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!  

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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

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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.

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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!

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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!
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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'!

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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.

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