Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

Ever since I had blueberry pancakes last weekend, I've been craving more. I'm an easy cooking kind of girl so I searched cooks.com and found a decent recipe and made a few changes. I think they came out pretty good!

• 3/4 cup wheat flour
• 1/4 cup regular flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 1 cup skim milk
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
  

Preheat griddle to 350°. Mix all ingredients, except blueberries together,until incorporated. Pour batter on griddle until desired pancake size is achieved. Sprinkle pancake with blueberries. Cook until bubbles in pancakes arise. Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until golden on other side. Serve immediately with butter and REAL maple syrup. (Not that corn syrup crap that is colored and flavored to be maple.)

Hand Made Birthday Cards

I love making cards. I am not however, good at remembering to make them in time. I always think about it too late. This is my belated birthday card for my friend Kristen (aka Chippendale's birthday girl). I took a few cute pics before mailing it off.

• Stamps: Happy Birthday- Anna Griffin, Delight In Life (Flowers)- Stampin' Up.
• Ink: Stampin' Up (can't remember colors but if interested I'll look into it.), Green Pigment Ink.
  
• Paper: Various scraps, Green is Certainly Celery from Stampin' Up.
• Flower embellishments are recycled silk flowers.
  

Eggplant Parmesan

As I've stated in previous posts, I love Italian food. One of my favorite Italian ingredients is basil and I just started growing some and thought this recipe would be great to make with fresh basil. This is sort of a fudge/hodge podge of my favorite recipes to make this with some shortcuts. You can bake it like a casserole or eat it fresh from being sauteed topped with marinara (when I don't want to wait for baking) and cheese. Either way it's yummy!

• 1 Eggplant
• 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
• 1 big hunk of mozzarella cheese (fresh is best but any can work), shredded.
  
• 3 sprigs of fresh basil, minced
  
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2-3 eggs, whisked
  
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• oil for sauteing
• salt and pepper for taste
  

1. Slice peeled eggplant 1/2" thick. (I don't like Eggplant skin, so I peel it before slicing).
2. Get two bowls and fill one with flour, salt, and pepper; the other with egg and Parmesan cheese.
3. Preheat oven to 375°. Heat up saute pan with 1 tbsp. of olive oil.
4. Dredge eggplant slices in flour, then in egg mixture, and saute until golden, transfer to plate. Continue until all slices are done.
5. Spread pasta sauce in a greased casserole dish. Layer sauteed eggplant, mozzarella cheese, minced basil, and sauce until completed. Finish with mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake until cheese is golden and bubbly.

Birthday Soiree with The Chippendales

What a weekend it has been! Tuesday was my good friend Kristen's birthday but we took care of celebrating Saturday night with a fun outing to a Chippendale's show! I had never been to any such thing before but this was sure fun. I got Kristen two lap dances for $4 (best $4 I've ever spent). It was so funny watching her squirm.
They didn't let us take any photos of the show but it's definitely a fun experience. Not as smutty as I was thinking. It's actually pretty funny watching men dance to choreographed moves awkwardly.
Afterward, we headed down to The Jay (dive bar for Creighton University) where Kristen's hub, Rusky works.
We then headed home for late night snacks. In the morning, we had the best blueberry pancakes and light syrup. Yummy food for a yummy girls weekend!

Making a Haul and Finding Deals at Tulle

I can't help finding a great deal so when I was perusing Pinque's blog with a discount code to Tulle. I couldn't pass it up. As you can see I took full advantage of the discounts! I paid under $65 for all of this. My motto is "I hate retail!".

Strawberry Basil Viniagrette

I'm a sucker for homemade vinaigrette and since I now have a basil plant I can't find enough things to do with basil so I decided to pair it up with some strawberries recently. This recipe isn't an exact science so please adjust to your taste.

4-5 strawberries, cut in half
1/8 cup of red wine vinegar (or apple cider, or balsamic)
1/4 cup of EVOO
3 basil leaves
1 garlic clove minced
salt and pepper to taste
Italian seasoning (optional)

Put all into a blender and emulsify until smooth. (I used my immersion blender and it was done in seconds.) I made the salad with butter lettuce, Gorgonzola, and roasted chopped almonds.

Adorable Baby Dress!!

Here is a little baby dress I made for my friend who is due in September. I bought the pattern from Leila and Ben on Etsy. Such a cute pattern, I couldn't resist! Sorry I took so many pics, it was too cute!I just love the colors....

I hung it from my chandelier...

If anyone knows of any other fun and easy patterns, sites for patterns that are unique or anything of the like--let me know. Have a good weekend!!

Ebay Madness

Okay ladies, I've posted several things on ebay. Please take a look at them and spread the word! I'll be adding more as the week progresses (purses and shoes). I'm cleaning out my closet!