June 14, 2013

Strawberry Crepes

In the Child Nutrition and Cooking class I was taking the teacher showed us how to make crepes. I'd never made them before, but I do love them! The kids and I had some free time this morning so we decided to have some fun in the kitchen. We made blue scrambled eggs and pink crepes. What goes best with pink crepes? Strawberries of course :)

You can make the dry mix ahead of time and keep it stored in an air-tight container if you want to have it ready for crepes any time.

1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup wheat bran (I used whole wheat flour)
3/4 cup flour
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
~1 cup milk

  • Beat the three eggs together
  • Add the milk, vanilla, and dry crepe mix (sugar, bran, and flour) and mix well.
  • Add more milk until correct consistance is reached. Batter should be very thin, thinner than pancakes.
  • Pour into a greased pan over medium heat, flip half way through cooking.
  • Place on plate, spread with desired topping, roll up, top with more topping (or syrup) and enjoy! 
I used strawberries to top my crepes, for that I cut a bunch of strawberries into quarters, tossed them with a spoonful of sugar, and let that sit while I was doing the cooking. By the time the crepes were ready there was just a little bit of syrup with some delicious strawberries!


June 08, 2013

Gingery Fish and Noodles

This was a really light easy recipe I got from a Rachel Ray magazine. It didn't take a whole lot of time or effort to put together.

The one thing for this I couldn't find was the broccoli rabe. I'm planning on checking out our local farmer's market for it soon. I just used regular broccoli instead. I'm not sure if that would be the appropriate substitution, but it worked! Also, as usual, we used both salmon and halibut for this dish.

One special note for this recipe is to make sure you put the pepper in AFTER the broccoli. Otherwise it gets in the air when it heats and makes everyone start coughing!

2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 - 1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 pieces skinless boneless firm white fish
Salt and black pepper
8 oz rice noodles
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 bunch broccoli rabe, chopped
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 Tbsp soy sauce
  • Mix scallions and ginger in a small bowl.
  • Scatter 1/3 mixture in the center of a large piece of foil.
  • Place fish side by side on top of mixture and season with salt and pepper.
  • Top with 1/2 of the remaining ginger and scallion mixture, fold foil over to make a sealed packet.
  • Steam fish until cooked, about ten minutes (or you can cook it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes).
  • Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to package (about 6 minutes). Drain and rinse.
  • In large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp oil over medium heat.
  • Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute.
  • Increase heat and stir in broccoli rabe, season with red pepper, salt, and black pepper.
  • Cover and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
  • Add the noodles and toss together.
  • In a small skillet, heat 1 Tbsp vegetable oil over medium-high heat, add remaining ginger and scallions, and cook for about 10 seconds.
  • Spoon over fish along with soy sauce.
  • Serve with noodles and enjoy!

June 06, 2013

Cornflake Chicken Cordon Bleu

This recipe was in a Rachel Ray magazine. It was a section for a "special dieters" dinner party. This particular recipe was the gluten free one. No one in our family eats gluten free, it just looked really good to me! It turned out to be fantastic and we'll definitely be making it often.

I could not find broccoli rabe (seems to be really popular in cooking magazines all the sudden) at our local grocery stores so I thought I might check out the local farmer's market tonight to see if they have it. I went ahead and just used broccoli instead. Also, if you don't want to use cornflakes you could always use something like panko or another bread crumb topping that you enjoy! 

Something I would definitely suggest though is NOT using honey ham. For us, it was just too overpowering and sweet. Next time I think I'll get something out of the deli rather than using my husband's lunch meat. And as usual, we used both breasts and thighs. The thighs worked really well because they're already shaped nicely to fold in half after being stuffed.

1 large bunch broccoli rabe
6 skinless boneless chicken breasts, pounded 1/2 inch thick
6 thin slices deli ham
6 thin slices swiss cheese
6 cups cornflakes, coarsely crushed
2 egg whites
1 & 1/2 tsp paprika
1/3 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
  • Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
  • Simmer broccoli rabe in saucepan until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and coarsely chop.
  • Place cornflakes in a bowl.
  • Whisk egg whites and paprika together in a bowl.
  • Lay out chicken, smooth side down, play 1 ham slice, 1 cheese slice, and some broccoli inside. Fold in half lengthwise and secure with toothpicks. Repeat with the rest of the chicken.
  • Coat each chicken with egg then cornflakes, place on rack lined baking sheet.
  • Bake until cooked through, about 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, whisk sour cream, mustard, and 1/4 cup water over medium heat for about 1-2 minutes.
  • Drizzle chicken with sauce, serve, and enjoy!

June 04, 2013

Tuna Salad Sandwich

I know this is probably something everyone already has their own recipe for something like this, but I always like to hear what other ways people make their regular dishes! I love this one because you can make a bunch and store it in the fridge for sandwiches all week.

I make this with or without the hard boiled eggs. It usually depends on how much time I have. If I'm making it right when I want the sandwich, I will not put the eggs in, but if I'm making it to have ready for later I'll boil some eggs and throw them in.

What ingredients do you throw in your tuna salad?

6 cans chunk light tuna in water
2 Tbsp sweet relish
1/2 can olives, chopped
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
Mayonnaise, to taste
Bread
  • Drain cans of tuna.
  • Mix tuna, relish, olives, and eggs together.
  • Add mayonnaise until desired moistness is achieved.
  • Serve on bread of your choice, enjoy!