What I Made Thursday Link Up

Hi, I'm Janssen! I blog over at Everyday Reading about all my favorite parts of daily life - delicious food, pretty clothing (that's reasonable for wearing while staying home with my two little girls), and great books. I used to be a school librarian; now I spend most of my time reading picture books (and YA novels!), cooking, snuggling my girls, and blogging late at night while eating frozen cookies. 

I have to admit that I'm not the world's biggest fan of pumpkin, but I've been experimenting this fall to find pumpkin recipes that I like - I love the flavor, but the texture of lots of pumpkin products can be off-putting to me. So far, I've found a fabulous black and white chocolate pumpkin bread, double chocolate pumpkin cookies (my favorite of them all!), and salted pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. Obviously, I like my pumpkin to have a chocolate counterpart. 

These crepes, with the world's most delicious (and not too sickly-sweet!) cheesecake filling, are another home run, even if they didn't involve chocolate. I made them for guests last week and one of them asked me afterward for the recipe. Sweet success! 

Pumpkin Crepes with Cheesecake Filling

(adapted from Somewhat Simple)

Makes 15-20 crepes, depending on the size

Filling:
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
1 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla

Crepe Batter:
3 eggs
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Maple syrup, for serving (optional)


In a stand mixer or with a hand beater, beat whipping cream and sugar together until soft peaks form. Add cream cheese, lemon juice, and vanilla, and mix until smooth and well-combined. Place in fridge until ready to use.

Put all crepe batter ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Cook with a crepe maker using manufacturer directions, or, heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat and spray with non-stick spray. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into the center of the pan and rotate pan, using the handle, until the batter covers the entire bottom of the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes, until the edges are dry, then carefully flip and cook the other side for another 30 seconds until it's completely cooked through.

Place about 1/4 cup of filling in the middle of each crepe and roll up. Drizzle with maple syrup, if desired, and eat immediately.


Thank you so very much for having me Kimberly!!

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Be sure to check back in tomorrow for a GIVEAWAY.

Life Lately According to My Phone

*Temple with Josh

*Date night sushi style

*Girls night out to BJ's

*2 ingredient spice cake

*Cookies from some good friends

*BBQ chicken french bread pizza

*Packing to move into our new house!

*Thrifted 3 tiered stand for $1.99 (going to spray paint it and put some of my jewelry on it)

-KIMBERLY-

What I Made Thursday Link Up: BBQ Chicken French Bread Pizza

I have been on a cooking & baking kick lately. I love finding new recipes! I specifically look for recipes that are cheap, easy, taste good and sometimes consist of ingredients that I already have in my kitchen. Yesterday I came across Nikki's blog and saw this recipe for french bread pizza. If there is one thing Josh and I love, it's pizza!! Who doesn't?!?! Most of the ingredients I already had at home. The only thing I had to buy was a loaf of french bread (on SALE @ Alberstons for $0.99), mozzarella cheese, and cilantro. The prep time for this recipe was literally about 10 minutes and bake time is only 15 minutes. This is a recipe that is cheap, easy, so tasty and can be made in no more than 20 minutes!

Yield: 6 Servings

Prep Time: 5-10 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients: 

* 1 (1 lb.) loaf french bread

*1 (18 oz.) bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (we love Sweet Baby Rays)

*2 cups cooked and shredded chicken

*1/3 cup chopped red onion

*3-4 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro

*2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees

*Cut french bread load in half lengthwise

*Pour half of the BBQ sauce on the top of one half of the french bread loaf and pour the other half of     BBQ sauce on the second half of the french bread loaf.

*Evenly distribute 1 cup of shredded chicken onto each french bread half

*Evenly sprinkle chopped onion between the two french bread halves

*Evenly sprinkle cilantro over the tops of both halves of french bread

*Evenly sprinkle 1 cup of mozarella cheese onto each of the french bread halves

*Place french bread pizzas on cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes until cheese is           melted and pizza is heated all the way through.

