Can't get enough Crepes....

So simple even with maple syrup and powdered sugar, but decadent with more (see below!)

My kids LOVE crepes.

Okay, the blueberry sauce with lemon cream as filling is to DIE for. No, really, I mean it.  Don't make them if you are watching your figure, you just won't want to stop!!

Monte Cristo's

Okay, my mom introduced me to Monte Cristo's a long time ago, and they are not often on the menu in most restaraunts, so I have had to find my own way to make them.  Generally they consist of ham, turkey, provolone and a raspberry or strawberry preserve, you can also add mayo or miracle whip.  The sandwich made, is then dipped in an egg and milk dip (like for french toast, only salt and peppered) then, grilled on both sides.  Add extra jam or maple syrup for dipping.  Yum.   Makes me hungry just thinking about it ;)

Crepes

Crepes--Oh La La!

Okay, I have to tell you that I am not allowed to make these very often, because we don't just have crepes, we have crepes with all the fixings.  Recently we had family up and one told that her mom made these a lot, but later she said that they just eat butter and sprinkled sugar on them.....oh, no, if you are going to eat crepes you must have cream cheese and powdered sugar and fruit, and okay, let me just give a favorite recipes for fillings that I have come up with, after the crepe recipe.

Crepes:
2 eggs

1 cup milk

2/3 cup flour

1 pich salt

1 1/2 tsp veg oil

Mix all in the blender--I usually double this for my family and it still might come up short.  It also said on the allrecipe.com site wher I got this from that you should refrigerate for one hour, but I never have and it is always great.  Cook 1/4 cup at a time in a heated, greased, or oiled, non-stick pan on both sides until golden brown.

Toppings and Fillings

Raspberry Cream:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 jar raspberry jam

blend and stuff!!

Lemon Sauce

(Which is awesome over the raspbery cream-filled crepe):

1 C Water

1/4 C Karo Syrup

(this originally called for honey or maple syrup, but I didn't hink it did the job and switched to Karo which was perfect)

1/4 C Lemon Juice

2 Tbsp Cornstarch

1 tsp lemon peel

Comine all but peel in saucepan over med. heat until clear and slightly thick.  Remove from heat and add peel.

Cream Cheese and your Favorite Jam:

Just take some softened cream cheese, mix in your favorite jam to the consistency that you can spread on a crepe, roll and eat!!

My favorite??  Strawberry Plum Jelly that I made--sweet and tart, yum!

My kids also like their crepes with plain maple syrup and sprinkled with powdered sugar. 

Or, just add jam, peanut butter, or both.

One that I have yet to try is adding chocolate chips and sliced banana after you flip the crepe, so the chocolate melts!

Or just whipped cream and fruit.

I'd LOVE to hear your favorites!!

 

Lemon Cream:

1 8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbsp Lemon juice

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 small whipped cream

Blend all but whip cream, which you fold in after.

You can add fruit to this, or not.  We love to fill the crepe with the lemon cream and top with a flavored syrup, like chokecherry, blueberry, etc.

Lasagna Stuffed Shells

Okay, I got my hubby on this one.  He was not very excited, but by the time he tried it, he had admit that it was pretty darn wonderful!

I cooked a whole box of jumbo pasta shells, and drained.  In the mean-time I mixed 3 cups cottage cheese with 2 eggs, about a cup and a half of shredded mozzarella, though it called for the 1/2 to be parmesan I didn't have any on hand and didn't miss it too much.   Also add 2 Tbs of dried parsley and a teaspoon of salt and 1/2 tsp of black pepper.  Mix that and fill the shells. 

For the sauce, I used a big can of Hunt's spaghetti sauce, and 1 lb of ground sausgage, though the recipe called for beef and had it's own sauce.  Pour the sauce over the stuffed shells in a 9x13 pan and sprinkle with another 1/2 cup of mozzarella.  Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes!!

My kids all loved it--which was shocking, because there is always one that doesn't.  They normally like lasagna, but with chicken and not with sausage, so I was happily surprised.

1 Box Jumbo Shells

3 cup Cottage Chees

2 eggs

2 cup mozzarella (or 1/2 of it parmesan)

2 Tbsp Dried Parsley

1 tsp Salt

1/2 Tsp pepper

1 Large can Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb ground sausage

Stuffed Chicken and Pasta

This is known as 'Chicken Eileen" on the allrecipes site--1 pkg of stuffing mix prepared and 8 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, and 16 slices of mozzarella.

