Crepes Suzette, Kids Friendly Recipe

As you all know, in our family everybody loves crepes. Nutella rules but I wanted to made lovely Crepes Suzette, this time without using the Grand Marnier and cognac. It is kids friendly version or for anybody else who doesn’t want to use alcohol in the recipe.

For Crepes:

2 large eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cold non-fat milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup cold water

For Orange Spread:

2 tablespoons sweet cream butter, softened
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
orange marmalade, optional
1 cup fresh raspberries

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, flour, milk, salt and sugar until smooth, the batter will be thick. Whisk in the water.
Heat a crepe pan or nonstick skillet and rub with a little butter. Add 2 tablespoons of the batter and tilt the skillet to distribute the batter evenly, pouring any excess batter back into the bowl. Cook over medium heat until the edges of the crepe curl up and start to brown. Flip the crepe and cook until a few brown spots appear on the bottom. Repeat with the remaining batter to make approximately 10 crepes. Set aside.
In a mini food processor, blend butter with sugar and the orange zest. With the machine on, gradually add the orange juice until incorporated.
Preheat the broiler.
Butter a large rimmed baking pan and sprinkle lightly with sugar.
Place 1 teaspoon of the orange butter in the center of each crepe. If you like you can add tea spoon of orange marmalade too. Fold the crepes in half and in half again to form triangles. Sprinkle with vanilla sugar and broil until they begin to caramelize, about 1-2 minutes.
For finish dust the crepes with powdered sugar and fresh raspberries.
This is perfect weekend breakfast treat.
Serve warm with glass of cold milk and enjoy!

Mini Donuts, Baked with Caramel, Pecans & Peanuts

All right, Donuts….hmmm…Many people love the taste of warm and sweet donuts. For me, factor of pastry swimming in the pool of oil and quantity of sugar in fake frosting, I forget about it.
Still, few days ago while visiting Sur La Table store, my eye spotted this cute little donuts pan. I was debating at first, but then my ideas kicked in and I was thinking how to bake this mini donuts and for the frosting, do something more fancy….My kids were following me every step of the way through the process, taking pictures and making sure that we will make minis again:) So here we go.

I was totally surprised how fast they were done. Perfect idea for weekend breakfast with milk, fresh coffee or tea. Yum.

Makes 12 mini donuts

3/4 cup cake flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon all spice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/4 cup sweet cream butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla sugar

Preheat oven to 425° F. Spray mini donuts pan with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.
Using stand mixer with the paddle attachment mix together egg, sugar, butter, vanilla and buttermilk. Add flour, baking powder, all spice and salt.

Whisk to combine.
Place the donuts batter into a piping bag or use a sandwich bag, making little opening in the corner.

Pipe batter into donuts pan.
Bake until the tops of the donuts became golden, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in donuts pan on a wire rack.

Remove from pan and place on wire rack to cool completely.

To make quick Caramel :

2 oz KRAFT caramel bites
2 teaspoons of non-fat milk

Place caramel bits in the small saucepan. Add water and cook on low heat for few minutes until bites completely melt, stirring constantly.
Finish the doughnuts by sprinkling then with hot caramel, pecans and peanut peaces.

Serve warm.
Mini donuts are absolutely amazing, lower in fat, texture is lovely and frosting- perfect fit:)
Enjoy!

Fresh Baby Carrot Cream Soup and Happy Start of the New School Year:)

Here we are again, another school year began today in our town.
This morning, while dropping off kids to schools I realized that relaxing Summer break is over while watching totally crazy traffic around the school sites.
Wow, that was intense, what a change.
Last night my kids and I had a talk about lunch boxes and what kind of menu ideas they have to pack them for school lunches. Besides usual, like pasta or healthy sandwiches they asked for soup too.
Since they love baby carrots, I decided to make Fresh Baby Carrot Cream Soup.
It was ultimate carrot soup, so good. This recipe is perfect for adults too, soup is packed with antioxidants plus it is low in fat.

I completely recommend this recipe for to pack & go option or when kids are back from school and they need something homemade to warm their tummies.
Extra fast and easy to make soup, plus most people always have that bag of baby carrots in the fridge, how convenient is that?

Fresh Baby Carrot Cream Soup

1 lb fresh baby carrots
1 medium red onion, peeled and grilled
1 apple, peeled and cored
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1/2 bunch Fresh Italian Parsley
sea salt, to taste
5 cups of water
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
1/2 cup non-fat half and half

Making this recipe is super convenient because while we making the soup, we are making the vegetable stock too. To start making your own vegetable stock, first grill the peeled onion on the stove burner, each side for few minutes. This process will add amazing aroma to the soup. Using large cooking pot add carrots, grilled onion, apple, parsley, water, salt and peppercorns to taste. Cook the stock for 45 minutes over medium heat.
Using colander drain the liquid in the extra pot, save for later.
Using blender add carrots, apple, onion, sour cream and half and half.
Start blending and slowly adding vegetable stock till you reach desired soup consistency.
Season with sea salt and extra pepper if you wish.
Serve warm.
Soup is light, creamy, airy and delicious.
Perfect with side of fresh bread and little butter on the side.
Happy School Year!

Nutrition info:
Carrots are packed with Vitamin C and phytonutrient antioxidants. Carotenoids, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lutein. Also there is good source of Vitamin K and Dietary fiber.