 

Have a recipe or craft that you have made? 
Email them my way and I will feature them on my blog!!
Email: bostonksox@gmail.com

-KIMBERLY-

FREEZER MEAL: CHICKEN ENCHILADA CASSEROLE

I have to be honest. The next few months for us are going to get really crazy over here. 

With all this craziness going on, the last thing that I want to do is cook every night.

We decided that meal planning would be a great idea for us to save some time and some money. We sat down together and searched online for some quick and easy meals for weekly meal planning. We were searching on Pinterest when we found prepared freezer meals. Genius!!! Prepare it, freeze it, take it out and cook it! For whatever reason I just couldn't believe that something made ahead of time and froze would still taste okay after reheating. Well..we prepared it, froze it and had it last wee for dinner. Delish!! Who would have thought?!?! Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing with you all the different prepared freezer meals that we make, so if interested you can make them too!

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

4 cups cooked chicken breasts cut up or shredded

1 tsp garlic salt

1 cup sour cream

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 cups Mexican cheese (1 c. Monterrey, 1 c. cheddar is a good option)

4 ounce can of green chilies

1 bag of "warm" white corn tortillas 

1 disposable casserole dish

TO FREEZE

Season, cook, and dice chicken. Combine all ingredients except chicken and cheese and set aside. We warmed all of the tortillas by simply adding a little oil to a skillet and heated them in the pan for about 1 minute on each side. We then ripped them into medium pieces and set aside. Place 1 cup of cheese aside for topping. Place approximately 1 heaping Tbsp of filling on the bottom of the disposable casserole dish to cover the entire bottom, then layer pieces of enchiladas, chicken and cheese. Repeat until you have filled the casserole pan. Cover with plastic wrap, puncture a few holes in the plastic, and cover with tin foil. 

TO PREPARE

Preheat oven to 350. Remove enchilada casserole from freezer, leave foil on pan and cook for approx. 30 minutes. Remove foil and cook additional 15-20 min, until bubbling and cheese are completely melted. 

***Note: Since you are freezing the meal, we found it best to take it out the night before or the day of and let it thaw a little bit before cooking it, otherwise it will take forever to cook!! We learned that the hard way I guess. Right now I have a freezer pot roast meal in the crock pot cooking at home. The house is going to smell so yummy when I get home tonight after work!

So what do you think? Is this something you might try? 

If you do try this, I would love your feedback on what you think!!

Linking up with...

-KIMBERLY-

COOKING WITH KIMBERLY AND PAOLA: WATERMELON SMOOTHIE TO DIE FOR

This is Paola's recipe. Funny thing is, when she told me it was a watermelon smoothie, I told her I don't like watermelon. I know.... I know!! Everyone like watermelon right?!?! Well I have to tell you that when I tried THIS smoothie, I finished it within minutes and then asked if I could have another!

INGREDIENTS

Serving: 10 glasses

• 1 Watermelon - Make sure it is ripe and sweet 
• 1/2 of a small lime
• 1 bag of Frozen strawberries - I love the Kirkland brand from Costco
• Agave

This beverage is packed with Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6,

Vitamin B1, Lycopene, Potassium, Folate, Fiber and antioxidants. 

 

PREPARATION



Now start adding your frozen straberries and make sure you put on the lid on your blender. 
Otherwise you will have watermelon all over your walls! 

Note: Sometimes the frozen strawberries are a little sour and not ripe. You can always add some Agave to the smoothie while blending it. Add agave to taste. The frozen strawberries at Costco are super sweet and then you never have to add any sugar to your smoothie.

Now sqeeze and add your lime juice and keep on blending! 

Dont you love the color of this drink? It literally smells like candy!



Paola made quite the feast! She made some yummy white rice with cilantro, onion and garlic.
Some super sweet platains with some melted cheese and guava paste coated over the top, and some chicken (Pollo sudado) with casava or "Yuca" and a side salad! 

  

Everyone gave a big thumbs up to this lovely meal.

Even little Logan looks happy and loves his mama's cooking.

 



Pineapple Coconut Sorbet