Whip it up week 2

For this weeks theme "Guilty Pleasure" I decided to make some pancakes that have been enticing me for some time and I thought this would be the perfect excuse to make them.

I came across this recipe on Bakerelle I absolutely love that blog and couldnt wait to make these pancakes

Here is the recipe

The night before I made the Maple Butter

You'll need:
1 stick softened butter
1 tablespoon orange juice
1 tablespoon maple syrup

-Combine all three in a small bowl with a rubber spatula.
-Spoon the mixture on a piece of wax paper.
-Roll and re-shape back into a stick of butter.
-Twist the ends to secure the wax paper and refrigerate.

I thought this part was slightly unneccesary as it took forever to mix and at that mine didnt really incorporate well and then to me it didnt add anything extra to the pancakes except that I love me some butter on my pancakes!

Then for the pancakes you'll need:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar, plus two tsp for blueberries
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 egg lightly beaten
2 cups blueberries
Extra butter for coating griddle
Maple Syrup
(Makes about 16)


-Whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt and soda in a large bowl. Set aside.
-Whisk together buttermilk, milk, butter and egg in medium bowl.
-Add milk mixture to dry ingredients and whisk together just until combined.
-Toss blueberries in a small bowl with 2 tsp sugar.
-Heat a griddle over medium heat. Take extra butter and run over surface of griddle. Repeat as necessary throughout process.
-Pour batter on griddle 1/4 cup at a time.
-Add some of the sugared blueberries to each pancake.
-Cook for about 3-4 minutes
-Flip and cook the other side for about 2 minutes.





This recipe was very easy to make I have never made pancakes from scratch only from a box so I was really unsure that this would turn out especially since I have had a history of screwing up recipes. But alas, it turned out perfect there was nothing about them that I would change and I love a recipe thats easy to follow

I would defanitly make these again, I kind of want to try them with strawberries though.
The recipe made alot so I am planning on freezing them so I can just heat them up later for a quick breakfast

One of many reasons why I love him

I can always count on a good laugh here and there

M is getting his wisdon teeth out tommorow and has to brush his teeth for thirty minutes tonight, I am not sure why, I guess to kill some mouth bacteria but yet you go to sleep and imsure your mouth will grow some more but what do I know, I have never heard of anyone having to do this but whatevs so

M: Man, I have to still brush my teeth for thirty minutes... good thing I have like 5 toothbrushes

Me: ...what? Why do you need 5?

M: because I have to brush my teeth for thirty minutes and you cant use a wet toothbrush

Me: ...

M: You know when I was a kid someone said you should never use your toothbrush if its wet, why do you think I always have like 2 toothbrushes...

Me: WHAT I am SO confused (while rolling on the floor laughing) But, I wet my toothbrush before I use it

M: Yeah so do I...

Me: Um **speechless** Ok then why do you need 5 toothbrushes again?

M: I dont know cuz that would just be weird to use the same one for all thirty minutes, I have to switch them out

Me: ***speechless, but still rolling on the floor laughing***

Whip it up week 1

I am so thrilled to be participating in whip it up this year I would read everyones posts from last year but i couldnt join in the middle, not sure if it was the official rules but I didnt want to join in the middle so this year when my dear friend Erin started mentioning it I was super excited and jumped on the bandwagon

In case your not sure what whip it up is here is a link to the headquarters
But basically everyweek there is a theme which I can follow or choose not to but I probably will because its morefun that way and then I have to cook a recipe I have never made before and post about it here on my blog with pitures, the recipe, and a recap of the recipe

So here we go... Week 1... Holiday food

I ran across a recipe for a whipped mashed potatoe salad and just HAD to make it, when I was little there was a lady whom my parents were friends with and she made this potatoe salad that was a mashed potatoe salad I loved it because I dont really like all the chuncks that can be involved in Potatoe salad so over all these many many years I was never able to find a recipe similar to this ladies but alas... here we go

I found the recipe here on The Pioneer Woman an awesome blog I read all the time

You will need:

5 pounds russet potatoes (about 8 medium russets)
1 1/2 cups real mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip)
4 tablespoons prepared mustard (regular, Dijon, or a mixture of both)
5 green onions, sliced up to the darkest green part
8 small sweet pickles (may use dill if that’s more up your alley)
1 teaspoon kosher salt (more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 hard boiled eggs, coarsely chopped

and here is the whole gang:

Cut potatoes in halves or thirds, then boil until fork tender. Drain.
Mash potatoes or run them through a ricer or food mill to make them extra fluffy.

