Crepes

It's been years since I've attempted to make Crepes. Kelli went to a Mutual activity where they made crepes, topped them, and then ate them. When I went to pick her up I got to try one of them. Mine had Nutella and Strawberries and it was SOOO good! So, rather randomly this afternoon, I decided to make some for a snack. I popped the ingredients into my blender, and whisked the dry ingredients into a small bowl, then slowly, with the blender on, added the dry mixture. Then I poured it right from the blender- EASY. This recipe is from Bonnie Weeeks' blog, the recipe Kelli helped make at the activity. If you click on the title it will take you to her post, she even has a video with pictures to go along with it. I liked the quick video, since I really didn't know what I was doing when I made these. She's got some other great looking recipes I need to try, as well as Crafty things I may take a stab at trying. I found the picture from www.skinnytaste.com(another fabulous food blog, which I will be trying and hopefully posting some recipes from soon).

Crepes
About 5 servings (if you are really serving 5 adults, I would double it to have leftovers)

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1 cup water
4 eggs (if you only have 2-3 on hand, still doable)
1/4 cup oil
1-2 tsp vanilla (almond also tastes good)

Mix all ingredients together with electric beaters. Spray frying pans with non-stick spray. Ladle into pans and cook on 1st side just until the top looks dry and the pancake won't break when flipped. Cook on the 2nd side for 1/2 the time on the first. Eat and enjoy.

(Baked) Chipotle Beef Taquitos

These are GREAT. Next time I make them, I will stuff them as full as I can. I made way more than the 20 it called for. These are full of flavor and I just loved the cheese! They can be made with the corn tortillas or flour tortillas as well. Can't wait for lunch tomorrow. This recipe is from ourbestbites, but if you click on the title it will take you right to the post with pictures.

Baked Chipotle Beef Taquitos

3 C cooked, shredded beef roast
4oz green chilies, undrained
1/4-1/2 t minced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (I do 1/4 for mild spiciness)
3 t adobo sauce from the canned chipotle peppers (see below for note)
1 t garlic powder
1 t coriander
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
zest from one lime
1 T fresh lime juice
1 package Queso Fresco (about 12 oz)(Love this cheese!)
6″ white corn tortillas (about 20) I decied I like white corn torillas WAY better than yellow.
olive oil or cooking spray
kosher salt

Note: If you don’t want to work with the chipotle peppers, or can’t find them, try adding some Chipotle Chili Powder. You can find it by the other spices in the grocery store. It will still give you a smoky spice, so start with a little and increase to taste.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Take your shredded beef and slice any larger pieces across the grain so you have pieces about 1/2-1″ long. Place in a bowl and set aside.

Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce: We’ve talked about chipotle peppers before. They’re little red beauties that come canned in a smoky sauce. (They’re the same peppers used in this salad) Most of my recipes only use a small portion of the can you need to buy. So as not to waste the rest, I take the left overs and after de-seeding the peppers, I blend it all together with the sauce and then freeze it in 1t portions. Then it’s easy to pull out for recipes like this.

To prepare the peppers for the taquitos: pull out a pepper, trying to leave as much of the sauce as you can in the can. You’ll want to slit the pepper open to remove the seeds. You can just scrape them out with a small knife. Or, what I often do is just take care of it over the sink. Open it up and run it under a slow stream of water to wash the seeds out. You’ll want to be careful as the flesh is tender and can wash off too!


Mince it up as needed. And be careful, they’re spicy! Don’t touch your nostrils or your eyes, or pretty much anything else before washing your hands very well.

Combine chilies, chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, garlic, coriander, cumin, chili powder and lime zest and juice in a bowl. After stirring to combine, gently toss together with shredded beef.

Wrap a pile of about 10 tortillas in damp paper towels and microwave for 1 minute to soften. (after those are used, do the next 10)

Now bust out the queso fresco. You can find it at just about any grocery store now days. It’s generally in the refridgerated cheese section.

You can always substitute monterey jack or pepperjack, but I like queso fresco because I feel cool using foreign foods. Plus, it’s a traditional Mexican cheese and it tastes good.

Working with one tortilla at a time, crumble about 1T queso fresco in a line across the center of the tortilla. Top with 1-2 T shredded beef mixture and roll that baby up.


I use 6″ tortillas and I usually get about 20 taquitos. I fill them on the full side, so you could definitely stretch this and easily get more out of the recipe.


Place seam-side down on a lightly oiled/sprayed baking sheet. Use cooking spray or lightly brush olive oil on the top of each one. (I use olive oil in a mister and it works perfect.) Lightly sprinkle kosher salt on the top of each one.


Bake at 425 for 20-25 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and your house smells like a Mexican restaurant. A Mexican restaurant in a good way, not in a nasty, greasy, stinky way.

Take them out of the oven and let them cool for just a few minutes. Eat ‘em hot!


These should absolutely, positively be served with a healthy smothering of fresh guacamole. And some sour cream if you wish.

