Cookin' Stuff Tuesday - Crepe - tastic!

I am about to go all french on you so WATCH OUT!!! I have seen crepes made on TV about a billion times. They make crepes on Chopped all the time because it is "simple". I am just going to tell you that it has never seemed simple to me.

So, the other day I was just reading random links that I rabbit hole in to whilst surfing the net to avoid doing my homework and I found a recipe for "Crazy Crepes"... me thinks I may give this a try some day. So I left the link open at the top of my screen (along with about 20 other links, I am notorious for this!)

Well, today after my doctor's appointment (baby no name is doing great btw) and during Denton's nap, I decided to give crepe making a whirl because obviously this is just something you would do on a whim, right?

Here is the recipe for those interested, it is SO simple!

Ingredients

• Crepes
• 1/2 cup fat-free milk
• 1 large egg
• 2 teaspoon cooking oil
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• Directions

  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, egg and oil; slowly whisk in flour, beating until well combined.

  2. Coat a 6-inch skilled with nonstick cooking spray. Heat over medium heat; remove from heat. Spoon 2 tablespoons batter into skillet, tilting skillet to spread batter evenly. Return to heat; brown on one side (1 to 2 minutes) flip and cook a few more seconds.

  
  

  Man I wish I could figure out a way to post pictures. The first crepe was an epic fail. I sprayed way to much olive oil in the pan

  and the pan was really pretty crappy as well. So I switched to a big ole' pan and just didn't spread it to the edges. I made EIGHT batches of this which made around 40 -45 crepes. It took about two hours ( I know right! ) Spooning and tilting and turning and spooning and tilting and flipping. Then I stacked them with wax paper in between and put them in a ziploc bag in the freezer. From what I read, you can just pop a couple out and defrost for a quick dessert, breakfast, or dinner.

  
  

  We did go ahead and eat some. The kids had snacks with cream cheese and pb & j and they were a HIT! Girl kid wanted them for dinner so I filled them with chicken and broccoli and covered them with a lemon alfredo sauce. They were amazing and I am having a hard time not going in there to eat more but I am trying to save some for the hubs.

  
  

  Well, I was busy today so that was all the cookin' I got done!

  ENJOY!

  
  

  That is all.

The Beginnings of a "Frugal Gourmet"

I remember when I was a little kid we didn't have cable (I know right? How did I live??) so on weekends I would watch KERA cooking shows. Yan Can Cook, Julia Child and my favorite, The Frugal Gourmet. These people amazed me with their cooking but the frugal Gourmet was even more so incredible because I did not have the foggiest idea what the world "frugal" meant. I remember looking it up in the dictionary and thinking "This is for me!" I was just a kid but my mom was single and I did a lot of the cooking so I thought if I could save her money it would be awesome.

This started an interesting trend of me creating recipes from whatever was laying around the kitchen. My mom had a few cookbooks so those usually helped with techniques and inspiration but we NEVER had all of the things required.

I was certainly not the best "chef" at 10. I remember once I decided I would make my mom a meatloaf. I was really excited. I had my Mom's recipe in hand and I was ready to amaze her. I slaved away for hours making dinner just right and when she got home she was really surprised! The surprises didn't end there though, when we took our first bite of this amazing meal I had lovingly prepared we were very surprised to learn that, in my excitement, I had forgotten to actually put any seasonings in the meatloaf. It was pretty much as the name describes, a loaf of meat. Thank GOD for ketchup!

I was just thinking about this story. My mom loves to tell it and it always makes her laugh. By the way, I make a much better meatloaf these days!

That is all.

Heather

My body is a rock hard example of athleticism...

is what I would be saying if sitting on your butt and eating ice cream were considered exercise. I could probably even be an Olympian in this sport. Sadly, butt sitting isn't an Olympic sport... yet. I did some preggo Pilates this morning and I am pretty sure that lady was trying to kill me. I just did the hips and thighs series because I have 4 weeks left until i hit Hawaii and if nothing else, at least I can try to have some nice legs.

It is a pregnancy focused video so I was really hoping to see some fellow shamu types rolling around on the floor, huffing and puffing, and sweating. There was none of that in this video. It was one lady who was noticeably pregnant but there was no rolling, huffing, puffing or sweating. She was workin' it like it was her job and I was the one rolling etc. There is a muscle that people are supposed to have in their butts which I apparently do not possess. Just a few minutes in and there was a fire raging in my glut region and she had barely started! I am going to keep at it, but I certainly hope it gets easier!