Roughly chop your pickles, green onions, and boiled eggs

measure out your wet ingredients, ** A little note, slight variation from original recipe, I thought I had plenty of Mayo but apparently someone uses it more than I thought because I only had about a half cup and needed one and a half cups sooo I had to improvise I used sour cream and a little milk and crossed my fingers and hoped for the best, also When I measured out the mustard it came out to about 1/3 cup plusI added a little more... I like mustard**

Mix it all up gently (I dont think I was so gentle but it came out ok, plus my bowl was a little too small to be gentle)I also used alittle of the juice from the pickle jar to add some moisture to my mix
And here we go served up in my bowl ready to enter my tummy!!


This potatoe salad was so good!! I loved how smooth it was with just the small chunks of onion and pickle and the eggs YUMMMM I would totally make this again however I would ensure I had enough mayo before starting It was still good using some mayo sour cream and milk but Im sure it would have been ten times better with just mayo!!
It was very easy to make, i did forget to peel the potatoes before boiling them soooo it made things a little more difficult but aside from my own errors the recipe was very easy to follow

Here is the recipe for those of you who want it in its wholeness
P-Dub’s Potato Salad
5 pounds russet potatoes (about 8 medium russets)
1 1/2 cups real mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip)
4 tablespoons prepared mustard (regular, Dijon, or a mixture of both)
5 green onions, sliced up to the darkest green part
8 small sweet pickles (may use dill if that’s more up your alley)
1 teaspoon kosher salt (more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
4 hard boiled eggs, coarsely chopped
Cut potatoes in halves or thirds, then boil until fork tender. Drain.
Mash potatoes or run them through a ricer or food mill to make them extra fluffy.
Fold potatoes together with mayonnaise, mustard, green onions, salt, pepper, and other seasonings you like. Fold in pickles and eggs, then taste for seasonings, adding more salt, mustard, or mayo as needed. You may also splash in juice from the pickle jar if salad needs a little moisture.
Serve with baked beans, coleslaw, pasta salad, burgers…and two pieces of pie.

Dress up time!!

So as previously mentioned I found my wedding dress.

Going into the deal I had always heard that "you will just know" well I had tried on dresses several weeks prior and liked pretty much everything I tried on. I wasnt ready to commit yet and so I waited and the next time I came in town we made another appointment, in that time we also learned that the owner of the bridal salon was a family friend of sorts. My dad drives the school bus at the daycare her children go to. This is why I decided to even look in San Antonio a second time as I was originally planning on buying my dress in Houston.

Well, I had a dress ordered in to try on because I loved it, well in person it was beautiful but just didnt give me that feeling.

I tried on several dresses all where beautiful and then the Lady Teresa who owns Mayfair Bridal pulled out a dress for me and I didnt like it because it had thick off the shoulder straps which Im not into, but she told me they could be taken off and that I should try on the dress anyway, so I did

and Alas we have the dress







Its actually only going to kind of look like this they are actually mixing the neckline of this dress, so it'll have a smoother sweetheart neckline:


onto the body of my dress, but this is what the original neckline looks like on my dress which we will be doing away with asap!


Going into the day as I was trying on dresses and I loved how everything looked I was starting to feel like I would never be able to make a decision but as soon as I put on this dress it was just perfect and I got that feeling that I had to have THIS dress...with some changes of course :) But now I guess I can say I have a custom one of a kind dress

Check... Check...Check

Last Thursday M and I ventured to Austin to take our Engagement pics. I was a little nervous just because I know how M is in front of the camera (he gets nervous) and I was having faith in our photographer to make it work.

I got the edited proofs today and they look awesome(but the website wont let me copy the pics)! More on that to come when I get the cd so I can put some pics on here

On friday my mom, and dear friend Erin found my dress!! (more to come on that later too!) This is a sneak peak I will go into more details on another post because really it'll be a custom dress, but without going into too much detail it's going to have a different top than the one pictured...but this is a rough idea



Found a caterer, a florist, and possibly a lighting company.

The catering issue was something that was causing us much stress in the wedding planning, most places were either too expensive, had poor customer service or just didnt seem right as far as the type of food we were looking for

We decided to use the Columbian Culinary Team they actually sent me the proposal BEFORE I came in town so I could look it over and decided if the cost was what we were looking for and if the food sounded good, that way when I did come in town I could do a tasting. Being that I live in Houston, planning a San Antonio wedding can be slightly difficult, so I much appreciate when a company is willing to work with my travel plans. The food was AMAZING it was so good, and the lady I worked with Heather was awesome too, also, it always helps when the food is in the price range previously decided with the ability to have a few extras added in!!

Then after the caterer we went to look at a lighting company, I am not sure if I will use them yet there is another comany I want to look at first, but I was a little disappointed that the look I really wanted might not be possible due to the way my venue is set up and the electrical issues, because the venue is actually owned by the bank (my reception is actually in the bank lobby) the vendors cant just plug things into the wall plugs because if something shorts out the bank could lose all their very important information so it causes some problems, The guy did have some great suggestions and I just need to see what some other companies have to say first.

