make pizza like the pro's

Story for you: Alan and I make pizza. It's like our thing. We have made pizza almost every week since we started dating, and that was back in 2011. So we've made our fair share of pizzas. Approximately 182. I posted a pic of our pie to Instagram and got such great feedback from my friends I thought I would share this recipe with you.

I am so excited to share this with you! This is my favorite pizza to make for several reasons: 1) It's delicious. way better than your delivery guy can bring you. 2) It's fail proof. If you are nervous about using yeast, or have bad memories of a raising bread just sinking, have no fear. This pizza dough is a great way to start working with yeast, and you don't need to wait for it to rise. That's right. When you want pizza, just throw the dough together, prepare your sauce and toppings, and boom baby.: deliciousness. So let's just say reason number 2 makes this pizza the best pizza of all time. But in case you need more reasons 3) It is delicious with whole-wheat! While the all-white version is splendid and divine, we make it with 100% whole wheat flour. And the beauty of this recipe is that even with all wheat it is so light, and fluffy, with a delectable chewy crust. Below you'll find all the keys to make an incredible pizza.

If you have any questions feel free to message me. I am eager for you to feel confident in your pizza skills.

Pizza Dough
1 (.25 oz) package or 2 1/4 tsp. instant yeast, also known as bread machine yeast
1 1/2 tsp. honey
1 cup very warm water (use your wrist to measure. Too hot and you'll kill your yeast. Too cold and your dough won't rise)
1 tsp. salt
2 T. olive oil
1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups flour, all white, 100% whole wheat, or a mixture of both

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and honey in warm water. (If using regular yeast, let it proof, or stand until creamy and foamy, about 10 minutes. With the instant yeast there is no need to let it proof. Magic I know. This is the yeast I use for everything and I highly recommend it!)

2. Stir in the salt and olive oil into the water yeast and honey mixture

3. Stir in 1.5 cups of flour and mix until combined and still wet.

4. From this point, add flour just to keep the dough from being uncontrollably sticky. It is so important to avoid over-flouring your dough. Over flouring results in dense, tough dough. To make sure your dough has the perfect amount of flour, add flour 1/4 cup at a time and work it into the dough on a lightly floured surface. See this picture below. The dough should stick to your hand a bit still, but hold its shape.

5. Put dough back into bowl and let rest while you prep your sauce and toppings, at least 5 minutes.

6. Turn dough into a lightly floured surface and use fingers to push dough down. Roll out into a circle by rolling out the crust in a criss cross pattern with your rolling pin. You want to roll it out to be slightly larger than your pizza stone.

7. Transfer crust to pizza stone. If you like you can dust the pizza stone with cornmeal. This makes for a great taste and texture and helps prevent the dough from sticking to the tone.

8.Using your fingers, tuck the extra dough on the edges underneath so that the dough is now the size of the stone, with a nice rolled crust.

9. Top pizza with sauce and desired toppings and bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes. Check pizza to see if done, and add more time if needed.

10. Once pizza is pulled out, apply cold butter to crust as if you are putting lipstick on it. This gives the crust a delicious buttery taste and golden glow. Enjoy!

Pizza Sauce
We use a version of this one but with less honey, marjoram, cayenne and red pepper flakes. Make your sauce to your tastes, and don't be afraid to experiment! Homemade tastes a million times better than that jar of spaghetti sauce and it's cheaper too.

Pizza Tips
1.If you don't have a pizza stone, go get one. They are cheap and so great to work it. The beauty of the pizza stone is the stone absorbs seasons every time you use it. This results in tastier pizza each and every time you make it. Don't ever wash your stone with soap, as the pizza stone would then absorb that and your pizza would taste soapy too.
2. The more toppings the better. But make sure not to use pre-shredded cheese! The pre-shredded kind is covered with wax and will not melt together in the oven. Trust me on this
3. Put parmesan on top as the finishing touch, and make it the fresh kind. Not the kind from the can. It  takes the same amount of time to put on the pizza and makes for a heavenly finishing touch. Trust me on this.
4. Hide your leftovers to make sure you get some for breakfast or lunch the next day.
5. If you are still feeling nervous working with yeast, refer to this tutorial on how to perfectly flour your dough. These tips ensure you have a light and fluffy dough for everything.

the little things

Being a mother to Anders is the greatest thing I have ever been able to do. Every morning I wake up to this smiling, spitting, drooly baby who thinks I am the most wonderful thing that ever existed.

