You're so vain!

I have kind of written about this before, but I need to re-share.  I recently went on a first date with this dude and he did not tell me I looked nice.  Is it ridiculously vain of me to not like that he didn't tell me I looked nice?  Because I looked good.  Gentleman, be it your first date, or your thousandth, or your millionth date, you should always tell the lady she looks nice, she is pretty, or that cherubs sing about her beauty.  Just acknowledge that she put forth an effort to look good for you. 

Crepe-tastic!

eating crepes at a mittelaltermarkt in Germany

 

A couple of years ago I was able to travel to Germany.  It was absolutely wonderful and I very much want to return.  While there I ate a lot of delicious food and drank a lot of delicious beer.  While this was my second trip to Germany, it was my first experience with crepes.  Savory, sweet, delicious crepes.  I had to learn how to make these, but all the places I visited in Germany had all these specialty tools.  There was a special pan or heating plate that the crepes were cooked on, a wooden dowel type dealie for crepe magicking, and a knife-spatula-flipper hybrid.  I don't have the storage space for so many single purpose items. So I set out to teach myself how to make crepes.  I had basically figured it out and then I forgot about the magical deliciousness of crepes until a couple of weeks ago when my brother asked me if I could teach him how to make them.  All of the recipes I read on the interweb were complicated and made a million and a half.  After some experimenting and serious quantity reduction, I came up with this killer crepe concoction.  Bonus: the Weight Watcher Point Plus value is 1 point per crepe. 

Crepes: makes about 10 crepes

Ingredients:
1 large egg
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 cup of 1% milk
1/4 cup of water

That is it, just four ingredients! The type of flour is really up to you, it depends on what type of crepe you want - I usually use white flour for the versatility. If you use a different type of flour, the Weight Watcher point value may change.  You can also add other things to the batter.  For sweet crepes, I am fond of adding a splash of vanilla extract (that is what the brown in the picture is) or a tablespoon or two of cocoa powder (chocolate crepes are amazing!).  You can also add sugar or sugar substitute or any herbs or seasonings, whatever you are in the mood for.  Rosemary whole wheat crepes with a chicken, spinach, and mushroom filling sounds spectacular: I am making myself hungry.

Many of the recipes I read required you to whisk the ingredients in a specific order and sing a song while spinning in a counterclockwise circle.  While I understand the importance of all that and respect the people who swear by it - I just put it all in my Magic Bullet and gave it one serious blend.  I have not noticed any difference between whisking with kitchen voodoo and blending the hell out of it.  Besides, this way, cleanup is a snap! 

While you are blending away, your pan should be heating up.  I turn the burner to medium high heat.  You will know when your pan is hot enough by using the pancake trick: water droplets should sizzle and disappear immediately.  A few notes on the pan: I use a 9 inch nonstick pan.  It makes smallish crepes (approximately 7 inches in diameter).  You can use a larger pan, but the point value may change.  I have never used anything but a nonstick pan, so I don't know how it would work in a stainless, copper, or whatever other kinds of pans exist. 

Now comes the most complicated part: trying to take a picture while pouring batter in the pan.  You really should pour the batter in the the center of the pan, and not the side like the picture shows.  Oops.  I don't know exactly how much I pour in, 1/8 of a cup maybe?

As soon as you pour however much batter into your pan, immediately lift the pan off the heat and rotate it (clockwise, counterclockwise, whatever makes you happy) so the batter coats the entire bottom of the pan.  Return the pan to the heat when the batter stops moving. 

Let that bad boy cook until the batter stops looking all raw like and the edges start to curl.  Then flip it over!  I just reach in and grab the curling edges with my fingers and turn the crepe over.  Sometimes, if I am feeling especially fancy, I will shake the pan a bit to be sure it is slipping easily about the pan and then do some fancy wrist flicking to flip it.  I am not always successful.  You are welcome to use an egg turner, spatula, tongs, Snow White's song birds . . . just make sure they stick around for clean up!

Let it cook half as long as the first side, or until you feel it is done, you know, whatever.  Then remove from pan.  Repeat about 9 more times.  Then fill with your favorite filling.  I am partial to nutella.  Or applesauce and cinnamon.  Or peanut butter and banana.  Or cheese, Canadian bacon, and spinach.  I am making myself hungry again. 

 

Once again, all pictures were taken in my tiny and dark apartment kitchen with my iPhone.  Except for the first picture, that was taken in Germany with a purple Nikon Coolpix.

Bucket List

6.  RV Roadtrip!
I have never been on a serious roadtrip where the destination was not what was important, but the journey was the adventure.  This idea really appeals to me and I would love to get in a RV and experience the states via roadside attractions, state parks, and local flavor. 

7. Travel the Mandolin Trail:  My great grandfather fought in World War I.  He brought his mandolin with him, upon which he inscribed each town he visited during his time in the war.  I don't have the actual mandolin, but I do have a copy of a drawing he did with the all the places he traveled through listed.  This would be one extreme trip.

Mini Quiche Recipe

I am a total foodie.  I love to eat.  I have a serious carbohydrate habit.  Dipping a crusty baguette into olive oil and spices is a delicious pleasure that is not very Weight Watchers friendly.  The same goes for potato chips and macaroni and cheese.  I also enjoy cooking and experimenting with new recipes, but I am usually cooking for one and while leftovers are delicious, I don't want to be eating the same thing for a week and not everything freezes well.  Currently, I am trying to overhaul my recipes and make them "healthier."  I also have developed an obsession with wonton wrappers.  It started with trying to make crab rangoons, but baked instead of fried.  So far I have not been successful in creating a rangoon filling I am happy with, but I have found many other brilliant uses for these little wonton wrappers.  One of which is using a wonton wrapper as the crust for a quiche. 