Pound out the chichekn to 1/2 inch thick and place a slice of cheese and scoop of stuffing on each breast before closing with toothpicks.  Top each with the other slices of cheese.  Bake in a greased 9 x 13 --the recipe said 25 minutes at 350, it took me 15 minutes longer and I upped the last 50 minutes to 375.

Then, I needed a side dish, so here is what I came up with, thinking my family would maybe hate it....SURPRISE!!!  THEY LOVED IT!

Tiny pasta shells, I guess a 16 oz bag?  I am so bad at recipes, since I just throw everything in.  Cook according to package.  Then I sprinled a bunch of pramesan cheese--and I only had the dried, in the shaker.  Then, I added a bag of frozen corn (I think when we froze it from the garden last year that I put three cups in each bag).  I used garlic salt and pepper to my liking and tossed it in olive oil over low heat.  Can I say YUM one more time!

Pizza and Breadsticks, Our Favorite--OH YUM!

Okay, this is an at least once a month staplein our home--and a request by family when they come to visit .  I love to make pizza and breadsticks, almost as much as I love to eat it and am pretty prejudice about my pizza versus most other kinds whether from a restaraunt or store.

Here's the breadstick recipe:

Breadsticks

3 C Warm Water

2 Tbsp Yeast

4 Tbsp Sugar

1 tsp Salt

6 C Flour

　

Mix and rest 10 minutes.

Melt ½ cube of butter. Now you can either pour the butter onto two jelly roll pans, or save it to brush on. Sometimes (this is the quickest method) I divide dough into tow halves and roll each half the size of the pan, put it on the pan in the butter, flip it over, so it gets butter on the top, then sprinkle with garlic salt and parmesan cheese from the shaker. After that I take a pizza cutter and cut down the middle length-wise and in one-two in strips width-wise. When I am ambitious, I cut into strips, twist, put on the pan, brush with butter, and sprinkle with salt and cheese. These kind are better spaced apart from each other. They then rise for 19 minutes in an oven that was warmed to 200 degrees and then shut off. At the end of the 19 minutes turn the oven on to 375 and bake for 20 minutes.

Now, onto the pizza!!  For the pizza I follow the same recipe for the dough as the breadsticks.  I can get two deep dish pizzas on cookie sheets, or one deep dish and a pan of breadsticks and a small (round) thinner crust pizza out of one batch., or two large rounds and one smaller.
Barbeque Chicken Pizza

I fry sliced onion and green pepper on the stove first, then use my favorite BBQ sauce for the pizza sauce.  After that comes the onions and peppers and diced or shredded chicken and mozzarella.

Hawaiian and Sausage Pizza's

Hawaiian is of course done with canadian bacon and tidbit pineapple, so that takes up one half  and our kids love country-style sausage browned and put on their half.

'Cowboy' Pizza

Stealing the name from Papa Murphy's my parents were coming out one time and my mom said that my dad liked the 'cowboy' kind, so I did what I could with what I had and now it is a favorite.  It has pepperoni, sausage, diced olives and canned mushrooms.  Even for people who might not like olives or mushrooms, it is wirth a try!!

 More favorites are:

Chicken Alfredo:

Alfredo as the sauce, shredded chicken and mozzarella, sprinkled with parmesan and diced green onion.

Pepperoni:

Lots of pepperoni, lots of cheese!

Taco:

Refried beans are used instead of sauce, ground beef or chicken, and cheese, you can use onions, tomatos, peppers, whatever floats your boat.  Top with sour cream, salsa and shredded lettuce, too!

Valentine's Day Dinner



Chip & Oat (Flour-Free) Cookies

Oat & Chip Cookies

1/2 C. Soft Butter (or margarine)

1 C. Peanut Butter

1 C. Sugar

1 C. Brown Sugar

3 Eggs

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 tsp.  Salt

1 Tbsp. Baking Soda

2 C. Peanut Butter or Chocolate Chips

6 C. Oats ( I use 6 Grain Rolled mis, or half oats, or all oats)

Chill dough in fridge for 2-3 days before baking for best results--it makes a huge difference in the texture of the cookies, though they are good right after mixing, they are kind of flat and chewy, and if you chill them it makes them more of a regular cookie texture.)

