Homemade Pizza Dough with the Bread Machine

For tonight's homemade pizza dough with the bread machine I used one of my old pizza cookbooks that my brother gave me for my birthday one year. I just used the traditional dough recipe, adjusted it to my bread machine, and added some extra sugar because I like my dough a little sweeter. I also just used vegetable oil instead of olive oil because that is what I had on hand. I used my favorite brand sauce, Hunts, the garlic & onion variety. For toppings I cut up sweet mini peppers, half of a bell pepper, and some smoked ham. In addition to these I also scattered grated mozzarella and bacon pieces over my pie. I put a dusting of cornmeal on the bottom for some texture. I also turned my oven temperature higher than most recipes call for. I just like it that way. You better believe the pizza shops have hot and toasty ovens! My pizza was an amazing success. We were so happy to have some leftovers despite the fact that the pizza was so tasty. Now we can save some of this delicious pizza in our freezer so we will have some good food after baby Garland arrives and I'm recuperating.

Mini Shells Alfredo

I was pretty hungry by the time I realized we needed to have lunch. This morning we had slept in, had a late breakfast, and a late lunch was what could be expected after that. I decided to make a nice satisfying, filling lunch. I got the mini shells out, a pot and a pan, and set to work.

Mini Shells Alfredo

Oil

Salt

Water

Mini Shells

Butter

Milk

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Ground Nutmeg

Onion Powder

Salt & Pepper

Oregano

The Lily Pad Game

Anthony and I did some more Python programming this evening. Anthony wanted to write a computer game. I thought it would be cool to plan a special computer game for our little daughter on the way. I came up with a lily pad game. I sketched a picture of my idea on a small scale, a prototype complete with lily pads, a lotus blossom, and a frog. To win the game, the frog has to reach the lily pad with the lotus blossom. To lose, he merely does not make it to the lily pad with the lotus in time, or worse he falls in the water and is disqualified.

Anthony and I started working on code for The Lily Pad Game. I learned two things about coding tonight: 1) if statements, 2) for loops. We didn't use the if statements in The Lily Pad Game but we did use the for loops. For loops is a function that allows you to repeat the execution of a section of code while moving an index over a sequence. We did two loops so that we could have the first index move over the sequence 1-10, and the second index move through the sequence small, medium, and large lily pads. Our next step will be to plot the lily pads on a x,y point graph/ Cartesian coordinates like you would see on a graphing calculator/ Cartesian plane. Below you will find some screen shots of our Python Lily Pad Game code, and our terminal output of it.

Fast & Easy Vegetable Lo Mein

This afternoon I went walking with a friend. When I got home, it was time to make dinner! I needed to think of something fast because it was already 4:30 p.m. I remembered seeing a picture of vegetable lo mein on Pinterest sometime recently. I could do that easy, no problem, had all the ingredients on hand. I love lo mein, and tonight's lo mein by no means disappointed.

Fast & Easy Vegetable Lo Mein

Whole Wheat Thin Spaghetti

Soy Sauce

Minced Garlic

Water

1/2 Sweet Onion

1/2 Green Bell Pepper

2 Thick Carrots

Celery Stalk & Leaves

Vegetable Oil

Pepper & Salt

Ground Nutmeg

Cayenne Pepper

Chunky Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

I thought about having cold quiche for breakfast this morning, but I am stuck in a rut I suppose having oatmeal for breakfast! I should open a gourmet oatmeal shop! I could serve 25 flavors. Now, to come up with them. I know that won't be a problem. Lol. Gingerbread Peppermint Oatmeal, Carrot Raisin Oatmeal, Avocado Walnut Lime Oatmeal, etc. No, I have not yet tried any of those. The possibilities are endless. Pickled Chicken Foot Soy Oatmeal. I rabbit trail. This morning I made a classic, apple cinnamon oatmeal. Quaker Oats would be proud.

Chunky Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Quick Oats

Honey Crisp Apple

Milk

Cinnamon

Brown Sugar

Strawberry Jello Frozen Yogurt

I saw a picture for jello frozen yogurt on Pinterest and determined to give it a try. I googled some random jello frozen yogurt recipes for reference, and then made up my own version. I did two parts yogurt to one part jello. The end result was delicious, but it wasn't frozen yogurt. It reminded me more of jello with cream cheese in it. Yum.

Shari's Sausage, Peppers, & Onions Quiche

Today I thawed a pie crust so I could make quiche for dinner. I had gotten the idea for a sausage, peppers, and onions quiche when I saw a picture of one on Pinterest maybe last week. This afternoon I googled quiche and looked at a random quiche recipe to reference the basics on quiche. Here is a link to the recipe I referenced http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-a-fool-proof-quiche-168459. I then proceeded to make up my own sausage, peppers, and onions quiche recipe.

Shari's Sausage, Peppers, & Onions Quiche

1 Pie Crust

Balsamic Vinegar

Thyme

Ground Ginger

Sweet Onion

 Mini Sweet Peppers

Breakfast Sausage

3 Eggs

1 1/2 Cups Milk

Salt & Pepper

Anthony Makes Grilled Ham & Cheese Surprise Sandwiches

Today Anthony made grilled ham and cheese surprise sandwiches for lunch. I say surprise because I saw him making them, but when I bit into my sandwich there was a secret ingredient I had not seen added. That ingredient was salsa. There were also a couple of other ingredients that added lots of flavor, bacon and parmesan.

Grilled Ham & Cheese Surprise Sandwiches

Sandwich Buns

Medium Chunky Salsa

Smoked Ham

Yellow American Cheese

Bacon Pieces

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Creamy Oatmeal Du Jour

This morning I got up and thought I would combine a couple of cold cereals for breakfast with some nuts. When I got to the kitchen though, I felt a little chilly. I decided to have hot cereal, oatmeal instead. You'll find the recipe below. Can I just say, it was amazing.

Creamy Oatmeal Du Jour

Quick Oats

Maple Syrup

Golden California Raisins

French Vanilla Coffee

Milk

Fall Harvest Treats

My friend Kim had asked me to host our Clemson Cross Impact Power Group Bible study at my apartment this week. We just started a new study this semester on the Book of Ecclesiastes. We are all really enjoying the study. There is so much wisdom in that book. We often meet at each others apartments or at coffee shops in the area. Most of the girls in our particular power group are grad student wives. Whoever hosts the group usually provides some light refreshments as well. I decided to prepare some colorful harvest munchies. I put together a trail mix from some random nuts and dried fruit I had in my cupboards. Okay, not so random. I made sure not to include prunes in the mix because I just thought they didn't belong. They were a lot larger than the other nuts and dried fruits so visually it would not have been pleasing. I wanted to make a veggie tray with bacon ranch dip. I remembered seeing a bell pepper used as a dip bowl on Pinterest, thought I'd give that a try. I sprinkled some bacon pieces on top of the bacon ranch dip so people would not be surprised by the bacon flavor of the ranch salad dressing. The munchies were a great hit!

PBJ with Honey Roasted Peanuts

Today I asked Anthony what he wanted me to pack for his lunch. He didn't know. To help him out I gave him some options, one purposefully bad to make it easier to narrow it down! I asked if he wanted peanut butter and jelly, ham and cheese, or ham and cheese with honey roasted peanuts. He said he wanted peanut butter and jelly with honey roasted peanuts. I asked him what kind of jelly, red plum or blackberry if we had any left. He of course wanted his favorite, Blackburn's Blackberry.