April 2009 – Page 2 – a hippie with a minivan

Caramelized Onion and Spinach Pizza with Peanut sauce…

Annie shared this recipe on her blog a while back and I have been dying to make it…

I used my favourite dough which I shared in this post…

For the sauce… (I changed it a bit to suit my taste and Annie’s recipe didn’t have water and it just doesn’t work without it for me)

Peanut Pizza Sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp Ginger, minced
3-4 heaping tbsp Peanut Butter
2 tbsp Tamari
1 tbsp Demerara Sugar
Garlic Chili Paste (to taste)
2 tbsp Green Onion, chopped (I use two)
1/3 cup of warm water (or more depending on how thin you want it)

Blend together to make a sauce

Ready to be blended…

Peanut sauce is done… this stuff is amazing… not only for pizza but for a dipping sauce also…

Caramelize the onions… I then added garlic, mushrooms and then some spinach…

Spread the sauce on the prepared dough and then add the toppings…

I then added some more fresh spinach and grated carrot…

Bake at 400 for about 15 min…

What a treat!

Pizza dough…

Pizza is such a great meal to make… it is easy, pretty cheap, delicious and there are always leftovers!

My favourite recipe for the dough makes 3 good sized pizza’s…

2 1/2 cup of warm water
3 tsp yeast
2 tsp honey
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tsp salt
5 1/2 cups of flour

Put the water in a large bowl (or the bowl of your mixer) and add the yeast and honey and let sit for about 5 min…

Meanwhile, mix the flour and salt together…

Add the olive oil to the yeasty water, mix then add the flour. The dough should be quite moist and a bit sticky. Knead until you get a soft and satiny dough… set aside in an oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled. (about 45 min to an hour.)

When the dough had doubled, divide into three pieces and prepare.

Tonight the boys all wanted pepperoni and cheese…We use a can of Garlic Tomato paste mixed with a can of water and some herbs to make the pizza sauce.

I wanted to make the caramelized onion and spinach pizza with peanut sauce that Annie had shared… and of course the beauty of pizza is that you can make your own…

Here is the Pepperoni and cheese…

(stuffed crust pepperoni and cheese)

(Caramelized onion and spinach pizza with a savoury peanut sauce…)

Pretty certain it's over now…

I woke up this morning spotting lightly…I checked my cervix and it was medium and closed and I wondered when it would end…

I went grocery shopping and the bleeding got a bit heavier and I felt really heavy and slow… by the time I got home I was not feeling the best…

I sat down with Khéna and he fell asleep and as I shifted my weight a bit and did an involuntary Kegal I felt that something was there… I asked Simon to take Khéna and headed to the bathroom… a clot had come out… no blood or anything was with it… just a large clot that looked like a piece of liver… my cervix was open and I just knew at that moment.. it was most likely the end…

A little while later, I took a dollar store test that I had picked up today and it was negative…

My spotting is gone and there is nothing when I wipe… I can’t believe how fast that was….

I don’t feel pregnant anymore… I still feel strange that I didn’t bleed much, no where near what my normal period is… and that I didn’t have any cramps either…

I am OK though… I think I knew the moment that I saw the blood last Monday… and really I think that I knew before…

I had debated with myself whether to share the news of my positive test here on my blog and decided I would because it is in many ways my journal… my way of remembering things which include even the earliest days of pregnancy and whatever comes with it and after it…

I am also glad that I did because I was able to get feedback and support in a time that I needed it and I thank those that followed me through this…

Inspired…

I have been making weekly menus now for a few years but Annie has inspired me to share my routine and my weeks menu here also…

My weekly routine is to get up Saturday morning and look at the local flyers online and see what is on special and where… most of the time I go to two grocery stores. The stores that have cheaper prices (Super-C and Maxi) often have the nicest looking produce because their turnover is quicker but don’t have much in the way of choice or “speciality” foods… but the staples (flour, eggs, TP etc…) are much cheaper and it really makes a difference to take the effort to go to both types of stores…The other stores (IGA and Metro) are more expensive but have more choice and organic sections.

So the factors that go into my weekly menu are what we already have in the house, what is on special and what we feel like eating that week… I always try to choose at least 2 meals that are quick and easy for the nights that I just don’t feel like cooking or we have something planned and I always try to make sure that the suppers we eat on weekdays are things that have leftovers for Simon’s lunch the next day… though we are not vegetarian, I always have a few vegetarian meals because I enjoy it and I know that I don’t feel good eating meat too often.

After choosing the meals, I go through each item on my list and figure out what we already have and what we need and make my grocery list…

This weeks grocery bill came out to about 135$ (with a few staples)

Meals for the week (not in the order we will be eating them):

Steaks with grilled Asparagus and spinach salad
Crispy Tofu with Coconut Quinoa (the curried version of this)
“Quick Spaghetti” (bacon, onion, mushrooms, garlic etc on pasta for the guys and spinach for myself)
Pizza
Grilled veggie wraps with avocado-wasabi mayo and homemade tortillas
Creamy Broccoli soup
Bar-B-Barn ribs with veggies

(I really need to share more recipes!)

For breakfasts, lunches and snacks we have eggs, oatmeal, homemade bread, pancakes, croissants, crackers and cheese, fruit, veggies etc…

I will most likely be making some treats also…

another day…

Well another day has passed… I am still spotting, no clots but still red and very much there and enough to not look like will be finished today… I think I have a little while yet…

Simon went to work today, no need for him to stay home because I think that the worst is already over and now it is just the wait… I went and got supper and I noticed that I bleed a bit more when I am out and walking…I didn’t feel like leaving the house but it sure felt good to do so…

At this moment, though I want to still be pregnant, if I am honest with myself I don’t think that I am anymore. However, In the back of my mind there is still a tiny bit of hope and I may pick up a dollar store test next week or something just to help settle my mind…

I am sad, but I don’t think that it has hit me yet… I think it because I am still not 100% sure… I think it would have been easier in a way if the signs were not as mild as they are compared to what I have been told, have read or had imagined… but now I just keep teetering…

This uncertainty is hard… I am a kind of person that is impatient and hates to wait, but I guess it is one of these times that there is nothing to do but wait…

I wasn’t completely ready for another little one to be added to the family, but the possibility and the potential loss has given me an ache and I don’t think I will want to wait too much longer to do so…