Pizza Pops??

As I was lying in bed last night, I got to thinking about food- food blogs in particular- and by golly, I think I've seen the love child of Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls and Bakerella’s treat pops.

Here are the steps:

Roll out about a pound of dough (size of a grapefruit), making sure to flour the surface first so things don’t stick.

Add your favorite sauce (I’m liking tomato basil marinara right now) and shredded mozzarella.

I added Volpi gourmet pepperoni to half of the pizza. That right there is some good stuff.

The next step is to roll the pizza toward you. Trust me on this one. Toward you.

After it’s rolled, it’s time to pinch it closed. Pinch away to seal it up. If a little bit of the ingredients stick out, that’s ok. It makes it all cook together even better.

Now it’s time to cut the loaf. I tried my kitchen scissors, but that wasn’t happening; so I went to the garage and grabbed my husband’s fishing line. Now we’re talkin’! Just wrap the line around a 1/2 inch section, pull tight, and you’ll get a perfect cut every time.

Place these bad boy rolls onto a greased baking sheet (parchment paper would work even better). Bake at 400 degrees for 13-15 minutes.

Bake until they are golden brown and the cheese has had a chance to caramelize.

These babies have to cool almost completely before you insert the stick. I learned the hard way on the first batch. My little pizza pops drooped and sagged and slid down the stick. So, be patient. It will be so worth it!

“Mom,” says my nine year old son, “These are even better than pizza!”

“Well, it is pizza, Buddy.” I replied.

“Oh, ya…. But it’s still better than pizza.” He said.

“Ha! Thanks!” I replied.

(Inspiration from http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/)

When Blogging Life Collided With Real Life

Do you remember this picture from my last post?

Just the thought of what it represents makes my heart start thumping!

Why?

Well, because I believe it was a “God” moment in my life.  An “Aha!” moment where my “blogging” life collided with my “real” life.  I recognized that familiar faint whisper heard first in my heart.

I’ll back up a few weeks…

A cool lady at Blogher emailed and asked if I’d like to host some ads on my little blog.  I thought it was a fun idea, but something didn’t really settle right.  I wasn’t sure what it was exactly that didn’t feel right.  I prayed about it and asked some good friends for advice.  A few weeks passed, and I still wasn’t totally on board, but yet it still didn’t seem right to decline.

Fast forward to our Christmas shoebox trip to Mexico.  When I learned what the plans are for this building…

…I knew immediately what I needed to do.  The blog ads need to be about others- not for myself or my family.  We are already so blessed.

I learned that the plans for this building are to build a baby home right next door to Grace orphanage.  They told me that every day precious, healthy babies are abandoned at the dump or left on street corners due to neglect and extreme poverty.  They are trying to raise money to get this project completed.  There are babies who need this place right now!

I have committed 100% of any ad revenue to go to this baby home.  My blog is very “small town”, so it might not be much- but all of it I will give.  The cool part is that you are helping to save these lives.  You, my blogging friends, are the ones who make it happen.  Somehow through the magic of the www, funds will be raised to save these babies.  All you have to do is read this blog. 

So, what do you think about this?  Let me know your thoughts.  Be totally honest.  Would you put up with a sidebar ad or two to help orphaned babies?

I read this quote the other day by my friend Francis Chan in his book Crazy Love, “Nothing in my life will ever matter unless it’s about loving God and loving the people He has made.” 

That quote excites me, drives me, motivates me.  It’s how I want to live.

Pure

John 14:18  “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

It is with pure joy in my heart to show you what God is doing for these precious orphans in Mexico.  First, let me start from the beginning…

We took shoeboxes filled with toys…

Wrapped and loaded them up in a trailer, packed up 10 families from our church and all their kids...

and traveled…

here…

because 35 orphans were waiting.

We stayed right at the orphanage and tried to remember to brush our teeth with only bottled water.  We wondered how our only English speaking kids would do with the Spanish speakers.  How would they communicate?

To our surprise, we watched how the children instantly played and bonded with one another… the international language of soccer initiated quick smiles, big hugs, no barriers, pure delight.

 

We could not wait to deliver the gifts to the children!  So after dinner, the festivities began.  We called the kids up in groups of three so they could show everyone what they got!

 

This sweet girl got her very first doll.  She was in love!

 

These awesome boys were so excited for their turn.  In case you’re wondering, the age range at this orphanage is ages three to twelve.

 

It was fun to see how excited the kids were for one another.  There was no jealously about who got what gifts.

