinas and pretty dresses. When I watch her play with her dolls, I'm shocked at what looks like a natural mothering instinct. She wants me to paint her nails and she wears my jewelry.
(Of course there is also a side that is loud, dirty and loves Light Sabers, but more often than not she is nurturing, sparkly and pretty)

It has taken some time, but I'm slowly beginning to think of myself as a mom of girls. This may seem simple, but it's been a big shift in thinking for my brain. And, I'm liking it.

Tonight Tyler took the boys to a baseball game. It was just the girls at home. Margo did what she does best, sleep, but Charlotte and I had a "girls night!" (in her words). I loved spending time with just her! She sees things through the eyes of a girl and it's so different from my time alone with the boys.

What a sweet thing it is to be a mom to boys AND girls. Thank you, Lord, for the chance to do both.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

A+

Apparently someone thought Margo needed in on the school action too.



She definitely deserves the grade!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

First Day(s) of School

It's official, I have 2 kids in school now. Wow.
Brennan started 2nd grade yesterday and Calvin started Kindergarten today. Neither of them showed much emotion, excitement or nervousness, leading up to the 1st day, so I wasn't sure what to expect. But they both did great. Best of all, they're both excited to go back!

Here's Brennan on his first day of 2nd grade

Cal and Charlie wanted in on the pictures (still in their jammies)

Calvin on his 1st day of Kindergarten!






Calvin walked into his class like he'd been doing it for years. This was the child that we pulled out of pre-school his first year because he hated being away from mom! I was the only one with tears today. Not the "I don't want my kids to grow up" tears, just the "I can't believe it goes so fast" tears. I'm proud of my boys!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

They've Not Been Hit By Lightening So Far

I just finished watching several clips of Lenore Skenazy on youtube. I remember when she let her 9 year old ride the New York City subway by himself (a few years ago), but hadn't heard much else about her. I've only watch a few clips and I've not yet read her book "Free-Range Kids", but I do agree with much of what she says. It's a very interesting topic that I think is worthy of more discussion.



I read one time that a child is more likely to be struck by lightening in their front yard than kidnapped from their front yard. Reading that had a big impact on me (or "struck me", pun intended :)). I had this inner struggle over whether or not I could let my kids play outside, in the front yard, by themselves. I decided I had to let this go. I was basing my decision on whether or not a big white van, with no windows, was going to pull up to my house and whisk away my children. Really? Talk about letting fear do my parenting for me! My kids know their boundaries, they know how far down the street they can go, etc. They know to look both ways before going after the runaway ball in the street. I check on them often. I'm pretty sure that my neighbors think I'm a horrible mom for letting my kids do this.

I find this a fascinating subject. I really wish my kids had the same freedom I had as a child. Then I find myself thinking "do they?", is this fear all in our heads? What do you think? Have you given this much thought?

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Re-Do

I'm way behind on blogging! Summer has been great, but I've had 4 kiddos with me ALL THE TIME. Makes it tricky to get much done. That's alright though, it's been a great summer. Tomorrow is Brennan's first day of 2nd grade and the next day is Calvin's first day of kindergarten! Summer vacation is officially over. So, hopefully, I'll be able to do some blog catch up over the next couple weeks (days? should I be so optimistic?).

A quick story for you. A few mornings ago my normally sweet-spirited Calvin got off to an awful start. Within minutes of waking up he had argued with his brother, tripped over and fallin into a tub of legos, and spoken harshly to his sister which got him in trouble with Dad. He then walked to his bedroom and crawled back into bed. I know, so sad. Well, I heard him crying and instantly knew how to start things off better.



A cute baby sister on your pillow instantly makes everything better. A little bit of cuddle time with Margo and he was ready for a re-do (and breakfast!).