So let me make it clear that I am truly happy. And I've never been happier.

Sometimes though, I find it difficult to talk about being a mom. It is easy for my life to seem small right now, and filled with little tasks: changing diapers, washing baby clothes, reading picture books, singing Primary songs till my face turns blue. My pride in motherhood is not quickly exemplified when someone asks what have I been to today, or what do I do with Anders. It's easiest to talk about the little things we do together, the infamous blow-outs, the nap schedule, the rolling-over, so that's often what I do.

And maybe it's because I am living far away from home and still haven't made any friends despite earnestly trying. Maybe it's the hot heat of the summer that makes it difficult to venture out of the home. But that little voice in my head tries to persuade me that I have such a small life, it must not be very significant.

But here is why that little voice does not get to me: yes, a mother's life can seem small. You know what, maybe it IS small. Maybe it IS filled with little things like sippy cups and diaper changes and baby pajamas. And maybe it is spent largely inside the home and often in spit-up-covered yoga pants and old t-shirts.

But it is only small because her world is her baby, and her baby happens to be small. So while life is filled with little tasks, I choose to relish each one, for they are all to help and nourish this sweet slice of heaven.

And that is significant.

The phrase, "it's the little things in life that matter" has never rung more true for me than it does now. Children are little, and they are the most important thing a person could ever spend time on. The greatest thing about them? You give them an ounce of love and they surround you with a score of it. Children are the most loving and patient creatures to exist.

Woah. woah. woah. Patient? Are you kidding me? These kids can't wait five minutes to eat when they are hungry! When they are tired they want to sleep right then and there! Kids don't know anything about being patient you might say.

While they might not be patient in a waiting-to-have-a-physical-need-be-met sense, they are patient in the sense that they are so forgiving and encouraging. Some days I feel like I am not funny or sweet at all, yet there is my little boy laughing his head off at me and cooing at me anyways. He is so forgiving of me and all my incompetence as a mom, choosing to take joy in my small victories despite my large failures.

It is the little things. Those little laughs and smiles remind me how beautiful life is. Those growing hands that hold mind so tenderly remind me that today is a gift. The body that curls up on my chest won't be able to do that for long, and I make sure to treasure these small moments. The rolls on his arms and legs make me smile til my cheeks hurt. His obsession with fart sounds and spit bubbles and trying to eat the dog for dinner.

Money cannot buy a happy life. Fame or popularity or a hilarious status update does not either. Nor does excessive busy-ness for the sake of busy-ness, trendy outfits, perfect eyelashes, or kale-filled cookies. (gross.) It is these small moments with our children and family that matter. Family and love are the most abundant sources of happiness the world has to offer.

So when you ask me what am I up to and I say, "oh, changing clothes for the seventh time today," it is my small way of telling you that I am doing the biggest and most important thing I will ever do in my life. That I am helping another person to grow and develop and become someone that Christ would be pleased with.

My life is full of little things. And I love it.

Anders: 4 weeks old!

They say time flies when you have kids, that they grow so fast, it's all over before you know it. I am already realizing how true this is. I can't believe it was four weeks ago that our precious babe came to us.

For those of you who aren't in the south, the week Anders arrived we had a "snow storm" of two inches that caused this

to look like this

This was just two days before I went into labor. Yes I was the crazy pregnant lady having a melt down in my car on the freeway! And reasonably so, little did I know I would start labor a full three weeks before my due date.

For those of you who want to know what my delivery was like, read below. For those of you who don't, skip until you see some pictures of our wicked cute baby.

A bunch of my friends are pregnant right now so I thought I would share my experience, should you find it helpful! I didn't know I was starting labor, I just felt like I had really bad menstrual cramps. I didn't even think about it, I was just like "oh that's weird I haven't had cramps in a while!", and I proceeded to go and get my hair cut. While starting labor. yeah ridiculous huh! But the pain wasn't too bad, so I went on with my normal routine. When they didn't go away, and became very timely and predictable, and I couldn't sleep through them, Alan and I went over to the hospital to see what was going on. Most pregnant ladies get very anxious as their due date approaches, and I'm sure time is spent freaking out and stressing out about what is about to happen; I never got this opportunity because getting admitted to Labor & Delivery was not what I expected!

