It's been awhile guys..

So I just wanted to give an update blog. I will be picking back up with my baking and cooking and small talk conversations as time goes on. 

I've started making some amazing meals that I can't wait to share with you! 

I currently work part time at honda which I love! My daughters are both in school! which school lunches is a whole other subject! My life has gone through some serious changes and I am truly excited to share it all with you. 

Butterscotch Pancakes... WHAT?!?

So I have a weekend off. After working 9 days in a row, I get a day off!! Not just a day, a weekend!!! Then this morning I was staring at my bare cupboard, looking at it knowing I need to go to the store, but considering I am paying rent this week the store is going to be a very basic trip with nothing good.
I saw the butterscotch chips, and I saw the flour, the milk and the eggs.. and I yelled "PANCAKES!"
My daughter Rory said "YES!" So I decided basic pancakes from scratch is what I needed to make, and I'm going to throw in some Butterscotch just for the hell of it.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, or vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 bag of butterscotch chips

In one bowl, I combined the milk, butter and egg.

 In another bowl mix together flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.

 Then slowly pour the flour mixture into the milk mixture.

 BUTTERSCOTCH CHIPS!!! Yeah.. I used the whole bag...

 And... pour. I didn't have the heat high enough at first...

 Then I had the heat too high...

 JUST RIGHT! So a medium heat for 1 minute on each side. PERFECT

 There were absolutely incredible... I Felt like I was eating candy for breakfast.. Oh wait.. I was.

 mmmm.. see the butterscotch.

SOOO that was breakfast this morning. It made A LOT of pancakes. I make all my pancakes in silver dollar size, and I got probably about 20. Which is a lot for me and the girls. So I am going to throw the rest into the freezer for a quick heat up breakfast for the girls on another day.

These pancakes were Aeryn approved.

Fryin' the stir... wait. I think I said that wrong.

My "homemade" stir fry

The reason I have "Homemade" in quotations is because I use a ready made sauce for it. Besides that it is homemade and I am VERY proud of it. Although I'm not going to lie, I didn't think about blogging it until 1/4 of the way through. So I don't have the beginning pictures. I'm sorry, I promise I will remember next time. 

 Ingredients: 

1 chopped green pepper

1 sliced yellow onion

2 sliced lengthwise zucchini

2 chopped celery sticks

2 chopped carrots

2 spoonfuls minced garlic

1 lb of chicken (cut into inch slices)

La Choy Stir Fry Orange Ginger sauce

Ramen noodles (yup you read it right)

 

I put all the veggies chopped up in a bowl and covered them in the garlic (save 1/2 a spoonful)

 Let the pan heat up and add the garlic. Let the garlic cook for a few minutes and then add the chicken. Let the chicken cook till there is no pink. I also added some seasoning to the meat, some paprika, salt and pepper. Just for some added flavoring.

Add the veggies to the frying pan with the meat and pour 1/4 of the sauce into the pan. After 20 mins drain the pan and then add all but 1/4 of the bottle to the veggies and meat let simmer until the veggies are to your liking. I really overcook mine but I like it that way. Then I cook the Ramen noodles. DO NOT ADD THE SEASONING. Drain the water and pour the rest of the sauce on to the noodles. Stir it up. 

 Dish it up! First some noodles and then the stir fry on top. Its very easy on the wallet and very yummy! Its one of my favorite meals, especially when I want Panda Express.

I hope you enjoy!

Pancakes.. Pan.. cakes.. CAKE! okay!

Funfetti cake mix pancakes

     So this morning I woke up, to two toddlers jumping on me telling me they were hungry. I started some coffee for myself and stared at my fridge. I make them eggs and toast with jam almost every single morning. On days I'm running late then they eat cereal or a nutri-grain bar. But this is my DAY OFF, and I want to make something Special.

I go to my pantry and stare, Funfetti cake mix... What can I make with funfetti cake mix. Pull out my handy dandy computer, search Google and find that this is a very common idea. Funfetti pancakes!! WOOHOO! Now I am an amazing pancake maker, from scratch and bisquick mix, my pancakes turn out beautiful. I knew this was going to be awesome!!

 Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of Funfetti cake mix
1/2 cup milk
2 Tablespoons oil
1 egg

 Mix it all up! I always mix the egg first then add the milk and oil, and then the cake mix.

 I was so excited right now! I was doing a little kitchen baking dance. Then something was wrong....I could tell. So I flipped them.

