French Bread Pizza

So here I am again, third day in a row, with my cheese, pizza sauce, and pepperoni.  In total, I have spent $12 and have created 3 meals.  Tuesday it was the Garlic Bread Pizza and yesterday we had the Pizza Rolls.  I bought two loaves of French bread (so I still have one loaf left over for sandwiches tomorrow....can you say panini!) which cost me $1.50.  Building the pizzas were simple.  You cut your bread in half, top it with your sauce, then the cheese, and for us....pepperoni and tomato.  I baked the pizzas at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.  Couldn't be simpler!  I have dubbed the past three days as "Three Days of Pizza"!  Enjoy!

Pizza Rolls

Yesterday I posted about the awesome idea Pizza Hut gave me with the Garlic Bread Pizzas.  YUM!  Well, as I mentioned, I had plenty of ingredients leftover.  Dinner for 4-8 people (depending on how hungry everyone is) last night cost me $8.  So for lunch today, we made little crescent roll pizza bites.  After doing the math, lunch for me and my two kids today cost us only about $4!  BTW....I still have some cheese and pepperoni leftover!  I did run out of sauce (which cost me $.35 to make anyways).  

 Separate your crescent rolls (I bought a few cans when they were on sale for $1).  Place one pepperoni, a small amount of shredded mozzarella cheese, a little oregano, and a piece of string cheese (I cut up a stick of string cheese, $.25, and put a small piece on each roll).

Roll up your crescent roll making sure to tuck the sides in (you don't want your cheese to spill out the sides!).

Line them up on your baking dish.  Make sure the oven is preheated according to the directions on the can, and bake just like you would a regular crescent roll.

Let the rolls cool for a moment before serving.  These were cheap to make and a hit with the kids!

Garlic Bread Pizza

So the other day, I was going through my mail, when I came across a Pizza Hut ad for Garlic Bread Pizza. The first the to pop into my head was "why the F didn't I think of that!"  Of course I had to make some now!  It would be wrong if I didn't.  Right?  This ingredients cost me $8 (plus I have enough cheese, sauce, and pepperoni left to make two more meals using garlic bread, french bread, or crescent rolls).


Ingredients:

Garlic bread (I used Texas Toast brand with the cheese on it!)
Pizza or pasta sauce (I actually took a can of tomatoes, $.35, oregano, basil, and a dash of wine, blended and simmered it.)
Mozzarella cheese
Pepperoni slices
Tomato (I had one sitting around)


Directions:


Line your garlic bread in a baking dish.  Top with sauce, cheese, and then toppings (in that order).  Bake according to the directions on the box of garlic bread,  Feeds 4-8 people.


It's as simple as that!  And it was such a hit with my family too!  I've got a can of crescent rolls in the fridge, so I think I'll try pizza roll bites tomorrow with my leftover ingredients!  Bon' appetite!  

When the Dinner Bell Rings: The Super Easy Way to Getting Meals Ready ~ DUMP CHICKEN

Every once in a while I'll stumble across another blog with such great information or recipes, I feel it is my duty to share.  I mean, what kind of person would I be if I didn't?  Right?  Well, here is yet another Pinterest find (because you know I'm in love with Pinterest)!  Time to clear out some room in my freezer and get some gallon size freezer bags ready!

When the Dinner Bell Rings: The Super Easy Way to Getting Meals Ready ~ DUMP C...: What is Dump Chicken? Dump chicken is one of the easiest forms of Freezer cooking! The idea is VERY simple, do NOT over think it. You t...

Education

Last week I was sitting down with my husband.  He was preparing for his college graduation.  I started to feel like I have yet to find my place (I mean, besides being a mommy and a wife).  I had not finished the business degree that I let my hubby talk me into (yuck.... business!).  As I was sitting there, I started thinking about our current education system.  Times are changing, and more is expected of people, and the basis for a person is what they learn in elementary school.  So as I sat there thinking, I blurted out, "I want to be a teacher".  Without even thinking, my husband's response was "you'd make a great teacher, I think you should enroll in school."  Within the next 48 hours, my husband had found a school with a great education program, helped me fill out an application, and I was given a counselor and enrolled.  Not even a week later and I am scheduled for my first class.  It's amazing how quickly things can move!  I asked my hubby what he thought of me going back to school, and he said that's what he wanted from me all along, but he never wanted to force it onto me.  And when I asked him about my choice in majors, he said that he knew I would chose it eventually.  (On a side note, my grandmother has been teaching for 60+ years).  Here we go....the start of yet another adventure in my life!

Summer Safety Tips

If you are a fan of Motherhood and Money on Facebook, you may know that I am an admin on a page called Mommy's Place.  Mommy's Place is a page that focuses on mom's......giving advice, answering questions, and giving you a place to vent.  Recently, we started a blog for this page.  One of our first posts was about summer safety.  With summer finally here, I wanted to share the safety tips we posted on our blog. 

Drowning:  Although great fun for the kids, water can be dangerous. Nearly 1000 kids die each year by drowning, which makes it the second leading cause of accidental death for ages 5-24.  Kids need constant supervision when around all types of water, even a wading pool. Young children can drown in as little as 2 inches of water!  It is best to start your kids in a swimming lesson with qualified instructors.  Never assume even a kid who has had swim lessons isn't at risk of drowning. It is best to keep weak swimmers and young swimmers within arms distance. 