When I was dilated to a 5, they broke my water and all Hell broke loose along with it. Contractions are not fun people. Not fun at all. You see them in movies and people screaming and throwing things across the room, maybe that's how it is for some people out there but for me I just curled into a ball and crying. It felt like period cramps on steroids, only no Ben & Jerry's and chick flicks. Instead you get ice chips and monitors. In any other situation that would not have cut it, but when you know the pain is because your child, the child you have been feeling inside you, will be coming out for you to meet and hold and love, the monitors were pretty darn exciting!

For anyone out there unsure if they want an edpidural, let me tell you, they are amazing! Once I got mine, the tears stopped immediately. I was actually so comfortable, I fell asleep while I dilated to a 10. In between naps, Alan and I gushed over how crazy and exciting this was. Personally, going through labor this way, quietly, pleasantly, and happily, is the way I want to remember this experience. I'd rather that than brag about having no epidural but Alan seeing a side of me he wishes he could forget. This moment is so amazing and precious, why not keep it that way and put the tears and screaming aside for something less incredible.

Anyways, after five hours of active labor and thirty minutes of pushing, our beautiful son was born!

Anders Chase Hintze, born at 12:00pm on January 31, 2014, weighing 7 lbs 10 oz, 21 1/12 inches long, head 13 1/2 inches. Call me biased but he is absolutely perfect.

Being a mom is the hardest thing I have ever done, I'm not going to pretend that it isn't. Suddenly makeup, cute clothes, showering, eating, drinking, sleeping, having free time never happens. And that is what I was told before so it came as no surprise. But what I wasn't ready for was the huge rush of love I immediately felt for this precious, precious child.

Being pregnant with a child is an amazing feeling, but as real as those kicks feel, without a face to the punch it still has a level of surrealness to it. Meeting our son, seeing his little hands and nose, and feeling his curl up on my chest was the best moment of my life. Suddenly eating and sleeping don't even matter, because all I want to do is hold him and smell him. I don't know if anyone's told you this, but babies smell like heaven. Especially when it's your baby. And everything they do is hilarious and adorable.

If I had known when I was pregnant what I know and feel now for our son, I wouldn't have been able to wait nine months to meet him. Every moment of nausea, every ache and pain, would have been handled with complete joy because of who I was getting at the finish line.

Anders is hilarious. He grunts and sighs all the time, even in his sleep, and loves to projectile spit up/pee/poop and shoot for the distance. He smiles when he farts, and he farts a lot. Lucky me gets to see lots of smiles.

Anders we absolutely love you. Welcome home, son. Can't wait to see what you learn next.

Confessions of a pregnant woman

Sorry for the lack of blog posts about my pregnancy and our baby! With work and wife duties on top of pregnancy exhaustion, writing about it has been difficult to find time for. Here is some catch up:

Our first Christmas tree! Lady is enchanted by it, she is frequently seen right here doing just this.

About 9 weeks to go! Hoping that these last weeks are as easy as the other 31 have been.

With daily exercise, I am told this is possible! We shall see when the waddling comes.

I would be nowhere right now without this man by my side. Alan is so supportive and loving despite the craziness I can be. He brings me water whenever I am thirsty (which is all the time!), tums in the middle of the night when I get heartburn, and gives me back rubs and foot rubs to help with the aches. This plus love notes all over the house about how excited he is to be a parent with me and chocolate whenever I want? I know. I have scored the perfect husband. 

I love him so much and can't wait to see him be a father to our little boy; I know he is going to be amazing. 

Being seven months pregnant now, I have come to acquire some tips for those of you who might know somebody or meet somebody who is pregnant. Please note that I am having fun with these and am not in emotional trauma because of any of these events happening. My pregnancy has been wonderful, this is just what would make it perfect!

1. Do not comment on how big we are. We know we are growing. we know our bodies are changing. everyone handles it differently, and a lot of us would rather have attention drawn to other topics besides our resemblance to a heifer.

2. Do not comment on how much bigger we are since last week/yesterday/5 minutes ago. Referring back to no. 1, it is impossible to noticeably get bigger within a day. Yes this has been told to me before, and yes it is awkward and uncomfortable! We know we are growing. And how do you know we didn't just have a huge bowl of ice cream or something? Pregnant women can have food babies too :)

3. Do not play thermostat war with us. It is a well known fact that pregnant ladies run warmer than they do normally. Please don't insist on having thermostats set to 77 degrees; bring a sweater instead. We are doing all we can to stay cool and put together, and no one wants to see a pregnant lady strip down.