Cookin' stuff Tuesday didn't happen. It was more like Doin' Stuff Tuesday. We are still working through our double car explosion of last week so I had to run all my errands yesterday morning while the hubs was around. The good news is, the van is getting fixed for half the original quoted price... thumbs up and thanks to Anglen Automotive, you guys saved us! I did make 4 batches of sausage gravy this morning but that is not really something I would think about posting a recipe for, unless someone needed it, then I'm always happy to help.

Two notable points for the week, I started selling Pampered Chef. I hope it works out! I am hoping it is a way for me to share my love of cooking and earn a little money for my dear and wonderful family. Secondly, Denton is really growing up fast!

He is transitioning to a big boy room and he has started playing like a big kid. He stacks blocks instead of throwing them and the other day he said "yellow" out of the blue. He has started saying so many words, I am amazed all the time. His new favorite thing is grabbing your hand and telling you to "COME ON!". His favorite words are still "MINE" and "NO" but we are working on it. He also finger painted for the first time yesterday which was very fun. He has also developed a huge love of all things "Dodo" (Dora) although Clint wishes he liked Diego instead. He even says "Oh man" it is really cute but I will stop gushing now !

On the baby naming front, we THINK we may have a winner. We are currently test driving Noah. We will see if it sticks!

That is all.

Cookin' Stuff Tuesday

I may do a cooking blog on Tuesdays. This is a day when my husband is home in the morning and I can get quite a bit done. A lot of people ask me for my recipes so I will do my best to post them here. In all honesty, I make up most of my recipes so the measurements where I am not sure will be to your own personal taste.

Today I cooked a breakfast casserole, freezer breakfast burritos, and enchiladas.

The breakfast casserole was a recipe that I adapted.

Breakfast Casserole

• 1 tbs butter
• enough croutons to cover the bottom of an 8x8 pan
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 6 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 cup cooked ham, cubed
• 1 cup of asparagus cut in to one inch pieces

Directions

1. Melt butter in an 8x8 inch glass baking dish or small casserole dish. Add croutons and toss to coat. Sprinkle cheese on top of croutons. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk and dry mustard. Pour egg mixture over croutons and cheese. Sprinkle on asparagus and cubed ham. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
3. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, until eggs are set. Let sit for 5 minutes before cutting.

Breakfast burritos

9 eggs

8 oz chorizo

1/4 onion chopped

1/2 cup grated cheese

10 burrito size tortillas

1/4 cup of milk

salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook chorizo and onions until done.

2. Wisk eggs and milk in a bowl, add salt and pepper.

3. Add eggs and cheese to pan with chorizo and stir occasionally until eggs are set.

4. Put 1/10th of stuffing in a burrito and roll it up, wrap in a paper towel and foil.

5. Put burritos in a ziploc bag and putt in the freezer.

6. To reheat, take off the foil and put in the microwave for about 1 minute.

Enchiladas

8 oz tomato sauce

1 can of rotel

3 tbs of butter

3 tbs of flour

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

cumin, garlic powder, and chili powder to taste

flour or corn tortillas

1/2 onion chopped

1 chicken breast cut in to very small pieces

1 15 oz can of corn

1 cup of shredded cheese

2 cloves of garlic minced

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 pan with non-stick spray.

2. In a sauce pan melt butter and whisk in flour and cook slowly until light brown. Whisk in tomato sauce, rotel, 11 1/2 cups chicken broth, cumin, garlic powder, and chili powder and boil until a thick consistency.

3. Meanwhile in a frying pan on medium heat cook chicken, onions and garlic with 1/4 cup chicken broth until done.

4. Spread a small amount of tomato mixture on the bottom of the pan.

5. Mix 1/2 cup cheese, corn, and chicken mixture in a bowl. Put a spoonful of this in to the tortilla and roll up and lay seam side down in the pan.

6. Top enchiladas with remaining tomato mixture and top with the other 1/2 cup of cheese. Bake about 30 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is melted.

Well that is about it for today... I hope you like these recipes as much as my family did!!

That is all.