Sourdough pizza crust

Sourdough has become a craze in the last couple years, since people have had to stay home and have time to try new recipes. I confess I have jumped onto that craze. To be honest though, I have tried to work with sourdough and never took the time to learn the best ways to use it until spring of 2020. My first couple batches of bread went to the cats and neighbourhood birds.

I have since perfected my technique and made up my own recipes. My ultimate favourite is pizza crust. This recipe was one that I loved with yeast and I converted it to sourdough. It has oregano and garlic powder or salt in it but those are optional. I think they make it better though.

Sourdough Pizza Dough

1 cup recently fed starter

1 cup warm water

1 tbsp. honey

1 tbsp. oil

1 tsp salt (omit if using garlic salt)

1 tsp. garlic powder or salt

1 tsp. oregano leaves

I tsp. Baking powder

3 cups all-purpose flour, divided

Mix all ingredients together, using only 2 cups flour. Beat together for one minute to make dough elastic. Slowly add remaining cup of flour to make a stiff dough. Let sit 5 minutes, then knead and pour a bit of oil to sides of bowl. Let sit another 5 minutes, then knead again. I’ve found this helps the sourdough to start working. Cover and let sit 3-4 hours. Divide dough in half and spread out on pizza pan. This recipe makes 2 large Pampered Chef pizza stone size pizza crusts. Cover with plastic wrap and slet sit 2-3 hours. Spread a small amount of pizza sauce on crusts and bake at 400 degrees F. for about 30 minutes until almost done. Add more pizza sauce and toppings and bake until cheese is melted and crust is brown.

2 pizza crusts and a pan of breadsticks

Trust in the Lord

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In ALL thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5&6 The Bible KJV

I have loved these verses for a very long time but just in the last several years have I (somewhat) learned to actually believe and act on the words.

My dream in life was to be a wife and mother. I firmly believe that is the highest calling a woman can have. But God had other plans and I am learning to trust Him.

I have had several “careers” such as schoolteacher, nanny, and secretary. I often wonder what my life would be like if I had realized my dream. I certainly would not be as rich in adventure and experience.

Lately I have been impressed to share my life experiences. I don’t consider myself a writer and never thought I would write a blog, but here I am.

I don’t know where my life or this blog will end up but God knows. I appreciate everyone reading this and would be honoured if you would keep me in your prayers but I know everyone has their busy lives.

Trust in the Lord. What is trust? Merriam Webster defines it as “firm belief in the character, strength, or truth of someone or something.” Do we have that firm belief in God’s character, strength, and truth?

The rest of that sentence is “with all your heart.” That is the part that got me. I am a trusting person. I feel like I trust people too much but when I get hurt that’s the end of my trust. But God wants us to trust with all our heart. And I have found that even if I feel disappointed in what God has brought me to, He can be trusted. He has my best in mind and all I need to do is trust.

Lean not on your own understanding. So often I think I know what I’m doing only to realize that I have messed things up–again! I have found that praying makes things so much clearer, and reading the Bible and other devotional or doctrinal books are so helpful when you don’t know where to turn.

In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. There’s that little word all again. I’m independent because I’m single and nobody is obligated or offers to do things for me so I often just go ahead and do things without consulting anyone. God wants me to look to Him for direction and I am slowly learning to do that…in ALL things, everything.

How have you learned to trust God? I believe it is an something we will face our whole lives and only by a complete trust will we be able to receive God’s fullest blessing. God wants us to trust Him with a childlike faith.

Winter musings

Let me say this right at the beginning… winter is NOT my favourite season. But for those of us who live north of the 49th parallel, winter is the largest part of our year so we make the best of it.

As a child I loved winter…I grew up in the mountains of British Columbia and we had wonderful times of sledding, tubing and skiing. Not to forget the snow angels, snowmen and snowball fights, skating parties. The weather in the mountains is always unpredictable so a skating rink wasn’t always an option. Sometimes we got a dump of snow in almost melting temperature so that would wreck the ice. We had a horseshoe shaped lake we skated on when the conditions were right, which was beautiful on a moonlit night.

Then I moved to the prairies of Alberta where chinooks happen regularly throughout the winter. I rather enjoyed that except the brown prairie wasn’t the most beautiful winter scene. Especially moving from mountains to prairie was a bit of scenery disappointment. But through the years I realized you can see beauty in everything if you look. Even the bald prairie has a beauty when it’s dusted with fresh snow.

Beautiful hoarfrost

Through the years I developed fibromyalgia which is a chronic fatigue and muscle pain condition. The cold started to bother me. It seems I can never add enough layers to be warm when I go outside in winter, especially when the air is humid. That cold just goes so deep and my muscles just stiffen.

So I don’t enjoy winter in the same way anymore. Any exertion in the cold makes my muscles ache for days. Even as a teacher I don’t go outside with my students. I feel like I miss part of the day with them but I can be a better teacher when I feel well.

I love looking out and seeing the snow. There is a delicate beauty in the pureness of a new snowfall. I don’t enjoy driving in it so much, maybe mostly because a car can’t go as many places in it as a bigger vehicle can. But I don’t mind being in a passenger seat with a driver I trust.

