Taking a little time to just…eat

Hey everyone! So after a lot of thought and contemplation I have decided to say farewell to my baking/cooking blog! Insert random picture of me here:

I started it a few years ago to save my recipes…then I got excited about followers and became a little obsessed with trying to “make it big in the blogging world” You don’t have to look too hard at my followers or post views to see that, well, the blogging world might just not be for me. There have been random moments and random posts that blew up and tons of people looked at them…but even though 4 or 5 posts got hundreds of views I was missing something because those hundreds of people looked at that one post and then left…never to be seen again. Where did they all go?? Probably to some of the baking and cooking blogs that I stalk on a regular basis.

I would talk to Mark about it, try to change things (like the name, formatting, design), try to be more funny, try to be unique, post more regularly, try to take better pictures, try to constantly update twitter/facebook with posts, and I even tried having a giveaway (which was actually really fun and brought a ton of people to my blog….for that one post. People will go anywhere once in the blogging world for free stuff!) But even then I didn’t have the resources I needed to succeed in giving things away and I really probably should have invested in a .com for my blog…but I just never felt justified in spending that money when we needed it more for other things.

Then I would talk to Mark some more and he saw that in the end all my food blog was really doing was bringing me down most of the time. So that is a big reason why I am leaving. I wasn’t blogging for the right reasons and I wasn’t baking and cooking for the right reasons either. I was worrying too much about what other people thought of me, my blog, my recipes and everything…and then I was letting that weigh on me. Feeling discouraged and frustrated because I wasn’t like all of the “other bloggers” out there who start a blog and have like 1,000 followers in a week.

These last few weeks since I quit my baking blog I have had so much fun in the kitchen! It is liberating to be able to cook whatever I want, not take any pictures of our food, and even FOLLOW A RECIPE because I don’t feel like I have to make it unique or creative just so I can blog it. (normally I am always trying to change the recipes and sometimes the food ends up being a little interesting…)
Our food these last few weeks has been delicious! I am loving life and am off to find something new to learn…maybe photography, maybe web design (that might have helped my blog. ha.) maybe a new language…who knows! All I know is that it has been fun and for the few of you that did read my posts I appreciated every single view and I want you to know that!



Hopefully people will still find my blog every now and then and enjoy the things that they make from it. Even though half of my posts are missing pictures now so those poor recipes will probably never make it onto anyone's table (Another thing I feel “free” from. Trying to replace the images on about 60 posts…that was such a daunting task)

And now all I have to say is “On Top O’ Spaghetti To Ya!” and have a great day!

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Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots

Cooked carrots. Just thinking of them makes me want to die. I don’t know how people eat them!! And to think I MARRIED one of those people. How irresponsible. Now I have to actually make them sometimes and watch him eat them for dinner. Then we had a baby. What do you know? He is just like his daddy! He doesn’t really like peanut butter, chocolate, dessert or any of the things I love but he adores cooked carrots and BEETS. Eeeew. (My hubby also loves beets…aren’t they both just crazy?)

Okay, so I get that other people like things I don’t like. I am a big girl! And because of this I make brown sugar carrots. My husband loves them and I like it because they don’t really smell like carrots so I can stand to make them! They kind of smell like Thanksgiving (sweet potatoes) Happiness all around. That is until Mark convinces me I should just try one because, “it really doesn’t even taste like a carrot!!” Turns out they taste like carrots, cooked, with a brown sugar glaze. haha not my idea of deliciousness.

If you are one of the many cooked carrot lovers in the world you will love these carrots. They are simple to prepare and you can pretty much just forget about them while they cook and then put them on the table like you just spent hours making them. I love those kind of recipes.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Baby Carrots
2 Tbsp Light Butter (Or regular)
3 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Vanilla

Melt the butter in a casserole dish in the microwave. Add brown sugar, salt, and vanilla. Mix well. Then add carrots and make sure they are coated with the mixture.

Place saran wrap over the dish and microwave for 4-7 minutes depending on how cooked/crunchy you like your carrots to be.

Tips from Kj:

You can use this same recipe with diced sweet potatoes and it is really delicious!

Try adding a little nutmeg or honey to jazz up the flavors!

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Norwegian Crepes (Norske Pannekakers)

All growing up I would love when my dad would make us Norske Pannekakers! Or in English Norwegian Pancakes. He served a mission for our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) in Norway. That is where I got my name! He likes to make us yummy things from there. Like my birthday cake every year! It is a Blit Kaker which I am probably spelling wrong and he will tell me later. I grew up saying other fun Norwegian words like: Jeg Elsker Deg (I love you)

Once I got asked while I was a cashier “what brings you to this country?” because my married name is Kjersti Helberg which sounds very foreign and I even found a Kjersti Helberg that lives in Norway!

These pretty much can be treated like a normal crepe. You still fill them with yummy goodness and everything but I love them even more than regular crepes. I normally eat 1 or 2 while I’m making them with nothing on them and then when I’m done I eat 3-4 more!

You need:

1 cup Milk
4 eggs
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 cup flour

Mix until there aren’t any more lumps in the batter. Pour about 1/4 cup into a 10-12 inch skillet/frying pan over medium heat and swirl the pan around until you have a crepe about 6 inches in diameter.

Cook for 2-3 minutes just until bubbles start to form and check the bottom it should be a light golden brown. Flip with a spatula and leave on the heat for another 2-3 minutes the bottom again should just be light golden brown.

Watch these closely! They cook pretty quickly and you can have a casualty if you aren’t careful!

Fill them with deliciousness…strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, powdered sugar, bananas, caramel etc.

Or for a more savory crepe you can also fill them with chicken, lettuce, ranch etc. and make it more of a wrap/sandwich.

Tips from Kj:

I love to make these a little thicker than a normal crepe. It is so yummy! Just don’t swirl the pan quite as much to make a crepe that is a little smaller but thicker. Seriously. These are my favorite ones to eat plain with nothing on them!

Invite over your friends and serve this warm with some ice cream and fun toppings! Crepe Party!

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