Red Velvet Crepes

I love Red Velvet, and when I learned that all you need to do is add cocoa powder and red food dye to make Red Velvet, I went crazy. On Saturday mornings I like to make fancy breakfasts for my family (but don't judge,  I eat healthy the rest of the week). Crepes (one of my favorite "fancy" breakfasts) combined with Red Velvet = heaven! I was inspired by an other crepe recipe, but I used my own crepe recipe, and just added the cocoa powder and red dye. I used their cream cheese filling recipe, but left out the coffee and rum. Here is my version of Red Velvet Crepes:

Red Velvet Crepes

Igredients:

1 cup flour
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup water
1/4 tsp. salt
2Tbsp butter/margarine, melted
1 1/2 tsp. cocoa powder
red food coloring, a few squirts (not drops, squirts)

Instructions:

1. Blend all ingredients in blender.
2. Put 1/4 cup batter in frying pan.
3. When the color of the crepe has darkened, it is ready to be flipped over. Like this:

4. Top with Cream cheese filling, raspberry jam, whipped cream and Nutella.

Estimated calories: 81calories per crepe without toppings.

Cream Cheese Filling

Ingredients:

16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 tsp. lemon juice (I used lime because that's what I had)
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together until smooth and creamy, set aside.

Estimated calories: 214 calories for 1/12th of the filling.

Crispy Chicken Tacos

When I was pregnant with my daughter I wanted to try this Kraft Chicken Fingers recipe. Halfway through preparing it, I knew my stomach could not handle chicken that night. I finished making the chicken so as not to waste it and threw it in the fridge. The next day I was craving chicken tacos bad. So I threw the previous night's chicken on a tortilla and viola! Delicious crispy chicken tacos!

Crispy Chicken Tacos

Ingredients:

1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. Milk
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 chicken breasts, cut into strips
1 package SHAKE 'N BAKE Extra Crispy coating mix
Cheddar cheese, grated
Shredded lettuce
Ranch dressing
Tortillas

Instructions:

1. Cut chicken breasts into strips. Cut pretty thin, because the thicker they are, the longer it takes to cook.
2. Mix mayo, milk, and pepper. Add chicken, stir to coat. Marinate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Pour SHAKE 'N BAKE on a plate, cover chicken strips one at a time, place on a baking sheet. (Do NOT put SHAKE 'N BAKE and chicken in a bag and shake to coat! The milk and mayo will stick to the coating in the bag causing you to use more coating mix than you need to.)
4. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.
5. Warm tortillas in a skillet on Medium heat.
6. Top tortillas with chicken, cheese, lettuce and ranch.

Estimated calories: 514 calories per taco.
Suggested sides: fruit salad

Sloppy Joe Nachos

I'm not a huge fan of traditional Sloppy Joe's, but they are good enough that I'll make them every once in a while. My recipe - which I got from my grandma - makes a ton of the meat mixture, more than my little family can eat. One day, I just did not want to put that meat on a bun and force it into my mouth, but I didn't want to waste it either. My eyes landed on a can of nacho cheese, and the most delicious Sloppy Joe leftovers was born. In fact, it's so good that I now skip the bun entirely and my family eats Sloppy Joe's in nacho form!

Sloppy Joe Nachos

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. hamburger
8 oz. can tomato sauce
ketchup
mustard
Worcestershire sauce
BBQ sauce
Tortilla Chips (I like Juanita's brand)
Nacho Cheese (I like Rico's brand)
Sour Cream
Any other favorite nacho toppings

Instructions:

1. Brown hamburger, drain.
2. Add tomato sauce, to hamburger. Squirt ketchup, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and BBQ sauce into hamburger. Mix all together. Cook on medium until bubbly.
3. Meanwhile warm up the nacho cheese in a separate sauce pan.
4. Layer chips, meat mixture, cheese, sour cream, and other desired toppings. Enjoy!

Estimated calories: 850 calories per serving (estimated from using 1/6th of the meat mixture)
Suggested sides: fruit salad

Slow Cooker Honey-BBQ Chicken Wings

Who doesn't love chicken wings covered in BBQ sauce and dipped in Ranch? I combined two different Kraft recipes to make this delicious party meal.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/ashley-whitneys-honey-bbq-wings-177858.aspx
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/slow-cooker-party-wings-133304.aspx

Slow Cooker Honey-BBQ Chicken Wings

Ingredients:

3 lb. chicken wings*
1 1/2 cup Honey BBQ sauce
1 1/2 tsp Garlic Salt
Sprinkle of Chili Powder

Instructions:

1. Bake wings in the oven at 400° for 30 minutes.
2. Place cooked wings in slow cooker.
3. Mix sauce, garlic salt, and chili powder, cover over wings.
4. If your chicken wings look bare to your liking, dump some more sauce on! (I do every time.)
5. Cook on LOW for 5-6 hours or HIGH 2.5-3 hours.

