50/50

I went to the dentist today for cleaning and x-rays. The good news is that my broken tooth is the only problem I have. Everything else looks great. The hygienist even commented on how clean my teeth are, especially for someone who hasn't been to the dentist in 4 years.

The bad news is my broken tooth. It broke "deep", as the dentist put it. I'll be going back in 3 weeks to get some work done on it. He said there's a 50/50 chance I'll end up having to get a root canal done because of how deep the break is. He said it's hard to see on the x-rays and that he won't know for sure until he's working on it. If I do end up needing a root canal, I'll have to go back two more times after that - once to get my tooth built up and once to get a crown. Somehow I don't think I'll feel like a princess.

Please pray really hard that I won't have to undergo a root canal!

Apparently I had a cavity there. IF I had gone to the dentist regularly like a good little girl, I wouldn't be facing this problem now. It would have been detected and taken care of earlier. I scheduled a 6-month cleaning for February. Now I need to call the boys' dentist and get them scheduled; it's been a little over a year since they last went. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of their dentist or the pediatric clinic where I took them, but I do know where it's located. I'll probably go by there one day this week and get all that taken care of. I bet they sent a reminder card, but since we moved almost a year ago, it probably didn't get forwarded.

Move Over, Martha White

I love making pizza. For the longest time, I used the Pillsbury crust in the can. I never really liked it that well, but it was better than the Chef Boyardee brand.

Then I discovered Martha White's Pizza Crust Mix. All you have to do is add hot water, stir until it's mixed well, brush it with oil, and let it set for 5 minutes. It tastes really good and is inexpensive. Wal-Mart has a Great Value brand on the shelf next to it for even less, but I never did try it. It's probably just as good, but now I'll never know.

I remembered a delicious pizza crust Amy had made several years ago. She emailed me the recipe and I tried it last night. (I kept forgetting about it, but I couldn't find any Martha White Pizza Crust Mix when I shopped at Kroger last week.) It was soooo good! Even though it took a little longer to mix it up than the Martha White brand, it's well worth those few extra minutes. This will be my standard pizza crust from here on:

4 cups flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I added a little extra.)
2 tsp. oregano (I used Pampered Chef's Italian Seasoning Mix.)
2/3 c. olive oil
1 1/3 c. water

Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Measure oil and water into one container, pouring all at once into flour mixture. Stir to form a ball.

Divide in half and press or roll out onto 15" pizza stone. (Yes, I only use my Pampered Chef baking stones!) If dough is too sticky, add a little extra flour. (Mine turned out just right.)

Top pizza and bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Makes 2 15-inch pizzas.

**I prebaked my crusts for 8 minutes each before topping them, then I baked them an additional 8 minutes.

I topped these pizzas with some left over diced ham, sliced fresh mushrooms, and sliced black olives. I also added some onion to mine and Billy's pizza. I think this crust will be excellent topped with spinach, zucchini, tomatoes, etc. I want to try it like that in week or so.

We all loved the flavor of the crust, and I loved the fact that I knew exactly what ingredients went into it. It really didn't take much time, and it's so much better than any other crust I've tasted. It seemed to be more filling, too. Billy and I each ate 2 pieces and were full. Caleb ate 1 1/2 pieces; Jacob ate 2 1/2. Since I always make 2 pizzas, we have plenty left over for tonight. Mmmmmm....