February Birthdays

Meet the Member Mondays

Hello! My name is Amanda Nogra. My husband, Osmund Nogra, is an MS1 in the Navy. We have a 4 month old son named Noah and two furry (dog) children, Gideon and Gigi.

I am from Southern California and, boy, do I miss that weather! This transition has been a rollercoaster ride-from the humidity of summer to the snow in winter. I have a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Nursing and worked as an emergency room RN for 7 years before moving to Maryland. Now, I am “working” as a stay at home mom. My hobbies include reading, knitting, studying the Bible, and learning French. When I was younger, I loved to dance and participated in musical theater. Prior to getting pregnant, I was very involved in my church’s missionary program; I went Haiti in 2012 and Mexico throughout 2011 and 2012 on medical missions’ trips. My husband and I have been married since April 2011.

My husband was previously a Navy Corpsman. He enlisted at 17 years old, right out of high school. He was attached to a Marine battalion stationed at Camp Pendleton and deployed twice to Japan and Iraq. He was also stationed in southern Spain for 3 years. This was all before I met him; it took some convincing for him to get me onboard with another stint in the military!

So far my experience with the military has been challenging. I put my career on hold and left my home church to move to the East Coast, but I am learning a lot. The other families and spouses I have met have been so kind and welcoming. There have been benefits to the sacrifice as well-my husband’s salary allows me to stay at home and raise my son, as well as great health insurance and multiple educational opportunities. I am proud of my husband and his commitment to support our military and their families.

New Baby Announcement!

At Home Idea: Homemade Pizzas!

Easy homemade pizza & the recipe to do it! It's cold out there, so heat up the oven for a warm and delicious treat that's not take-out!

Mini pizzas mean everyone gets toppings they want!

I have always enjoyed pizza probably more than I actually should. When having pizza made from scratch at home it never was as good as getting it from a pizza place which was frustrating. While looking for baking yeast at the commissary I came across this special pizza crust yeast made by Fleischmann’s. It claimed to have a pizza fully cooked and ready to eat in only 30 minutes. I thought why not try it out. I got the rest of my ingredients and was ready to see if it would actually work. When I made it the first time I used a baking stone which I heated up and made just one 12 inch pizza. The crust was gooey and the toppings were overdone just like any other pizza I had made from scratch. What a disappointment!

I tried again but baked the crust for a few minutes before putting the toppings on. That didn’t go so well either since the crust puffed up and was super crispy with a big bubble which made it difficult to top and tasted almost like pizza toppings on a cracker. Well that just stopped me from trying for a while and I instead just made mini pizzas with flour tortillas. Those by the way turned out great!

I still had a packet left of the yeast so I tried again and decided to make mini pizzas since I thought maybe then the crust would actually cook all the way through. Well I made the big ball of dough which was super simple and not intimidating at all (do try it even if you don’t normally do stuff like this). I then pulled off small pieces of the dough and just rolled out a thin crust. I put about three of these on a cookie sheet, topped with whatever I wanted and baked for about 12 min at first, checked them then added a few more minutes to make sure the crust was fully done. Well they turned out amazing and I was able to have a variety of pizzas. The crust was fully done in the center and the toppings were not overdone.

With the ability to quickly make this crust I got the idea of having a mini pizza party. Either pull the kids up to the counter or bring some friends over and everyone gets to make a pizza of their very own from rolling, topping to eating. I have done something similar before for a new year’s eve weekend and this dough would have been way easier than the dough I had used. Everyone had a great time making a pizza they knew didn’t have all those yucky toppings and just the right amount of the good toppings.

With the short cooking time everyone can be snacking about the same time too.

If you decide to go with the mini pizzas then you will get about 6 pizzas from one packet of yeast. Check out the recipe below and if you have questions please let me know. Can’t wait to hear what delicious pizzas everyone makes!

~Sarah Roberts
(Writer of the blog Where My Love Takes Me)

Basic Regular Pizza Crust

Description: Use this easy pizza crust recipe with no need for rising time.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Bake Time: 12 to 15 minutes

Number Of Servings: 1 (12-inch) pizza

Ingredients:

Crust:
1-3/4 to 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 envelope Fleischmann's® Pizza Crust Yeast
1-1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup very warm water (120 to 130°F)*
3 tablespoons oil
1/2 to 1 cup pizza sauce

Other toppings as desired
1 to 2 cups (4 to 8 ounces or 125 to 250g) shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°F.

