There are few things more exciting, in a sixteen year old girl's life, than going to her Jr/Sr prom. I remember my own prom, like it was yesterday. . . if yesterday was 1991. The theme was "Diamonds & Pearls", the Prince song, it was very popular that year. The venue was the amazingly beautiful, Opryland Hotel, it was awesome!

  I spent weeks preparing for that one special night. I even put forth the effort and lost a few pounds, so I could fit into my dress better. Every other afternoon, after school, I would spend an entire 30 minutes in the tanning bed (which resulted in a 99% increase in the amount of freckles I have, to this day). I looked everywhere for the perfect dress and of course, shoes and purse, to match. After weeks of searching, I finally found the perfect dress, it looked a lot like this one...

  It was a long, black satiny number, with huge puffy sleeves, a sweetheart neckline, a sequined bodice with a bow, right at the hip-line.  It had a small train in the back and I felt like a beautiful princess from the first second I tried it on. It was perfect. I even found the dyeable shoes to match and my Mom had the perfect evening clutch I could use. It was all so perfect.  I was all set... until my boyfriend dumped me a week before prom.

 Instead of doing the whole "Oh, woe is me, my boyfriend dumped me a week before prom, what ever shall I do..." crap, I decided to do what any girl with a beautiful dress and $50 in pre-paid, non refundable prom tickets would do... I invited my best girlfriend and we went together and rocked the crap outta that prom... for all of an hour, then we ducked out with her boyfriend and his friend.

  Even though the night hadn't ended as I had imagined, in my daydreams, 50,000 times, I still had an amazing time and it was a night I will never forget and I can't wait for my own daughter to have this amazing experience.

  In honor of National Pancake Day, I am sharing this amazing Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough pancake recipe I made, on the fly, yesterday. The girl was out of school for a "snow day" (we had no snow, only ice) , so I decided to be a good Mom and make breakfast and this is what happened . . .

Lately, Micah has been super picky and refuses to eat half the food I put in front of him, instead, opting for crap like sandwiches and snack foods.  In an effort to get him to eat something with a modicum of nutritional value, I decided to make him his own batch of cookies... healthy, good for you, full of yummy, nutritious goodness cookies.

The peanut butter is full of protein, the addition of the applesauce adds sweetness without adding sugar, the bananas add the right amount of flavor and the oats are a nice, consistent energy source. The honey is technically optional, I like the flavor it adds, but you could use flavored agave, instead, if you like.

  I made these amazing little bundles of gastronomic joy last weekend, for our "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" themed family movie night. I am not Betty Crocker, but I do use her mixes, often and with a few little secret "hacks", you can doctor a box mix into something worth writing home about.