Crepes

Ingredients
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon butter
1 pinch salt

Directions
In a blender combine eggs, milk, flour, salt and oil. Process until smooth. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and brush with oil. Pour 1/4 cup of crepe batter into pan, tilting to completely coat the surface of the pan. Cook until top is no longer runny. Roll with chopped fruit, cream cheese with cinnamon & sugar, jelly, etc.

Crepes filled with fresh strawberries topped with yogurt cream sauce and dark chocolate shavings

Crepes filled with fresh strawberries topped with yogurt cream sauce and dark chocolate shavings

Fruit Salad

Fruit salads are one of my favorite things to prepare. Everyone loves fruit, and the reaction of people when the eat it is just happiness. I consider it a MUST to adhere to two basic principles: Flavor diversity & Flavor compatibility. It’s a must for a good fruit salad to combine fruits that compliment each other instead of conflict.

Melon (Crenshaw, Casaba, Canary, Honeydew, Cantaloupe, etc) — as a strong neutral base
Pineapple — adds a sweetness and the acid helps preserve the fresh state
Apple — nice crisp apple just adds so much
Blueberry — gotta have berries
Kiwi — great flavor with a nice color diversity for presentation
Strawberry — yes please!

My “secret” ingredient for every fruit salad… cinnamon. It just makes it.

This is not law, just a basic outline. So many combinations can be made. Garnish with chopped nuts, dried berries, even a little bit of chopped mint for freshness. Fresh fruit is so refreshing.

Green Salad

:: BASE (mixed together) ::
1-2 heads of romaine lettuce
1 bunch of spinach
1 bunch of arugula (if available and fresh. adds a kinda spicy flavor to the base)
1/2 bunch of chopped green onions
1/2 bunch of cilantro

:: TOP (chopped and garnish style on top) ::
carrot peels (i use a potato peeler to get nice thin strip style peels)
celery
bell pepper (usually orange or yellow for color diversity.. gotta have presentation too =P)
jicama
tomato
cucumber
slivered almonds
dried cranberries

You can do all sorts of things to change it up depending on the style and what’s available. Add different types of produce, glaze some walnuts instead of almonds, mandarin orange slices, sliced chicken, croutons, etc, etc. My goal is to make a salad as healthy as possible yet full of flavor so it doesn’t require a salad dressing (or very little) to eat it.

Mama’s Fish

My asian gramma’s (Mama) steamed fish. Simple and so delicious.

Orange Roughy or Sole Fillets
Green onions – chopped
Ginger – match sticks

1) 2TBs oil – very hot
2) Soy Sauce / Sugar / Water

Lightly steam fish with onions and ginger on top. Pour both 1 & 2 onto fish to finish cooking.

Marvelous Macaroons

2 2/3 Cups sweetened shredded coconut
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 egg whites
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup slivered almonds (I used chopped)

Combine the first 4 ingredients — stir well. Add egg whites and almond extract, stir well. Add almonds, stir, drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 325 for 22min or until golden brown. Remove immediately. Cool.

Sylvia’s Southern Style Pulled Pork

Rub a Large Pork Shoulder with:
3 Tbs. salt
3 Tbs. paprika
2 Tbs. dry mustard
2 Tbs. brown sugar

Marinate for 1 or more hours.

Bake at 300 degrees for 5 hours, or you can crock-pot it if you want.

B-B-Q sauce to mix into pork after it’s cooked:
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 cup mustard (poupon or regular)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup (or more) brown sugar

Simmer for 20 minutes.

Won Tons

This is the ingredient list for Diane’s home made won tons. Very delicious. Pretty much gotta wing it, then wrap it up in won ton skins.

Twice ground lean pork
shrimp
water chestnuts
cilantro
green onions
chinese 5 spice
ginger
salt
egg white
corn starch
wrappers
broth:
white radish
pork bones
shrimp
cilantro
thin noodles

Granola

This is one of my favorite foods to make. Very healthy while maintaining a tasty flavor. Great with milk, over fruit salad, or in a parfet.

Blend:
8 Cups oats
1 Cup raw shredded coconut
1 Cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 Cup raw wheat germ
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Cup raw chopped nuts

Blend:
1/3 Cup boiling water
1/2 Cup honey (3/4 Cup for sweeter)
3/4 Cup cold pressed virgin coconut oil

Optional: vanilla or almond extract

Thoroughly combine both mixtures, then DRY in the oven 1 1/2 – 2 hours @250 degrees. Set on several cookie sheets, turning mixture every 15-20 minutes. The goal is to dry the mixture, not bake and brown it.

Granola is especially to taste. Add or subtract anything you dont like. I add dried fruits (cranberries, blueberries, dates, banana chips, etc AFTER the baking and cooling. Adding before makes the fruits too dry and hard to chew.

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Chicken Enchiladas

Cook 6 chicken breasts in 1/2 chopped onion and 2 jalapenos
Chop and mix:
6 chicken breasts
4-8 jalepenos
1 habenero – for real men
1 1/2 onion
1 can refried beans
1/2 cup sour cream

Roll mixture in corn tortilla with cheese
Top with enchilada sauce and more cheese (I like Las El Pato)
Bake @350 degrees for ~30 minutes. until there is a nice done look.