The Psychology Of Eating Course Blog

Looking for something unique to add to your recipe list? Become a jack of all trades after creating these savory dinner crepes. These crepes are the perfect entree year round. Seasonal veggies can be used to create a twist and add unique flavors to these crepes. 

Similar to a pancake, crepes are able to be altered to fit the likings of picky eaters. This just makes them so much better! Crepes can be sweet or savory. A savory crepe is the perfect dinnertime entree and can be paired with rice, potatoes, or a magnitude of other sides. You definitely need to add these crepes to your weekly meal ideas. You won’t regret it!

Serves: 6-12

Prep time: 15 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Ingredients

Crepes

1 cup of Bisquick (flour or pancake mix can be substituted for Bisquick)

1 cup of milk

2 tbsp of melted butter

2 large eggs 

Oil or Butter for pan

Filling

1 lb of chicken thighs

Asparagus 

Spinach (or spring mix)

2 tbsp of Pesto

Chili Sauce

Olive Oil

Garlic

Mushrooms 

Paprika, Salt, Garlic Powder, Pepper, and Onion Powder to taste

Directions

Crepes

In a bowl, whisk eggs until combined.

Slowly add in Bisquick, melted butter, and milk into the eggs while whisking. Whisk until batter is smooth and thoroughly combined.

Heat the pan over low to medium heat and add a light coating of oil to allow the crepes to release from the pan.

Add a small amount of batter to the pan and rotate the pan with batter to the desired size of the crepe.

Flip once bubbled on top. 

Plate when done with crepe.

Filling

Preheat the oven to 400℉.

Wash asparagus and mushrooms. 

Place mushrooms on a baking sheet and season with salt, pepper, paprika, and chili sauce.

Snap (or cut) asparagus and place on a baking sheet with mushrooms and season with the same season used on mushrooms.

Place the baking sheet into the oven and cook for 15 minutes or until your desired taste is achieved.

Mince garlic.

Wash the chicken and season with salt, pepper, olive oil, minced garlic, paprika, and onion powder.

Add olive oil to the skillet and place the chicken in the skillet to cook. Flip and make sure the internal temperature is 165℉, then place to the side and cut up the chicken once cooled.

In the olive oil, add the pesto and cook down. 

Plate one crepe, add pesto, mozzarella, chicken, mushrooms, and spinach, then roll the crepe. 

Ratings

Taste: 9

This dish had multiple flavors within it. The crunchy asparagus made the dish so much more appetizing. The cheese really was a good choice because it was stringy and really gave it flavor. The pesto and the seasonings/spices made the dish come together like a bow on a present. I feel like the chicken could’ve been chopped more but it was still really good. I really enjoyed this dish and I will be making 100%! 

Smell: 10

The smell of this dish was amazing. It truly gave a really yummy smell mostly because of the pesto.

Visual appearance: 7 ½

I think the appearance needed work mostly because this is our first time making this so we just need to practice (making the crêpe). 

Creativity: 9

We came up with the idea based on a restaurant menu from Richmond but created towards our own artistic abilities and we also used a different cheese, meat, and seasoning.

For the Foodies dinner meal, we wanted to do something healthy, delicious, and savory. We decided to put our own spin on stuffed peppers by making them Mexican-style. The peppers provided a wonderful crunch that contrasted the soft and delicious filling. The filling includes a Spanish rice blend, sautéed onions, corn, and beans, as well as perfectly cooked sausage. To make it better, we also added cheese to the bottom of the pepper and on top of the filling and let it melt in the oven to create a cheesy bite every time. Due to our budget, we used Italian sausage rather than chorizo but the flavors ended up pairing very well with the overall dish!

Ingredients:

• 3 Bell Peppers
• Box of Spanish Rice
• Can of Corn
• Can of Beans
• Pre-shredded Italian Cheese Blend
• 1/2 pound of Italian Sausage
• 1 Yellow Onion
• 1/4 Cumin
• 1/4 Garlic Powder
• 1/4 Chili Powder
• Pinch of Salt

Instructions:

Filling:

• Cut sausage into small pieces and fry on medium heat until done. Place in a bowl when done.