But I did find a florist, Eden's Echo, Erin was so awesome to work with. In my wedding planning I never "stalked" flowers and floral arrangements like I did other aspects of the wedding such as say my dress and bridesmaid dresses. So I really only had a vague idea of what I wanted or liked, but being the proffesional she is she had some great ideas and really got me excited about the flowers.

I am going to make my own bridesmaid bouquets so I also bought some flowers to practice that, I learned it's SUPER easy and I need about twice as many flowers as I bought to practice with. I have a website that has great reviews and the flowers come at a great price.

SO, I got so much done this weekend, all I really need to do as far as the big wedding planning things go is to find someone to be my Day of Coordinator and a DJ!

My plan is to have everything set by the end of summmer so all I have to do is perfect the small details and So far... Im well on my way to that goal!!

God... You did it again

Ok, So Last night was CRAZY Im not sure what to even make of it, I learned alot which is always a good thing

I kind of did it to myself, jinxed myself, I came to work and saw my assignment. One baby who Id had the night before and then I was on second admit so usually unless were like totally overflowed with kids I wouldnt be getting a baby. So one kid all night. I go to get report thinking either this kid got sick today or Im gonna have a cake walk night.

I get report even the nurse giving report says "Wow your gonna have a long boring night, Im sorry"...She said the B word and I agreed with her and thats what Cursed me. NEVER say the B word around the babies they dont like it.

So some time goes by and life is going on and at 8pm my baby self extubates which means the Dr.'s Didnt want her extubated but she is her breathing tube is no longer where it needs to be thus not breathing for her= big problemo on a kid the size of my hand. Her heart rate and o2 sats fall and This is where God comes in, one of the Respiratory Therapists happened to be standing right there and two transport nurses happened to walk in the room just as Im slightly about to freak out realizing my baby is probably extubated (it hadnt been confirmed yet, but she totally was) we take her off moms chest (she was doing kangaroo care)and the doctor re-intubated her, but she still was not happy after that (kinda made her more mad I guess) and the night went down hill from there one thing after another after another, all the way up until about 630am when It was time to give report to the next nurse, the baby finally stabilized and was doing OK not great but OK when I left so Im interested to see hows shes doing when I go back

So I learned never ever ever to say the B word around the babies not even if you think you say it quietly, Also God knows best he knew there was no way on earth I could have survived if I had another baby to care for on top of all this and he put the right people in the right place when I needed them there he Also taught me I know how to hold my tongue when I really wanna make a snarky remark back to the nurse practitioner who made a snarky remark to me ( I really hate that just because your a nurse practitioner doesnt mean your better or more important and dont make snarky passive aggresive remarks to me please... Thank you)

God, the protector

So yesterday something very disturbing happened in my neck of the woods. I was sleeping as I had just finished working four nights in a row and I get a call from M. He says he found a little girl and he called the cops and he's bringing her back to the apt. I was in a slight fog so I say ok and drag myself out of bed.

M had taken Ace out for a walk and saw a VERY young girl wandering around on her own, he looked around for her parents somewhere and when he didn't see anyone he saw this man walking so he stopped to ask him if he knew this little girl. He said he saw her walking but assumed her parents were near by, M said no, he didnt see her parents anywhere so they went to find one of the apt managers apts to see if they knew her. As they were walking this other young girl about 10 came up and said she had seen the little girl before and gave them an apt number which she thought was where the little girl lived, so they went to that apt and no one answered (the cops went by there later and found out no one lives in that apt). So M called the police and brought the little girl back to our apt.

She was so cute ivory skin, big blue eyes, and a head full of curly red hair, she was also barefoot had tons of bug bites and a horribly soaked diaper (it leaked on my leg when she sat on my lap)... and the cutest smiley personality, which was kind of odd to me because how many three year olds are happy and smiley with no parents, in a strange apt with two strange grown men?

So the cops showed up and tried to find out her name, she wouldnt tell them, or me either, she did tell us that she was three though. She didnt know her parents names or where they were either, her speech was very delayed for a three year old. So the police took her to walk around and see if they could find someone who knew her or something, M took ace back out so he could properly walk and said he saw the one sheriff SUV leaving but saw the other sheriff entering an apt with a porch covered in beer cans.

Im not sure what happened to her, im sure they took her into custody or something it had been several hours by the time it all ended and no one had reported a missing child or anything, which leads us to beleive that they didnt miss her or were passed out or somewhere else. She was so cute and I hope God was watching over her after Mark found her, He was certainly watching out for her since M found her and not some creep who might have kidnapped, raped, abused, or killed her.