Combine 1 cup flour, undissolved yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl.  Add very warm water and oil; mix until well blended, about 1 minute.

Gradually add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.  Dough should form a ball and will be

Pat dough with floured hands to fill greased pizza pan or baking sheet.  OR roll dough on a floured counter to 12-inch circle; place in greased pizza pan or baking sheet.  Form a rim by pinching the edge of the dough.

Spread with pizza sauce.  Top with desired toppings and sprinkle with cheese.

Bake on lowest oven rack for 12 to 15 minutes, until cheese is bubbly and crust is browned.

*If you don't have a thermometer, water should feel very warm to the touch.

**To knead the dough, add just enough flour to the dough and your hands to keep the dough from sticking.  Flatten dough and fold it toward you. Using the heels of your hands, push the dough away with a rolling motion.  Rotate dough a quarter turn and repeat the "fold, push and turn" steps.  Keep kneading dough until it is smooth and elastic.  Use a little more flour if dough becomes too sticky, always working the flour into the ball of dough.

Recipe Note:   Use crust to make one thick crust 9-inch pizza.  Increase baking time to 20 minutes.

slightly sticky. Knead** on a floured surface, adding additional flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes.

Meet The Member Mondays- Sarah S

HI there!  My name is Sarah, and my husband Brian is a second year Navy medical student.
Brian graduated from USNA in 2005 and spent 7 years in the USMC, stationed in Camp Lejeune (where he deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan - not fun) and MCRD San Diego (much more fun).  I met Brian the end of our freshman year of college, which seems like eons ago!  We got married 7 years later in 2009, after he returned from Afghanistan, and right before we moved to San Diego.  I'm in sales for a software company in Silver Spring and have been lucky to be working for them since I graduated from UMD College Park in 2005.  They've been very supportive of Brian's military career, even allowing me to continue working for them from home when we were stationed in San Diego.  While we loved San Diego and would love to go back some day, it's nice being back in MD.  I'm lucky to have family close by in Annapolis and Arlington and am so thankful I can lean on them (and the occasional glass of wine) for support when Brian is busy studying or away on clerkships. While I spent most of my childhood in south Florida, Annapolis has been home for the majority of my adult life and I love it there.  I'm pretty busy between working full time, chasing around our 3 year old daughter, and taking care of our little boy, who I had 2 months ago.  While I'm not always able to make it to the SSC meetings or events, I love knowing that the support, friendship, and fun activities are there for us.  When I'm not going crazy with work or taking care of the kiddos, I will binge on TV shows like The Mindy Project, Scandal, and Property Brothers from my DVR.  If I could have any job in the world, I would love to be either a pilates instructor or a travel agent.  Planning vacations, especially Disney vacations, is one of my obsessions.  I live for a good margarita, flip flops, cupcakes, and crab pretzels.  I'm looking forward to meeting more wonderful people from the SSC!

Meet the Members Monday- Courtland C.

 Hi!  I’m Courtland Colantonio and my husband Trey is a 1st year Army medical student.  Trey graduated West Point in ’08 where he was Captain of the Rugby team.  Since graduating, he has spent the past 5 years as an Infantry officer.  We married in the summer of ’08 and have lived in 4 states (Georgia, Colorado, Washington and Maryland) since then.  Trey deployed to Afghanistan as a Platoon Leader for 12 months and after returning from his deployment in ’10, he felt called to serve soldiers as an Army doctor…so here we are today!  

I was raised in South Carolina and went to college in Alabama...Roll Tide!!!  Since graduating I have worked in Human Resources for DISH Network, Pepsi, Aflac, and currently Total Wine & More.  I love what I do and feel blessed to have been able to have a successful career even with all of our moves.

During my free time, I enjoy working out (Pilates, Pure Barre, Spin classes and hiking are my favorite), watching reality television, drinking good wine, and hanging out with friends.   My goal for the year is to become a certified Pilates instructor and run a half marathon (or 10k…we will see how that works out first ha).  While the Army lifestyle can be difficult at times (primarily the deployments and moves), I am thankful for this adventure and all the new friendships it has brought me.  I look forward to meeting everyone in the SSC and seeing what the future holds

January Birthdays