 

This sweet girl, Alma, stuck to me like glue.  I loved every minute of it!  I’m not so sure my two year old daughter (to my left) was as thrilled to share my lap!

 

 

I wish you could have seen how excited the kids were playing with their gifts.  It didn’t matter if the presents came from the dollar store or a department store.  Each gift was cherished.  If you are one of those families who fills a shoebox every year and wonders if it really makes a difference, let me tell you that it does!  When you work through this organization, the children who receive the gifts get blessed beyond the box, too.  They also get to hear about the amazing love of God!

 

I saw this verse painted on the playground equipment.  It’s one of my life verses…

Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”

 

Here’s a family picture very early in the morning as we were leaving Grace and onto our next stop.  Our oldest son (not pictured) came down two weeks earlier with just my husband to help in some other areas of Mexico.  We missed him a lot on this trip!  He had to stay behind at Grami and Grandpa’s house to study for 7th grade winter finals.  Boo hoo!

 

Ok, this next picture is just a hint about my next post.  It’s very important to me.  It’s what makes my heart flutter and my adrenaline rush.  I'll tell you all about it and how each of you will play an important part, even if you’re sitting at home needing a shower and still in your Christmas pj’s (like me)!

Encourage one another,

Merry Christmas!

Ok, so I woke up this morning to a fine coat of sunshine covering my yard.

I will have to shovel the driveway of warmth in order to get the car out.

Later today we will probably sing carols and sip cocoa around the hot tub...

…ah winter.

That quote was my friend's status update on Facebook today! I thought it went so perfectly with this beach picture I took a few days ago. Wow! God sure is a good artist. Look at that soft light and gorgeous colors!

I hope you and your family had the most wonderful Christmas yesterday! We sure did! I thought about all of you, my blogging friends, and wondered how each of you was spending the day. I can’t wait to come and check on you! I’m still working on a few December posts that are near and dear to my heart; but for now…

We are off to celebrate Christmas with Kahuna’s (my husband) family! It’s never a dull moment around here.

With love,

PlumDaisy Winner… and Where Have I Been?

Kelly, thank you so much for hosting your wonderful PlumDaisy giveaway. You are so talented. I love your creativity and the way you mix and match colors!

Congrats to the winner...

You want to know the winner?

Well, just clickety HERE.

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I haven’t had a chance to blog in about a week or so. I’ll give you a little peek about what we’ve been up to. It involves…

shoe boxes filled with Christmas presents,

precious orphans,

international travel, and

trouble at the border.

Here are two pics from my husband’s camera phone:

This is sweet, sweet Alma. She lives at the orphanage and stuck to me like glue. I liked it like that.

Beach Bunny and I totally zonked out on the long ride home.

This has been my all-time favorite Christmas season!

I can’t wait to show you in the next post how God is touching lives and answering prayers!

Merry Christmas,

Stocking Stuffer Idea… and Giveaway!

I want to introduce you to Kelly at PlumDaisy. Her clippies and hair blooms are what got me hooked! I plan to put a couple of her cute things in Beach Bunny’s stocking.

I want you to get to know Kelly a little bit. Here’s a quick little Q and A I had with her last night…

But you've got to click HERE to read more and enter!!!

Encourage one another,

And the Winner is…

Just clickety HERE to see the winner!!

Merry Christmas,

Baby Shower and a New Friend

Recently, we had a baby shower for my sister-in-law.  We are so excited to be adding another girl to our team.  That will make the score a tie for my side of the family when their baby girl arrives…  Boys 2  - Girls 2.

If I was a betting person, I’d say that score won’t last for long. 

 

Isn’t it amazing how much stuff a (probably eight pound) newborn needs?

I always wonder how the pioneer women survived without all this.

No Boppy.

No Bjorn.

No Bumbo.

No way!

 

Could someone please take a look at this precious outfit for me?

And these tiny leopard shoes?

I just can’t look.

‘Cause I want more babies.  I can’t even handle what I already have, but I want more.  MORE I tell you!

 

You know, one of the most fun things about the shower (you know besides getting a niece out of the deal) was the fact that I got to make a new friend in the process.  Amanda baked, decorated and shipped her beautiful cookies all the way across the United States in time for the party.  She has a heart of gold and is so very talented. 

Not only were her cookies so cute, they tasted like heaven.  In fact, I saw a couple of ladies at the shower put them in their purses!

So thank you, friend, for blessing my family and me with your beautiful confections.  They were the pièce de résistance!