Sunday Morning Crepes

We love crepes at our house! Especially Pierce. BUT they are labor intensive - not hard, just time consuming so we only make them on weekends when we have extra time in the mornings. This recipe is from the Joy of Cooking (I love that book). Ryan makes them. I have never even looked at the recipe until now as I am typing it in. Isn't he GREAT?

Basic Sweet Crepes

Combine in a blender or food processor until smooth:
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup luke warm water
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 and 1/2 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt

Pour the batter into a pitcher or other container with a pouring lid. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 30 mins or refrigerate for up to 2 days. (This allows the flour to thoroughly absorb the liquid and give the gluten in the four a chance to relax.)

Place a nonstick or seasoned crepe pan over medium heat. (We use a large skillet/fry pan) Coat the pan with a little unsalted butter. (Ryan just unwraps one end of a stick of butter and rubs it all over the warm pan).

Stir the batter and pour about 2 tablespoons into the pan, lifting the pan off the heat and tilting and rotating it so that the batter forms an even, very thin layer. Cook until the top is set and the bottom is golden. Turn the crepe over using a spatula or fingers (Ryan uses a spatula - it's too hot for fingers even though the recipe says fingers work best) and cook until the second side is lightly browned. Remove crepe to a piece of wax paper. Continue cooking the rest of the crepe, buttering the pan and stirring the batter before starting each one. Stack the crepes between sheets of wax paper (Today we used plastic wrap because we were out of wax paper - it works) use immediately or let cool, wrap airtight and freeze up to 1 month.

Today we used Nutella and walnuts as one filling and Marion berry syrup and blueberries as another filling. Use anything that sounds good - applesauce and cinnamon, fresh fruit, jam, powdered sugar, bananas and peanut butter, whatever sounds good! 

Hope you like them as much as we do!! - Gen

Two Cakes from One Mix

I was going through my recipes today, and found this recipe that is super handy for birthday cakes. It uses one cake mix to make double the amount of cake. It's a little stiffer cake too- so good for decorating.

1 cake mix - your favorite flavor
2 C flour
1 C sugar
2/3 C oil
2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
2 and 2/3 C water

Mix everything together well and bake according to instructions on the the mix.

-Genevieve

Easy Lemon Cookies

I saw this recipe and made these. They were so simple and tasted yummy- I love lemon. So give them a try if you need a quick treat.

Bake 375* for 7-10 mins
1 (18.25 oz) package lemon cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 c. Vegetable oil
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1/3 c. Powdered sugar

** side note: I used 1 Tbsp lemon juice in place of the extract

Mix all ingredients except the sugar. Roll dough into balls and then roll the balls in the powdered sugar.

Bake and eat. Simple and delicious.

Lv, Ash

Ryan's Greek Pizza

Ryan makes the BEST Greek pizza!! He made some last week and I want him to put his recipe on here- But for now, here are some pictures:

Here's the recipe finally (3 years later! 6/17/16)

Dough:
2 and 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 c warm water
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
3 and 1/4 to 3 and 1/4 cups flour - a mix of wheat and white

Combine the yeast, sugar and water. Let sand for 10 min. or until foamy. Stir in olive oil and salt. Add 3 cups of flour and blend well. Add enough extra flour so it doesn't stick. Turn dough out of bowl and knead for 6 to 8 min until smooth and elastic.

Put dough in oiled bowl and turn twice to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Set in a warm place and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours or until it has doubled in bulk.

Punch down and divide in half (or thirds if you want thinner crust). Roll or stretch each piece to 13 to 14 inch circle.

Topping: (for 1 pizza)

10 oz package of fresh spinach
1/4 c water
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c finely chopped red onion
1/8 tsp black pepper
salt to taste

1/2 c sliced pitted brine cured black olives ( or whatever amount looks good)
1/2 c sliced pitted brine cured green olives
1/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled (about 1 cup)

Wash the spinach and pull of thicker stems. Put the water and spinach in a large pot and cook over medium-high heat, covered, until spinach wilts, about 6 min. Drain excess liquid from pan. With cover off, cook and stir for 2 mins to allow some of the moisture to evaporate. Add olive oil, garlic, onion and pepper to spinach. Cook and stir over medium heat for 4 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Press and form a 1/2 inch border around the crust. Spread spinach mix evenly over the crust up to the border. Sprinkle the olives evenly over the spinach. Sprinkle the feta cheese over the pizza. (we put the feta on first so you can see the olives.)

Bake on the bottom rack of a preheated oven 450 to 500 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Olivia's Shower Menu

Wasn't that shower fun!! I really want the recipe for the dessert Jessica made. Here is a picture of the dessert - the boys hardly let me take it before they ate it!

Here is the current variation of Olivia's favorite Chinese Chicken Salad. It makes a HUGE amount -so half the recipe. That's really all we used for the shower and then the other half everyone had to take home for dinner.

Chinese Chicken Salad

2 heads of cabbage, chopped
1 leek - it's what I had I used the green leaf parts and everything- the original recipe is 16 green onions- but that seems like alot!
1 rotisserie chicken - the original recipe is for 8 chicken breasts - again that seems like a lot.
4 packages of chicken Ramen noodle soup
1 jar toasted sesame seeds  - about 2 ounces - that way you don't have to toast your own.
3 handfuls of sliver almonds - original recipe is for 8 ounces - but I didn't measure

Chop the cabbage and chicken. Dice the leek. Mix together in a large bowl. Add the sesame seeds. Break the noodles into small pieces and toast the noodles and almonds at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Mix dressing:
2/3 c sugar
1 c vegetable oil
2 tsp sesame seed oil - approximately - I didn't measure that either
1/2 c rice wine vinegar
4 spice packets from the ramen soup

Mix everything well and pour over salad. Add the toasted noodles and nuts just before serving so they stay crunchy.

This is all we had left after dinner - then Ryan had seconds - so less than that!

 

Artisan Bread

Aunt Terry made some really yummy bread! Here is roughly the recipe she gave me:

3 C flour
1 1/2 C water
1/4 -1/2 tsp rapid yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt

Mix and let dough sit for 12 hours - its sticky. Form dough into round loaves and put on parchment paper and allow them to rise for a few hours. Heat dutch oven to 400 to 450 degrees. Put the parchment paper and loaves into the dutch oven. (Aunt Terry said to do this so you didn't  smash the loaves- so they will stay large) Cook for 30 minutes with the lid on. Then take the lid off and cook for another 15 minutes.

She made 3 different kinds of bread- she says she just estimated how much add-ons she put in - usually 1/2 to 3/4 cup.

Cranberry -Almond bread - about 1/2 cup chopped almonds and 3/4 cups craisins
Asiago Cheese - Cut the cheese into chunks instead of grating it - its more flavorful that way. - About 3/4 cup.
Cheddar and Jalapeno- use hot Jalapenos - Terry said the mild ones are yucky, and the hot ones are still flavorful after cooking, but aren't too hot. Here's a picture of a slice I brought home for Ryan:

Here is a picture of my dutch oven I have NEVER opened, but now I have an incentive to try it!

So Jessica- Where is the dessert recipe??

Cilantro Lime Rice --Cafe Rio Style

I thought this rice was pretty delish, not to overpowering yet unique enough then plain white rice. So spruce up those rice dishes with this tasty little number and then bring me some for dinner!

INGREDIENTS

1 c. uncooked rice (long-grain, white rice)

1 tsp. butter or margarine

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

1 can (15 oz) chicken broth

1 cup water

1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice

2 tsp. sugar

3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS

In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice. 

*must give credit where credit is due. This is where I found the recipe:  http://www.therecipecritic.com/2012/08/cafe-rio-copycat-cilantro-lime-rice.html#sthash.gFNimFd0.dpuf


-Olivia

Apple Raisin Bread French Toast

With Myles in the hospital and me here at home with sick kids I have to keep busy. Last week we bought stuff to make Raisin Bread French Toast. We never got to it, but today I decided to make it and have it for breakfast tomorrow.  Everyone loves it - even Ryan who doesn't really like cooked raisins. We make this for Christmas breakfast sometimes. We also made it for the party we had after Genna's baptism.

1 pound loaf cinnamon raisin bread, cut in cubes
1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, cut in small pieces
1 large granny smith apple
8 eggs
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup milk
6 Tablespoons butter, melted.

1/4 cup maple syrup

Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Put in half of the cubed bread in pan.

Sometimes we can find this yummy bread at Costco- comes in a pack of 2 loaves. We freeze one for later.

 Layer it with cream cheese and then the apples. (You could add extra apples or raisins here too!)

Top with the other half of the bread cubes.

 Mix the milk, butter, eggs and maple syrup. Pour over the bread. Cover with plastic wrap and press down so all the bread pieces are soaked. Cover and refrigerate over night.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cook for 45 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.