Peach Cobbler

2 cups sliced peaches 

1 c. sugar

1 c. milk

1 stick butter

1 c. self rising flour

cinnamon sugar

Preheat the oven to 350.  Peel and Slice the peaches and cover with a little bit of your sweetener of choice.  I use about a 1/2 c. sugar.  Let them sit for a few minutes.  Place a stick of butter in the casserole dish and put in the warm oven to melt completely.  Take out and set aside.  Mix the flour, sugar and milk with a whisk until the lumps are out.  Pour the batter into the dish with the melted butter.  Place the peaches evenly around the dish.  Top with a light sprinkling of cinnamon sugar or regular sugar if you don't like cinnamon.  Bake in the over for about 30 minutes.  If you use a 9x13 it will be a thinner crust and bake quicker if you use a deeper dish it may take longer.  Bake until set.  Serve warm with ice cream.   You can use this cobbler recipe as a base for any fruit.  Feel free to change it up and use whatever is in season.  I will sometimes add some blueberries with the peaches I think it looks and tastes great.

Cinnamon Bread

Cinnamon Bread

This recipe makes 2 loaves of the most yummy bread.  I love to keep one loaf and give the other away to friends or neighbors.  It also freezes well wrapped in plastic wrap and then put in a ziploc bag or wrapped in foil .  You can even make it into muffins, just adjust the cooking time.  

Ingredients:
1 cup butter softened to room temp
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk or 2 cup milk plus 2 T vinegar or lemon juice
4 cups flour
2 t. baking soda

Cinnamon sugar mixture:
2/3 c sugar
2 1/2 t. cinnamon

Cream together the butter, 2 c sugar, and 2 eggs. Add milk, flour, and baking soda. Put 1/2 of the batter into each greased loaf pan. Mix the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle 3/4 of the cinnamon mixture on top of the batter in each loaf pan. Add the remaining batter evenly to each pan and sprinkle with the last of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Pat gently into the batter with the back of a wooden spoon or whatever you have handy. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Check the bread while baking, you do not want to overcook the bread. Cool about 20 minutes in the pans before removing the bread.

Greek Hummus Dip

Hummus Dip

Greek Hummus Dip

Here's a recipe for a fairly healthy and very tasty dip! This is so good that I have never seen any of it left over. A lady today at our tennis match(might have been me!!?!) almost licked the plate clean, but resorted to using her(my finger) since we ran out of crackers!!

Greek Hummus Dip

10 servings
Ingredients

one 10-oz. container roasted red pepper hummus(or regular)
1 C. fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped
1/2 C. sun-dried tomatoes, reconstituted, chopped
1/2 C. peeled cucumber, chopped
1/4 C. red onion, chopped
1/4 C. crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese or crumbled goat cheese
2 Tbs. Kalamata olives, sliced
1/4 C. pecans(could also use pine nuts-don't chop), toasted and chopped

Directions

Spread hummus on 9-inch serving plate. Sprinkle evenly with remaining ingredients and refrigerate until serving time.

Nutritional information per serving:
Calories 90 Calories from fat 58% Fat 6g Saturated Fat 0g Cholesterol 1mg Sodium 245mg Carbohydrate 7g Dietary Fiber 2g Sugars 2g Protein 2g Dietary Exchanges: 1/2 starch, 1 fat

Minestrone Soup

Thought I would do Meatless Monday with this Minestrone Soup. The recipe doubles really well. The original recipe called for Vegetable Broth. I have made this several times and like it best with Chicken Broth. I think it gives it a little more flavor. I love a one pot meal!

Minestrone Soup(taste like the Olive Gardens)

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup white onions, minced
1/2 cup zucchini chopped
1/2 cup frozen green beans, cut
1/4 cup celery, minced
4 teaspoons garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth(if you are vegetarian use vegetable broth)
30 ounces canned red kidney beans, drained
30 ounces canned white beans, drained
14 ounces diced tomatoes, canned
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3 cups hot water
4 cups fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup shell pasta

Directions:
1. Heat three tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.
2. Saute onion, celery, green beans, and zucchini in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent. Add the garlic to the pot and saute the last minute.
3. Add chicken broth to pot, plus drained tomatoes, beans, carrot, hot water, and spices.
4. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until desired consistency. 

