Apple/Peach Cobbler/Cake

I love Peapod. For any of you who don't know what that is, it's a grocery delivery service. It has been a lifesaver, especially since I am one of those people who loves to wait until I have almost nothing in the house before I go grocery shopping. Don't get me wrong, DS is awesome in the store for me. He's never had a single meltdown, and loves to look around at stuff while sitting in the cart. I am the one with the problem, getting all stressed out if I have to make a big trip to the store with him. I don't know why. I am so irrational sometimes. 
Anyway, I got some peaches, because I've been craving peach-flavored stuff lately. I had my groceries delivered on Saturday while I was down in Indy doing Run for Your Lives, and I realized yesterday that I really needed to use them up before they went bad. So, I started scouring my Pinterest for recipes that I had all of the ingredients to. There was one for peach cobbler bars that looked delicious, but I didn't have any cream cheese, and another for a peach upside down cake, but I didn't have enough peaches. I couldn't seem find one that really struck me and that I was prepared for, so I started looking at my apple recipes, thinking I could easily switch the apples for peaches. 
I came across this Apple Filled Coffee Cake and figured it was a start. I knew I wanted to make the cake from scratch, and then I was afraid that I didn't have enough peaches on hand for something like this, so I decided to make it an apple/peach cake. THEN I was concerned that there would be too much topping for the cake to cover, so I wanted to put a streusel topping on it. I know, I'm crazy. I wonder if there is a recipe out there that I will ever follow exactly... "But, who doesn't love a streusel topping???" I thought to myself, laughing maniacally. It is for sure my favorite way to top a pie, as I'm not really a pie crust kinda gal. Decision made, I set out to make the cake.
So, here we go.
I give this (doctored) recipe 4 out of 5 stars.

 For the cake, I used this recipe (the 9x13 baking version), and added a teaspoon and a half of cinnamon. I preheated my oven to 350 and greased and floured my pan. (Does anyone else suck at flouring a greased pan? Maybe one day I'll get it right.) I had 3 decent sized peaches, so I peeled and chopped those. During this time, I realized that I suck at peeling peaches. Like, really. Thankfully no one else was around to see me butcher those poor peaches. 

I put a teaspoon or 2 of sugar and cinnamon in with the peaches and gave them a stir. I had a can of apple pie filling on hand (I used the Duncan Heinz), so I opened that. Once I poured the cake batter into the pan, I plopped the peaches on top, followed by the apples, trying to get it as evenly spread as possible. 

I think I could have eaten the entire can of apple pie filling just with a spoon.

For the streusel topping, I put 2/3 C of brown sugar, packed, with 1 C of flour and 1 stick of softened butter. I used my hands to mix it all up until it was the consistency of wet sand. You could use a fork or pastry cutter, I just think your clean hands are the best tools in the kitchen sometimes. I then plopped (don't you love my technical terms??) the streusel topping as evenly as possible over the peaches and apples, and put it in the oven. The original recipe says 35 min, but I put it in for a few minutes less because my oven is wonkey.

When the timer went off, I pulled it out of the oven and it was perfect. I mixed roughly a cup of powdered sugar and a tablespoon or so of milk together to make a glaze. I never measure for frostings and glazes. You really need to keep tasting it as you go to find what is best for you, as some people have a sweeter tooth than others. I poured the glaze over the top with a spoon and then let it cool completely before cutting it. 

Seriously, how good does this look??

Haha, just kidding. I cut that baby open and took a bite immediately. It was divine. The only thing I'll say is that the streusel was not necessary. In fact, it probably needed to be cooked for a little longer, but the rest of the cake was done, so it just didn't really work out like I wanted it to. I think next time I might just hold back some of the cake batter, or press the peaches/apples down into it.

Totally yummy!

Banana Pudding Poke Cake

Sorry about the hiatus. Work's been really busy, and so has home. I probably shouldn't be taking the time to post this now, but I felt bad about my lack of posts. This recipe comes from The Country Cook's page.