• Cut onion into small pieces. Cook again in the skillet used to cook the sausage. Transfer to a bowl when done.

• In the same skillet, cook the beans and corn until slightly soft. Place in the bowl when done.

• In a saucepan, bring water to a boil and begin cooking rice. Follow directions on side of the box.

• Combine all into one bowl and add spices to the filling. Mix until evenly distributed.

Peppers:

• Cut peppers in half and remove insides/seeds.

• Place on a baking sheet and put into the oven at 375 degrees a for 5 minutes until slightly soft.
• Remove peppers from the oven and lightly place cheese at the bottom of the pepper. Add filling until slightly over the edge of the pepper.

• Add cheese on top of the filling.

• Place in oven at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes

Ratings of Meal:

Taste: 8/10 could use more seasoning, overall savory taste

Mouth Feel/Consistency: 9/10 crunchy and well blended textures

Smell: 9/10 Very aromatic, scent quickly filled up the room

Visual Appeal: 6/10 Red peppers added nice color but stuffed peppers just aren’t very pretty

Creativity: 7/10

• Mexican-style dish
• The cheese was added to the bottom of the inside of the pepper and on top of the filling

Slice those potatoes to shreds with this peculiar pizza of assorted vegetables, eggs, and turkey. Just keep this one on the down-low, would you?

Ingredients

• Hash browns
• Spinach (can be baby spinach)
• Bell pepper
• Butter
• Cheese
• 5 Eggs
• Green Onion
• Microwavable turkey sausage
• Paprika
• Salt
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder

Instructions

1. Chop and dice up the peppers and green onions. Chop or shred up the spinach

2. Crack open 5 eggs and break them into a single bowl. Mix well.

3. Oil one frying pan/skillet, heat up to medium/high

4. Once pan is hot, place hash browns in and cook until golden brown. Sprinkle some salt in as they cook.

5. Butter the second pan, heat up to medium.

6. Distribute spinach, cooking for a few minutes, then add the peppers, doing the same with those.

7. Warm up turkey sausage in the microwave, then add to the pan with the spinach and peppers.

8. Season eggs with paprika, onion powder and garlic powder, then add to pan with turkey sausage, spinach, and peppers. Cook until eggs are done.

9. Add cheese of choice to the hash browns as they cook, optionally add cheese to the eggs and vegetables as they cook.

10. Once both pans have cooked, add the eggs, vegetables and turkey to the top of the hash browns, sprinkling on the green onions. Plate and serve.

Criminal Ratings

Taste: 10/10
Mouthfeel: 10/10
Smell: 9.5/10
Visual Appeal: 9/10
Creativity: 10/10

Looking for a quick and easy breakfast recipe that is child and adult friendly? Well look no further.

This Stuffed French Toast is the perfect morning treat to cure a sweet tooth. The sweetened strawberry-blueberry mixture is the perfect addition to the fluffy french toast filled with whipped cream cheese filling. It is a filling meal that is low cost and can be made with ingredients already in the fridge. It puts the perfect spin on typical french toast and brings a restaurant quality meal to any dining room table. This recipe will definitely have you asking for seconds!

Serves 5-6

Prep time: 15 min

Cook Time: 5 min

Ingredients:

1 loaf of Brioche bread

1 lb of Cream cheese

1 lb of Strawberries

1 pint of Blueberries

3 Eggs

2 cups 2% Milk

3 tsp Maple Syrup (additional as topping

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 tsp Allspice

¼ cup Brown Sugar

1 tsp Almond extract

1 tsp Vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Wash fruit and place small pot with the sugar, water, maple syrup, allspice and cinnamon to make a compote.  Cook until the fruit is slightly cooked down and softened.

