Rick and I both grew up munchin’ on popcorn every Sunday night. Here is a delicious variation from the ol’ salt ‘n buttah variety! We both LOVED it, and typing up this blog post is making me hungry for another batch of this savory treat!!!
Monthly Archives: March 2009
Turkey Mushroom Crepe Cannelloni
We had several crepes left over from Sunday’s dessert. Here is a delicious way to put those crepes to use! Rick said it tasted like “pizza!” HA HA HA! Oh. I wouldn’t say it tasted like pizza…but I did think it turned out nice.
The original recipes comes from Cooking light, but I “Vanessified” it a little, you know, working with what you got….and I thought it was tasty enough to share:
Turkey Mushroom Filling:
12 ounces lean ground turkey
1 (8oz) package mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 garlic glove, minced
1/4 dry white wine (or chicken broth)
1 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 ounces) Ricotta cheese or grated Mozzarella (optional)
1 tablespoon (1/4 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of black pepper
Parmesan Sauce:
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups 1% low-fat milk (or skim milk)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
Cannelloni:
8 Basic Crepes
Cooking Spray
1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt added diced tomatoes, drained or crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon grated fresh Parmesan.
1. To prepare mushroom filling, heat nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground turkey until no longer pink. Add mushrooms, and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add oregano and garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add wine, and cook 3 m inutes or until liquid evaporates. Stir in tomato paste and 1 teaspoon flour. Remove from heat, and cool. Stir in ricotta cheese or mozzarella, 1 tablespoon Parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon salt and black pepper.
2. To prepare Parmesan sauce, place 3 tablespoons flour in a small saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with whisk until blended. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon salt and nutmeg. Place over medium heat, cook until thick (about 3 minutes), stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Keep warm.
3. Preheat oven to 425°.
4. To prepare cannelloni, spoon 1/4 cup mushroom mixture in center of each crepe; roll up. Place, seam sides down, in each of 4 gratin dishes, or in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spoon the tomatoes over crepes. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon Parmesan. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes. Preheat broiler (do not remove dish from oven). Broil 3 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned. Garnish with parsley, if desired. Yields 4 servings (serving size: 2 cannelloni).
Just a reminder…
That’s it. That’s all it is.
CREPES
I love crepes for dessert. Or breakfast. Or snack. Or for brinner. You name it, it’s always a great time for crepes! Today, we filled them with fat free-sugar free chocolate pudding and topped them with whipped creamed and strawberries. I know, not original, but always tasty. It sure beats a thick slice of cake smothered in frosting. This crepe recipe turned out fantastic! Less than 150 calories for the crepes, pudding, whipped cream and berries!
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups fat-free milk
- 2 large eggs
Preparation
Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a small bowl. Combine milk and eggs in a blender. Add the flour mixture to milk mixture, and process until smooth. Cover batter; chill for 15 minutes. The crepe mixture should be smooth, and about the consistency of heavy cream.
Heat an 8-inch nonstick crepe pan or skillet over medium heat. Pour a scant 1/4 cup batter into pan; quickly tilt pan in all directions so batter covers pan with a thin film. Cook about 30 seconds – minute. Carefully lift the edge of the crepe with a spatula to test for doneness. The crepe is ready to turn when it can be shaken loose from the pan and the underside is lightly browned. Turn crepe over, and cook for 30 seconds or until center is set.
Place crepe on a towel; cool completely. Repeat procedure with the remaining batter, stirring batter between crepes. Stack crepes between single layers of wax paper to prevent sticking. Or not. I stacked mine on top of each other, and I was still able to separate them with ease.
*** S*H*O*E*S ***
Gotta spread the good word to all my lady friends out there who like shoes. for cheap!
Every single pair of their shoes are 24.99 or less! (With a very few exceptions!)
With over 350 styles to choose from! You can find them HERE
I am sure this is old news to you “Westerners” in the Mountain Time Zone…but it’s news to me! 😀
“I’m Knitting!!!”
Viola! My first 8 inches of white scarf! Ha ha ha…I think it took me about 4 hours to knit this.
Yeah, so I missed a loop and I have a nice piece of loosey goosey yarn in my scarf. This may turn into a hot pad. I would then be done with this project.
I have mixed feelings. Knitting is not hard. It’s the tension of the yarn, the spacing…etc. All that is the hard part!
You all should know that I had to ask Rick how to do this. I was looking at my booklet that had instructions on how to start and what have you. I got so frustrated!
