An Iowa Mom

Wordless Wednesday: Would You Consider This Child Labor?

WFMW: Calzone Casserole

My family LOVES calzones, but it's really a pain in the rear to prepare one for each of the six of us.  Beacuse of the inconvenience, we only had them once in a great while.  THEN, I found this recipe and it made making a calzone for each member of my family easy as 1 - 2 - 3. 

CALZONE CASSEROLE

• 2 cans Pizza Crust
• 1 Package of Pepperoni
• 1 container of Ricotta Cheese
• 4 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
• Egg
• Parmesan Cheese

In a 9 x 13 glass dish, spray with no stick cooking spray.  Take 1 of the pizza crusts out and flatten it into the bottom of the dish.  Tear away any extra from around the edges.

Spread a thin layer of mozzarella cheese onto the crust, leaving about an inch around all edges. Spread ricotta cheese over the mozzarella layer.  Place a layer of pepperoni over the ricotta.  Top with remaining mozzarella cheese.

Take second pizza crust out of container and place it on top of cheese and pepperoni mixture.  Again, tearing away an extra remaining around the edges.

Using your fingers, press the top crust layer and the bottom crust layer to seal the inch around all the edges.  Beat egg in small bowl.  Brush over top of crust.  Using a knife, cut four 3 inch slits in the top of the casserole.  Bake at 425 for 20 to 25 minutes.

It works for me ... I hope it works for you too!  For other great tips and tricks, visit Rocks In My Dryer.

Beaded Socks

Okay ... I finally did it!  I did something creative.  LOL!  Not only did I make beaded socks for the girls ... a pair to match every outfit they have in their closet ... I decided to make a go of it and share them with every other mother of little princesses out there!  Yup, you heard it right, I will now offer my socks for sale!  :)  My girl's just LOVE them and receive compliments everywhere we go because they are so darling.  The Target cashier placed an order for 3 pair. 

If you'd like to take a look at them, I put together a little website to show the bead styles and colors I have available to make the socks.  I have posted a few pairs of socks in the "Gallery" as examples of what I can make, but plan to add several more pair tomorrow.  It's just a matter of getting photos taken and posted.

Sharing with you all just seemed a MUST as I've been saying I was going to get creative for weeks now and never posted anything.  I HAVE been busy ... and now sharing with all of you!  I was thinking of having a contest to give away a few pairs ... what do you think?  Anyone interested in something like that?

Can you say ... "Brat!!"

Last week the postlady rang the bell to deliver a very unexpected package.  I had no idea what it might be, but it had my name on it and I don't know about you, but when I get a package that I had no idea was coming ... I get really excited.

Keeping my composure while thanking the nice woman who brought it to me, I gently closed the door .... then bolted to the kitchen for a pair of scissors that would be used to tear the box apart to discover it's contents.  Almost out of breath by the time I managed to remove all the tape, keeping my surprise safe inside, I use both hands to scoop out all the little styrofoam popcorn (This stuff drives me absolutely crazy when people use it for packing).

I reach inside and pull out a photo album full of pictures from my childhood that my Grandparents had taken and kept.  There was also 15 cassette tapes full of recordings of my brother and me as we sang Christmas carols, birthday wishes ... and a range of other things ... that my Grandparents had recorded when we were small.  Never really thinking of it until I saw the tapes, I can still vividly remember holding that little microphone, that I thought was the coolest thing ever, and belting out tunes so proud to be "recorded".  Now I have the tapes.

My Grandmother passed away several years ago and I have missed her everyday since.  My Grandfather passed away last year, and I was never notified of his passing until 2 months after the fact.  A long story that maybe I'll someday share, but in a nutshell, my father is the only one left in that area and he's an asshole.  That pretty much sums it up.

Anyway, a woman that was close to my Grandfather (an old family friend) and went over to play cards with him and visit and laugh in his final days, was cleaning out his house little by little as she has time.  She ran across these things and instead of just throwing them away ... she packaged them up and sent them to me.  It made my day, week, year .... life!

Here is one of the photos I found of myself at age 4 inside my surprise package.  This is soooo something I would expect one of my girls to do when I take them to a studio and pay a pretty penny for a photo to capture them at a particular age ...

Can you say ... "Brat!"   Yeah, maybe so, but my Grandparents loved me anyway ... even in THAT shirt!

Recovering ...

from having one too many the night before last.  A friend came over to "scrapbook" while I worked on being "creative" and I decided the creativity may flow a little better if I were more relaxed.  So, I had a couple few beers.  They didn't make me any more creative, but they did cause me to fall asleep 2 hours earlier than I noramlly would, in addition to lounging on the couch all day yesterday.  What a waste!  I am having trouble coming to grips with the fact that the older I get, the less I can drink and the longer my hangovers last (or even having hangovers at all, I never had hangovers in my 20's ... aaahhhh "the days").

Anyway, I've decided my can coozie say's it all. 

This is how I feel while I'm enjoying my drinks:

And, this is how I feel afterwards:

Now ... back to trying to be creative ...

Wordless Wednesday: Busted

WFMW: EASY Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

I made this sauce this morning and had it cooking in the crock pot before the boys even left for the bus.  That is pretty impressive considering I don't even get out of bed until a half hour before they are ready to leave.  LOL! 

Very easy and quick recipe for a homemade taste with a pepperoni twist --- and if you're like me and totally don't like sauce in the jar or can ... this will be perfect for you.  Enjoy!

Easy Spaghetti Sauce

2 - 28 oz cans Hunts Whole Tomatoes
2 - 12 oz cans Hunts Tomato Paste
8 oz. stick of Pepperoni
Garlic Powder
Oregano
Seasoned Salt

1. Blend one can tomatos with one can paste.  Pour into crock pot.  Repeat
   with the other cans of tomatos and paste. 
2. Slice pepperoni stick into one inch slices and then quarter each slice.  (or cut into 1 inch slices and place 1/4 of them into a blender or food processor at a time and grate/chop). 
3. Add pepperoni to sauce in crockpot. 
4. Add spices to your liking. 
5. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours.
6. Serve with cooked noodles (we prefer rotini noodles because they are fun and easy for the kids) and garlic bread.

If you use this recipe, come back and tell me how you like it.

For more WFMW tips ... Visit Rocks In My Dryer!!