1. In a small mixing bowl, whip together the cream cheese, brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
2. In a shallow bowl, combine 3 eggs, cinnamon,allspice, vanilla extract and almond extract.
3. Take two pieces of brioche bread, gentle mash the middle of one piece with a spoon and add cream cheese filling.  Once the filling is placed, put the two pieces of bread together and mash the corners to keep filling inside.
4. Put the bread into egg wash covering both sides and then place the soaked bread into a pan on medium heat until both sides are golden brown.

1. Top with fruit compote, maple syrup, and other toppings as necessary.

Ratings:

Taste: 10

It tasted really good! The fruits made the entire dish. The delicious and delightfully juicy and berries really made the experience of the french toast immaculate. 

Smell: 9

The smell brought back memories from when I was in France and these cute la petite cafés (little brunch restaurants) and the smell of the pastries. When I think of breakfast food I think of French toast.

Visual appearance: 9

The physical appearance was just as amazing as the dish itself. The look of it was like something out of a real restaurant, we really did a good job with presentation.

Creativity: 10

The cream cheese filling really enhanced the original french toast and was a very creative spin! I think that was a really nice touch that we added and it was definitely unique. 

Introduction:

Some mornings it’s nearly impossible to get out of bed, but the thought of cooking a mouth-watering breakfast makes it easy. Home-made cinnamon French toast topped with whipped cream, fresh blackberries and raspberries, and served with a side of crispy bacon is the perfect way to start anyone’s day. The French toast was full of flavor from the cinnamon, and the berries and whipped cream brought all of the flavors together. The salty crunch of the bacon with the sweetness from the syrup was the perfect combination of sweet and savory. This was a very easy breakfast to make, and even more fun to eat.

Ingredients:

• 8 pieces of bread
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp of cinnamon
• 1 can of whip cream
• A container of blackberries
• A container of raspberries 
• A pinch of salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes 
• Tablespoon of butter
• A package of bacon
• Maple Syrup 

Directions:

French Toast:

• In a mixing bowl mix 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of milk, 1 tbsp of cinnamon to create the egg mixture. 

• Dip the desired amount of bread in the egg mixture until fully coated.
• Butter the frying pan with a small slice of butter, then cook bread slices until browned on both sides.

• Top French toast with desired amount of whip cream and fresh berries. 

Bacon:

• Place slices of bacon in frying pan on heat and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.

• Cook on each side for 3-5 minutes

• Remove and place on paper towel to remove excess grease,
• Add to French toast and enjoy!

Ratings: 

• Taste: 8 

• Tasted great, the French toast was seasoned and cooked perfectly, and the whipped cream and fruit added a unique flavor to mix with the cinnamon.  The bacon was seasoned with red pepper flakes before being cooked which added a bit of spice. 

• Mouthfeel/ Consistency: 7 

• The whipped cream and French toast together melted in your mouth.  The berries could have been turned into more of a sauce to improve consistency.  Bacon was cooked well, not too crispy, and not too fatty. 

• Smell: 10 

• The whole meal smelled great as it cooked.  The cinnamon and bacon aroma mixed and smelled amazing. 

• Visual Appeal: 9 

• The dish looked delicious.  The presentation was simple but elegant and was extremely appealing. 

• Creativity: 6 

• French toast is a classic dish, but we made it a bit more exciting with the cinnamon and the toppings.  The spicy bacon on the side added a bit of a contrasting flavor to the French toast that ended up working very well. 

All American breakfast—I’m talking about pancakes, waffles, bacon, you name it. Well, I’m here to tell you—WRONG! In today’s breakfast, we’re adding all the goods: potatoes, onions, peppers, broccoli, and eggs. Vegetables? Breakfast? That’s right! In this breakfast hash, you’ll get your daily dose of fiber and every other nutrient. There’s a reason breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Now, clean out your fridge because this meal you can put just about anything in! Get ready for a great start to your day!

