Birthday Pancakes

What the birthday girl wants the birthday girl gets. Kinda.  I saw that Michelle had asked Jim to make her chocolate chip pancakes for her birthday breakfast. Nothing makes me crazier than when he whips out the Bisquick, full of bleached enriched flour; all bad for Michelle.

I got up to run errands and decided to make sure I had everything I needed for homemade pancakes.  One of the first things I learned how to make was homemade pancakes and waffles a after Michelle's diagnosis.  Breakfast for her was generally an Eggo waffle before school if we could get her to eat breakfast at all.  So most of the time now I keep heatly waffles and pancakes in the freezer for breakfast, she throws them in the toaster and breakfast is done.  A much better alternative than the chemical filled Eggos.

I gathered the usual cast of characters to start making breakfast, however I did spring for the Ghiradeli Chocolate Chips as a birthday treat.

I would generally say making pancakes or waffles from scratch takes about 5 minutes longer than making them from a box, but I promise if you have the 5 minutes is it worth it.  I found that taking the time to sift the dry ingredients really does make for fluffier pancakes, some day I might even buy a real sifter instead of my ghetto version.
  
The recipe calls for melted butter, oh delicious heaven is there anything prettier then a bowl full of pretty yellow liquid?

Melted butter, butter milk, flour, baking soda, sugar, and some vinalla is all it takes!

Throw in some chocolate chips, and you have a happy birthday girl!

Gill Family Challenge

We have been looking for ways to cut back some in our monthly budget.  One of the ways we can save I think is by not eating out.  With all the time I spend in the car driving around plus working 55 hours a week, most of the time eating out is easiest.  Cutting back on eating out is one of the reasons I wanted to start cooking at home.  So I have gotten my hubby to buy in since this effects him too.  Here are the rules:

1.  No eating out from July 18 - August 18 EXCEPT one date night for Jim and I and one family night out to dinner.

2.  No going to the grocery store and buying a prepackaged dinner's when we don't want to cook.

3.  No lunches out, unless someone else who does not live in our house is buying.

4.  No IOU's for lunch or dinner out to be paid back after 8/18.

5.  No Starbuck's for 30 days.... The ultimate sacrifice for me!  (Gulp)

I feel like this means I need to spend a week eating out.  What this really means is I need to spend a week preparing.  I have to replace my favorite breakfast sandwich I normally buy at Starbucks with a yummy homemade sandwich.  I need to make sure I have plenty of lunch supplies and meals planned with leftovers so I'm not tempted to run out and grab lunch.  Dinner's and dinner prep will have to be done way ahead of time so I can make meals fast when I get home.  Yikes thinking about this is really overwhelming, and I should probably mention that Michelle is firmly set against this idea.  However I feel like if I am really committed to learning to cook and meal prep then I should fully commit for a month to force myself to get into the habit.

Anyone want to join us on this adventure??