Crepes With French Vanilla Cream Cheese Filling

Growing up one of my favorite things my mom would make us for breakfast was crepes! To this day crepes are one of my favorites! When we were staying at the Paris in Vegas, they had the most divine crepes there! Sigh.....I'd kill for one right now. Any who, my mom made really good crepes too, so I made my family some crepes with my mom's recipe for breakfast & tried out a new recipe for a really yummy filling! Wouldn't this be a fun Valentine's Day breakfast surprise for your family! You could add some Valentine sprinkles to the top! Enjoy!

crepes:
1 1/2 C. flour
1 TB. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 C. milk
2 eggs
2 TB. melted butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla

1. Mix all ingredients together with a hand mixer.

2. Spray skillet with non-stick spray & then heat up.

3. Scoop about 1/3 C. of the batter into skillet. Pick up skillet & tip skillet side to side, top to bottom until batter covers entire bottom of pan in somewhat of a round shape, set back on heat until sides start to pull away.

4. Carefully slide spatula around edges and then underneath crepe & flip over in skillet.

5. Cook this side for about 1 minute or until done. Slide out onto plate

6. Fill with jelly & powdered sugar, butter & powdered sugar, fruit, caramel sauce, mini marshmallows, whatever your pleasure!

french vanilla cream cheese filling:

1-8oz. cream cheese at room temperature

1-8oz. container cool whip

2 small pkgs instant french vanilla pudding

3 C. milk

1. Mix cream cheese in a blender until smooth. Mix puddings in separate bowl with 3 C. milk for 2 minutes. Add to cream cheese. Fold in cool whip. Refrigerate until ready to serve. This makes a lot! Next time I'll cut the recipe in half.

chocolate mousse:
1 large pkg. instant choc. pudding. Mix as directed on box.
1 quart whipping cream (whipped with some sugar & vanilla until stiff) fold into chocolate pudding. Chill until ready to serve.
Everybody had one like this one above, rolled up & then put fruit on top! For their second one, they all went back to the jelly with powdered sugar in them. Mmmmmmmmm!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies have chocolate chips AND peanut butter chips in them! Wowee-zowee! Did I mention real butter? What I failed to mention that? Well, they do. I gave Donna (my official outside the family taste tester) a few this morning & she text me and said I needed to get this recipe on the blog ASAP....I'm taking that as she liked them! For those of you that have been concerned, rest assured my family does not eat everything I make til its gone. These cookies for example, a big plate went to a family in our ward who helped Owen cut out his pinewood derby car, a few to neighbors & a few to Donna to give her opinion on. My kids have had a few but there's only a couple left. So to those of you that are wondering if I am baking my kids into a sugar coma while I'm dieting, I'm not...just sprinkling their sweet tooth a bit! Nothin wrong with that!

peanut butter chocolate chip cookies:

1 1/4 C. flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 C. unsalted butter softened (or salted butter then cut salt down to 1/8 tsp.)
1 C. peanut butter
3/4 C. sugar
1/2 C. firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 TB. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C. chocolate chips
1/2 C. peanut butter chips

1. Mix the butter & peanut butter together until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients. Blend.

2. Drop rolls of cookie dough into sugar until coated (I forgot this step, oh well...couldn't hurt.)

3. Make criss cross pattern on top of cookies with fork or slightly flatten with spatula (skipped this too...obviously I was distracted!)

4. Bake 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes depending on size.

I accidentally rushed over those 2 steps (roll in sugar & press with fork) but apparently it didn't effect the results! Mmmmmmm! I love the smell of warm peanut butter.......don't laugh, you do too!

Chicken Tomato Alfredo Over Noodles

Every single one of my kids loved this dish! They all gave it a thumbs up & Scott had two bowls! So simple & smells divine! Let me count the ways I love you crock pot!

chicken tomato alfredo over noodles:

2-15oz jars of Classico (recommended brand) Alfredo sauce
1-14.5oz can of petite diced stewed tomatoes drained (I forgot to drain it was fine)
2-3 chicken breasts
1. Place chicken breasts in crock pot, cover with sauce & tomatoes. Stir.

2. Cook on high 3-4 hours or low 6 hours (mine cooks hot so didn't take that long)

3. Remove chicken from crock pot when cooked & shred with 2 forks. Add back into sauce & mix together.

4. Serve over cooked egg noodles.

Lemon Sprite Cake

When I'm in Costco & I pass that lemon cake they have there, I seriously want to buy it EVERY time I see it! So today when I let my kids vote on what we should make today, I was tickled when they picked lemon bundt cake. Tori was the first to vote for a lemon cake, the rest of them quickly followed. As I was taking it out of the oven, Boston asked "Who's birthday is it?" To which I replied "No ones". "So this is for us to eat? Just for our family?" He was pumped! Besides looking divine, it opened to rave reviews! Scott said it's his new FAVORITE cake! Yay!lemon sprite cake:

1 box white cake mix

1 small box lemon instant pudding

3/4 C. veg oil

3 eggs

1 C. Sprite

1. Mix together, pour into greased bundt cake pan.

2. Bake 350 degrees for 40 mins.

3. Let cool for 15 mins, then turn upside down onto serving plate.

frosting:

1 C. powdered sugar

2 TB. lemon juice

-Mix & drizzle over cake while trying not to lick the spatula.....harder than it seems.