Ingredients:

• Vegetable Oil
• 3 Russet Potatoes, cubed
• 1 medium broccoli crown, chopped
•  0.25 Red Onion, diced
• 2 Bell Peppers, diced
• 1 tsp rosemary
•  1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp thyme
• 6 sprigs fresh parsley, chopped
• ½ Cup colby jack cheese, shredded
• 6 Eggs, cooked to preference

Recipe:

• Cube potatoes, add to a bowl and salt

• On a flat plate, line with paper towel and cook in microwave for 4-6 minutes, until softened, but not cooked.

• Dice peppers, chop broccoli, dice onions, and dice parsley—keep in separate bowls –set aside

• Set the stove onto medium heat and add some vegetable oil into a wok
• Add potatoes in oiled wok, cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Add broccoli and onion, cook for about 2 minutes (until broccoli is softened), then add peppers. Cook for 5 minutes before adding seasonings

• Add garlic powder, salt, rosemary, thyme, parsley, and red pepper flakes—mix well. Add cheese
• Cook eggs to preference, add on top of hash—serve.

• Season with salt and pepper to liking

Taste- 8.75 –Get a load of all those flavors! This will be sure to wake you up in the morning! Feel free to add a little hot sauce if you want more of a kick.

Mouth feel/consistency- 8.5 –There’s a lot going on here. The texture of this dish can be more crunch, or more soft, depending on how well you liked your vegetables cooked. Here, we kept a little bite to our vegetables. Be sure to add the quicker cooking veggies closer towards the end!.

Smell- 10 –All the wonderful aromas have been mixed together nicely in this dish! Not only do vegetable like the pepper give off a strong aroma, but once the heat is going, those aromatics like rosemary and thyme have no trouble taunting your sense of smell.

Visual appeal- 6 –Like I said before, there’s a lot going on here! The potato seems to muddle the color a bit, and once an egg has been combined into your dish, you get a bowl full of somethings dark, with a few bright and odd colors. We feel that the smell and taste make up for what this dish is lacking in visual appeal!

Creativity- 7.75 –In our opinion, it’s pretty hard to find someone who hasn’t had potatoes for breakfast before. We found this meal to be very similar to fried rice: a culmination of leftover ingredients combined to make something more filling. In this case, we essentially exchanged rice for potatoes. There are many different types of potato hashes, this is just our own variation of the idea!

The Foodies decided to take on the breakfast classic, Pop-tarts. We wanted to do something sweet and delicious and we all agreed that Pop-tarts were one of our favorites. For one of the flavors, we filled them with strawberry jam and created an icing with the jam infused in it. For the other Pop-tart, we wanted to make a chocolatey sweet one so we went with classic Nutella. The Nutella Pop-tart was topped with icing infused with Nutella. The final product was crispy yet soft and the filling was perfectly rated in each bite. If you want an excellent, homemade, and filling breakfast option; we highly recommend this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 9 inch pre-made pie crusts
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon of chosen fruit jam
• 1 egg
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions:

Pop-Tarts:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spread out parchment paper onto a baking sheet.
• Unroll both pre-made pie crusts and cut off rounded ends, creating a square. Cut the squares into 4 sections.

• Place squares on a baking sheet. Take your chosen fruit jam and spread it into the center of the pie crust. Once done, cover with the other pie crust square. Crimp sides with fingers or a fork to ensure they are closed.

• Crack the egg and create an egg wash. Place a thin coat onto each pastry until it is slightly yellow.

• Place in oven for 15-20 or until golden brown on top.

• Take out of the oven and let cool before covering with icing.

Icing:

• In a medium-sized bowl, combine heavy cream with powdered sugar. Mix until it’s thick enough to drip off the mixing utensil slowly.

• Add chosen fruit jam to the icing mixture until the flavor comes out.

