Friday night=pizza night

Somehow, my "lady of leisure" time is coming to an end. I start my new job right after the holiday weekend and while I'm definitely excited for the new challenge, I'm also sad to see my time off coming to an end. As I've mentioned before, Adela has been home with me since we moved. I can definitely tell she's ready to get back into a routine and be around lots of children her own age. At the same time though, every time I bring it up, she makes a sad face and tells me to stop talking about it.

Yesterday, I was trying to think about what I felt like I had accomplished in the last 2.5 months. Obviously, we've moved twice, so there has been a significant amount of packing,  unpacking, re-packing, unpacking, etc. I've also made more trips to the DMV than I care to admit. My favorite thing though has been having to little bit of "extra time" to do all of the normal stuff. I've certainly taken advantage of the time off to take my kids to parks and museums and movies, etc. which has been really great. But my favorite things? Taking Adela to get a chocolate frosted donut and then strolling through Target to look at shower curtains or picking Bodie up from school and watching him ride his bike at 4pm on a Tuesday. It's been so nice to not be in a constant rush... And I'm hoping I can remember that as we get back into our routine.

Another thing I wanted to try with my extra time was making my own pizza crust. I've never done it before and it seemed like the perfect way to spend a rainy Friday afternoon. I turned to my trusted Betty Crocker cookbook and substituted half the the flour with white whole wheat flour, but otherwise followed the recipe. The crust was just ok...not bad, but I feel like I could do better...so I'll keep working on that. (Actually, who am i kidding...I'm going back to work, so i'll probably be ordering pizza ;) )The recipe that I did want to post though was for the toppings. One of the most important things to do when you move is find a great pizza place. Brett and I had a really great white pizza with chicken and hot peppers (which has never occurred to me to put on a pizza before) when we first moved and it was SO good! 

The recipe 

1 pizza crust

3/4 cup of ricotta cheese

2 cloves of garlic

1 long hot pepper, seeds removed and cut into thin strips(that's what it was called at the grocery store... I'm not sure what the technical name is)

2 links of chicken sausage, cut into small chunks (I bought the jalapeño flavored one)

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450 (or whatever your pizza crust directions are). Roll out crust on a greased baking sheet. (tip.... When we buy the refrigerated ones in the bags at the grocery store, we put them in the microwave for 45 seconds and it's way easier to roll it out.) 

In a small bowl mix the ricotta cheese, garlic and salt and pepper. Spread in a thin layer on the crust. 

Top with the pepper and sausage slices. Top with the mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until it's browned.