Simple Crepes with Orange Sauce

I have mentioned before that growing up every Sunday morning we would have some sort of yummy breakfast together as a family. It was a tradition I loved. My sister isn't a big breakfast person, and wasn't too excited about most of our breakfasts. These were one of things she actually would eat with us. Needless to say we ate them often. These are very simple. I know there are about a million other things you can add to crepes but I always go back to just eating them this way.

French Crepes

1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tbs melted butter
Powdered sugar for garnish

Combine all ingredients, beat well until smooth. Pour into hot greased pan. Tip pan until crepe is as thin as possible. Cook until edges start pulling away from pan and are starting to become a nice golden brown color. Flip carefully and cook for just a few seconds on the other side. Makes approximately 8 each.


Orange Sauce

1 1/2 tbs cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbs grated orange rind (optional)
1 cup orange juice
1 tbs lemon juice

In a medium sauce pan combine cornstarch, sugar, and orange rind. Stir in juice and water. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Boil until sauce appears more clear and has thickened. Add lemon juice. Serve over top of crepes.

Here is how I like to serve mine:

Take a single crepe.

Sprinkle with your desired amount of powdered sugar.

Spread powdered sugar with a fork to evenly distribute.

Roll

Pour orange sauce over top

Bon Appetit!

Pretzel Jello Salad

For those of you that have never heard of this salad you might be thinking that pretzels and jello are a very weird combination. For those of you that have had this delicious "salad" before know that it is a fantastic combination of sweet and salty. This has been a favorite of my family for as long as I can remember. If I ever need to bring something to a friend or family get together and ask my husband what to bring 9 times out of 10 he will suggest this. Now you need to know there are other variations of this recipe out there. We do ours slightly different and I LOVE the way it turns out. I love each layer individually as well as all of them together. I hope you will try it this way and let me know what you think.

Pretzel Jello Salad

2 2/3 cups broken pretzels
1 1/2 cubes margarine or butter
2 8 oz packages cream cheese softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 6 oz package strawberry jello
2 cups water
1 large package strawberries
1 8 oz package cool whip (or enough whipping cream to cover top approximately 1-2 cups)

Cream together sugar and cream cheese. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Put margarine in a 9X13 pan and place in oven while preheating to melt. Break up pretzels. I have found that the easiest way is to put them in a strong zip lock back and roll a rolling pin over until you get the size of pieces you want. I like a combination of small and medium sized pieces. Pour pretzels over melted margarine or butter and mix. Spread pretzels out to cover the bottom of the pan. Bake for 6 minutes. Set in fridge to cool. Once cool spread cream cheese mixture over pretzels. The cream cheese mixture is thick so this can be a challenge, but don't worry it doesn't have to look perfect. Boil water. Mix boiling water and jello in a heat prof bowl. Set jello in fridge for 30 minutes. Add chopped strawberries to jello. Spread jello over cream cheese. Set in fridge until jello is set. Top with cool whip or whipping cream.

Here are some step by step photos

Amazing Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies

I have been making "Amazing Cookies" for years. They are a delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that truly lives up to its name. Well today I decided to combine 2 amazing things. Why wouldn't amazing cookies go well with Cadbury Mini Eggs? I love them both so much I just couldn't resist trying it out. First let me tell you that it is amazing that I even got around to baking any of these cookies. I am pretty sure I could have eaten all of the cookie dough without thinking twice about it. Ok ok I might think twice about it when I gain 50 lbs, but its almost worth it. Luckily I refrained and actually baked some of them. They turned out great! Such a yummy Easter treat!

Amazing Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies

2 cubes butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups rolled oats
2-3 cups flour
2 cups Cadbury Mini Eggs

Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs. Beat well. Mix in Vanilla. Add baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Place oats in a food processor or blender and blend until it appears like a coarse flour mixture. Add oats and 2 cups four to butter mixture. Mix until incorporated. If dough is still very sticky add extra flour. Do not over mix. Place Cadbury Mini Eggs in food processor (I did 1 cup at a time) process until eggs are broken up so that you have some really fine pieces and some larger chunks. Add to the cookie dough and mix just until incorporated. Scoop or roll dough into 1 inch round balls. Place on a baking sheet. You can also place an egg on top for fun if you wish. I made some with and some without. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Let rest on cookie sheet for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

Orange Bundt Cake

I got this recipe from a roommate a few years ago and it instantly became an obsession of mine. I felt like every time we would get through the entire cake I would make another one. We (well maybe just me) age if for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, basically any reason to eat I would make sure I had some of this cake. It is moist and delicious. If you are looking for a good bundt cake this one will not disappoint.

