Thank you to Mohawk Valley Trading Company for providing maple sugar to make this post possible. All opinions are my own.
The taste of maple sugar (affilate link) is one of a kind. You don’t need lots of it. As with all sweet stuff moderation is key. I love to once in a while have a Saturday brunch at home. It’s my way of saying, I love you to my family and it always brings connection. I love gathering around the table and sharing a meal and moment. Some days it’s just a meal but other days memories are made. I am keeping on.
We normally roll with pancakes, Paleo ones at that but just to keep every one on their toes, I switch it up every once in a while. I wished I had made more by the time we got to the end of the batch everyone had this “I could handle one more” twinkle in their eyes.
Let me tell you crepes have always intimidated me. If I can, anyone can. I was especially intimidated after our trip to Paris and watching the crepe maestros making them at their restaurant front and then eating them in such a beautiful context. I really felt they were a thing to be had when we were out and about. There is hope, these can be made at home and enjoyed in comfort.
There were a few secrets I learnt along the way that I am happy to pass on.
- Heat your pan properly ahead for 10 minutes on low heat
- Most crepe batters are almost the same and there is not much variance in the ingredients there is a high liquid to flour ratio.
- The quantity of batter in the pan is important and quite specific.
- 3 eggs
- 1½ cups of 2% milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- ½ teaspoon avocado oil
- 1 teaspoon maple sugar for the batter and more for sprinkling on the crepes
- 1 cup of all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 lemon cut into wedges.
- Place a non stick pan over low-medium heat for 10 minutes.
- Whisk together the flour, salt and maple sugar in a bowl.
- In a separate bowl or stand mixer combine the eggs and milk.
- In two steps add half the flour mixture to the wet eggs and milk mixture and combine and then repeat until all the flour mixture is incorporated.
- Mix until a smooth consistency is achieved.
- Use a paper towel to spread the avocado oil evenly around the skillet and up the sides of the skillet.
- Use a teaspoon of the mixture to test the heat of the pan.
- Allow the mini test crepe to cook for 20 seconds to see if the heat is appropriate. You are looking for a golden brown color on the mini crepe.
- Increase the heat if too pale and decrease the heat if it is too brown.
- Use a ¼ cup of batter for each crepe. Pour the batter into the far side of the pan and then tilt the pan to create a thin even layer on the bottom of the pan. The top of the crepe should appear dry and then the edge should start to look brown.
- Flip the crepe using the flip technique or an egg lift and then cook for a further 20 seconds.
- Rest on a wire rack to cool spotted side up. spread then stack on the rack.
- When ready to eat, Plate and then add a few blueberries, a hint of maple sugar and squeeze of lemon to each pancake and fold in 4 or roll up to eat.
2 crepes per serving
Maple syrup is made from boiled tree sap, and maple sugar is made from the controlled crystallization of maple syrup. Heating and mechanical straining are the only forms of processing maple sugar goes through. It contains more trace minerals (including manganese, zinc and copper) and antioxidants than cane sugar.
My friend has just had twins and she asked me for easy go to recipes and this would be one of them, because carbs and she’s feeding two little humans. When I was breast feeding my son I’d wake up at 1am and make myself 2 slices of toast. I was constantly famished. This one is for the famished.
I found these chocolate moulds at Michaels for 40% off and heck they are worth it for the sheer cuteness that they bring to the shape of these yummy treats. I felt like I was a confectionary queen when I took the chcolate out of the moulds, so pretty!!! For the not so healthy eater the chocolate may seem a little bitter but for the one who plays it clean eating dark chocolate most of the time, this is like the best kept secret everrrrr!
I think there will be bacon in heaven. My friend is vegetarian (mostly) except for the occasional bit of bacon–I get her. Let’s say bacon just takes things up a level and I would struggle to never eat it again. Let’s just say once every three months or so bacon makes its way into my grocery cart. We have half of the bacon pack for traditional bacon and eggs and the half goes to bacon and avocado toasted sandwiches or hey we’ve even pumped up our pancakes fare with a side of bacon. Like royalty, pancakes and bacon. Did I mention that black bean soup gets this amazing smoky taste with a smidge of bacon. Comforting and delightful.
Here are some options for using this shredded chicken. 
Happy 2019 to you! I am thrilled at the fresh start. I have been going at it like crazy in the last year and it’s time to inhale and settle into routines. Which means, make ahead meals or at least parts of them. So far I have made curry paste ahead of time and I have zucchini noodles all spiralized in my freezer, ready for next week. Who doesn’t want to knock it out the park?
I really like zoodles BAKED, in fact prefer them over pan fried. There’s no soggy to deal with and they keep a little crunch, perfection. The key is low oven temperature and longer than you might think in the oven.
On new years eve, a good friend of mine and I slayed a formula 94 class for 94 minutes. We felt like it took us out of our comfort zone but now we are open to double classes and 2 workouts in a day. It’s been forever since I have mastered such things. I used to be that kind of girl but she got lost in having babies and being there for my babies. Now my kids are dancing while I do some Zumba in the lounge. I hope I can sustain this cause I am enjoying it. I feel a bit more like my old self again in a good way.
Cheers to 2019 and you! Thanks for being part of my internet corner.
This soup was birthed at a girls night, it was simple and wholesome and brought comfort and a coming together for those at the table. I had to get the gist of the recipe and make it that week. I have made it several times since, it’s officially a hit. I tried to track the original source hoping that it was someone’s grandma’s. It was one of those noted but not tied to the original source We all have those notes laying around. Thank you to whoever did the leg work on this one as my clan is benefiting big time. I made it my own by adjusting a few things here and there but there’s credit due to the original recipe writer.
