German Pancakes!

German pancakes are delicious! I love the picture below because they turned out so funny. I have never seen german pancakes rise so much. I think these will be so much fun to make when my kids get older because it is so much fun to see what they will look like when they come out!

 Yummm... and they were delicious. We put some powdered sugar and strawberries on this batch but they are delicious with jam, fruit, syrup, cinnamon/sugar, or anything sweet!

GERMAN PANCAKES

6 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp. salt

6 tbsp. melted butter

PREHEAT oven to 400 degrees.

Beat eggs.
Add milk and blend. Add flour, salt, and melted butter. Pour into a greased 9x13'' pan.

Bake 20-25 minutes.
Cut and serve with whatever delicious toppings you want! Yummm...

Festival of Colors Cupcakes

Dietetics has 3 main focuses: clinical nutrition, community nutrition, and food service. For one of our assignments in our food service class we did a "theme day" project. My group decided to have our theme day be a "Festival of Colors" and encourage everyone in attendance to eat colorful fruits and vegetables. We planned to decorate with bright colored table cloths and have a fruit bowl as the centerpiece. I was in charge of making the sample on the menu for the class to taste and I found a fun recipe for colorful cupcakes that fit perfectly with the theme.

Festival of Colors Cupcakes

1 cake mix

2 eggs

1 cup of yogurt or sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup oil

Add all of the ingredients together and mix on low for about a minute then scrape the  bowl. On medium speed continue to blend until light and well blended about 2 more minutes. Divide the cake batter into different bowls so you can make different colors of batter. I made 5 colors but I think when I make these again I will just do four. You pick! Then I used some liquid (dripper) food coloring and some of the Wilton paste coloring. Both seemed to work just fine so just pick bright colors and color them all different. Then start putting a spoonful of each color in the cupcake liners and layer them. You can smooth out each layer by wetting your finger and smoothing it our or wetting the bottom of a spoon. This helps them stay separated. 

Then just bake according to the instructions on the package and they should come out looking like... THIS!

The lighting in our apartment isn't that great and neither is the camera... but these are super cute cupcakes! I got the idea from the blog "Ourbestbites.com". It is an amazing blog and I recommend that anyone reading check it out! :)

This is the view of  the cupcake that has been opened!

For the frosting I made a cream cheese/buttercream frosting:

1/2 package of light cream cheese

1/2 cube of butter

1lb. powdered sugar

1 cap of vanilla

I don't like frosting that is too sweet so I try not to add too much powdered sugar or I can't even eat it. So add as much as you feel to give the frosting the taste you prefer. Also, if you want to pipe the frosting on the cupcake you will need a large star tip and a frosting bag and then just squeeze the frosting out with consistent pressure in a swirling motion until you have covered the cupcake. Then top with bright colored sprinkles!

Crepes

Ok. this is my 5th post for the day and I saved the best for last. I don't know why but Crepes always seemed like they would be hard to make... I was very wrong! These are so easy to make and so much fun and delicious! I am super excited to try lots of different savory and sweet fillings in the future. If anyone has any questions about any of the recipes I have posted feel free to comment and I can explain the recipes a little bit more. Thanks!

All of the delicious crepes with whipped cream and strawberries were gone by the time I remembered to take a picture... so I just folded the crepes up so they weren't just laying flat on the plate. Hopefully that helps everyone see what they should kind of look like with thickness and doneness.

Basic Crepes

2 eggs

2 Tbs oil

3 Tbs sugar (don't add the sugar if you are making savory crepes)

1 cup flour

1 1/3 cups milk

 Combine the dry ingredients together with a whisk so the sugar is evenly distributed. Add the wet ingredients together in a 2 cup measuring cup and mix them until the eggs are well distributed then add the wet ingredients to the dry. Whisk together until there are no lumps. 

Add about 2 tsp of butter to a skillet and let it melt at about medium heat, then add about 1/4 cup of the batter to the bottom of the skillet and let it cook for like 30 seconds until you can put a spatula under the crepe and flip it over. Flip it over and let it cook on that side for another about 20 seconds. I knew they were done when they were slightly browned.

