Homemade Pizza in the Ninja Foodi

I picked up these pizza crusts at the grocery store today to try. I usuallylike the refrigerated kind that you just unroll and bake but they didn’t have any. I grabbed these and thought the kids might enjoy making their own. Then I had an idea, why couldn’t I cook them in the Foodi using the Air Crisp setting?  (Spoiler alert..... I’m a genius)

The little crusts fit perfectly in the crisper basket.

I set the Foodi on the Air Crisp setting at 400 degrees for 5 minutes.  They came out perfect!  The crust was crispy and they were the perfect size for the kids.

If you missed my post about the Ninja Foodi, check it out here. 








Confirmation Code: GFXVMSSN131987553

The Christmas Gift that Keeps on Giving - My Ninja Foodi Review

*This page contains affiliate links to products I recommend. If you purchase something from this page, I may receive a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. 

My sweet children got me the absolute BEST Christmas gift this year.  Have you seen or heard about  the Ninja Foodi? It is a pressure cooker, slow cooker and air fryer all in one.  You can also saute, bake and steam in it.

I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I have used this thing almost every day since I got it.  I really struggle at meal time, especially now with another baby, to avoid eating out and cook at home. The struggle to plan meals that are healthy, economical for a single mom of 7 kids, and quick to prepare is a daily struggle.  So obviously, when I saw the Ninja Foodi I was intrigued.  I had thought about getting an Instapot and I had looked into an Air Fryer also.  I am so limited on counter and cabinet space in my kitchen, it just never seemed feasible for both appliances.  The Foodi seamed like the answer to my problems so I asked for one for Christmas.  I was SHOCKED when I actually got it!

I will not lie, I was so intimidated at first.  I have never used a pressure cooker before but have heard many horror stories over the years.  When I opened the box on Christmas day and saw the size of the instruction manual, I almost put it all back in the box and said "no thanks".  I pushed through though and thank the heavens I did.  I turned to Pinterest (because she never fails me) and found several recipes to try.  I'm telling you though, when I made meatloaf and mashed potatoes from start to finish in less than half and hour I was sold!

I am so glad that I had not purchased the Instapot instead because the extra things you can do with the Foodi because of the Air Fryer function are amazing.  For instance, when I cooked the potatoes and meatloaf on the pressure cooker setting for 10 minutes, the potatoes were ready to mash and the meat was cooked.  I took the potatoes out and added my ketchup glaze to the top of the meatloaf and set it on the Air Fryer setting for 5 more minutes while I mashed the potatoes and it browned the meat and glaze perfectly.

I would have had a hard time justifying the cost of the machine if it was not gifted to me, but I could have already payed for one with the money I have saved in one month of not running to grab fast food after 10+ hours on my feet and coming home to a bunch of hungry kids.

I have not come across any negatives about it, but I will keep using it and keep you posted.  I feel like I have just scratched the surface of what the Ninja Foodi is capable of doing.

Another Adoption in the Books

After 769 days in foster care, he is officially ours!  Yesterday was the day I have been waiting for for over 2 years now. This beautiful little boy came to us on Dec 1, 2016 and has brought so much joy to our lives every since. There were several times over the past year that I wasn’t sure if this day would ever come.

A few months after we signed paperwork stating our intent to adopt, my husband and I decided to separate. Ok, I decided to separate, he had no choice. I talked to our adoption worker, who had done our 2 previous adoptions, and she assured me that the separation would not be a problem in the adoption. My husband and I both still wanted to adopt together so it should be business as usual. So we started the adoption journey and agreed to hold off on any divorce proceedings until the adoption was done. That was in March, 2018.  Fast forward to the end of September, I get a call from the adoption caseworker which should be to tell me that the file is being sent back to our attorney and ready to set it for a court date.  Instead, it was one of the most devastating phone calls to date.  Our file was at the last place for approval before court and they rejected it. Even typing that word "rejected" tears at my heart.  They said we could not adopt together if we were separated.  Our only options were to have my husband move back in and refile all the paperwork to reflect that change or one of us would have to adopt as a single person and then do a separate adoption after that where we both adopt together.  The latter of the two seemed like the only viable option but when I called my husband and told him the news, it was clear that deciding who would adopt first was going to be an issue.  He blamed me for the whole thing falling apart.  "You couldn't just wait for the adoption to be over to separate?"

After a month and several attempts to sit down and come to an agreement with regard to the adoption, I was had called the adoption worker and left a message to tell her to just start the paperwork in my name alone since we could not come to an agreement and my husband was not willing to sit down and talk about it anymore.  She called me back the next morning and said that she had gotten word from her supervisor that the adoption had been approved after all.  And just like that, two months later, we were in court adopting our little boy.

Now on to the next challenge, settling the divorce.