I am reminded that “to everything there is a season.” Would I look forward to summer and warm weather as much if I didn’t experience winter? It is also a challenge to make the most of what I am faced with.

Reflections for a new school year

Oh the busyness of starting a new school year! Learning to schedule your life again after a leisurely summer…or not so leisurely.😏

I had taken a year off mainly because I didn’t want to teach grades 1 and 2 again. I had taught them for 2 years and was exhausted as well as feeling like my brain was going numb from teaching “A is for apple” etc. So I had told someone that if the grades 3-5 class would need a teacher I would consider it. Therefore here I am.

Somehow I was not physically ready to start the year. I thought I was prepared but found out I had to go early and stay late every day for the first 2 weeks. Finally in the 3rd week I felt caught up enough to spend less time at school. And now ten weeks in I feel like maybe I can finally post something again!🤯

The juggle of keeping 12 small people busy and happy isn’t for the faint of heart. Some days I am so ready for them to leave.. make that most days. 😰 And yet they give me so much.

I don’t know how else I would fill the mother love that I long for. They come to me with their stories, their childish–sometimes not so innocent–take on life, their innocence, their aches and pains. No wonder Jesus said we should become as little children!

My prayer this year is that my students (who I affectionately call my children) will see Jesus in me, that I might somehow show them the love He has.

Life is not fair… when you can travel

Confession: I love to travel. I have often said that if I could make a living while travelling I would. I know it is possible but so far I haven’t pursued a niche that works for me.

Travelling alone is okay but travelling with a friend or sister is better. I have fond memories of road trips with my sister. Once we took a full month and just travelled through Canada and the USA visiting family and friends, literally going from coast to coast.

I recently travelled through Alberta and British Columbia with a friend who is doing Canadian history research for a school curriculum publishing company. Having lived in both provinces, I had been to many of the museums and historical sites before, but it was interesting seeing it all through another person’s eyes.

Kootenay River at Fort Steele, BC

Last year I went to Newfoundland with the same friend. I had never been to Canada’s Atlantic coast before and I was enthralled with the sapphire blue water and rocky beaches, not to mention the friendliness of the people and the delicious seafood.

Newfoundland beach

I haven’t been off my native continent of North America very many times, but I have been to Europe and Central America. I have thought I would love to go on a cruise ship sometime. But I realize it isn’t like going out on a boat–a cruise ship can be basically like a floating city with all the shops, etc. I still think I might like to experience it. Who knows what might happen?

I know it’s not fair that I can travel and others can’t. But maybe I can take people on virtual trips in later posts. Of course the most important journey we can take is our daily walk with God. Let’s journey on and meet in heaven.

Life is not fair…on Mother’s Day

Mother’s day can be bittersweet even for mothers. They may have regret for choices they made, or they may grieve for the choices their children have made. But God is there to comfort and heal.

My blog theme is “Life is not fair.” I feel this keenly on Mother’s Day. As long as I can remember, I have wished to be a mother. There are many women who would love to be mothers. Then there are others , like my very good friend who never wanted to be a mother. God has given her 2 dear boys and she has given of herself to be a very good mother to them.

Mother’s Day can be bittersweet even for mothers. There can be regret and heartache from choices made either by the parents or by their children. But God is there to comfort and heal.

For those of us who grew up in a loving family setting where our mother was the nurturing heart of the home, the dream was to be a mother some day. We cuddled our dolls and played house for hours. We dreamed of our future spouse.  We named our future children. We planned our dream house. 

But as life went on, to some of us, it became apparent that the dream was not going to play out the way we imagined it. We allowed ourselves to become bitter and blame God and others.

I was one of those well on my way to becoming bitter and resentful. But then one day I gave myself, my future, everything completely to God. I realized that He is in complete control and that if that was not in His will for me at this time it would do me no favours to be resentful and upset.

So I chose to pour out my mother love on my students, the children of my friends, and my nieces and nephews. And while I feel privileged to share in the lives of all of these little people, the ache is still there.. but so is God.  I still hope I will have a family some day, but as I grow older there is a very real possibility that I will not have biological children and most of the time I feel like that’s okay.

How have you coped with the realization that life has not turned out like you dreamed? Maybe you realized your dream of being a mother and it’s not what you had imagined either.   I’d love to hear your thoughts. 

Life is not fair

God promised He would be with us wherever we are.

I have often heard the phrase, especially from children, “That’s not fair.” My response is, “Life is not fair.”

We often look at other people and wish we had what they have. But on the other hand they probably look at us and wish they had what we have. It is a very real feeling that life is not fair.

But God never promised fairness. He promised He would be with us wherever we are. He promised He would not ever give us more than we could bear.

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a wife and mother. But God had other plans for me. I still hope someday He has that in my future. But I have learned that until He does, my life is still complete and happy.

No, life is not fair, but God is there. I am so thankful God is there when life throws a curve I was not prepared for.

What are your thoughts? Have you learned yet that life is not fair? Maybe you have the perfect life. Or maybe you have just learned, wherever you are, to be content. (Apostle Paul, paraphrased) I would love to hear from you.