Anyway. When I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I was SO excited about it. Banana Pudding (with the Nilla wafers) was one of my favorite desserts when I was a kid. My dad's mom used to make it all the time, and I LOVED it. She has some great recipes. Once I finish all of my Pinterest ones, I'm going to have to start posting some of hers. 

Back to the point, I saw this and was floored. Banana pudding? Cake? What?? Heaven! I couldn't wait to try it. We were celebrating Thanksgiving at the club house at my grandparents' condo, and I figured this would be a great time to make it, since she inspired my love for the premise. 

Let me say, I wish I hadn't...

I give this recipe 1 out of 5 stars.

Here's the original recipe:

• 1 box yellow cake mix + the ingredients to make said cake
• 2 3.4oz packages of instant banana pudding (I used one of the big ones instead)
• 4 C milk (I used organic 2%)
• 1 8oz frozen whipped topping (I know, I know. I really need to figure out what to replace this with...)
• 20 Nilla Wafers, crushed

First, you prepare the box cake mix for a regular 9x13 cake. Once it is finished, let it cool for just a few minutes, then, using a wooden spoon's handle, poke holes into the cake, all the way to the bottom.

Like this.

You want the holes to be big enough that the pudding can really get down in there and isn't just sitting on the top of the cake.

In a large bowl, whisk together the pudding mix and milk. Let set for about two minutes. You want the pudding to be thick, but still easily pourable. Then pour the pudding over the cake. I used a spoon to lightly press as much of the pudding into the holes as I could. Put the cake into the fridge so it can set and cool. Once it is all the way cooled, spread the whipped topping over the pudding, then cover with the crushed Nilla Wafers. It says on the OP's site to wait until right before serving to put them on so that they keep their crunch. I would have to agree, even though one of my favorite parts of the original banana pudding recipe is the soft Nilla Wafers. This cake definitely needs some texture.

Ok. I wonder if I had made my own banana pudding instead of using the instant if I would have liked this. I must say, I HATE that fake banana flavor. I used to work at Steak N Shake, and I couldn't stand their banana milkshakes because I hate that kind of flavoring. So, it absolutely ruined the whole thing for me. It is VERY overpowering in this recipe. My grandpa loved it and asked me to make it for every function--not gonna happen... lol I think if I were ever to attempt this again, I would make my cake and pudding from scratch. I don't think a box cake holds up well enough for this recipe. It almost would be better with a pound cake, or something more dense. Maybe it was just the brand I used, I don't know. Needless to say, the fact that I hated it totally broke my little heart. Haha. 

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

This was the last recipe I made this weekend. I had 3 overripe bananas on my counter, and I couldn't decide if I wanted to make ice cream or banana bread. Then I thought about banana bread for a moment, and it was a no brainer... :) After pulling up a blog page that only linked back the recipe, I found it on Lovin' From the Oven's blog here. 

I give this recipe 5 out of 5 stars. It's amazing.

The original recipe calls for:
For the bread:

• 3 overripe bananas
• 1/3 C melted butter
• 3/4 C sugar (I read in the comments that the bread dried out for some people the next day, so I used 1/2 c white sugar and 1/4 c brown sugar to keep it soft.)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking soda (I also used 1 tsp baking powder)
• pinch of salt (about 1 grind on my sea salt grinder)
• 1 1/2 c flour

For the cinnamon swirl:

• 1/3 c sugar (I used about 1/2 white and 1/2 brown and didn't really measure)
• 1 T cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a loaf pan (I made these as muffins). Mix bananas, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla together. Sprinkle baking soda over mixture and stir in. Sprinkle flour over the top and fold in, being careful not to overmix. In a small dish, mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Pour half of your batter in your pan, then sprinkle half of your sugar mixture on top. Cover with the remainder of your batter, then top that with the remainder of the sugar mixture. Place in oven and bake 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Ok. Obviously, I made a bunch of changes to this one. Because I used a muffin tin, I only baked them for about 25 minutes. Putting the batter together was pretty much the same. I spooned the mixture into the tins with a Tablespoon, sprinkled the cinnamon sugar, then covered it and repeated. 