Ratings of Meal:

Taste: 8/10 sweet, chocolate, strawberry

Mouth Feel/Consistency: 8/10 crunchy, smooth inside

Smell: 10/10 Filled the room with sweet aromas

Visual Appeal: 8/10 Looked cute, Nice golden brown

Creativity: 10/10

• Pop-tarts were completely homemade
• Homemade Pop-tarts are a unique breakfast meal idea
• The icings and fillings were also made from scratch
• Nutella and strawberry icing and filling were prepared

For today’s cooking assignment our group made bacon wrapped fries with soft boiled eggs. We spent $16.37 on our ingredients of the $20.00 we were given to spend, and we decided to shop at Walmart. The ingredients we bought included potatoes, butter, bacon and eggs. We also used minced garlic and spices but we did not buy these ingredients at Walmart since we already had them. We began prepping our meal by starting with the potatoes. We sliced and seasoned the potatoes before adding them to a pan with butter to crisp. We wrapped the cooked potatoes in raw bacon and returned them to the pan.We simultaneously cooked the eggs. The eggs boiled for 6 minutes and then we placed them in cold ice water to shock the eggs so they shrink and are easier to peel. Once the eggs are done and the bacon is crispy all that’s left is plating.

Shopping List:

3 Large Russet Potatoes

2 Tablespoons of Butter

2 Tablespoons Minced Garlic

1 Tablespoon Salt

1 Tablespoon Pepper

1 Tablespoon Onion Powder

1 Tablespoon Rosemary

1 LB of Bacon

8 eggs

Bacon Wrapped Potatoes:

Cut potatoes into one inch wide french fry shapes 

Season with Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder, and Rosemary

Heat skillet on medium heat and add the 2 Tablespoons of Butter and Garlic to the pan

Add the potatoes to the pan and let all sides crisp until golden brown

Remove the potatoes from from the pan and wrap in a slice of bacon

Place the Bacon wrapped potatoes in the pan until crispy

Remove from pan place on paper towels to drain

Soft Boiled Eggs:

Bring pot of water to a boil

Add 8 Eggs to the water

Boil for 6 minutes to ensure a soft yolk

Shock the eggs in a bowl of ice water 

Peel and carefully slice the tops

Ratings:

Taste: 8/10

It was very good, but underseasoned. We could have used more of all the seasonings we used to make the potatoes less bland. Bacon only fixes so much.

Consistency: 9/10

The potatoes were crispy, the egg yolk was runny, but the inner layer of the bacon was not crispy. We think maybe placing the bacon in the oven so it cooks more evenly would have been better.

Smell: 10/10

The smell was phenomenal. It made the whole kitchen smell like Sunday mornings. 

Visual Appeal: 9/10

Visually it looked appetizing but it lacked color. 

Creativity: 8/10

The French fries wrapped in bacon was pretty creative, but we could have looked for ways to incorporate some type of veggie to make this a more balanced meal. 

For today’s cooking assignment our group made chicken stir fry for lunch. We spent $17.77 on our ingredients of the $20.00 we were given to spend at Kroger. The ingredients we bought included six packs of ramen noodles, scallions, a package of mixed frozen vegetables, chicken breast, Kroger brand soy sauce, and peanut butter. We also used sugar, hot sauce, and spices but we did not buy these ingredients at Kroger because we already had them. We began prepping our meal by making the sauce first, cutting the chicken breasts to cook, and boiling water over the stove to prepare the noodles. We made the sauce by using a cup of peanut butter, a ¼ cup of soy sauce, and 1-2 tablespoons of garlic, mixing these ingredients together. After cutting the chicken we cooked it in the wok and we mixed it with soy sauce, garlic, and salt. We simultaneously cooked 3 of the ramen noodle packages in the boiling water. After we boiled the noodles we added the frozen vegetables to the wok with the cooked chicken. We then added more soy sauce to the vegetables and chicken and let it cook. We then took out another pot to boil two eggs to add to our stir fry. The eggs boiled for 7 minutes and then we placed them in cold ice water to shock the eggs so they shrink so we could peel them. We then strained the noodles once they were done cooking and added the noodles to the wok. After this we added the peanut sauce and mixed all of the ingredients together. To garnish the dish we cut the eggs in half and sprinkled the scallions. We all enjoyed the dish very much, one change we would make is to cook the noodles less otherwise the dish was a success. 

