The weekend is here. . .

I think the weekends are the hardest time for me while Randy has been gone. When he's home, I look forward to it for family time. Now, it just feels like one more day without a break. I'm even more tired than usual tonight. We're in a babysitting co-op and tonight was my night to watch kids. Actually, it was a make-up night because I traded with someone so that I could skip my turn while I was in South Carolina. I have co-op again in two weeks. . . really no break!! That's alright. It's part of life! I just need to prepare my lesson for Sunday. I'm teaching in Young Women's. Something I absolutely LOVE doing. I was supposed to teach two weeks ago since it was fast Sunday then, but I goofed and forgot to coordinate with the advisers who usually teach to tell them I was doing it the Sunday AFTER conference (I was just getting back from SC two weeks ago and wasn't prepared to teach a lesson). I'm such a flake sometimes! Who's idea was it to make me the young women's president?!?! Not mine!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the ideas on the standard's night. We had a presidency meeting about it today. We have a BRAND new Bishop (sustained two weeks ago, so we haven't had a real Sunday with him yet). Poor man. . . I was in his office at his work the day after he was sustained (he's a professor at a university here). Our ward has been treading water for two months-- our bishop was called into the stake presidency in the beginning of February, and we just got our new one sustained two weeks ago. It was really rough on us. . . so, poor needy me was the first in line to talk to the executive secretary. Fortunately, our new bishop has a very strong interest in our YW program (his daughter is a beehive, whereas our last bishop didn't have any daughters in our program), so he is very willing to help fill any gaps we have. I don't want our standards night to be dull or boring, but I don't want to go overboard either. The bishop is very specific that he wants strict guidelines for what is appropriate to be discussed with the girls. So, we'll see how it goes! We're going to try to put it together in three weeks, because May is packed! Mother's day, high school graduations, Memorial Day. . . That will be a little sad of a holiday for me. Randy and I met the day after Memorial Day six years ago! Go figure that we're about to have our sixth wedding anniversary. Wow, that went quick!

Tonight, I made BBQ chicken pizza for dinner. It's a favorite in our family! The pizza crust recipe that I use is Angela's, I've just changed it a little bit:

2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons yeast
2 tablespoons honey
1/8 cup evaporated cane juice (organic sugar)
2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup ground golden flax seeds
2 tablespoons oil
2 cups white flour
3-5 cups whole wheat flour (I really am not sure how much it is, I just put the dough hook on my mixer after I add the white flour, then put in whole wheat flour until the dough is a nice soft ball, pulling away from the edges of the bowl)

I let this knead for about 5 minutes, then split it into three pieces. If I'm using my baking stone, I will quite often bake the crusts individually for about 10 minutes each, then pull them out and put them on a cooling rack. That way, I put on the toppings when I'm ready to make the pizzas and it only takes about 10 minutes per pizza in the oven to finish baking and cook all the toppings on. I bake it at 350 degrees. If you roll the crust out and want to bake it all at once, spray the pan you're using, then sprinkle corn meal over it; put the dough on whatever you're using to bake it (cookie sheet, pizza sheet, baking stone), then let it rise for about 5 minutes before putting the toppings on. You can use this crust for any kind of pizza. I usually to a cheese, olive, pineapple and sometimes pepperoni one for my kids, then make a BBQ chicken one and alfredo chicken one for the adults. Needless to say, I haven't been eating any alfredo sauce since Randy's been gone since I've been trying to lose weight!

To make the BBQ chicken pizza, I try to keep BBQ chicken in the freezer. I will find quite often that I buy chicken breasts, then they will just sit in the fridge for a few days without me using them (my lovely phobia of meat, I'd rather not have to handle it. I wish it would just cook itself! I've taken a lot of microbiology and I know what grows on it!!!), so I'll trim them and throw them in the crockpot. I will often trim the chicken and throw them in with about half a bottle of BBQ sauce and some water, then cook on low for about 8 hours (be careful, the BBQ sauce has so much sugar it can burn easily and it smells really bad if it does!). Then I just shred it and put it in labeled freezer bags. You can also grill the chicken, basting with BBQ sauce while it's cooking. So, here's how I make it:

BBQ sauce all over pizza crust (my FAVORITE kind of BBQ sauce is Jack Daniel's. Randy doesn't like me using it because he says it's supporting a liquor company. If you live somewhere where you can buy Famous Dave's BBQ sauce, I highly recommend that, too)
Mozzarella and provolone shredded cheese mix (about a cup)
About 1 1/2 cups shredded BBQ chicken breasts
Thinly sliced red onions (just a few to give some flavor)
Finely chopped canned pineapple (the tidbits are already the perfect size, they just don't sell those at Sam's, so I chop up the chunks)
A sprinkle of bacon bits (I buy the precooked ones at Sam's; they have the nitrates in them, so they're really bad for you. . . but I only use a tiny bit. If I'm really on top of it, I'll have some uncured bacon cooked in the fridge and I'll cut that up with scissors over the pizza)
Bake at 350 until the crust is well browned and the cheese is all melted (about 20-30 min. if crust is not prebaked, about 10-15 if it is).
Once it's out of the oven, I like to snip some fresh cilantro over the top. It adds a really fun flavor twist!

Enjoy today's recipe! I love the responses I've gotten from people who have liked the recipes and my blog. On Sunday I'm making my crockpot nachos. I've had MANY requests for that recipe, so stay tuned for that, and I make it with my homemade refried beans. . . so I'll hopefully have the time to post that recipe, too!