 NO!!!!!!!! I was devastated. I NEVER burn pancakes.

 The inside was almost perfect too, so I turned the heat down to low. And I mean LOW.

Then this beautiful creation was made! 4-5 mins on each side on low. The batch after this one I did for 6 mins on each side and it was perfect. Something with this mixture makes it burn very fast. So the typical medium heat doesn't work for these kind of pancakes.

 My girls LOVED the Pancakes

 I decided to use the glaze I used in my last blog. In the butter pecan cookies recipe. Its a vanilla bean glaze and it is to die for. Over these pancakes, it is truly incredible. I could imagine you can top it with whatever you'd like though.

 I hope ya'll enjoyed my cooking experience this morning. Now that I have made these I know I am going to make them again. This only made about 12 small pancakes. So if you have a large family or REALLY like pancakes, I would make a double batch.

Thanks for stopping by!

Soooo... I'm baking.

     Butter Pecan Cookies with Vanilla glaze

Okay so I love to bake. I am always searching Pinterest for new ideas. Well awhile ago I saw an idea for cake batter cookies. Where you take cake mix and create pretty much the most amazing cookies you've ever tasted.
Success number one was a few days ago. I made Strawberry cookies with bubblegum icing. They were like a state fair in your mouth. The next day, I made devils food cookies with chocolate chunks, another winner!
Today I decided to make Butter Pecan Cookies with Vanilla Bean glaze.

 Ingredients for Cookies:

• Butter Pecan cake mix
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs 
• 2 cap fulls of imitation vanilla bean  

 When I mixed it all up it was oddly sticky. So I checked the wonderful world of the internet and it suggested to  refrigerate the dough. Worked like a charm!!

 Sorry the picture is so bad. I'm not the best photographer, I just like to bake.

ANYWAYS, I baked the cookies at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.

 Now its time to make the glaze! I just used powdered sugar, whipping cream and some more vanilla bean flavoring. Its really up to taste. I have a lot of this made because use it for cookies all the time. The amount is up to you, mix and taste, mix and taste. YUM, best part of the job!

 This is the yummy yummy product. Fluffy butter pecan goodness!

 How do you like my Sugar and Coffee containers?? Sorry I couldn't resist but show them off. I got them at an antique store.

Then I drizzled the glaze over the cookies and let it harden on top. It was amazing and beautiful and so yummy! My 4 year old Rory agrees on that. She said,  "Oh thank you mommy, these are delicious!"

Well anyways, I hope you have enjoyed my butter pecan vanilla bean cookies!

How's the weather? What? I'm really bad at small talk...

Well Hello friends and fellow bloggers! 

      I haven't blogged in awhile. I have started many blogs and never continued them. I partially blame the instability of my life before. However for the first time in awhile I can say my life is fairly stable. I work for the Home Depot, and the Special Service Desk. Its a high customer service job. I really enjoy it. I have enjoyed most of my jobs, for different reasons. This is the first place that I've gotten into a rhythm where if I ever were to leave, I would be lost.

My Lorelei

      As you've seen in my about me I am a single mother, of two beautiful angels (with horns holding their halos up). Lorelei or Rory as I like to call her, is my buddy. She is 4 years old, full of smiles all the time, she wants to make everything and everyone happy and is a major rule follower. She loves ballet and I can't wait to watch her grow. Aeryn (pronounced Erin means Ireland), is my dreamer. She is 3 and spends most of her time in another reality. She has been given then nickname "Banshee" with so much love behind it, you have no idea. She has some lungs on her, and when she wants her way, she knows how to use them. Aeryn hasn't found her favorite things yet, she takes dance with her sister but she is still daydreaming the class away. 

Me and Miss Aeryn

     I have a sister who lives a state away with her husband and a majority of our family. Growing up we had our moments, but I think that's allowed, because now she is my rock. I have seen families tear themselves apart because of sibling rivalry and I refuse to let that happen to us. That is also something I am instilling in my daughters, that your sister is the best friend God gave you. Always remember that. 

    My mother and father live near me, and my daughters call them "nana and Papi." It was Papa, until our recent trip to Disneyland where they overheard someone call their "Papa", "Papi", it was game over after that. He has been Papi ever since. My mother has had serious health issues for the last 10 years, and actually as I write this she is in the hospital again. I could go into detail, however it is another topic for its own post eventually. 

     

ALRIGHT. Now that was my introduction blog! I have no idea where to go from there! Give a couple hours. I'm sure I will think of something!