My short social media break has been eye-opening in many ways. Friday night I removed Facebook and all the news apps from my phone so that I would not absent-mindedly click on the apps. It was a habit and I needed to break it.
We spent Saturday morning at the Kalamazoo Christmas parade. It was a beautiful morning. It was 45-50 degrees with bright sunshine. We had a spot in the sun and it was nice and warm. We arrived about an hour early and I normally would have been sitting in my chair reading Facebook or the news and trying to get a cute picture or find something witty to say. But, instead I sat and talked to those around me. At one point we shared maps of the parade and the line up of the parade with a young man sitting next to us. His family was very happy to look at it and read all of the 85 groups that they would see.
The parade started and I watched the parade. I didn’t take pictures to post, except for a couple of my daughter as she danced by. The father, a weathered older man, next to me asked which child was my daughter and I pointed her out. He then began to tell me that the two young men that were with him were his sons and that his wife died three months ago. He told me the story of how they had been married 34 years , how wonderful she was and how very sad he was. As the parade was going by, I listened as he talked.
I realized later that if I had been on my phone he probably wouldn’t have talked to me. I would have been looking down and would have appeared not have been open to saying hi and chatting with others. I was honored that he talked to me and told me his story. He obviously needed to talk and I was the one that was there. After the parade was over we were packing up our chairs after the family left and suddenly I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned around and the man was standing there. “Thank you,” he said to me, “It was a pleasure to meet you.” When was the last time a stranger had said that to me? I started to think of the way I have been presenting myself to the world.
Then there is the amount of time wasted by Facebook and all the other apps mindlessly surfing. When we were in the car we listened to music, talked or played games. No one was staring aimlessly at a phone. Although we did use Suri to get us out of a traffic jam on Sunday and we were very grateful for that. a The extra time I had cooking and cleaning was amazing. I turned on some music and went to it. It was so much easier to not think of what was happening outside my home and focus on what was happening in our home. So, some of this I will continue moving forward. It was a great weekend.
Back in Rochester, NY there was a small pizza chain that made unique pizzas. Ravioli topped pizza, eggplant Parmesan pizza, and Mediterranean salad pizza were a few I can remember. But, they also had this cowboy pizza with potatoes on it. I always thought it sounded weird but decided to make my version of it the other night.
Verdict:
The pizza was really good. I don’t know if the potatoes added much to the pizza other than a bit of texture. Everyone asked for seconds and this was a HEARTY pizza. The Italian sausage, caramalized onions, and barbecue sauce added so much flavor to the dish that it was just so good. We added mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese to make it a ooey, gooey dish.
I served this with a green side salad to make the meal complete.
Cowboy Potato Pizza
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. pizza dough (makes one extra-large pizza or two small)
- 1 lb. hot or mild Italian sausage, removed from casings if necessary
- 4 onions, thinly sliced
- 2 large potatoes, thinly sliced
- 1 + cup of your favorite barbecue sauce
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a pizza stone or greased rimmed baking sheet press pizza dough into desired shape and thickness. Using a fork poke holes across the crust. Bake for about 4-5 minutes until pizza begins to set (it will form a thin crust and just begin to cook). Remove pizza from oven.
- Spread barbecue sauce over top of pizza dough leaving a 1/4″ ring around the edge so it doesn’t drip off and burn on the pan. Use more or less sauce to your liking.
- Place sliced potatoes in a single layer on a microwave safe plate. Microwave the potatoes for 1-2 minutes until they are softened. Lay the potatoes in a single layer over the barbecue sauce.
- Cook sausage over medium-high heat breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. Once the sausage is completely cooked use a slotted spoon to remove the sausage to a plate covered in paper towels to soak up any extra grease. Lower heat on stove to medium-low and add onions to sausage pan. Cook onions, stirring often, for 15-20 minutes until onions are well browned and softened. You want the onions to cook slowly so if they are cooking too fast turn the heat in the pan down to low.
- Layer the sausage and then the onions over the potatoes on the pizza.
- Finish pizzas by adding the cheese over the top. Mix the two together to completely cover the pizza.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until pizza is browned on the bottom and beginning to brown on top. Remove pizza from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before cutting to set pizza.
What's for Dinner Moms? 
Love your insights, Marci. Thanks for sharing them!
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Thank you, Christina.
