Recipe: BBQ Chicken Pizza

I have heard of people making chicken BBQ pizza before, but it never really appealed to me until I tried it at my father’s house a couple of weeks ago.  I made it for dinner a couple of weeks ago and it was awesome! 

This is how I made it:

1. Make the pizza dough (see below for recipe)
2. Spread out the dough on your pizza stone or pizza sheet
3. Apply BBQ sauce to the dough
4. Add chopped up chicken over the BBQ sauce
5. Place mozzarella cheese over the chicken
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 450 or until dough is fully cooked
7. Enjoy!

Steps 1 & 2

Step 3 

 Step 4

Step 5

 

Step 7

(I had to add some shredded cheese because we ran out of mozzarella!)

I couldn’t believe how simple this was to make and with very few ingredients, it was right up my alley!  This recipe is a keeper in our home!

Our favorite homemade pizza dough recipe:

1 cup hot water
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
2 1/2 cups flour

Mix together the hot water and yeast, then add the the other ingredients.
Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes. 




This post is linked up with Weekend Blog Hop and Frugal Friday's.

Recipe: Crockpot Applesauce

Last year was the first time I ever tried to make homemade applesauce.  I found a recipe online and couldnt believe how simple it was to make!  I will be making many many batches of this applesauce for our own consumption as well as to give away as gifts for the holidays. I will also be making apple butter using the applesauce made from this recipe.

Prepare your crockpot

Core and peel 10-20 apples (this is 20 apples)

Place apples into crockpot

Add 1 cup water, 1/2 cup or 1 cup sugar and cinnamon (optional)
(I used 1/2 cup sugar)

Let simmer all day and come home to this

Stir it up and you get chunky applesauce!

If the applesauce is too runny for your liking, let it simmer for an hour or two with the lid off and it will thicken up.

This post is linked up with Homemaker By Choice's Weeklong Blog Hop.

Frontier House: PBS Series

I recently watched Frontier House that aired on PBS back in 2002.  Frontier House is a series of 6 episodes where 3 modern-day families went back to live the life of a family in 1883 for 5 months. Back in 1883, people came from all over to claim their 160 acres of land, but only after living on their frontier for 5 years:  1 out of 3 families survived the life on the frontier.

The families that PBS chose were pretty interesting. 

• The Brooks Family: This family is an African American family, which they said were more common on the frontier back in 1883 than books portray.  At the beginning of the series, Nate and his father, Rudy were at the homestead for the first five weeks to help build the homestead.  Then Nate’s (real) fiancé, Kristen came and they got married on the homestead. Rudy left the frontier and let his new daughter-in-law resume life with her new husband on the frontier.
• The Clune Family:  This family is from Malibu, California where the father was an executive for a company and they appear to be pretty affluent.  The mother, a native of Ireland, was a stay-at-home mom and they had 3 children.  For some reason, the Clune family also brought their niece to the Frontier House.
• The Glenn Family: The Glenn family is a blended family from Tennessee.  This is the second marriage for the mother and her children are from her previous marriage.  Throughout the series, you can pretty much watch the relationship of the mother and her husband unravel – it is really sad, because the children were thriving on the frontier. 

For 5 months, these families had to help build their own cabins (except the Glenn Family who got a pre-built cabin in their scenario.)  From the very beginning, the families got a real taste of what it was like to travel to their destination and what obstacles the pioneers faced (I wont spoil it for you – you have to watch it!) As the viewer, you get to watch what day-to-day life was like for the women, children and the husbands.  It was great!

I often romanticize about living life back in the 1800’s, but after watching this series, the “simple life” was not so simple!  I would love living off the land, but I do have my limits.  Anyone interested in homesteading or learning about what life was like back in 1883, I highly recommend this educational DVD!

 

DISCLAIMER:  I was in no way compensated to provide a positive or negative review on this video.  I watched the DVD out of my own curiosity and all opinions expressed are my own.   

Apples Galore!