Lavosh(Wheat Thins)

I have the last batch of these in the oven right now. These are so fun and easy to make. You do them a batch at a time, like making cookies. I found the picture at castsugar.blogspot.com(just click on the title), but the recipe I found is from http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes_detail.php?rid=764 Just copy and past this to see for yourself. Of course it's here below as well. The first two batches I did turned out too soft(I didn't roll them thin enough), but after that they were PERFECT(I rolled them paper thin). I was surprised at how thin I had to roll them, but it is the key to these crackers. I found this recipe about a year ago and I finally got around to making them. I'm so glad I did.

Lavosh(Wheat Thins)

Ingredients
•1-1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
•1-1/2 cups White Flour, Unbleached
•1/2 tsp Sea Salt
•1/2 tsp Baking Soda
•1/4 cup Brown Sugar, packed (can be less if desired)
•4-5 Tb Sesame Seeds (White Hulled)
•1 stick Butter, melted
•1 cup Buttermilk

Directions
Mix together the first 6 ingredients (whole wheat flour through sesame seeds). Add the melted butter and buttermilk; mix well. Form batter into several balls the size of a tennis ball. Roll each out as thinly as possible on the back of an ungreased cookie sheet(use extra flower to roll them out, like a super mini-pizza). Score into 2" x 2" squares. Do not separate.

Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes.

Options: Seasonings such as garlic salt, onion salt, poppy seeds or cracked black pepper can be used.

Makes about 3 dozen crackers.

Sweet Tea

This recipe comes from my awesome Sister-in-Law, Mindy. It was passed down from her mother, who got the recipe from a fellow church member. The title will take you to myrecipes.com where I found the picture. Brandon likes to make up a pitcher of this tea during the hot summer months because it's so refreshing. I'm posting this up now because I'm looking forward to the Summer again. Only about 3 more months, right? Now this recipe is fun because you can change up the tea to whatever kind you like(our favorite is the Stash brand, Mint Herbal Tea, and my favorite is the Stash brand, Raspberry Herbal Tea), but we pretty much like it all.

Sweet Tea
4 Bags Celestial Seasonings Caffeine Free Tea(we use 6-7 bags because we like it stronger, and switch it up with different flavors)
1 cup sugar(I start with 1/2 cup and go from there, depending on how sweet we want it)

In a 1-quart pot, fill with water and bring to a boil. Then place 4 bags into the pot and pull the pot away from the heat, placing the lid on and simmering for at
least 15 min. Remove bags. Pour tea water into a one gallon pitcher.
Add sugar to make it sweet. Then fill the pot with water
and fill pitcher until its full. Stir, and Refrigerate. Serve chilled over ice.

Hasselback Potatoes

These were really fun to make. I've seen these before and finally got around to trying them. When I was preparing these I thought they weren't going to turn out like the picture, but they did. It looks so fancy, and it's really easy to do. I hope you give this a try. Click on the title it will take you to sophistimom.com where I found the picture as well as the recipe.

For the last few minutes of baking, she sprinkled them with some of the Weight Watchers’ 4 Cheese Mexican Blend. When they were ready to serve, she topped them with sour cream, but you can add anything you’d like.


Hasselback Potatoes
4 large Yukon Gold potatoes
olive oil
melted butter (optional)
kosher salt
2 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
4 ounces shredded Weight Watchers Cheese(whatever you like)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay a potato on its flattest side in the bowl of a large cooking spoon. Take a sharp knife, and very carefully cut thin slices all along the tops of the potatoes, about two thirds to three quarters of the way down—the edges of the spoon should prevent you from cutting all the way through. Repeat with remaining potatoes.

2. Brush the tops of the potatoes liberally with olive oil and melted butter, trying to work the oil in between the leaves of the potato. Slip slices of garlic in between a few of the slices, and sprinkle liberally with kosher salt. Roast for one hour, or until golden and tender.

3. Just as they come out of the oven, sprinkle with cheese, and place in the oven again for 5 minutes more. Serve with fat free sour cream, green onion or chives, and whatever you can imagine.

Crisp Coating Mix(for chicken, pork, or fish)

My kids like it when I make Chicken Nuggets, especially Kaleb. This is a spin on my original recipe that I use, and with some added good for you ingredients. This recipe is from the MAKE-A-MIX cookbook, by Karine Eliason, Nevada Harward and Madeline Westover. It originally calls for cornflakes and since I am not a fan of cornflakes, I use Crispy Rice(Rice Krispies generic brand)cereal instead.
This mix I just keep in a container and take out what I need, when I need it. I found the picture from myrecipes.com

Crisp Coating Mix
8 cups Crispy Rice cereal
1 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup sesame seeds
4 teaspoons dried parsley leaves, crushed
1 Tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon onion salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Pour all ingredients into food processor or blender, whir till small crumbs are formed and it's evenly distributed. Pour into a 5-cup container with a tight-fitting Lid. Seal container. Store in a cool, dry place. Use within 2 months. Makes about 4-1/2 cups Crisp Coating Mix.

This is what I do:
When you're ready to use the mix, put about 1/2 cups into 1 pie dish, 1 cup flour into another pie dish, two eggs, beaten into another pie dish. Dip your meat(cut however you want)first into the flour, shake excess off, dip into eggs and then in the coating mix. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake as you normally would. Enjoy.

Traditional Pumpkin Pie with Fluted Crust

I probably have enough pumpkin puree left from this year to make some more Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread, but this post is a great Pumpkin Pie recipe.