Peachy Keen Crisp

Peachy Keen - def. (N)- Super duper, just perfect, hunky dory, jim dandy, two thumbs up.

I love peach desserts!! Cobblers, crumbles, cream cakes, pies, and ice cream. Crumbles are my favorite, so I had to share this delicious recipe. From "In the Kitchen THE COSTCO WAY"

Peach Crisp                                              

 Filling:                                  Topping:

4 large peaches                       1 stick butter or margarine                  

1-2 teaspoons cinnamon           3/4 cup flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar       2/3 cup sugar (I use 1/2 Splenda, 1/2 sugar)

1/2 cup water                        Sprinkles of brown sugar and cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 Tip: I blanch the peaches to peel them easily by dropping them in boiling water for 5 seconds. The skin easily comes off without taking the flesh with it. 

To prepare the filling, wash, peel and slice peaches. Place in a buttered 9x9 inch baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Pour 1/2 cup water over peaches.

 To prepare the topping, cut cold butter into the flour and sugar. (This mixture should be grainy and chunky, not smooth.) Cover the peaches with this mixture. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon to taste. 

Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown. Serve warm, and top with vanilla ice cream or Cool Whip. Serves 8.

Are you hungry yet?!

Southwest Chicken Sausage Skillet

Quick, and full of lots of vegetables, fiber, and most importantly, FLAVOR!

This recipe was on the back of the sausage, and was a big hit, so I thought I'd share.

 Ingredients:

14-oz. Chicken sausage

1 zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 white onion, diced

1/2 green or red bell pepper, diced

2 cups frozen corn

1 can black beans, drained

2 cups cooked rice

Salsa, to taste

Shredded cheddar cheese to sprinkle on top

  Cut Hillshire Farm Chicken Sausage, zucchini, onion, and bell pepper. Cook and stir in large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until sausage is browned and veggies are soft. 

I used roasted-red bell peppers, so I didn't add them until the onion/zucchini mixture was cooked.

 Stir in frozen corn, can of black beans (drained), and cooked rice. 

Season to taste with garlic salt, salsa, and top with cheese, if desired. 

Lemon-Garlic Chicken

 This healthy chicken recipe is DELISH, and a hit with everyone at our house. It's easy, too! I served it with sauteed zucchini and brown rice steamed in low-sodium chicken broth.

(The P90X fitness program is where I found this recipe.)

Start with a few basic ingredients:

Lemon-Garlic Chicken

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp molasses

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

4 garlic cloves, chopped

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

lemon wedges

parsley sprigs

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a nonreactive dish and add chicken. Cover and marinate in refrigerator 1 hour, turning occasionally.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
3. Remove chicken from dish, reserving marinade, and arrange in a shallow roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Pour reserved marinade over chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, basting occasionally with marinade. Bake without basting for 20 minutes more or until chicken is done. Serve with lemon wedges and garnish with parsley, if desired.

3 Servings; 1 serving = 153 calories, 4 g fat, 21 g protein, 8 carbohydrates, 86 mg cholesterol, 219 mg sodium.

Chunky Coco-Nutty Cookies

Full of chocolate chunks, creamy peanut butter, soft oats, and sweet coconut, this cookie is a combination of my favorite cookies in one! They could use a cool name, so if you have any suggestions, please comment and let me know! 

Chunky Coco-Nutty Cookies

• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup chocolate chunks 
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional, nobody in our house likes nuts in cookies but if you do, knock yourself out).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter and sugars together with electric mixer. Add eggs, peanut butter and vanilla, and continue beating. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder together. Add flour mixture by hand to butter mixture. Then add oats, chocolate, coconut, and nuts. Mix well. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool a few minutes before you take cookies off cookie sheet. Store in air tight container. Yields: 2 dozen.

Rainbow Cupcakes

A fun baking project for the kids and I to do together, and what's more enchanting than cupcakes in all colors?! I'll add some flavorings next time to make lime, lemon, orange, raspberry and.....blue? flavored cakes. Eating only one could become a much bigger problem for me!

