My kids and I have a fun tradition that I started roughly 6 months ago. The kids call it ‘Pizza Night’, ‘Movie Night’, ‘Popcorn Night’, a slumber party or all of the above. But religiously every Friday at about 4 o’clock we roll up our sleeves, tie our hair into pig tails and make pizza dough.
We let it rise while we build a fort, under water castle or some sort of hideaway that we can watch our movie in. After my daughter has ensured that I have enough pineapple for the pizza they go play in their new house while I put the toppings on the pizza. When the wait is finally over we giggle over burnt tongues and pizza sauce faces.
Sometimes (if we have a friend over) we make cupcakes and decorate them with coloured frosting and sprinkles but most of the time we (I) make popcorn while they pick out a movie. We snuggle into our fort and settle down to munch while we watch. Occasionally teeth get a once over in bed but not usually. This is our night to have fun, be silly and snuggle together. We unwind from the weeks adventures and prepare for the busy weekend ahead. Maybe they don’t get to bed until after 8 or sometimes even 9 but they are rarely cranky the next morning (we have blueberry pancakes on Saturday mornings).

My kids remind me what is important in life and how easy it is for us to get caught up in the rest of it. Their lives are simple and their biggest complaint is that I don’t let them watch enough TV. I think I can live with that.

Oh and here is my pizza dough recipe:

1 cup cooked mashed yams
1/4 cup margarine
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp of engivita yeast (or just normal yeast dissolved in warm water)

Combine all the ingredients and knead gently. Cover and let rise 30min-1hr. Gently punch down onto a pizza pan or cookie sheet. Bake in a 350F oven for 10 min.
Remove from oven and increase temp to 400F. Put desired toppings on pizza and return to oven for 10-12 more min. To brown cheese turn oven to broil and cook for an additional 2-3min.

Enjoy!

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