*I like to get the "party wings" package because they are already dislocated, cut up, and ready to go. But if you get the full wings, you'll need to dislocate them and cut them up yourself. Here's how:

1. Where the wing tip bends, dislocate that joint and cut the wing tip off. THROW THE WING TIP AWAY! It's gross to eat, trust me.

2. Where the next part of the wing bends, dislocate that joint and cut it in half. Those two halves you want to keep, they are quite delicious once cooked and covered in sauce. :)

Estimated calories: 133 calories per wing
Suggested sides: green salad, pasta salad, potato salad

Glorious Mess (Taco Salad)

This dish is basically taco salad on top of Fritos chips. I got it from my mom, but I'm not sure where she got it. I have speculated about the title a little bit. I think it sounds like a delicious mistake. Like maybe someone messed up something else and got this as a result and called it a "glorious mess" - don't quote me on that, I don't actually know. LOL.

Glorious Mess

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. hamburger
1 can pinto beans, drained & rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can tomato sauce
squirt ketchup
squirt mustard
Fritos
lettuce, shredded
cheese, grated
onions, chopped
tomatoes, chopped
olives, sliced

Instructions:

1. Brown hamburger, remove excess liquid.
2. Add beans, soup, tomato sauce, ketchup, and mustard; cook until bubbly.
3. Serve over Fritos, top with remaining ingredients.

Estimated Calories: 748 per serving (servings size about 1/6th of meat mixture with chips and toppings)
Suggested sides: I actually don't serve anything with this, it usually fills us up all on its own!

Baked Pork Egg Rolls

Egg Rolls are traditionally fried, but after a very painful mishap (hot oil in my eyeball) I decided to try baking them, and they turned out delicious! The reason I recommend baking these egg rolls instead of frying is because this recipe calls for soy sauce and vinegar. The moisture from the soy sauce and vinegar will leak out of the egg roll - because it is impossible to seal the egg roll skin completely - and that moisture will cause the oil to splatter, and you will get a painful eyeball of hot oil (and yes, I was standing as far away as possible when that happened). So, I bake these egg rolls - which is also healthier.

Baked Pork Egg Rolls

Ingredients

16 oz. seasoned ground pork sausage
1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
1 cup celery, thinly sliced
1/2 carrots, grated
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1 Tbsp. ginger
1/4 cup sesame seeds
flour
1 package Egg Roll skins

Instructions:

1. Shred cabbage, grate carrots, and slice celery. Cook in boiling water until tender. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, brown sausage and drain.
3. Combine sausage, vegetables, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, and sesame seeds.
4. Mix water and flour together to make a paste.
5. Use fingers to spread paste along edges of egg roll skins.
6. Place large spoonful of mixture into middle of egg roll skins,

bring two opposite corners together,

pull one more corner into the middle,

roll.

7. Bake in oven at 400° for 12 minutes.

Estimated calories: 146 calories per egg roll
Suggested sides: rice, cooked vegetables

Meatballs with Mashed Potatoes

One night I didn't want to make what I was planning on making. I looked at what else I had: frozen meatballs, potatoes, and a packet of gravy. I thought, "that sounds warm and comforting." It's fast, easy, and delicious. Perfect for those nights where you don't want to spend a lot of energy in the kitchen.

Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

1 package of frozen meatballs (I like Great Value Homestyle)
4 cups beef bouillon
Potatoes (roughly 1 per person)
1 package Brown Gravy

Instructions:

1. Peel and chop potatoes, place them in a pot with water and bring to a boil. Boil for 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare beef bouillon according to package directions, add meatballs. Boil until warmed and soft.
3.When potatoes are done add 1/2 Tbsp of butter per potato and pour a little bit of milk. Mash with a potato masher.
4. Prepare gravy according to package directions.
5. Serve all together.

Estimated calories (4 meatballs): 308 calories
Suggested sides: cooked vegetables, fruit salad