Now... about the fillings: we put some Reddi-Whip and diced up strawberries in some, Nutella was also delicious. I also know that other good topping ideas are: lightly brushed with butter and sprinkled with sugar and/or cinnamon, or a drizzle of syrup or jam. Just experiment!

*A delicious savory chicken mushroom crepe with asparagus is next on the list... so stay tuned!* 

Salsa Chicken and Asparagus wrapped in BACON!

According to Jim Gaffigan everything is better wrapped in bacon... so we wrapped some asparagus in bacon. I just cut some pieces of bacon in half and trimmed up some asparagus and wrapped it up! Cook it in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. If you like your bacon crispier then you need to cook it in the over for about 7-10 minutes before you cook it with the asparagus or it won't be really crisp.

Salsa Chicken

2 chicken breasts if you are cooking for more... just add more.

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

1/2 green pepper, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 cups salsa

Put about a tablespoon of oil in a skillet that has a lid and let it warm up then add the minced garlic and give it a stir to let it start working its magic. I love garlic. Then add the chopped onion and green pepper mix it all together and put the lid on for like 3 minutes so they can soften. Then add the chicken to the mixture and press it down on both sides of the bottom of the pan so it can sear the sides and get the flavor cooking into the chicken. Then put the lid back on and let it cook for about 5 more minutes. Now you can put on the salsa and leave it to cook for about 5 more minutes. The best way to know it is done is to check it with a food thermometer. I recommend them because then you know you are safe against food borne illness but if you don't have one cut through the chicken to make sure it is white all the way through. Then serve the chicken with the sauce on top. Yummm...

Pigs in a Blanket

Yummm... these are really simple but I love Lit'l Smokies and one of my dietetics friends told me she made some pigs in a blanket with Lit'l Smokies so I had to try them. Yummm... we really liked them. All you need to do is buy some rolls that come those little tin cylinders that pop and almost give you a heart attack and some Lit'l Smokies (cheese is optional). Cut the rolls in a triangle so you can roll up the Lit'l Smokie inside you can put a little bit of cheese inside and that is good too. Then put them all rolled up on a baking sheet and bake according to the instructions for the roll. I used crescent rolls but any type would work. I think if you use the crescent rolls don't put cheese inside because crescent rolls are already a little greasy. Enjoy!

Banana Crumb Muffins

 I am President of the Student Dietetic Association at BYU so in the mornings I try to make muffins as a treat for the girls who wake up and come to the meetings and since we always have bananas that go ripe too fast I wanted to make banana muffins. This is a recipe I found online because I wanted to try a fun topping for them. I actually didn't try one but everyone said they were delicious!

Banana Crumb Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 bananas, mashed

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/3 cup butter, melted

Topping

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 Tbs all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 Tbs butter, slightly softened

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 10 holes in a muffin tin or line with muffin cups. I usually lightly spray those too so they don't stick to the bottoms of the paper cups.
In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg, and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into muffin cups until about 2/3 full.
Topping: In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 Tbs flour, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles course cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
Bake in a preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
NUTRITION FACTS (per muffin): 263 kcals, 8 g fat, 40 mg cholesterol.

Delicious Bread Pudding

Dustin is a great husband because every time I make something he said it is one of his new "favorites." He has loved this recipe for bread pudding and I have kind of worked on perfecting it to the way I like it. From working at the BYU bakery I even came up with a caramel sauce that is super delicious. Enjoy!

DELICIOUS BREAD PUDDING

6-7 slices, day old bread

2 Tbs butter, melted

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups milk

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Break bread into small pieces and put them in a 8x8 square baking dish. Drizzle melted butter over bread. In a medium bowl combine eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Pour over bread and lightly push down until the bread is covered and soaked in the mixture. 

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly tapped.

For the caramel topping: it is very simple. In the bakery we buy bulk Hershey's caramel, but I don't need a 7 lb. tin can of caramel so I just melt some of those little plastic wrapped caramels and melt them with some cream until it is a good texture. yummm... then just drizzle it on top of a piece of the pudding and put a dollop of whipped cream with some cinnamon and nutmeg sprinkled on top for a garnish.