Crepes

I love crepes! I can eat them all day, every day.  My favourite tends to be Nutella with bananas or strawberries, but while I was in Paris I ate a lemon sugar crepe every night.  I woke up one morning and decided I was going to make crepes for breakfast and introduce my 15 month old daughter to the beauty of a crepe.  I have adapted this recipe to be non-dairy as well, but that will be for another post.
You can use any filling/topping you'd like, but this morning I decided to do cooked apples.  Prepare the apples first as they can cook while you are making the crepes.
And don't worry if the first crepe doesn't turn it - it never turns out for me so I researched it once and apparently it is a myth that the first crepe never turns out!

Crepes:
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
3 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
splash of vanilla
salt to taste

1. In a small bowl combine the eggs, milk, butter, vanilla, baking powder and salt. Add flour, blending well. Heat heavy skillet or crepe pan over medium heat. Brush with shortening or oil (or spray with non-stick cooking spray).

Batter starts to bubble and
curl on the edges.

2. Pour batter, about 1/3 cup at a time, into pan.  Tilt and swirl pan to spread batter very thin - to the edges of the pan.  Brown about 1-2 minutes (until it starts to bubble), turn and brown the other side.
3. Transfer crepes to a plate and cover with foil paper or place in warm oven to keep warm.
4. When all the batter is cooked, place a crepe, one at a time back into the pan and fill with the filling (below). Fold in half (or thirds) and briefly heat through.
5. Dust with icing sugar and garnish with whipped cream or syrup and serve.

Makes approximately 8 crepes.

The final product - yum!

Filling #1:
5 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced.
2 tbsp butter
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp cinnamon (to taste)

Heat skillet over medium heat.  Melt butter in the pan and add apples.  Squeeze lemon juice over top and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Cook until the apples are soft and starting to break down.

Filling #2:
Nutella
Sliced Bananas

Spread nutella over half the crepe. Once it starts to melt, place the sliced bananas over top.  Fold the crepe over and flip to heat the other side.

Filling #3:
Nutella
Sliced Strawberries

Spread nutella over half the crepe. Once it starts to melt, place the sliced strawberries over top.  Fold the crepe over and flip to heat the other side.

Filling #4:
1 lemon, juiced and zested
sugar

Sprinkle the crepe with sugar, lemon zest and juice.  Fold over and serve.

Spaghetti Squash Bake

This is a great recipe for anyone who has kids that love pasta, but want to cut down on the carbs.  The stringiness of the squash trick your kids into thinking it's pasta!

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
1 onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic,
1 tsp ground parsley
1/2 carrot
1/2 can diced tomatoes, drained (or a few fresh ones)
1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1-1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
3 tbsp butter, melted
1/3 cup mozzarella, grated

Directions:

1. Pierce the spaghetti squash and roast it whole in a 400F oven for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally; cool.
2. Cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.  Pull apart the squash with a fork, lengthwise, to create strings of pasta.  Let it drain for about 30 minutes in a colander. (If you omit/shorten this step that's okay, but the bake might be a little more runny.)
3. Meanwhile in a large skillet, heat some oil and butter and add the onion.  Cover and cook on medium-low heat until the onion starts to soften and become translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add the parsley and garlic, stir to combine and keep sauteing the mix as the onions become more golden.
4. Cut your carrot in half and using a peeler, peel strips of carrot into the pan with the onion mixture.  Add as much or as little as you like. [At this point you could add any other vegetables you'd like to sneak into your dinner!]
5. Add the tomatoes, stir and heat through.
6. Place the squash in an 8" square pan, add the onion-tomato mixture and stir.  Crumble in your feta and stir once again.  Press down evenly.
7.  Combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan and butter and sprinkle over top.  Add a drizzle of olive oil and a little more butter (it doesn't have to be melted) and bake in the oven (400F) for another 15-20 minutes until golden.  Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese over top and return to the oven on broil just until the cheese is melted.