Around this time last year, Todd and I found an awesome vineyard and orchard in North East, PA that sold “deer apples” at $4.00 for a little more than a bushel.  Deer apples are apples that have fallen from the tree, but they aren’t necessarily bad.  Actually, the majority of the apples are perfectly fine, many without any blemishes at all!  When we got home, I was just dieing to find out how much the box of apples weighed, and they were 53 lbs.  Now that’s a good price on apples ($0.08/lb!)  I gave some away, made several batches of applesauce, apple pie filling, apple bread, apple dumplings, and we just ate the apples too.

This weekend, Todd and I made a special 2 hour road trip to pick up deer apples, take in the beautiful fall colors of changing leaves and explore the area a little bit.  I called the orchard ahead of time to make sure they had the apples available and to confirm the pricing.  The deer apples went up $1/box, but at $5/box, they are still a great deal!  We ended up picking up 3 cases.

When we got home, we weighed them as we did the year before, and this year, we have 135 lbs of apples.  You didn’t read that wrong.  One hundred thirty five pounds of apples!  This equates to $0.11/lb for apples this year.

This is what 135 lbs of apples looks like!

Over the next several weeks, I will be posting a lot of apple recipes that I am making as I peel and core the apples.  (Hopefully I will have time to post considering I have to get these apples peeled, cored and prepared before we leave for vacation in two weeks! Eek!)  I am looking forward to making several batches of crockpot applesauce (to give as gifts), apple butter (gift), apple cake, apple pie filling (gifts), apple crisp, apple chips, apple everything!

Around November 15^th of last year, I mentioned to Todd that I never wanted to see another apple again.  I had peeled and cored over 40 lbs of apples by hand.  This year, I have an applecorer and peeler that my mom got me for Christmas.  This should make it easier on me this year to be able to get these apples cored and peeled in “no time” (meaning a few weeks!)

The apple corer/peeler my mom got for me last Christmas.

If you have any awesome apple recipes, I’d love to try them out!  Please email me at sparingchange@gmail.com .

25 Weeks 'Til Christmas: Week 11 Peanut Wreath

This week's gift idea came from something I saw at my dad's house.  They have a wire holder to put peanuts in to feed the birds and squirrels.  I absolutely love the idea and I think it'd be a great gift for anyone who enjoys feeding the critters throughout the Winter.  I know this would be great for my father-in-law and I wouldnt mind making a couple for our critters!

Peanut Wreath

Photo Credit

Instructions for Peanut Wreath

This wreath will attract larger birds such as blue jays.

What You will Need

• Wire coat hanger
• Sugar glue (see recipe below)
• Whole unshelled peanuts

How to Do It

To make the peanut wreath, all you need is a bag of whole peanuts, a wire coat hanger and some special “glue” using flour, water, and a little corn syrup (see recipe below). Make sure the glue is gooey and thick before applying.

1. First shape the coat hanger into a circle, leaving the hook on.
2. Glue a single layer of peanuts all around the coat hanger.
3. When the first layer is dry, make two or three more layers, arranging the peanuts at different angles to create an attractive wreath.
4. Ensure that you let each layer dry before applying the next.

Peanut Wreath Glue Recipe

Mix the following ingredients together in a bowl and then use a small brush to apply:

 

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tablespoons corn syrup

Every Monday through the week of Christmas will be a new homemade gift idea/project. Be sure to check them out! Happy Crafting!

Recipe: Homemade Febreeze

I love when a room smells fresh and clean.  Sometimes, due to projects going on around the house, having (wet) animals running around the house, or accidents, our home does not smell fresh and clean.

The following is a recipe for homemade Febreeze to help keep your furniture, bedding and a room smelling nice and fresh.

Ingredients:

Liquid Laundry Softener

Baking Soda
Water

Directions:

1. In an empty spray bottle, pour in ½ cup liquid laundry softener
2. Put in 1 Tbsp baking soda (to help with pet smells)
3. Fill the rest of the bottle up with water
4. Before using, shake

Todd uses this solution to freshen up the spare bedroom when someone comes to visit and it’s been sitting empty for a while.  We also like to use this on our sofas, loveseats and wingback chairs to help keep them fresh.

This solution costs pennies compared to the brand name product in the stores!