Margherita Pizza + How to Spend Money with Mackenzie

Good morning! I’m catching the early train into the city today hoping I can put in a couple hours “work” from the coffee shop before heading into the office for my real job. I guess I confused everyone by talking about my “last day” at my job and then continuing to discuss going to work each day. Here’s the (hopefully) short version: I was working at two jobs part time – one architecture firm and one furniture/cabinet mill and design shop. I quit the architecture job and am now working only at the design studio. I had been working a little over 40 hours a week and now I am just over 20 hours a week. What that means: I have more time to work on this blog AND I’m broke

So now you know. I am still working, just working less in a different capacity.

Today is recipe number two from the Ten Summer Meals in 30 Minutes or Less! You’ll love this one because it can be adapted into so many other recipes that are also just as quick and easy.

Margherita Pizza
Prep Time: 5-10 minutes (varied for yeast to rise) Cook Time: 15-20 minutes Serves: Makes 2 10″ Pizzas

Ingredients:
2 Packages Jiffy Pizza Dough Mix, prepare as packaging directs
1 Can Tomato Paste
½ Tbsp Basil, chopped
2 Slicing Tomatoes
1 ½ Cup Mozarella Cheese

Method:
Prepare pizza dough as directed on packaging.
Lightly spread the dough with tomato paste, sprinkle with basil, arrange tomatoes and cover with cheese.
Bake until cheese is slightly golden.

How to Spend Money According to Mackenzie

Last week I tried to use my debit card at a small boutique in Ogden. My card was declined with the notice “invalid card number.” At first I thought it was the small store’s machine that was giving a weird message but when it was declinded again at the next store I decided to call the bank and see what was going on. The greeting message from US Bank’s 800 number prompted me to put in my debit card number and the last four of my social – just like always. I put in the information and an automated recording said “account not available.” Fishy. I decided I’d rather deal with someone in person and went into the local branch to talk to a teller. Apparently, the last time I purchased gas my card was “swiped” and the info was memorized by some (we’ll call them) pirates. Lucky for me, US Bank realized that the very first attempt to use that info was fraudulent activity and they shut my account down immediately. Unfortunately for me, they didn’t feel the need to get in touch with me to let me know any of this. Anyway I am now using cash for everything and awaiting the arrival of my new card.

That being said, I ended up with only about $15 in cash last night and a little munchkin who wanted to stop for treats after school. When I explained to Mack that we could go but that we couldn’t spend a whole bunch of money - since the cash was limited – he got really worried and gave me this response.

“Mom, you can’t pay for things with cash! What are you thinking?! You need to have your devit (how he says it) card to buy things.”

“Mack, a debit card is just an easy way to spend the CASH that is in your bank account – you are still using the same money, just giving it to them in a different way. They will be fine with cash.”

“(Rolls eyes) Alright… but! If you try using cash, we’ll see. If they don’t take it we can’t get nothing.”

Ah, kids these days. Don’t even know what cash is good for I had to laugh because his tone in the last statement was IDENTICAL to the tone I would use to disagree with Mack in a situation where he is telling me something obviously wrong, that I know is wrong but which is not worth arguing with him over. Case in point: “mom, the sky is green, I know it.” “Mmm. Okay Mack, we’ll see”

He was just absolutely set on the need for a devit card mom, a devit card!

And it is with this same understanding of how a devit card works that Mackenzie has managed to buy a $7 game on my phone. Seven bucks for some bejewelled puzzle game! Seriously?! When I got the email receipt for that I was ticked. I asked him about it and he immediately apologized (I actually don’t think he realized he bought anything) and told me he was really, really sorry. Unfortunately, I explained, that doesn’t bring our $7 back. Not that he understands that.

So I tried explaining that $7 was worth 28 ice cream cones from McDonald’s – then he was really sorry.

Life lesson: When making large purchases, compare the cost to other things you like. Is this pair of shoes really worth 15 lattes? This way you can avoid the regret of purchasing 28 ice cream cones worth of bejewelled puzzle games. Don’t say I never taught you anything.