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Great, insightful post. Wow – really rethinking how I am tied to my phone instead of being present to those around me. I have probably been missing a lot. Thanks so much for sharing this!
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Thank you. I have decided to leave FB and news apps off my phone for awhile. I don’t need them right now and they are just a distraction to what is happening around me. I notice I feel less anxious too.
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Good for you Marci-I have never been on Facebook and never will. My life is so busy I just do not have time for it. I will tweet daily but rarely check unless notified. For an emergency I keep an old flip phone in my shorts pocket, my iphone is most often somewhere in the home. I am not attached to it thankfully. I have a good friend blogger who spends so much time on FB its ridiculous, everyone to each their own. Recipe sounds interesting. Rock on!!!
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I do quite a bit of social media (Twitter, Instagram, FB, and Pinterest) for my blog and groups I belong to. Right now I am producing a benefit concert this coming weekend and even though I had little access to FB this weekend they all figured things out without me. It’s good to step away from it.
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Sometimes it is best to do just as you have. Things tend to work out in the long run Marci. We just step back and re-evaluate those priorities in our lives. Family is and will always be my first and foremost priority. Good Luck with your benefit concert coming up.
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What a great story about the stranger at the parade. Pizza sounds awesome, too!
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Thank you! It really touched my heart.
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Glad you had a great weekend.
The experience with the stranger was awesome and so heart warming.
Have a fantastic week 😊
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Thank you! It made me realize what I could be missing all around me. I love people and like to help wherever I can and I was closing myself off. Lesson learned!
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Very good post and so true. Those days were simple and personal marci!
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Thank you! That’s what I need to remember.
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I am stuck to my phone as most of us are and it’s stressful and we miss out.thanks for posting this xx
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The good old days haha
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Wow, I’m happy that you blessed that man with your time and love! Very true we should spend less time on our phones when we are out in the world or with family/friends . This pizza looks Greeattt!!
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Thank you so very much. I was truly honored to have him tell me his story and share his pain with me.
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That’s awesome! You’re welcome
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Often, when we go out to a restaurant, I am stunned by how many people sit there starring at their phones, instead of talking to the person who is sitting with them. Great post, I am glad you had a good weekend.
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Thank you. That is one of my biggest rules. NO electronics any time we are sitting down to eat. But, I never really noticed it when we were out together like at the parade. I take pictures and post about what we are doing for our families back east. But, after this weekend it will be at home after we are done, not during the event.
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“I realized later that if I had been on my phone he probably wouldn’t have talked to me.” It’s so true – think of all the missed opportunities we have to those to connect to those right next to us!
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Yes. So sad what I may have missed but glad to open myself up again to new possibilities.
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WordPress> any social media sights
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Yum. And I’ve been taking a social media break, too. Refreshing!
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Thanks! I am going to leave the apps off my phone for now. So much better for my mind and soul.
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You are absolutely right, Marci–the connections we make when we turn off our phones, take out our earbuds and just be present and at one with our surroundings can be surprising and wonderful. I travel on the train in London a lot and I try to be present as much as possible, but I am definitely guilty of busying myself on my phone, especially on rainy, early mornings when I am feeling tired and dreaming of my bed! A simple interaction with a stranger really can make a person’s day. Thank you for the reminder. 🙂
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Thank you. I am going to try to keep it going as I want to be present in life, not let it pass me by.
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Sounds good!
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Thank you!
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Good for you Marci – and what an honor to take time to listen to someone’s story. Thank you for sharing this with us. 🙂
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Like this recipe!
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Thank you!
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It’s really necessary to hook off now and again for life’s sake. Great post.
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Thank you so very much!
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Getting off our phones opens up a whole new world we had forgotten existed. I will be doing it a lot more often too. Insightful post. And that Pizza looks delicious.
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Thank you so much!
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I have never heard of this recipe. I have heard of Facebook and write about it often.
Congratulations on being Danny Ray’s featured blogger.
I was his featured blogger too. Maybe you can check out my blog if you need a blogging tip or two.
I brought you the link to my About page so you can read more about my blog. http://wp.me/P6x6vQ-89
Janice
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Thanks for sharing, looking good.
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Thank you so very much!
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☃☃☃☃🎄🎄🎄
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Just made the pizza for dinner tonight. It is resting and smells so delicious. Thank you for the recipe!
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I hope you like it!
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Phenomenal!
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You made my day!
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