Frugal Food Friday & Some Questions for You

I want to thank everyone who commented and/or e-mailed me yesterday (I'm going to write back, I promise)! I was relieved to read all of your comments, because I admit, sometimes I sit here and think, "Hello? Is this thing on?" It's nice to know that you're still there, even if you aren't saying much.

Truthfully, I believe that my frustration with blogging right now is that I just don't know what to write about anymore. When I started this blog, I had a specific mission in mind, and it gave me a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Now I seem to have drifted away from that, and it leaves me feeling a bit lost. There are many mornings when I sit here, drumming my fingers on the desk, and racking my brain for something, anything interesting to write about. Most days I come up short.

I think that perhaps this blog is evolving into something different than it used to be. Perhaps it will become more of a personal journal in the future, but I can't really say right now. I do enjoy writing posts that help, educate, and encourage, because I want to make a difference in people's lives, if I can. Erma Bombeck (whom I adore, by the way), once said that each of us was present when God handed out talent, and whatever our talent is, we shouldn't return it to Him unused.

Well...if my talent is writing, then I feel an obligation to use it in a way that would make the Lord happy. When I start to feel like I'm no longer doing that, it upsets me. I want this blog to continue to grow, to reach people, and to make a difference, because I feel like the message of it is more important than ever right now. I saw a comedy routine yesterday that had a really good underlying message -"Everything's amazing, but nobody's happy." The point was that, in the midst of our troubled economy, we all forget how good we really have it, and the secret to happiness is to be thankful.

"Happiness is not having what you want, it's wanting what you have."

Please know that I'm completely open to your topic suggestions. If you have some, please leave them in the comments, or send me an e-mail. I would also like to know how you want me to handle your comments. I don't respond to every comment, but I do read and appreciate every one! Also, I try to always answer questions (though not always promptly - sorry). I usually answer them in the comment section of the post, but it occurred to me that you may not realize that? Is there a better way?

Anyway, I'm going to continue to think and pray about this. My husband says that maybe God is telling me to move on to something else (he has maintained for years that I should write a book, and I always tell him that if he comes up with a great idea for one, I'll get right on it). I don't know what God is telling me right now. Maybe he's just telling me that I'm tired, and I need a break!

Anyway. Moving on...

One of you (sorry, I don't remember who. Stupid pregnancy brain!) asked for my homemade pizza recipe. Since I just made pizza last night, and it's fresh in my mind, I thought I would do that today. Of course, I had to search and search for my recipe card, which I misplaced in the kitchen mess. I do have a good excuse though - after supper I spent two hours driving all over the city, searching for Tylenol suppositories for Bee. Her temp was 102.7, but she couldn't keep anything down (including the $81 Tamiflu that we got for her yesterday). Fortunately, both girls seem to be feeling much better today. The living room consistently looks like a tornado went through it (yesterday I stepped on a Magna Doodle, which was buried underneath a pile of blankets, and cracked it, and spent 20 minutes scrubbing marker stains off the coffee table), but at least they're amusing themselves, and I'm hopeful that everything will be back to normal by Monday.


By the time I got home last night, I was too tired to clean up the mess in the kitchen, but I found the recipe card this morning, buried underneath a ream of paper on my desk. This pile was mostly made up of Cakie's "drawings." She's discovered that she can do more than scribble, so she wants to draw all the time. She pilfers all the copy paper from my printer, and all of her drawings are a variation of this same, er...creature.


Right. The pizza recipe. I'm getting to that, I promise.


I like to make pizza dough in the bread machine, and this is the recipe I use:

1 C warm water
2 T honey
1/4 C oil
1/2 tsp salt
3 1/2 C flour
1 T yeast

Put ingredients in bread machine pan in order listed. Set machine for dough cycle. When finished, press out onto oiled pizza pan. Top, and bake for 15-20 minutes in preheated 425-degree oven.

If I forget to allow enough time to make this dough, I use the food processor dough recipe from the Tightwad Gazette. It's quick, easy, and good.

I do buy pizza sauce when I can find a good deal, but I frequently use spaghetti sauce (we like the slightly sweeter flavor), or make my own pizza sauce with this recipe:

1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 T italian seasoning
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp paprika

We like pepperoni and green olives best, but last night I got adventurous with pizza toppings, because I had some things that I wanted to use up. I used seasoned ground beef, 3 cheeses (feta, cheddar and mozzarella) and green pepper slices on half. Feta on pizza sounds a bit unconventional, but it was delicious!

Have a great weekend everybody!