Pizza Cups

I continually struggle with what to pack my boys for lunch.  J is not a sandwich person at all, but I don't want them to be the kids with weird leftovers from dinner :) (and yes, I was occasionally that kid!)

I recently saw a recipe for pizza cups that seemed to fit the bill.  J and C were both interested in helping (and then completely took over!) and it made for a very fun Tuesday evening :)

We started with one package of store made pizza dough and divided it into 8 pieces. (next time I will try 12)  Make each piece into a small circle and place it in a muffin cup.

 Add in some sauce, pepperoni (if you want) and some cheese.

 make sure to throw your dough in the air. ;)

 Bake at 375 for about 15-18 minutes...

and voila!  Portable pizzas for lunch that can be frozen!  Yippee! (although each boy had to sample their work, so we only have lunches for 3 days, not 4!)

It was really great to have the fun evening together.  I find that with sports, homework and love of electronics, these evenings are becoming few and far between.  Hopefully this sparked something and we can continue to be creative in the kitchen together more often!

Flip Chart Cleaning

I was going to post asking for advice on how to help the boys clean successfully without it resulting in utter frustration, but then I discovered this book. I ordered in a couple weeks ago, and just hadn't made it to T*rget to get the required laundry baskets (you need 4). Well...today I finally purchased said baskets and we tried the system out after school (and snack, and biking time) and guess what???? Their room was clean in 20 min. and they enjoyed following the directions!!!!! Now I have to figure out how to tweak the system for the playroom......wish me luck! I am so proud of how well the boys worked together to follow the new system. I think they have the cleanest room in the house ;) We'll have to see how long this lasts, but hopefully I will be able to be consistent about it and it will work well. I am really working hard at being consistent in all aspects of my parenting, but that is definitely what I have to most struggle with. What are some strategies you use in this area?