Marshmallow Pops

Remember these? I made these last Valentines Day & I thought I'd make a few real quick and post the tutorial in case anybody was looking for an easy teacher (or UPS man-hehe, my Dad's a UPS man) gift for Valentines Day next week or if you wanted to make a special little Valentine treat for your own kiddos!
Marshmallow Pops:

Big marshmallows-white & pink if you want

Almond bark

sprinkles

sucker sticks (Walmart $2 for 25 or short ones $2-3 for 50)

mini sacks (Walmart $2 for a bag of 50) & ribbon

Play-doh

1. Poke each marshmallow with a stick, melt chocolate in little bowls in microwave for 30 second intervals until smooth.

2. Dip marshmallow in chocolate and twist until excess drips off, immediately sprinkle with deco (over a cookie sheet for less mess), stick in play-doh to stand up straight.

3. Place in fridge to let chocolate set up before you wrap.
4. Once set up, remove & place one mini bag over marshmallow & tie each one closed, or take bigger cellophane sack & put in a whole bouquet of marshmallow pops & tie shut.

Love these cute little things! I've also seen Cake Pops that have cake covered in chocolate on a stick, someday I'll attempt those, but these are so easy & the kids can even help!

Then I had a brilliant idea! What about a smores version??!! So I made another one & sprinkled it with graham cracker bits!

Yes please!

Jamaican Jerk Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Today I am proud to present our VERY FIRST EVER

Guest Chef......my little (& sweeter) sister Kallie!!!

Kallie lives in Utah with her husband McKay & their adorable 2 year old daughter Addison. Kallie is due in June with their 2nd baby...a BOY! Thank you Kallie for Guest Chef-ing! It looks delish! Hope you'll come again!

(Er, I tried to make the picture look as delicious as I could)

This is what the family had last night. Even Addison ate it without complaining (the chips might have helped a little). It smells fantastic while it is cooking. The meat is a little more sweet then spicy, which I like. It is one of the easiest crock pot recipes; all you need is 6 ingredients and buns!

jamaican jerk pulled pork sandwiches:

2 1/2 lbs. pork boneless shoulder
1 tbsp. Jamaican Jerk seasoning (I use Caribbean style jerk)
1/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 cup cola
2 cups barbecue sauce
8 sandwich buns

1. If pork comes in netting or is tied, do not remove. Spray crock pot with cooking spray (or use a crock pot bag - best thing ever!). Rub jerk seasoning over pork; sprinkle with thyme. Place pork in cooker. Sprinkle with onion. Pour cola over pork.

2. Cover and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours. (My pork was done in 7 hours)

3. Remove pork from cooker; place on cutting board. Remove juices from cooker and reserve 1/2 cup. Remove netting or strings and pull pork into shreds.

4. Pour barbeque sauce and 1/2 cup of the reserved juices into the crock pot. Add pork mix well. Cover and increase the heat to High for 30 to 45 minutes until it's heated through.

5. Serve on sandwich buns and enjoy!

FYI - this freezes really well. I cooked a 4 lb. pork last night so I'm freezing the leftovers for 2 meals later. If you buy a big shoulder roast you can cut it to size and rub the jerk seasoning and thyme on it and freeze it so you don't have to touch it twice before you cook it.

your guest chef,
Kallie

Creamy Chicken & Broccoli over Rice

I tried this out on my family last night...Scott & Owen really liked it, Tori & Ava thought it was pretty good & Boston made me feed him like a baby and complained....what's new. While I was preparing it, Boston saw me holding a bag of cheese & asked "What are we having for dinner?" I answered & then he said "Well, I don't like it" so I wasn't surprised he didn't give it a fair shake.

creamy chicken & broccoli over rice:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cheddar soup
8oz chicken broth
1/4 tsp. cajun seasoning
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
3/4 C. sour cream
2-3 C. broccoli florets
shredded cheddar (optional)

1. Place soups, chicken broth, cajun & garlic seasoning into a crock pot over low heat, whisk until smooth.

2. Place chicken in crock pot, pressing to bottom. Cover & cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours.

3. When chicken is cooked through, remove into separate bowl & shred chicken w forks into bite size pieces. Stir in sour cream & add chicken back in.

4. Steam broccoli in microwave or steamer, drain & add to crock pot.

5. Serve over steamed rice, sprinkle w cheese.