Makes about eight 1 1/2 cup servings.

Minestrone Soup

Banana Pudding Lightened Up

Banana Pudding

This is an incredible recipe for Banana Pudding. It is lower in fat since you use the 1% milk and fat free sweetened condensed milk, but it is definitely full in flavor!  I am not sure where it originally came from but I got it from my mother. 

Banana Pudding
1/3 c all purpose flour
dash of salt
2 1/2 c 1% low fat milk
1 14 oz.can fat free sweetened condensed milk
2 egg yolks
2 t. vanilla extract
3 cups sliced ripe banana
1 box mini Nilla wafers(won't use the whole box)
4 egg whites
1/4 c sugar

Mix flour and salt in a medium saucepan. Gradually stir in milks, yolks, and cook over medium heat stirring constantly until thickened. About 7-10 minutes.

Arrange 1 cup of banana slices in a 2 quart baking dish. Spoon 1/3 of pudding mixture over the bananas, top with a layer of wafers. Repeat layers once; top with remaining bananas and pudding. Arrange wafers around the inside edge of the dish and gently push into pudding. Beat the egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy. Add sugar 1 T at a time and beat until stiff peaks form and sugar dissolves(about 2-4 minutes). Spread the meringue over the pudding pushing it to the edges of the dish. Bake at 325 for 25 minutes until golden. Let cool for at least 30 minutes.

Banana Pudding

Crock Pot Roasted Chicken

Crock Pot Roasted Chicken

This is so easy and tastes as good as any Rotisserie Chicken from the grocery store. I had no idea that a crock pot could actually brown a chicken. Very good!!  I really try to buy several whole chickens when they go on sale and freeze them to have on hand.  This is a great go to recipe for whole chickens.  


whole chicken
one lemon
2 chicken bouillon cubes
4 T. soy sauce
1t garlic
2 T. chopped parsley
salt/pepper
paprika

In a small bowl, squeeze the juice of the lemon. Place the leftover lemon halves  and one bouillon cube in the cavity of the cleaned chicken(remove the bag of gizzards). In the bowl with the lemon juice, add the soy sauce, and garlic and mix. Place the chicken in the crock pot and pour the mixture over the chicken. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken. Crumble the remaining bouillon cube on top of the chicken along with a little paprika and fresh parsley. Cover and cook on high for 4 -5 hours.  Very good and very moist.  

HashBrown Breakfast Muffins

HashBrown Muffins

1 20 oz. bag of shredded hash browns(I used refrigerated ones)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tbs oil (I used olive oil)
1/3 cup shredded cheddar
Bacon bits or 8 pieces of cooked bacon, crumbled(I am in love with the crumbled bacon from Costco!)
12 Eggs
Extra shredded cheddar about 1/3 c for the top


Open your bag of hash browns and mix in the salt, pepper, oil and 1/3 cup shredded cheese.
Grease the muffin tin and divide the hash brown mixture amongst the cups. I pressed them down in the tins with the back of a spoon.
Bake hash browns at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until slightly browned.
Once they're finished, take them out and lower the temp of the oven to 350 degrees.
Crack an egg into each of the cups(I break the yolks in my eggs before I cook them)
Top with bacon and a sprinkle of extra cheese
Bake at 350 degrees for 13-16 minutes (or until the eggs are as firm as you like them).
Slide a knife along the edges to remove from pan when cooled.

Notes:
You could also add ham or sausage instead of the bacon.
These keep in the refrigerator for 4 days.  I am not sure how they would freeze, but don't see any reason why you could not freeze them and pop them out when you need one.  

Here is a picture of the Costco Bacon Crumbles