Mix all and bake at 375 for 8 minutes chewy and 10 minutes crispy.

This recipe came from my friend: Alyce Showell

Frosty Fanatics

Okay, so, granted, we live far from fast food, so maybe that is why we love this one so much, but I found this in an Allison's Pantry Order form, with ideas on using some of your food storage and it has become almost as important as rice and potatoes at our house!

Here's what you need:

A good blender
1 1/2 C. Powdered Milk
2/3 C. Sugar
1/4 C. Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 C. Ice Water
2 Tbsp. Oil for emulsification
Several More Cups of Ice

You probably want to put the water on the bottom and maybe mix a bit at a time until you have it all in there- might take a few times to get it down so that it mixes best, and then let the blender run until it is smooth.  You can taste and add more ice if it is still a little strong.

Multi-Grain Whole Wheat Bread

I have had a lot of people ask me for this recipe, so I put it on my personal blog recently, which made it easy to add to this one.  I make bread about every two weeks, usually 3-4 batches minnumum. We go through a lot, but it's also one of my favorite ways to to let someone know I am thinking of them, or a good excuse to drop by and say hi to someone--kind of a Relief Society staple. 

Multi-Grain Whole Wheat Bread:

6 C. Hot Water

1 C. 9 Grain Ground Mix

1 C. 6 Grain Rolled Mix

1 C. Wheat Bran (I happen to have a 50 lb bag, when it runs out, it won't be on the recipe anymore)

1/4 C. Sunflower Seeds

1/4 C. Flax Seeds

1 Tbsp. Poppy Seeds

1/2 C. Sugar (You can use honey)

1/3 C. Oil   (You can replace with 1/2 C. Applesauce)

2 Tbsp. Salt

3/4 C. Gluten

Up to 12 C. Wheat Flour

2 Tbsp. Instant Yeast

Add everything, but the flour, then add about two cups of flour and the yeast and start to mix, add remainig flour until the dough reaches the right consistency and isn't sticking to the sides of the bowl.  I let in knead in my bosch for about 10 minutes, then divide into four pans and raise for 30 minutes before putting in the oven at 350 for 27 minutes.

The basis for the recipe began with my mom, Tammy!

Spinach Artichoke Dip (YUM!!)

	1   cup mayonnaise or salad dressing (I prefer it with mayo, the time I made it with salad dressing it kind of overpowered the flavor a bit)
1	cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1	can (about 14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
1	box (9 oz) Green Giant® frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to drain
1/2	cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4	cup shredded Monterey Jack or mozzarella cheese (1 oz)  (I use mozzarella, because that is what I usually have on hand)
	Toasted baguette slices or assorted crackers, if desired --We use tortilla chips. (I have also doubled this every time I made it because I knew it would go fast!!)

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1. Heat oven to 350ºF. Mix mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese. Stir in artichokes, spinach and bell pepper.
2. Spoon mixture into 1-quart casserole. Sprinkle with Monterey Jack cheese.
3. Cover and bake about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve warm with baguette slices

(This is another Betty Crocker recipe that I was sent in an email because I have an account with them)

Chicken Chili and Cornmeal Dumplings....

Always a staple in winter time, Chili can sometimes take a lot of time, but this is quick, easy, and VERY yummy....even my kids like it!

2 C. Cut up Chicken (I use bottled, 1/2 a quart)

1 Can (15 oz) Tomato Sauce

2 cans (15 oz) Chili Beans in Sauce (I just use our regular Western Family chili)

1 Can (7 oz) Corn, undrained (I use a bag of semi-thawed, frozen corn anywhere from 2-3 cups)

1 1/2 C Bisquick

1/2 C Cornmeal

2/3 C Milk
1/2 C Shredded Cheddar Cheese
In a 4 quart pot, mix chicken and tomato sauce.  Heat to boiling and then reduce, covering and simmering for 5 minutes.  Stir in chili and corn and heat to boiling, then reduce heat to low.

In a bowl, mix bisquick, cornmeal, and milk into soft dough.  Drop by spoonfuls into hot pot, about 12 spoonfuls, and then cook uncovered for 10 minutes before covering and cooking for 10 more.  Sprinkle with cheese, cover and cook for about 3 more minutes and VIOLA!  Dinner-time! 

About 6 servings.  (From BettyCrocker.com)