Ingredients

For the Ramen:

1. Boil 2 ½ cups of water in pan on high 
2. Add noodles to boiling water 
3. Boil noodles on high for 2-3 minutes or as long as needed
4. Once noodles are done cooking, pour noodles into a strainer

For the Chicken: 

1. Cut up the raw chicken breast into small pieces 
2. Add oil to the cooking pan and make sure the pan is heated
3. Continue to cook the chicken on the pan until it’s fully cooked at atleast 165F
4. Add chicken to the stir fry once completed’

For the Sauce: 

1. Add a cup of peanut butter
2. Add ¼ cup of soy sauce 
3. Add 1-2 tablespoons of garlic 
4. Mix all of these together and then pour onto noodles

For the Vegetables:

1. Cut up vegetables and put them into wok pan
2. Cook vegetables until they are at the desired consistency and taste
3. Cook eggs to your liking for taste or decoration 
4. Decorate dish with scallions 

Results: 

Add all of the ingredients together into one bowl and your meal is finished!

Ratings: 

Taste: 8

• The dish was good and we enjoyed eating it. However, had we had more money in the budget the dish could have been better with a broader range of vegetables. 

Consistency: 8

• The meat and veggies were good but they could have been better. Organic vegetables vs frozen vegetables is something to think about 

Smell: 10

• The dish smelled great, chicken was cooked well and the vegetables were tasty 

Visual Appeal: 9

• The dish looked appetizing especially with the dash of scallions and eggs

Creativity: 6 

• I don’t think this was a bad choice, I don’t think of stir fry as necessarily basic but it’s not the most creative thing in the world. However, with $20 it’s definitely a doable meal to make within a certain budget. 

A summer staple, but with a Mediterranean twist. We all know and love it: pasta salad. It’s simple, fresh, and everything you could ever want, all within the budget of a poor college student (That’s right, I’m talking to you!). You might think this is just some unfilling side dish, but this pasta salad has been transformed into the star of the show with blackened chicken! Here you’ll find all your favorite pasta salad ingredients (rotini pasta, tomatoes, oil-based dressing), with flavorful Greek-inspired elements (olives, feta cheese). Now sit back and relax, because with how easy this lunch is to make, you might even have time to watch Mamma Mia during your next break!

Cook time: 10 minutes

Prep time: 10 minutes

Total time: 20 minutes

Serves 5

Ingredients:

• 12 oz Tri-color rotini, cooked
• A quarter of red onion, diced
• 6 oz cherry or grape tomatoes, quartered
• 2.25 oz can black olives, sliced
• 0.5 lb grilled or blackened chicken breast, cut into cubes
• 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
• 3 fl oz red wine vinaigrette
• Half a lemon, juiced

Instructions:

1. Fill a tall pot with water about halfway to three-fourths full and set the stove to medium heat. Once boiling, add pasta and let cook for 7 to 10 minutes (until al-dente). Once cooked, strain and let cool. Wash cool water over the pasta to chill.

2. Cut half of the cherry tomatoes into fourths and add to a large bowl

3. Dice the red onion fourth, then add to the large bowl with the tomatoes

4. Drain olives, and add to bowl

5. Cut the grilled chicken into small pieces and add it to the large bowl

6. Add chilled pasta to the chicken and vegetable mixture

7. Add 3 oz of red wine vinaigrette to mixture, less or more for preference

9. Squeeze half a fresh lemon into mixture,

10. Mix the mixture well until everything is coated evenly. Serve and enjoy!

Ratings: