Crepes

Posted by Lori:

We celebrated one of my son's 16th birthday Friday night and had a lot of family members and friends come for the event.  A few stayed until Saturday.....my parents and Caleb.  Caleb asked if he could make crepes for us for Saturday morning.  Of course we said yes!  We always welcome anyone who would like to cook for us! :)  I think I may have made crepes once.....in high school home ec class, but that's been a looooonnnngggg time!

The crepes were DELICIOUS!!  The whole family agreed!

Crepes

1 cup flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 t. salt

2 tablespoons butter 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs.  Gradually add in the milk and water stirring to combine.  Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat.  Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle using approximately 1/2 cup for each crepe.  Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes until the bottom is light brown.  Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side.  Serve hot with desired fillings.

For fillings, we had Nutella, strawberries, kiwi, bananas, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, and whipped topping. My daughter got the fillings ready to go in the crepes, then enjoyed making a few of them to show you (and for us to eat).

This is before rolling up the crepe like a taco or enchilada.  Such an elegant, but easy recipe!

Not sure this one was able to roll up, but it sure is pretty!

And finally, my daughter thought it would be neat to make cut-out shapes with the crepes.  See the two stars at the front of the plate.  A red, white and blue (with Nutella drizzled across the top) for a Patriotic crepe.

Thanks for the great recipe, Caleb!  

Shaped Sandwiches for Kids

Posted by Lori:

When my children were little, I loved doing fun foods for them.  Sadly, now, I don't......even though the youngest is nine.  Yes.....he's the youngest and while in some ways he may get off a little easier than the first three did, he is missing some of the special things I did with them - like cute food things!  I'll show him this blog post.  That's good enough, right???!!!  No.....but honestly, he won't care (thankfully!).

I found this on Pinterest, and I guess I'm not understanding the whole Pinterest thing because I have a lot of trouble finding the original idea site.  Are you with me?  So, I glance, but most of the time I would rather just come up with my own things.  Maybe that's because I like to be creative, but I think it's more because it annoys me to have to search and search like that.  Weird, I know!

Anyway, I hope you try to do these for your children or grandchildren.  They are adorable!!!!  Here's the link......I think.......I hope.  If not, someone set me straight.....PLEASE!  

http://9gag.com/gag/3924045

Country Skillet Cornbread

Posted by Lori:

I was looking for a Cracker Barrel "copycat" cornmeal muffin recipe and found this great recipe.  It's not like Cracker Barrel's, but was a great recipe for a different type of cornbread.  My family and I all really enjoyed it!

This recipe would be even better in an iron skillet, but I don't have one. (Need to get one!)  I used a 9 inch round cake pan in place of the iron skillet.

Country Skillet Cornbread

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 medium eggs (I used large eggs, but discarded some of it to make it like medium eggs)
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place stick of butter in iron skillet or 9" pan.  Place pan in oven allowing the butter to melt and the pan to get heated.

In a large bowl combine the buttermilk, eggs, sugar and salt. Use a whisk to mix it up really well. Pour in the melted margarine, leaving about a tablespoon of it left in the hot pan. Be careful pouring so you don’t get burned. Beat everything up again. Finally add the cornmeal, flour and baking soda. Whisk again until the batter is mostly smooth. Turn the batter into the hot skillet or pan, on top of the little bit of margarine you saved in it. Carefully put the skillet back into the oven. 


Bake the cornbread at 400° for about 25 minutes. It will be golden brown and the edges will pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool a little while before slicing into 8 or 12 wedges.

Joe's Top Secret Special Marinade

Posted by Lori:

For a long time my husband wouldn't share his special marinade "recipe" with any of us.  Recently my parents ate with us, though, and he "spilled the beans" when my mom asked for the special secret.  So, it's a secret no longer!

Last week my mom had to call and ask Joe what the proportions were again.  She had messed it up and flip-flopped the ratio.  Apparently when you mix them up the meat gets wayyyyyyy toooooo salty! So, don't make that mistake! :)


Joe's Top Secret Special Marinade

2/3 portion Italian dressing (non-creamy)
1/3 portion soy sauce

Use any amount needed, but keep ratio in the 2/3 and 1/3 portions.  Pour over steaks or chicken and marinate several hours or overnight.  Grill and enjoy!

Roasted Veggies

Posted by Lori:


I "stole" this recipe on Facebook!  Some of my Facebook friends keep talking about some yummy veggies made by another Facebook friend. So......when another friend posted the recipe, of course I "had" to snag it for myself and for YOU!  I can't wait to try this recipe!  How about you?


ROASTED VEGGIES


Spray pan with Pam. (She used a glass pan.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook a few slices of bacon while cutting up your veggies. Use any veggies you like. She used new potatoes, onions, squash & zucchini (Another friend used carrots, too). Put half the veggies in the pan and season with pepper and "Jane's Crazy Mixed-up Salt" which can be purchased at United (a local chain store in our area of Oklahoma/Texas.  You might find it in your local or area grocery store.)  Add the other half of the veggies and season. Add bacon and a little grease and olive oil. Stir all together and bake 45 minutes to 1 hour. Enjoy!

Stacked Enchiladas

Posted by Lori:
(First posted on July 2009)

This recipe has been in the Coke family for many years. It came from my aunt and uncle who live in New Mexico. (Note: The original recipe also has a can of tomato sauce, but my own immediate family prefers it with the enchilada sauce only. It's just a stronger flavor.) My uncle would talk about how many in New Mexico eat this meal with a fried egg on top. I don't think I could do that, but you might like it!

This is a fun meal because everyone gets to make their own plate the way they want to. When I last made it a few weeks ago, I told my family we were having a "Stacked Enchilada Contest". Whoever made the "prettiest" stack would win. The prize was a picture of their stack to be shown in a future blog post. This is my husband's plate. He won! Isn't it a pretty stacked enchilada???? (ha! ha!)

STACKED ENCHILADAS - serves 4

1 lb. ground beef
1 Tablespoon onion powder
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 - 19 oz. can enchilada sauce
1 can Ranch Style beans
Cheddar Cheese

Choose your desired toppings:
Lettuce, shredded or torn into small pieces
Tomatoes, chopped
Onions, chopped
Olives
Sour Cream
Guacamole
Salsa

8-12 corn tortillas
1/2 cup vegetable oil for frying

Brown hamburger in medium-sized skillet, seasoning with onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. Drain grease. In same skillet, add enchilada sauce and heat thouroughly. Keep warm. Heat Ranch Style Beans and keep warm until ready to serve. In small frying pan, heat vegetable oil on high heat. Using tongs, quickly dip corn tortillas into hot oil to soften them, turning to coat both sides. (You may prefer to wrap them in damp paper towels and microwave them.) Drain on paper towels, pressing down on them to remove all excess oil. Keep warm until serving (wrap in foil and place in warm oven.)

To prepare stacked enchiladas, place one tortilla on plate. Top with meat mixture, beans, and cheese. Repeat layers of tortillas, meat mixture, beans, and cheese as desired. Top with your choice of toppings: lettuce, tomatoes, onion, olives, sour cream, guacamole, and/or salsa. And, if you're interested - even a fried egg!

I recently made a chicken mixture and used it for stacked enchiladas, instead of beef. It was a creamy sauce, but I can't remember what I did! That's the good thing about this blog...it's making me write down what I do so I can remember it and pass it along to you. If I try it again some time, I'll write it down and let you know. Ole'!

Ham with Pineapple-Orange Sauce

• Posted by Lori:

I tried this recipe last week and everyone in my family really liked it.  My children don't like pineapple, but I assured them that it would just flavor the ham and they didn't have to actually eat the pineapple.  Since my husband and I do like it, we had plenty of it to eat!