Orange Bundt Cake

1 package yellow cake mix (I used 3 cups of this homemade yellow cake mix)
3/4 cup water (I use orange juice for extra citrus flavor but water works well too)
2/3 cup oil
4 eggs
1 small package instant lemon pudding

Glaze

3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup orange juice
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar

Put all ingredients in a bowl and beat with mixer for 10 minutes. I love my kitchen aid mixer for this process. Grease and flour bundt pan. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. While cake is baking mix together lemon juice, orange juice, powdered sugar. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Immediately remove from pan and brush on glaze with a pastry brush while cake is still warm. To make the cake even more moist and citrusy, double the glaze mixture and inject small amounts into sections of the cake. The bundt pan makes nice ridges so you can easily see small sections of the cake. This step does take a few extra minutes but increases the flavor and moisture of the cake!

Thanks Susan for the excellent recipe!

Bread Dipping Spice

I think my meals are confused this week. I had Dutch Babies for dinner last night, and this bread with dipping spice for breakfast this morning. Oh well, they both tasted really good. This dipping spice is very similar the the bread dipping spice they have at Carrabbas. Carrabbas is one of our favorite restaurants to eat at. I am always a sucker for some good Italian food and theirs is exceptional. If you have one in your area I highly recommend going there. About a year ago my husband and I had just gotten home from yet another visit to that restaurant and we were discussing the dipping spice that they give you with their bread. It is soooo yummy. I decided that it couldn't be that hard to make. I of course went straight to the internet and started searching for recipes. I found that lots of people had this same idea. There were tons of recipes out there. This recipe is what I have come up with and what suits my tastes. I know there are lots of recipes out there that call for fresh herbs and I'm sure they are amazing, but I rarely (if ever) have all of those fresh herbs in my house at one time. So here is my version of Carrabbas dipping spice. Enjoy!

Carrabbas Dipping Spice

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tbs crushed black pepper
1 tbs dried oregano
1 tbs dried rosemary
1 tbs dried basil
1 tbs dried parsley
1 tbs minced garlic
2 tsp garlic salt

Place all ingredients in a food processor. Process for a few seconds. Place in an airtight container. Store mixture in the refrigerator until needed.

Put 1 Tbsp of mixture in a small saucer with raised edges. Pour extra-virgin olive oil over the mixture, and dip warm sourdough or French bread into the mixture. I think it fantastic with this bread.

Dutch Babies (German Pancakes)

 Most everyone that knows me knows that breakfast is one of my passions. I have always loved eating a big warm breakfast. I am really excited to share this recipe with you, not because it is fancy, difficult, or elegant because its not. This is just one of those recipes that is simple and good. Growing up we would all eat Sunday morning breakfast together. It was always such a treat. We almost always had one of four things. Our options for breakfast were crepes, french toast, sour dough pancakes, and dutch babies. My dad and I were usually the ones that made breakfast (which I also loved). It was just such a fun yummy way to start off a good relaxing Sunday. This being said you can understand why there is a warm place in my heart for these yummy things.

I am sure quite a few of you out there have this recipe or some variation of this recipe. I'm sure many of you have some fancy way of making this recipe. That is wonderful, and if you do have a yummy variation I am always up for trying new things, but really this recipe is for those few of you that have never had these. These babies are simple, eggy, and delicious! I hope you all enjoy them.

Dutch Babies

3 eggs beaten
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbs melted butter

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend for 2 minutes. Pour into a well buttered, high sided 9X9 baking pan. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Garnish with melted butter and powdered sugar.

One variation I often use is I will melt the butter in my pan while the rest of the ingredients are mixing in the blender. I then take the hot pan out of the oven and pour the egg mixture right in. It helps the mixture bubble up more while baking and also gives the edges a nice yummy buttery flavor.

Oven Baked Chimichangas

Dinners can some times be a challenge for me. I would much rather make some sort of sweet treat than something that is hearty and could suffice for a whole meal. I am constantly looking for new good dinner recipes that excite me. Let me tell you that this is one of those recipes. I found this on my friend's site and thought it looked good. I made it for my husband and I and we both loved it. It is a very simple recipe (which I love) but also has really good flavor, and is filling. I would like to call my taste in food kid friendly. Most kids are picky eaters when they are young, and it seems that I never grew out of that. My food favorites are typically semi basic, but still have to have really good flavor. These chimichangas are right up my alley, and hopefully your kid's as well. I hope you enjoy them.

Oven Baked Chimichangas

1 lb of leftover meat (chicken, roast beef, turkey)
10 uncooked flour tortillas
1 can re-fried beans
1 cup uncooked rice
2 TBSP oil
Shredded Cheese
Salsa
Sour cream

Cook rice according to directions substituting chicken stock or broth for water . In each tortilla put a 1-2 TBSP of each the rice, beans, meat and shredded cheese. Fold the sides of the tortillas in place on baking sheet. You can use toothpicks to hold them closed if needed. Brush lightly with oil. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Top with salsa and sour cream.

Click here to see the original recipe from my good friend Jodee