We had company over for food and fellowship on Friday, and they shared with us that their favorite way to eat pancakes was called crepes. 



Our friends, Andy and Annelies, are from Belgium.  Belgium sits just below the Netherlands, and between Germany, and France.   They are also a “short” boat ride from England.  Belgium is part of the European Union and so folks can easily travel back and forth to the various European countries.  It is a very educated and open society.  Health care is free or very inexpensive for every citizen.  The standard is for doctors to make house calls.  They are very proactive in health care. 

Andy and Annelies heard and obeyed the Lord’s direction to come to the USA as missionaries.  They sold everything they owned and packed a couple of suit cases and came to America.  Before coming to the USA, Andy worked as an EMT.  Andy also served as a pastor of their church for 10 years.  Annelies ran a home daycare with 14 children.

Andy attends school full time at Fruitland Bible College and will graduate with a degree next year.  He will continue on with a second school for biblical training in Charlotte, NC and has been accepted into the program there once his current studies are finished.   They homeschool their son.  They are very excited about homeschooling.   In Belgium, both the christian faith and homeschooling were not encouraged.  Less than 1% of Belgium is Christian. 

We are so excited to have this beautiful family in our lives, and will be sharing some more about them in upcoming articles.



We had a great time of fellowship together.  They told me that alot of the food they enjoyed in Belgium was similar to French cuisine.  The foods are rich with cream, yoghurts, cheese, butter, fresh raw milk, fresh eggs, fresh meats, potatoes, artisan breads made with lard, and Belgium chocolate.   Their food is absent from artificial additives, and preservatives.  Everything comes fresh and raw!  Nutrient dense food full of life, full of nutrients, and enzymes.   Not canned and preserved to the point it is lifeless. 

It has been challenging to find this quality of food since moving to the USA.  But slowly they are meeting people, and learning where to find such good fresh ingredients at an affordable price.   Raw milk and fresh farm eggs to start with.  They long for the ingredients to prepare the fresh nutrient dense foods they love. 

This rings true to my heart and my experience too.  I know those feelings of having lived on a farm raised fresh grass fed meats, free range eggs, and fresh raw milk,  and owning a healthy food store with access to amazing foods, and having Amish friends who raised every kind of fresh items too.  I had access to fresh and nutrient dense ingredients all the time.  Then when I moved, I did not have access to any, until I slowly found my way through the food maze.  Now we enjoy fresh raw milk and fresh farm eggs everyday.  Thanks to Weiser Natural Foods, we are able to buy a lot of nutrient dense foods and ingredients affordably in bulk too.

Annelies said her father is a chef in Belgium, and makes the most wonderful food.   She learned to cook from him.  She has fond memories of wonderful meals around the family table.   Crepes were one of the best deserts she learned to make for her husband.  Andy’s favorite crepe is topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. 

These crepes sounded so good!  I thought about them all the next day.  I was making pancakes for my family on Saturday, and wanted to give this crepe thing a try.  To be honest, I had never made a crepe before.  I was intimidated by its elegant appearance and fancy flavors and high price at the restaurants.  But Annelies told me it is just a pancake, and if I can make pancakes, then I can make crepes.

So here is what I did:

With thin pancake batter, put 1/4 cup batter in hot pan.  Tip pan gently from side to side, until batter covers the bottom of pan.  I added a few miniature chocolate chips to the batter.  This cooks very quickly in about a minute per side.  When the crepe is a light golden color, or the color you desire, remove from pan and place on a plate.



I then sprayed whipped creme down the center of the crepe. 

Next, sprinkle on mini-chocolate chips. 

Starting at one end, roll the crepe into a log shape so that the cream filling is the center of the log.



Next, add more whip cream to the top and drizzle on chocolate syrup.



This is by far one of the easiest and most delicious deserts I have ever made.  It happens so fast.  If you have all your ingredients prepped, you can have a ready to eat crepe in barely over two minutes! 

Talk about fast food!

My kids loved these delicious crepes.  They pleaded for me to make these again.  This will definitely have a prominent place on our menu!  I can’t thank Annelies enough for introducing me to the idea that I could make this yummy desert for my family.  Isn’t that all we need sometimes, just a little encouragement? 



To keep these as nourishing as possible, I used a healthy pancake recipe I have posted here. http://weiseracademy.com/2011/04/04/saturday-brunch.aspx

I thinned the recipe with a little extra milk before cooking.

You can keep the toppings very healthy too.  Use toppings such as whip cream, chocolate sauce, and mini-chocolate chips that I have posted today, or use a combination with fresh fruits, ice creams, puddings, and so on.

The toppings I used: 

Buy a pre-made chocolate sauce that does not have preservatives or artificial food coloring.  Or you can make your own chocolate sauce from water, cocoa powder, and evaporated cane juice.  Just heat your mixture until the cocoa has dissolved well and it is the constancy you like, thinner or thick.    Let it cool and keep in the refrigerator for making deserts or for making chocolate milk.  Yum!     I learned to make this wonderful chocolate sauce from Amish friends in Indiana.  I keep it in a quart canning jar and it keeps nicely in the refrigerator.  You can also can it and give as gifts too.
Use real whip cream, not the fake stuff!  You can buy real whip cream in the can in the refrigerator section of the store, or you can make it yourself with just fresh cream, a little natural sugar (evaporated cane juice) to sweeten, and a fast mixer or whisk.   Mix it until whip cream forms, but stop before it becomes butter.  If made homemade, you will want to use it all right away, as it looses its volume if kept in the refrigerator.  You can purchase a special stainless steel spray can from quality cooking/chef stores to put your cream in and spray it as needed too.  Another tool for making fresh whip cream is the mini Magic Bullet mixer sold on TV.  In about 30 seconds it whips a 1/2 cup of fresh cream into whipped cream.  A friend told me she loves her Magic Bullet and makes great foods for her kids with it everyday.  It comes with four small cups to blend in and she made fresh individual smoothies everyday.  Maybe one day soon I can invest in one of these.

Hopefully I can convince Annelies to share her family secret crepe recipe here, and maybe some other yummy Belgium treats too.  I’ll keep you posted!


What is your favorite crepe recipe? Leave us a comment, thank you.