The one on the bottom is completely full, the one above it is halfway done.

Once they came out of the oven, I let them cool for about 5 minutes and then took them out and placed them on a plate. I probably overfilled the tins a bit, but it ended up equally filling the 12 tins with no extra batter, so that worked for me. Let me tell you, these were delicious. DS devoured one by himself, I gave some away, and took them to work, and they were a big hit. It's now 2 days later, and even cold, they are still incredibly moist and delicious. DS and I had one right out of the oven with a little butter. SO good!

Not the prettiest things, ever, but we all know that's not what I'm going for... lol

THE WORLD'S BEST CHICKEN

This weekend was a frenzy of Pinterest recipe cooking for me. I made 3 new things, so get ready for 3 new blogs. I am so bad at taking pictures as I go, though...

Anyway, the first one I'm going to write about is a recipe originally pinned as THE WORLD'S BEST CHICKEN. I've had it on my board almost since the beginning and never tried it because I'm really NOT a fan of mustard. I originally found it here on Rachel Shultz's blog, and I'm not sure where she got the recipe.

I give this one 3.5 out of 5 stars.

The original recipe is as follows:

• 4 chicken breasts (I halved mine because they were pretty thick.)
• 1/2 c of dijon mustard (I used almost 2/3 c because I was worried about the extra surface area.)
• 1/2 c maple syrup
• 1 T red wine vinegar (I used Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar.)
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Rosemary (I used dried)

First, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Then, in a small bowl, mix together the mustard, maple syrup, vinegar and salt and pepper. I seasoned my chicken with salt, pepper, a garlic pepper grinder, and a little Nature's Seasons. I was a little afraid of what other flavors to add in there, since I'm not used to cooking with mustard. It said in the original recipe to place the breasts in a greased 9x13 baking dish, but I didn't bother greasing it. There really was no need. 

My chicken was still a bit frozen, so I poured the mustard mixture over the breasts and let it sit for about a half hour. I made sure that the breasts were completely coated and let it marinate a bit. This is completely unnecessary; I was just trying to give the chicken a little more time to thaw before sticking it in the oven. I added the rosemary to the top, even though the recipe calls to wait until it's out of the oven. Pop the chicken, uncovered, into the oven for 30-40 min. I put it in for 30 and ended up having to put it back for another 7. I think if my chicken had been completely thawed, it would have been fine after 30. 

I didn't take an after picture... I probably would have been fine using the original measurements as well.

When I took it out, the sauce was very watery, which I attribute partly to the excess water from the breasts being frozen. I do, however, wish it had been a bit thicker. I think if I make this again, I will make a rue and add the sauce to it so it's thicker. The chicken was SOOOOOOO moist. You almost didn't need a knife to cut it.

When I took the first bite, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. Like I said, not a huge fan of mustard. But I gave it a chance. By the second bite, it was growing on me. I ended up having two breast halves... lol There was a TON of flavor, and like I said, it was so moist. DS, however, wasn't very interested in it. I think the flavor was just too strong for him. I froze the leftovers, and I'm thinking of using them for sandwiches. Just shred, add some lettuce, red onion, maybe even pickles, and there you have it.  Really, my big qualm with this one is the sauce. It is a bit overpowering, but really good. The issue is how thin it was. I'd have liked it more if it really stuck to the chicken.

Any ideas of what flavors I can add to a mustard dish?

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

I made this recipe again on Saturday. I have made it before, and was very impressed with it.  I was trying to rush because it was just me and DS. Anyway, the recipe was originally posted here on Food, Family, and Friends' page.

I give this dish 5 out of 5 stars. I LOVE it.