5. Do not tell us what we can and cannot do.  We see our doctors monthly, then bimonthly, then weekly. We know what is safe and what isn't. So don't judge a prego lady at the gym, instead give her the high-five. You will make her day, I promise.

6. Don't tell us how lucky we are to pig out and get fat.  Again see no. 1 and no. 2. Avoid all words relating to fat, pigs and heifers. We know how dangerously close the resemblance is and do not need to be reminded

7. Don't hate us for going to bed at 7:30.  What you don't know is that we wanted to go to bed at 5 but we waited 2.5 hours so we wouldn't look so pathetic. Sleep is essential to a healthy pregnancy!

8. Please tell us how pretty we look. With aches, pains, weight gain and body parts looking bigger than we have ever seen them, I wonder where the term "pregnancy glow" comes from. When we take the time to shower and actually get cute for the day, you should award us. That kind of effort deserves to be rewarded.

9. Please pretend that we don't just talk about being pregnant  I know we probably do. But when your time comes, you will understand how hard it is to talk about anything else! I mean, my little ninja is kicking so hard and stretching out so much its hard to think about anything else. We are just thrilled beyond words, so as sick of it as you might reasonably be, be a friend and grin and bear it.

I'm Feeling 22 (weeks pregnant)

Well I couldn't put this post off any longer. After keeping it a secret for over four months, being able to talk about my pregnancy is the most wonderful feeling in the world, second to being pregnant of course.

So a few months ago Alan and I got a little surprise and found out I was pregnant. Alan was instantly thrilled, and I was terrified. I thought something was wrong with me, why wasn't I ecstatic the second I found out? If there is anyone out there that is going through this, please know: you are not alone! It is a huge amount of news to receive and you are allowed to process it in your own way and time. Once the initial shock wore off, I realized that this little babe is going to be the greatest gift we have ever been given.

The first trimester for me was great-- no morning sickness, no crazy food cravings, just a never ending amount of fatigue! I needed to take a nap every day and you bet I did. What better excuse do I have to cuddle up with my husband while he reads than to be nurturing a baby? Yes I totally exploited it. Because my health so great, I was able to continue running like I had been before I found out I was pregnant, and until recently has been something I truly enjoyed.

Not. Anymore.

Second trimester, running is no longer a realistic option. I have to go to the bathroom about every five minutes and the trails out here don't have any restrooms or discreet places to go, so as much as I miss my runs, they are going to have to wait until this little guy comes out! Yoga and Zumba are still comfortable for me fortunately, and with Lady begging for her long walk every morning I am staying as active as pregnantly possible.

One thing I have noticed lately: my heart rate. It's so much higher now than it was first trimester/pre-pregnancy, and with extra weight on and pumping blood for two, there's no mystery as to why. But my goodness do I feel like a kid from HeavyWeights who has never worked out before. Little things like bringing in the groceries and cleaning the house leave me feeling just as worn out as a workout does. And that's only to get worse!

I am over half-way through now though. Our little guy is the size of a spaghetti squash, and the most active little guy ever! He's moving around all the day long and starting to get stronger every day. Pretty soon these kicks are going to have a punch to them! Pun intended.

Mammoth, Ventura, then 'Bama

Last week my family went to Mammoth, CA! It was the first time the family has all been together since our wedding, and reuniting was so much fun. There was mountain biking, gondola rides, kayaking, swimming, hiking, shopping, and lots of family time. We threw a party for Austen and Kyrie to celebrate their baby, and our nieces made very cute sporty cupcakes to celebrate the baby boy.

We had such a blast. There is something about being in the middle of nowhere on a mountain that makes time pass so slowly, but in a good way. I typically am one to do a million things at once so taking time to just enjoy the moment is something I am learning I need more of in my life.

We didn't see any bears or moose unfortunately, but this adorable chipmunk became a regular visitor outside my window.

It's trips like this that make me truly appreciate just how incredible my family is. Talented, hilarious, and very good looking, the Slade's are irreplaceable. Oh how I am going to miss seeing everyone.

The end of our time in Ventura is approaching soon. In two weeks Alan and I will begin our trek towards the University of Alabama at Birmingham! It's a 40 hour drive going 2600 miles in a moving truck that gets about 8 miles to the gallon. Oh yes you are jealous.