Ham with Pineapple-Orange Sauce

• 1 small fully cooked, sliced ham
• 1 (8 ounce) can unsweetened sliced pineapple (I used a larger can of pineapple chunks)
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Layer ham slices in casserole dish.  Drain pineapple juices into small bowl, reserving the pineapple. Mix the pineapple juice, orange juice, brown sugar, corn starch and vinegar together in small bowl. Pour sauce over ham.  Pour pineapple over ham.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until heated throughly.

Southern Skillet Corn

Posted by Lori:

Recently we purchased two large bags of fresh corn on the cob.  We had hopes of growing our own, but our oldest son's corn crop only grew a few feet and produced one ear!  With the purchased corn, we shucked and cleaned it then froze it. (Remember last year I showed you how to clean it in the dishwasher?  If not, read HERE.)  Sunday I cooked a few bags of the corn and had several ears left.  I found a delicious recipe for fresh corn on the cob and adapted it to use the leftover corn cobs.  It was DELICIOUS!  Definitely a keeper!

Southern Skillet Corn
(Adapted from recipe at Kevin & Amanda.  HERE is their original recipe using fresh, uncooked corn on the cob.)

6 ears leftover corn on the cob
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup water 
3 tablespoons butter

Cut corn off of the cob.  (I like leaving some big pieces all stuck together.)  

Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet.  Combine flour, sugar, salt and pepper in a small bowl.   Add corn, flour mixture, and water to corn mixture.  Stir or whisk together to combine.  Cook for 10 - 15 minutes until mixture gets thickened, stirring occasionally.

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies

Posted by Lori:

If found a new recipe on Pinterest for these yummy brownies.  One of my boys wanted something sweet last night so he made these for us.  They were really good!  We used peanut M & M's instead of the pretzel variety and we only had two small packages.  They still turned out great!

http://thenonpareilbaker.blogspot.ca/2011/04/peanut-butter-cookie-dough-brownies.html

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownies
Adapted from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

9x13 pan of brownies, baked and cooled
1/4 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 & 1/4 cups pretzel m&m's

Directions:

1. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and peanut butter until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the sugars, and continue creaming until light and fluffy, about 1 minute more. Add the milk and vanilla, and mix until smooth. Add the flour, and continue to mix at low speed until fully combined. Stir in the m&m's.

2. Spoon the cookie dough onto the cooled brownies and spread gently into an even layer. Slice into squares, and prepare for your life to change.

Olympic Themed Crafts

Posted by Lori:

My family and I spent last week at Quartz Mountain Christian Camp.  (Read about the week at my devotional blog site HERE.)  The theme for the week was based on the Olympics - "Go for the Gold". I thought I would share some of the Olympic-themed crafts we used for decorating one of the nights.

Torches made from paper towel tubes covered in aluminum foil with red, orange, and yellow tissue paper flames.

My brother-in-law told me about his Olympic ring craft.  Purchase the foam swimming noodles.  Secure them into a circle shape with 1 inch dowel sticks cut into 4 inch pieces.  Where ends come together, cover with colored to match duct tape.  Spray paint noodles in desired colors.  FYI:  The more expensive spray paint IS worth it!  I bought both and learned a lesson!  The cheap worked, but took several coats.  These rings were tied together with clear fishing wire.  This particular ring set was only attached to the iron pole with one string of fishing wire on the black ring.  You can tell the red needed to be secured as well, but it worked for the short amount of time we needed it.

These little disks were from Hobby Lobby.  I think they were called "Flying Disks".  I spray painted the purple ones to make them black, but all other colors were fine.  Just cut the yellow and green disks and fit the rings together.  I secured them with duct tape on the back side.  Some kind of glue might work well, too.  Hot glue did not work.

One more idea we did not do, but sounded GREAT! Take five hula hoops. Purchase balloons in the Olympic ring colors.  Blow up the balloons and secure each Olympic color to each hula hoop.  Secure hoops together.  

It's almost time for the Olympics!!  How about an Olympic themed party to celebrate!

Bloggy Break

Hey, everyone!  We are taking a blogging break this week, but look forward to sharing more recipes with you the next week.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July!