The original recipe calls for:

• 6-8 corn tortillas (I used multigrain, since it was what I had on hand, and I made them pretty big, so I only used 6)
• 1 pre-cooked plain rotisserie chicken (I baked 2 good sized chicken breasts @350 for 30 min, seasoned with sea salt, garlic pepper, and Nature's Seasons, turning once mid way through, which I shredded when cooled.)
• 1 cup sweet corn (I used frozen)
• 4 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided (I used half Mexican blend, half sharp cheddar.)
• 3 T butter
• 3 T all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 C chicken broth (I used only one cup, because I bought pre-portioned 1 cup packs of organic chicken broth, since it's more convenient for my cooking. It was also lower sodium.)
• 1 10oz can of cream of chicken soup (I used the heart healthy kind)
• 1 C sour cream (you could also sub plain Greek yogurt, I just didn't have any on hand)
• 1 4oz can of green chiles
• sea salt and pepper to taste

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. I used a glass 9x13 baking dish, but you could also halve this recipe and use a square 8x8 or 9x9 pan. I added a can of black beans to the filling, which is the shredded chicken, corn, and cheese. I mix all my ingredients together and just plop a handful or so in each tortilla, roll them up, and place them seam side down in my pan. 

Ok, here's where I screwed up this time around. I got a little ahead of myself and forgot to make the rue. You're SUPPOSED to melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the flour and cook until that raw flour taste has gone away, so just a couple minutes. Then add the chicken soup, broth, sour cream, and chiles. Season mixture with salt and pepper. I just used pepper, since there is still a lot of salt in the soup, cheese, and broth. Pour the mixture over the tortillas and cover with the remainder of the cheese. Bake for 25-30 min.

This is fresh out of the oven.

Now, I always let mine sit out a bit so that it has time to firm up a little before trying to tackle the messy job of plating this bad boy. :) I can cook with the best of them, but my presentation ALWAYS sucks. lol Maybe one day I can master the skill of plating something without looking like I butchered it.

 This is after about 5 minutes of sitting. Ohhhh, cheesy goodness!

This is my attempt at plating... lol Mine was MUCH runnier this time than the last time I made it since I forgot the rue. I ended up adding a little cornstarch to my mixture, but it didn't help enough.

All in all, I love this recipe. This is great served with some Spanish rice and refried beans, if you like them.  DS eats most of this, except the corn (crazy kid), without complaint. Enjoy!

Baked Eggs with a Crispy Hash Brown Crust

I had been procrastinating on seasoning my new cast iron skillets until I saw this pin. I was sitting around, trying to figure out what I was going to make DS and I for dinner when I stumbled across this gem. Man, I love breakfast for dinner, don't you? :) It was originally posted here on Two Tarts' page. I've made it a couple different times now, and love it.

I give this recipe a 4.5 out of 5 Stars.

The original recipe calls for:

Not my picture. The next time I make it, I will take my own.

• 1 1/2-2 c shredded potatoes (it calls for red, I used regular old baking potatoes.)
• 1/2 tsp. salt (I have a sea salt grinder, so I estimate. I also like some extra salt on my potatoes.)
• 6 eggs (I used 4. It was, after all, only me and DS.)
• 3/4 C shredded cheese (I have used both sharp cheddar and a Mexican blend.)
• 2 T olive oil for your cast iron. (I used less than this.)

The first time I made this, I hand grated my potatoes, leaving the skin on. (I leave the skin on in my mashed potatoes, too. I just love it.) The second time, I had a bag of pre-shredded hash browns on hand, so I thawed it out and used that. Regardless which you use, make sure to squeeze out the extra moisture. 

Heat up your cast iron on about medium high with the olive oil. After you've squeezed out as much of the extra liquid from the potatoes as is humanly possible (no really. It totally makes a difference) stir them together with the salt. The original recipe says to salt first; I didn't. Then press the potatoes into the bottom of the skillet using a spoon, covering the bottom completely, but not going up the sides. Think more pancake, less pie crust. You really want to pack it all together so it's easy to flip later. I've discovered that I like to use a little less potato for a thinner, crispier crust. That's how I like my regular hash browns, too, though. You'll have to experiment to see which way you like it better.