Mini Quiche:

Makes 4 quiche. 
Serves 2.
Weight Watchers Points Plus: 3 points per serving.

Ingredients:
4 sprays olive oil cooking spray
4 wonton wrappers
1 large egg
3 tablespoons 1% milk
2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
5 or so leaves of spinach
1 slice of Canadian bacon
4 baby bella mushroom slices
pinch of any herb or seasoning you like - I used rosemary and black pepper


Spray 4 of the cupcake holes in a cupcake pan.  Push a wonton wrapper into each hole. 

In a bowl, combine the egg, milk, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and any seasonings desired.

Divide the egg mixture among the 4 wonton lined cups.

Chop the spinach and Canadian bacon.

Evenly distribute the spinach, Canadian bacon, and mushrooms between the 4 cups.  Make sure to give each cup a gentle stir so that everything has a coating of the egg mixture. My baby bella mushrooms were pre-sliced, but I thought they were a little thick, so I sliced them again and put both halves in each cup.  Here they are right before going into the oven.   

 

 

Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes (be sure egg is cooked through).  The quiches (quiche?) will look fluffy.  They will deflate some as they cool. 

 

 

They taste pretty good reheated. 

At only 3 points for 2 mini quiche, I think they make a good breakfast with some fruit.

Yum.

 

 

 

 All photos were taken with my iPhone in my tiny apartment kitchen with zero natural lighting.  I know, total bummer.  And I would also like to point out that my cookie jar is empty.  Another bummer.  I have found some one point cookie recipes that Manfred the Moose cookie jar is itching for me to try. 

How to not get a second date.

Slacking on the posting: shame on me.  My last post was about setbacks and I am sad to say I am still struggling.  The month of May was rough, full of graduations, Mother's Day, my brother's birthday, Memorial Day, a visit from my best friend . . . all month I have been gaining and losing the same 3 pounds.  It is enough to make me want to scream!  So instead I am going to talk about something even more embarrassing than my yoyo-ing 3 pounds: dating.  Specifically, first dates.  I don't know if this makes me jaded, superficial, or a cynic; by no means do I walk into a date with a checklist in hand, but these are a few things have have actually happened to me that I found to be unforgivable. 

1. You are dangerously close to a TLC special and needing a forklift to get around.
2. You did not tell me I looked nice (okay, I am a little superficial, but I put forth the effort to look good for you and you showed up in shorts with a bleach stain and plastic shoes).
3. You call your plastic shoes Jesus sandals. 
4. You compared basketball to NASCAR (it is not just a bunch of dudes running back and forth, oh my GOSH!).
5. You made a 12 on the ACT. (how is that even possible?)
6. You took me to Wal-Mart.
7. You took me to Best Buy (not the same dude that took me to Wal-Mart, I swear! Wal-Mart was actually a double date).
8. After eating dinner, you get the largest bucket of popcorn sold at the movie theater.  Upon realizing the butter is self serve, you do a happy dance and proceed to drown the popcorn.  Then spend the rest of the evening exclaiming how it needed more butter. 
9. You live in your van and sell bonsai trees by the side of the road. 
10. You eat the raw, dried out corn off the cornstalk at the corn maze.
11. After eating the raw, dried out corn off the cornstalk at the corn maze you try to kiss me.  I am pretty sure there were still kernels in your mouth. 
12. You tell me you have a fiance (that was one hell of an icebreaker).
13. You spend the evening telling me stories that start with "you're not a man until . . ." and end with a sledgehammer to the face and a visit to the emergency room.  All the while laughing hysterically. 
14. You push me down on the ground and declare: "HOEDOWN!"
15. You want me to meet your parents on our second date. 

Setbacks

So, setbacks suck.  They can be discouraging, frustrating, and when you write about them on the interwebs: embarrassing.  The past few weeks have been challenging.  I had a stressful week where I was craving something, but couldn't figure it out.  This made me want to stand in my kitchen and eat everything so I could determine what my craving was.  I know this is a bad choice, but for some reason, the later the hour, the lower my will power.  Come to think of it, that may directly correlate with some other bad choices I have made.  Oops! 

The following week was better, I lost weight, did a happy dance, it was all very exciting.  Then I hit another setback.  My brother's college graduation, family visiting, BBQ, Mother's Day.  We made sure to have healthier choices in addition to the potato salads and spinach dips. There were lots of fruit and vegetable options, but the spinach dip is delicious with carrots and there was cake!  I tried so hard to be good and mostly I was, but I still had a gain when I weighed in yesterday.  Total bummer.  I am feeling discouraged, but that is the nature of setbacks.  Some people say they are motivated by them; I am trying to view these past few setbacks as motivators. 

There is a picture I saw on Pinterest awhile ago that I loved.  Really want I loved is what it said: One "bad" meal can't make you fat, just like one "good" meal can't make you skinny. 

That's not you!

A mini weightloss victory:  the other day, I went to get my oil changed.  On the back of my credit card, I have written "check ID" so the gentleman ringing me up asked to see my ID - this doesn't happen often. 
I showed him my license and he said: "that's not you." 
"Sure it is."
"No, that's not you."
"I assure you, it is me."
"Well you are withering away.  But you know, in a good way."

Kind of a weird compliment - I assume it is weightloss related. I'll take it!