Fresh Peach Cobbler Bread

Many of you may not know that the state that ships out the most fresh peaches each year is not the Peach State but...South Carolina!  It's so great to be able to buy fresh peaches right down the road.  This is a delicious recipe for a fresh peach bread that really tastes a lot like peach cobbler!  You can serve as breakfast or dessert.  It smells amazing while baking!

Fresh Peach Cobbler Bread

1/4 c butter, softened
3/4 c sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 c vanilla yogurt (I used Dannon Light & Fit)
2-3 peaches, peeled and diced
1 peach, peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Soften butter, then add sugar.  Beat with hand mixer.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.  Stir in yogurt and diced peaches.  In a separate large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  Add the wet mixture, stirring until blended.  Pour batter into greased loaf pan.  Place peach slices across the top of the batter.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Cool completely before slicing.

Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

I've had this recipe for a while and have been wanting to try it.  That's one of the reasons I love my summers off...having the time and energy to try these new recipes!  This was a really good casserole, it was fairly easy to put together, and we had plenty of left-overs.  I think this is a recipe that you could really adapt to fit your own likes...add jalapenos, green enchilada sauce, etc.  Enjoy!

Chicken and Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

3-4 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/2 packet taco seasoning
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can red enchilada sauce (I used medium to give it a little spice)
1 4-oz can diced green chiles
8 6-in corn tortillas
16 oz sour cream
2 cups Mexican style shredded cheese
In a large skillet, heat cooked chicken, cumin, coriander, garlic, and taco seasoning with 1/4-1/2 cup of water.  Allow to simmer 5-10 minutes.  Add black beans, chiles, and cilantro to chicken; mix well.  Grease a 11x7 baking dish, spread 1/2 can of enchilada sauce in bottom of dish.  Place 4 tortillas over the sauce, overlapping if necessary.  Spoon half of the chicken mixture over the tortillas, and sprinkle 1 cup of cheese over the top.  Top with half of the sour cream, spreading evenly over the cheese.  Layer 4 more tortillas, then top with remaining enchilada sauce.  Spoon remaining chicken into dish.  Cover and bake for 30 minutes on 375 degrees.  After 30 minutes, remove the cover, sprinkle with remaining cheese and top with dollops of sour cream.  Bake an additional 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.  Allow casserole to sit 10 minutes before serving.



From the Sea to the Table

This past week, my husband and I were on vacation at the beach with my parents.  Brent wanted to go deep sea fishing, which I was a little worried about, since I often deal with motion sickness.  But, since I'm such a good wife, I went with him ;)  We had so much fun!  I did not get sick at all (although I would recommend taking Dramamine one hour before leaving just in case) and I caught 6 fish!  Unfortunately, you could only keep certain fish, but we ended up with 3 nice fish (1 seabass, 2 porgies) to bring home.  The fish were delicious!  I have posted this recipe before, but it makes a great Cajun style seasoning for fish.  Hope you enjoy seeing pictures from our adventure!

Cajun Seasoning for Fish

1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp butter
lemon juice
parsley

Mix first five ingredients.  Pat onto fish.  Over medium-high heat, add oil and 2 tbsp butter to skillet; melt.  Add fish, cooking on first side for about 4 minutes (depending on the thickness of the fish).  Add 1 tbsp butter to skillet, flip fish to continue cooking on other side.  Cook an additional 4 minutes.  Top with lemon juice and parsley.

White Chicken & Artichoke Lasagna

I've always wanted to try a white lasagna recipe and when I found this one with artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes, I just had to make it!  It has a great flavor and makes enough for a crowd!  I froze at least half of it and we'll still have left-overs this week.  I listed the spinach as optional because I honestly forgot it when I made it.  The dish was great without it, but I do think the spinach would go well, so feel free to add it if you want.