Make sure you are using a coast guard approved floatation devices. There are lots of different styles to choose from.  Make sure you choose the best one for your child.  If you are going to be riding in a boat, make sure you get one that is approved for boat riding. Unfortunately, the stylish swimsuits with the built in floatation device is not approved for riding in a boat. Also, the wing floaties are not effective against drowning, they are just there for a little extra help. 
Pool Rules:  It is important to make sure your kids have and follow pool rules.  Public pools may have a set of rules already in place, make sure your kids read and understand them.  If you have your own pool, make up a set of rules and consequences for not following the rules.  Remind them why you have rules and what could happen if something did happen.  Supervision is needed at all times, even if your kids have taken swim lessons and are wearing life vests.  There should be appropriate safety equipment at all pools.  Even when it is not swim season, pools can pose a threat.  Make sure your kids know that pools with covers can be extremely dangerous.  Make sure your kids know that covered pools cannot be walked on.  If someone walks on a covered pool or accidentally fall into a covered pool, they can drown fast from being trapped in the pool. 
Lake, Ponds, and Beaches:  Lakes, ponds, and beaches can be very dangerous for children.  They need to be supervised at all times. Sometimes you cannot tell when it gets deeper and it can drop really fast without you knowing.  It is very smart to make sure your kids wear foot protection since you do not know what is in the water. Never let children get too far out due to boats and being far away from help.  If you at the beach, teach your children about being aware of sea animals.  At the beach, or in a strong current, teach your kids to swim parallel to the shore or to just tread water until you can get someone's attention for help.  

Water Safety:  When you are swimming outside, beware of bad weather and teach your child to get out of the water when they see lightning and to let adults know.  Water illnesses can be extremely bad.  Make sure to take lots of bathroom breaks and drink lots of water so they don't get dehydrated.  Make sure to have a swim diaper on your child, if you have a child who is not potty trained.  Leaky diapers can spread bad germs throughout the pool and as we all know it is hard to keep our mouth close 100% of the time in the water.  Other swimmers can get severe diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and dehydration from swallowed water. 
Skin Protection:  Swimming can be fun for the whole family and is great exercise. Sometimes we get caught up in having so much fun and forget to put on one of the most important things, SUN SCREEN.  Sun exposure is a great source of vitamin D but it doesn't take much time in the sun for most people to get too much sun.  The sun's UV rays can cause skin damage, eye damage, or even skin cancer. 
A sunburn means your skin's melanin is less than the amount of UV exposure that it can protect against. Unprotected sun exposure is even more dangerous to kids with moles, very fair skin, or a family history of skin cancer (ex. melanoma).  One of the biggest mistakes is parents think since there is an overcast that their child doesn't need sunscreen.  UV rays can travel through clouds and reflect off of sand, water, concrete, etc.  Sunscreen should be at least SPF 30 and applied every few hours, even with high number SPF sunscreens.  Make sure your sunscreen protects against UVA and UVB rays, and never buy sunscreen that contains PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid), chemical-free block is best.  Apply sunscreen at least 15 minutes before sun exposure and make sure all areas are protected. Never assume that darker skin color means the child can not be affected by the sun's harmful rays.  It is not advised to put sunscreen on kids under 6months of age.  Appropriate clothing such as sunglasses, hats with wide brims, or even a long sleeve swimsuits are best.  Umbrellas or any type of shade is a must when out in the sun, all kids need a place to get away from the sun.  If your child does develop a sun burn, apply aloe on all areas and give them an anti-inflammatory (ex. ibuprofen).  If your child gets a severe sunburn and blisters develop, do not pop the blisters and call the doctor.  Keep your child in the shade until the sunburn is gone.

I hope everyone has a SAFE and HAPPY summer!

Freezer Meal: Pita Pizza

A few weeks ago, I had posted about the day I spent cooking up a months worth of meals.  As you also know, I am dieting (Weight Watchers baby!).  Convenience and diet friendly don't always go hand in hand, so making a lunch for me that was delicious, easy, and diet friendly was a challenge I was willing to accept.  But in fact, it wasn't hard at all.  One of the lunches I chose was the frozen pita pizzas.

Here's how I made them:

I took one whole wheat pita bread (low in fat and carbs, but high in fiber), topped it with one serving (2 tbsp) of pizza sauce (you can make your own if you can't find one low in fat), one serving of low fat cheese, and then any veggies you like!  For me, I wanted tomatoes.  Bake you pizza on 350 degrees for 5 minutes just until the cheese is melted.  Once cooled, wrap and freeze!  

When I felt like pizza, I'd pull my frozen pizza out of the freezer, pop it in the microwave for 1 1/2-2 minutes until nice and hot.

I love dipping my pizza in wing sauce and ranch.  So to complete my lunch, I used my ranch "dip" and a little splash of hot sauce.  My ranch dip is one tub of fat free/low fat sour cream and one packet of dry ranch mix.

Now, for all of you Weight Watchers fans....the Points Plus value of the pizza alone.....2!  Adding my ranch "dip" added 1 extra point.  3 points for lunch!  Good deal!

Enjoy!