the best pizza dough ever + pizza

This claim I make not neelie willie like, I actually really mean it! If your like me and like a thin crust pizza that is easy to make and delicious, well this is for you!
The recipe was originally introduced to us from our dear friends in the UK and is taken from Jamie Oliver. We usually make a big batch and then freeze the left over dough in cling wrap for later use. It lasts a long time in the freezer.

Ingredients

800g bread flour
200g finely ground semolina
1 teaspoon salt
2 x 7g dry yeast sachets
1 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoon olive oil
650ml lukewarm water

Method

• Sieve the flour and salt onto a clean dry surface, make a well in the centre. Combine the water, oil, sugar and yeast in a jug, leave for a few minutes and then pour into the centre of the flour well. 
• Using your hands slowly close the well and combine all the ingredients. Once all combined knead the mixture until you get a smooth springy dough.
• (you can skip most of the hard work by using a machine that kneads, just place the flours and water/oil/sugar/yeast mixture into the machine and press a button!)
• place the mixture into a large bowl thats been dusted with flour, cover with a damp cloth and leave in a warm room for an hour. The mixture should double in size and then its ready
• dust some flour onto the dough, remove it from the bowl and place onto a flour dusted surface. Using your hands, knead the dough lightly to remove some of the air (1 minute is usually enough)
• Once that's done, break the dough up into small balls (size of your palm). The recipe makes 6-8 pizzas. Either use immediately or wrap the balls in cling foil and pop into your freezer for later
• Now to make your pizza. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius. On a flour dusted surface, roll the ball around and press using your hands to make into a round shape.

• Using a rolling pin, roll the dough until its around half centimetre thick. 
• On an oven tray, I like to then place in the oven for 5 minutes to give the crust extra crunchiness but this stage is optional, if you don't like it too crunchy proceed to the next stage
• Remove from oven and place any toppings you desire ( I love to keep it simple with a good sauce, preferably home made, onion, tomatoes, peperoni and of course cheese!)
• Reduce oven to 180 degrees and bake pizza for 10-15 minutes or until lovely and golden

Enjoy xx

the fun in rhyme

After deliberations and discussions, I have decided (along with the hubby) that we will not send Lucy to childcare as yet. The more I thought about it, the more I realised how much I actually enjoy spending time with her and how much I would miss out on if I were to leave her in childcare.

Its not forever, I will have to eventually go back to work but for the time being I will just attempt to fill her mornings up with activities so she doesn't get too bored at home and drive me crazy.

This is where Rhyme Time came in, it is just one way that we will fill our mornings. Our local library is really great where it comes to kid activities and its only ten minutes up the road. They host Rhyme Time twice a week and have Story Time twice a week for the older kiddies too.

Lucy and I have been to Rhyme Time previously, but with juggling her sleeps along with the after school care I do and the house work we have not been regulars.

So I have decided that now that Lucy is not going to childcare I will make every effort to entertain her in the mornings, so off we went to Rhyme Time. And I must say she loved it! but I'm not sure in the way that you would think... she spent the first ten minutes quietly sitting and listening to the readings and some of the songs, starring at me doing the actions and all the other parents. Then she realised that she wasn't tied to me and off she went! crawling through all the parents and the kids, talking and trying to distract everyone, giggling to herself along the way.

I spend the rest of the time either watching her running off or chasing her as she made a break through the crowds and headed out the door on all fours!

I think we will need to attempt it on a regular basis so she learns to sit and pay attention, but regardless the smile on her face as she made friends with the crowd makes me think she had a great time!

Success I think and now off to try out our local Playgroup
x

Am I ready for Childcare???

Lucy my gorgeous girl, has lately been a little nightmare. I like to excuse everything with the idea of teething but I think there must be a few more reasons why she has been acting up, including being slightly bored. Being a mum is completely different to being a nanny, apart from the other 10 thousand reasons I have noticed an important one, I DON'T play with her as much. As a nanny I was at the park DAILY, I went to playgroups WEEKLY, music classes, Gymbaroo, walks and play dates and of course endless hours on the carpet playing. But that was my job and I did love it.

I still do some of those things with Lucy, but not all the time because responsibility and housework need to be done. So I think Lucy is bored and at times driving me UP THE WALL!

So last week I had decided that maybe it is time she went to Childcare, just one or two days where she can be social and have fun with kids her age and also get worn out. A good idea I thought, I could also get some work done and maybe even look for some part time work on those days to complement the After School Care I already do. I put her on the waiting list at a few centres and thought I would have to wait months (inner west childcare shortage sucks!), but a week later I got a phone call and they have a place!!

This is when the panic sat in, Am I ready to let go and actually let her be looked after by others and by others I mean strangers not my mum or sister or friends, just strangers? Am I ready to spend a couple of days without her? She will just be 1 year old and is that old enough??

I do understand that some women have to go back to work and sent their babies to care much earlier, but I have the option not to, Am I being a mean mummy??? Being a nanny myself I didn't think I was going to have this panic attack, mostly because from experience I know that Lucy will be absolutely fine and being the social butterfly that she is, she probably will love it. But being a mum I'm not sure I have it in me to let go this quickly? So the question really is, Am I ready for Childcare?

Anyway I have a week to think about it before the places are offered to others, what do I do?

Not Happy MUM!