I mixed a Betty Crocker White cake mix, 3 egg whites, 1/3 cup oil, and 1-1/4 cups water. Dividing this between 5 small plastic cups was about the perfect amount of batter/cup ratio. I let the kids color their own, even though I REALLY wanted to do this myself. The kids had a great time, and the colors turned out nicer than I expected. 

I use silicone cupcake forms because I'm always out of paper liners, but this worked out well to show of the colors of the cupcakes after they were frosted. Bake at 350 deg. for about 16-18 minutes, not too brown and not doughy. 
I wanted a fluffy and extra creamy frosting, so this is my little concoction.


Easy Fluffy Vanilla Frosting:
3/4 cup Marshmallow Creme Fluff
6 Tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 can Classic Vanilla Frosting

• Mix the first 3 ingredients on high for about 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. 
• Add the whole can of frosting and continue to mix on med-high for 2 minutes.

• Place in a ziploc or frosting bag. (I'm a fan of Wilton disposable bags, strong and easy to pop any tip in there.) I used the 1M tip from Wilton, a larger star tip that makes beautiful cupcake tops. You'll have enough to frost about 30 cupcakes. 

Some Flower Pretties

I've fallen in love with these little rosettes and flowers popping up everywhere. As I stared at the little girl in front of me at church (pardon my ogling, little one!), I figured out how they were made and couldn't wait to try! This morning I made all of these in less than 45 minutes, and probably will get faster as I make more. All my supplies were CHEAP, which is also why I love these little gems. 

• Satin-y, thin fabric, $2.99/yard, 1/8 yard of each color = $.26 cents to make 20 or so flowers! 
• Alligator clips and barrettes, 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby = $3.99 for 45 clips.
• Misc. gems, pearls or buttons, free from my leftover stash.

Putting them on clips, they can go on headbands, sweaters, belts, shoes....OH the possibilities. The baby doll made a great model for infant headbands made from nylon tights with the flower pretties.

 Here is how you make them:

• Trace a flower-shaped cookie cutter, or free-hand if you are so talented, 2 or 3 times onto a silky lightweight material. Chiffon, satin, lining all work well. Trace circles, getting a tiny bit smaller with each one. Approx.4-5. (I found using a pasta portioner, 1-2-4-6 serving holes, the one I never use, to work fantastically)

• Cut shapes out and VERY CAREFULLY singe the edges. This happens fast, try not to burn the fabric like I did the first few tries.

Using a tea light to carefully curl and singe the edges.

• Some hot glue to hold it together and put on a clip. Done! I'm terrible at giving directions, so if anyone has questions, please ask!

To make the cabbage rosettes, make several sizes of circles. I made 5, from about 3/4"-1. Stack them together, sew or glue through the center. 
                              

Berry Galore Muffins using greek yogurt

I love taking a classic favorite and changing it around to be even more tasty and healthy. I started with a blueberry-sour cream muffin recipe, then substituted triple berries and Greek yogurt in place of the blueberries and sour cream, and honey in place of sugar. Greek Yogurt has 2x the protein and 1/2 the sugar of regular yogurt, and using the non-fat yogurt in place of sour cream saves fat calories, too! Honey raises the blood sugar more slowly, is sweeter so you use less, and has minerals and antioxidants. Pretty sweet! 

Berry Galore Muffins
2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups fresh or frozen triple berry mixture (I love the bag of Costco frozen triple berries).
2 eggs, slightly beaten (I used Egg Beaters)
1 cup plain 0% Greek Yogurt (I used Chiobani)
3/4 cup honey (or 1 cup sugar, just decrease the baking soda to 1/2 tsp. and bake @350.)
6 Tbsp. butter, melted, cooled slightly
2 Tbsp. sugar

• Heat oven to 325 deg. Grease the bottoms of 16 muffin cups or line with paper liners. 
• Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda in medium bowl; mix well. Stir in berries
• Combine remaining ingredients except 2 Tbsp. sugar in another medium bowl; mix well. 
• Add egg mixture to flour mixture. Mix until just moistened. Divide evenly between muffin cups. Cups will be full. Optional: sprinkle tops with 2Tbsp sugar.
• Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes; remove to wire rack. Enjoy warm or cooled.