Spending the summer in Ventura has been nostalgic and comforting. Alan officially knows his way around Ventura better than I do (or so he claims) and all of our favorite restaurants have been visited. We couldn't be more thrilled for Alan to attend graduate school at UAB this fall, but I can't help being terrified all the same. This will officially be the farthest I have ever been from family, and I have never traveled to the South. Letters and phone calls will be greatly loved :D

I'm not sure when we will be coming to Ventura again, it might be a few years. So Ventura, it's been real. And for 'Bama, well, I can't wait to meet y'all.

What I've Learned in College

I can't believe it was four years ago that I was in high school and counting down the days to freedom and college. I was hesitant about going all the way to Utah and becoming a "Utahrd" but the benefits of living on my own and growing up outweighed those concerns. Looking back to who I was four years ago, you could say I haven't changed much minus the short hair and ring on the fourth finger. Here is how I've changed.

1. Utah is a whole different ball game.
Coming to the Mormon motherland, I was instantly surrounded by kids just like me: from a large family, plays lots of instruments, and is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You go to the grocery store, and your clerk asks you if you have any plans for FHE. This is something that would NEVER happen outside of Utah. Most people in the world don't even know what FHE is let alone how they will spend it. But here, it's like duh, he's just trying to be friendly!

One of my supervisors put it this way: when you are in Utah, it is like being in Rome surrounded by Catholics. The religion is a part of the culture, learn the language and accept it as "the norm." Growing up as a minority in Southern California, this idea that "Mormons are everywhere" is something I wasn't used to. It has become a great blessing to meet and grow close with several people from all over the world who share the same faith. I have always had a strong testimony, but getting to know and love so many wonderful friends at Church has helped me to realize just how incredible members of the Church are. They can have different tastes in clothes, dating, food, or music, but they will excel at whatever they try, and they will be our world's next leaders. I'm glad I have gotten to know so many.

2. Families are Forever
I have to admit, in high school, I did not cherish the incredible family that I had. I just couldn't wait to be hundreds of miles away and on my own. It was here in college that I realized that my family members are my truest and move beloved friends. My siblings and I have so much fun together, I end up crying every time I have to leave them for Utah. Now that Alan and I are married, I have a whole other family to love and grow close with. I might be biased but I think I have some of the sweetest and most thoughtful, loving in-laws anybody could ever have.

During college, I have lost all of my grandparents to sickness and age. My grandparents died within a year of each other, making it a difficult time for my parents and siblings. My grandparents helped me pay for college, and made sure I had grocery money so I wouldn't go to sleep without dinner. Several times in my life I was given an opportunity to do something incredible because my grandparents insisted on paying for it. I owe them everything.

What a wonderful blessing it is to know that all families have the opportunity to be sealed together forever through the Gospel. Death, sickness, or geography will never separate me from them. Knowing this is probably one of the biggest blessings I have been given in this life. I know my deceased family members watch over and protect us, and I look forward to the day when I get to run up to them, kiss them on the cheek and tell them just how much I've missed them.

3. Marriage is wonderful
Two years ago I met Alan while making a total idiot of myself. I posed as a UK exchange student and caught his eye, and we have been inseparable ever since. You don't know what you need in a husband until his is right there by your side. So many things I thought I wanted in a husband turned out to be all wrong. Alan is my other half: my patience when I am frustrated, my comfort when I am distressed, my go-to for advice and suggestions, and he is always my smile.

Getting sealed to him in the temple for Time and All Eternity was my favorite memory of my entire life. Our first year together has been filled with laughs and wonderful memories. I am so grateful he loves me despite all my shortcomings (and occasionally failed dinners). Getting to be not just yourself, but your truest, most honest self, and all the time, has to be the most liberating thing in the whole world. It's like those little kids who go running around with nothing on them but their devilish little grin. Sorry if it's a graphic picture, but it describes it perfectly to me. I mean, doesn't this baby look so happy and free? I highly recommend it to everybody. Not nudity, marriage. ahaha.

4. In a world full of technology, we can't forget to think for ourselves
I am a communications major, and as such I am a social media expert. We discuss all the latest technologies and social media trends, and how they might impact our society. With all of this I have learned that you should never replace social media with actual, real communication. They never measure up, and real communication leads to happiness and increased success, not increased Twitter skills. Also, reading books and writing helps to stir creative and original thoughts. You might ask, why would we need original thoughts when there are so many funny ones on the internet? Its good to know what you feel, and why you feel that way. As part of this, I am truly going to write more on this blog. One small step for me, one giant leap for my blog.

Stay tuned loves. God bless America.