White Chicken & Artichoke Lasagna

3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 c mozzarella cheese
1/2 c grated parmesan
1/2 c sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped
2 pkg cream cheese, softened (I used Neufchatel)
1 c milk
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 lasagna noodles, cooked (I always use whole grain noodles if available)
spinach, drained (optional)
Heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, beat softened cream cheese, milk, garlic salt, and garlic until well blended.  Stir in basil.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, combine shredded chicken, chopped artichokes, 1 c mozzarella, parmesan, tomatoes, and drained spinach.  Mix half of cream cheese mixture into the chicken mixture.  Spread 1/2 of the remaining cream cheese mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 dish.  Cover with 3 noodles and 1/3 of the chicken mixture.  Repeat twice.  Top with remaining noodles and cream cheese mixture.  Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.  Cover and bake for 25 minutes.  Uncover and bake an additional 5 minutes.  Allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Spicy Chicken Roll-Ups

I made these for a party recently.  They are super easy and very tasty!  Feel free to play around with the ingredients too.

Spicy Chicken Roll-Ups

2 chicken breasts
1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
12 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c shredded Mexican blend cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 c green onion, chopped
6 flour tortillas (I used sundried tomato)
Boil chicken until done.  Shred into fine pieces.  Whisk softened cream cheese until smooth.  Add dry seasonings and garlic, mix well.  Stir in shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, cilantro, and green onion.  Finally, stir in chicken until mixed well.  Spread mixture over 6 tortillas leaving about 1/2 inch around the edges.  Roll up tortillas tightly.  Cut with a serrated knife into bize-size roll-ups.

Honey Chipotle Turkey Meatballs

I have never used ground turkey before, and although others had told me that it really wasn't that bad, I was still a little scared of it.  This recipe turned out to be great though.  It has a really spicy sauce that keeps the meatballs really moist.  Hope you enjoy!

Honey Chipotle Turkey Meatballs

1 1/2 lbs ground turkey

1 small onion, diced very small

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

4 tbsp honey

2-4 tbsp chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, chopped (depending on how hot you want it)

4 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a mixing bowl, stir the onion, garlic, salt, and pepper together.  Add the ground turkey and use your hands to mix until combined (do not overhandle the meat).  Form into meatballs about the size of a golfball (made about 16-17 meatballs).  In a small bowl, stir together the honey, chopped chipotle chiles, and vinegar.

Put a greased cast-iron skillet in the oven to preheat.  Heat oil in another large skillet over medium heat.  Once it is shimmering, add the meatballs.  Cook until browned, flipping meatballs onto all sides to brown evenly (about 10 minutes).  Pour the meatballs and the drippings into a preheated cast-iron skillet and place in oven.  Bake for 5 minutes.  Remove pan from oven (it will be hot!) and pour sauce over meatballs.  Bake for another 5-7 minutes, swirling the pan once or twice while cooking).  When the meatballs are cooked through, serve with pasta or rice.  (I did not have an oven proof skillet that could be used on my glass cooktop, so I used the method above.  If you have a skillet that you can move from your stove to the oven, then you can use one less pan!)

Adapted from http://traceysculinaryadventures.blogspot.com/

Snickerdoodle Bread

This bread is SO good!  If you like snickerdoodle cookies, you'll love this bread.  It's full of cinnamon and I think it would be great with a little cream cheese on top.  Enjoy!  (The original recipe called for a package of cinnamon chips, but I could not find these and have heard that they are seasonal.  I modified the amount of cinnamon in the recipe to make up for this.) Try serving this with spreadable cream cheese.

Snickerdoodle Bread

2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 tsp cinnamon
1 c butter, softened
2 c sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 c sour cream
3 tbsp sugar
3 tsp cinnamon
Cream softened butter, sugar, salt, and 3 tsp cinnamon until creamy.  Add eggs and mix well.  Add vanilla and sour cream and mix well.  Mix flour, baking powder, and 2 tsp cinnamon in a separate bowl.  Add to wet ingredients and mix until all combined.  Grease 2 regular loaf pans or 4 mini loaf pans with cooking spray.  Pour batter into pans until about 2/3 full.  Mix 3 tbsp sugar and 3 tsp cinnamon.  Sprinkle over top of batter until covered (you will probably not use all of the cinnamon sugar, put the rest in a ziploc bag and save it for later).  Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes for 2 regular loaf pans or 30-35 minutes for 4 mini loaf pans or until a toothpick comes out almost clean.  You may have to adjust cooking time based on your oven.  Cool completely before removing from pan.
Adapted from http://lilluna.com/