Emma's Easy Crepes

French Crepes. Trust me when I say they are easy to make. Almost foolproof. No kidding. I love making these because I don't have to measure a darn thing! Way easier than pancake mix too, which you still have to measure.

Give it a try and tell me what you think.

Possible fillings:
cream cheese, ricotta cheese, Bavarian Cream, French Vanilla Creme, Custard, Fresh berries, Nutella, or anything else you can dream up. If you don't want sweet, you can do cheese, ham, eggs, or even diced chicken with alfredo sauce, or chives cream cheese mixed with canned chicken. Mmm. The hubs keep his simple. Butter & powdered sugar. The possibilities are endless!

{{Click Pic for Large View}}

Spinach Smoothie: Morning Glory

If you like Orange Julius, chances are you'll LOVE this!  I know, I know -- it's GREEN.  Get over it.  It doesn't TASTE or SMELL green.  And I'm pretty particular about things that smell funny or if I can taste veggies in my drink.  But, once I tried a spinach smoothie (done right), I was hooked.  Also, I have to stay away from dairy or I end up coughing all day - so this is a great dairy-free smoothie, although if you wanted add a little yogurt, it would taste great too!

1-2 C fresh Spinach, uncooked
2 medium bananas*
2 clementines, peeled & divided
4 oz Orange Juice
2 oz Pomegranate Juice (or grape or blueberry juice)
handful of ice, if desired

Place in blender and blend until desired consistency.  This makes one GIANT smoothie, or 2 - 12 oz smoothies. I drank the first half for breakfast, and then went and gulped the rest of it down right away.  The entire thing is only 3 Weight Watchers points.

*I like to peel bananas, cut them in half and place them in a Ziploc bag in the freezer the night before.  I usually have about a weeks worth of bananas for smoothies in there.  They make the drink so much creamier that way.

Monkey Bread

This gooey delicious version of cinnamon sticky buns are sooooo sinfully sweet I don't even care about the calories!  (Good thing I only make this once a year!)   It's called Monkey Bread because you pull it apart with your fingers - like a monkey would!  :)

Tip:  I put my bag of frozen dinner rolls in the refrigerator the night before to thaw.  Around here, Rhodes Rolls are the best, but there are a number of good store brands that work just as well.  To find Rhodes Rolls in your area click {{HERE}}.

1 C chopped pecans
24 frozen dinner rolls, thawed
1/2 C sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 stick (1/2 C) butter
1 C brown sugar

Spray inside of bundt pan with cooking spray and cover the bottom with nuts.  In bowl mix together cinnamon and sugar.  Cut rolls in half, and re-shape into balls if necessary.  Roll each dough ball into cinnamon-sugar mixture coating well and then layering in bundt pan.  Cover with sprayed plastic wrap and let rise until about double in size or at least until even with the top of the bundt pan.  In saucepan over medium heat, mix together butter and brown sugar and cook until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Pour over rolls in pan.  Bake 30-35 minutes until golden brown.  Invert onto serving plate.  Let cool sightly.

Quick-Method Variation:  No time to let dough rise?  You can substitute the dinner rolls with 3 cans of refrigerated biscuits.  Cut each biscuit in half and form into ball and proceed with recipe above, omitting the "let rise".

Butterscotch Bubbleloaf Variation:  Omit the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Instead, roll each dough ball into Butterscotch or Vanilla Cook&Serve (not Instant!) dry pudding mix (small box).  Sprinkle remaining mix over rolls, cover and let rise and continue as above.

Premium Stuffed French Toast

French Toast slices
Vanilla Cream Filling (click here for recipe)
Powdered Sugar
Fresh Berry Sauce (click here for recipe)

butter, optional.

Take first slice of warm French Toast and spread generous layer of cream over it. Butter top side only of second slice of French Toast and place on top of first slice. Dust with powdered sugar. Top with Fresh Berry Sauce. Enjoy!

*for my french toast mixture, I use about 6 eggs, 2 tbsp milk, 1 tbsp ground cinnamon and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Whisk together and now you are ready to dip your bread and cook over heated griddle. about 4-6 servings.