ME: “Rick! HELP!!!! I don’t understand what the heck they’re talking about here!”
Rick: “Give me that, Hun. Here, this is what they mean…” And he starts showing me how, where to wrap the yarn and where to pull through. The man is a genius!
I’ve Loved You So Long…
I’ve loved you so long is a story of a women (Juliette-Kristin Scott Thomas) who has just been released from Prison after a very long sentence, and comes to live with her younger sister (Lea) of 15 years. The two are virtually strangers, as this film opens with Lea picking up Juliette from the airport, as Lea has requested. Juliette has no particular desire to see her sister again. Juliette relearns how to function in the world and how to be around people again. Her cold and distant personality is hard to deal with at times. Because of her prison sentence, she is rejected by some, yet treated kindly by others, eventually helping her to open up once more. We kept wondering what she did….why was she in prison? It’s a beautiful film about the human soul, forgiveness, acceptance, love and family relationships. Each moment of this film reveals little details and captivates your attention and heart. “But a huge question hangs over Juliette’s renaissance. Why did she do such a terrible thing fifteen years ago? For all the others, it’s a recurrent thought that they dare not put into words. And for Juliette, locked away in her secret, it’s a burden to bear, which holds her back from engaging in her life and believing that she too has the right to be happy.”– Sony Pictures Classics
There are no exploding cars or heroes flying through the air, (thank goodness…I tire easily of those types of violent, hollow, not-much-to-offer films) but the character development is nothing short of incredible! The music was beautiful. I believed this story. I felt like I was watching a real person go through a real event. I was sold and convinced it could have been real. Juliette’s face speaks volumes. A few tears were shed and it left me wanting to better my relationships with my siblings. When I saw this movie in Redbox, I saw that it was a French film, and immediately checked it out for my viewing pleasure. I knew nothing about it, but I did know that I love foreign films! This movie did not disappoint and I highly recommend it. Rick gives it two thumbs up, too!
I know some of you are wondering if it’s worth checking out. Maybe this list of nominations and wins will help you out! It’s been deemed worthy of viewing by many! It was just released March 3rd, 2009. PG-13. In French with English Subtitles. 
***31***
Monday, March 2nd, I celebrated 31 years of life on earth. It was a great day! Even though I worked most the day, I was lucky enough to get off at 3:30 and enjoy the afternoon at home. 
Stowe Pinnacle
Snowshoeing again. This time up Stowe Pinnacle.
You always sign in and out at the trailhead…so they’ll send out the St. Bernards to find you if you get lost in an avalanche or something.
The token lovey-dovey type of shot.
Teepee? Log cabin? Not sure this thing can make up it’s mind.
Vanna got a little crazy jumpin’ off the logs. Yup, she is mid-flight, folks!
Nothing like a classic green Vermont home tucked back in the woods…in the middle of nowhere.
She started it!!!
And this one is here for Vanna. Feel free to let out that “Awwwww, how sweet!” or “Ewwwww, gross!”…whichever you deem most appropriate!
When in Rome, do as the Romans do
And when in Vermont, do as the Vermonters do, right? Well, yesterday was a prime example of doing what the Vermonters do!
In the summer months, Lake Champlain is usually dotted with sailboats, kayaks, powerboats, and swimmers. However, when you turn to the winter months you will find Lake Champlain dotted with cars, trucks, shanties, snowmobiles, four-wheelers, and of course…the ice fishermen!
Vermonters are all about ice fishing and four wheeling in the winter, which seems to explain the annual ice fishing and four-wheeling trip we take the Young Men of our ward on each February.
Here you can see the extent of the cracking in the ice. It constantly cracks and refreezes with the changing temperature throughout the winter. Is it safe? Right now it is! That ice is eighteen inches thick. But it’s probably a good idea to know how thick it is before driving your car out onto it!
Although it looks nice and warm out there, you had to take our weather cues from the condition of the lake rather than the condition of the sky! It was a frigid 6 degrees with a not-so-pleasant breeze…hence the extra layers.
While the lines were in the water, we took the opportunity to tear around the ice on the wheelers! Here the ice and snow had created a nice natural ramp to launch ourselves off of!
After braving the cold temperatures and risking life and limb out on the frozen lake, one would hope to go home with some nice fish to toss on the grill. Although the fish weren’t biting for us, we did manage to find a few “pre-packed” fish to take home. All you had to do was chisel ’em out of the ice!
Rick + Vanessa + Bridgette + August 