Let your little potato pancake cook, undisturbed (which, admittedly, is the hardest part for me. I am constantly scraping up the edges and checking stuff...) for 4 minutes. Again, though, it depends on how crispy you like your potato to be. When everything looks golden brown and delicious, use a spatula to flip the whole thing over (I have yet to get it in one piece...). The thinner your potato, the easier it is to flip. So if you like a thick, sort of soft hash brown, keep that in mind. Also, if you don't like a very crispy one, the potato will not have stuck together much, making this more difficult. Once flipped, let it cook an additional 3-4 min on that side.

When both sides are brown, remove from the heat and crack your eggs on top. I seasoned the eggs with salt and pepper. Then cover with the cheese. Turn your oven to broil. Once your flame is going, pop your skillet directly underneath, about 4 or 5 inches below the flame, or on the second rack position. Let it broil about 5-7 min, depending on how well done you want your eggs. I left mine in somewhere between that so they were just less than over medium. You could also scramble the eggs. I would do the full 7 min and check to make sure they were cooked all the way through. Then, let cool about 5 min so that the cheese and egg have a chance to set. Finally, cut into slices and serve. 

One other things to note is your skillet size. I've done this in 12" and 10" skillets. Since I don't use as many eggs, I found it easier to do in the 10", but I also then had to scale down the potatoes even more. I totally left the same amount of cheese, though. Who doesn't love a little extra cheese??? :)

Chicken, green beans, potatoes

So, this is one of those Pinterest recipes that isn't attached to a webpage. (Gasp! I know, I need to weed out all of my pins that don't take you anywhere. Who has the time??) When you click to open it, it just shows you the picture, and the steps are written in the description. I made a separate board for all of the food I've tried, here, and it's in there. I have so many  pins on my other food page that have a bunch of recipes listed, and I've tried one or 2 of them. I will be going through them over the next few days to switch them over. 

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. I was incredibly disappointed in this recipe. I made it awhile ago, not long after I found this pin. This is the point I wish that Pinterest logged the dates on when you pinned things. Usually, I'm totally ok with them not doing that, so you can't see how many things I pin in one day... haha

I give it a 2 out of 5 stars.

The original recipe is as follows:

• 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I believe I used 4)
• New potatoes (I used about 5 or so)
• Green beans (I would recommend frozen over canned. I used frozen broccoli)
• 1 packet of Italian dressing mix (I used zesty)
• 1 stick melted butter.

The original picture.

You are supposed to arrange the ingredients like ^^ this in a greased 9x13 pan, cover with foil, and bake at 350 for an hour. 

I first seasoned the chicken with salt and pepper and Nature's Seasons. It's by McCormick (I think) and has a yellow label with a royal blue cap. I LOVE that stuff. I use it on EVERYTHING savory. EVERYTHING. lol The rest I left as is because I was worried about the salt content in the packet. Also, I had never used a salad dressing packet before, so I wasn't sure how the flavor was going to come out, and I was afraid of making it too overpowering. I did toss a bit of chopped garlic over everything as well.

I should have doused the stuff in extra seasonings. It was SO BLAND. I ended up throwing most of it out, because it just sucked. I'm not a big fan of adding a ton of seasonings after something has cooked to try to "fix" it. I like my flavors to meld together while the cooking is taking place. I hate when I feel like I just wasted a bunch of food, especially on something that could have been decent. 

I definitely recommend adding whichever seasonings you like to your chicken and vegetables. Screw the packet mix. The execution was good; the potatoes, chicken, and broccoli all came out properly cooked, but it really lacked any flavor. You could toss a bit of cooked, crumbled bacon on top, add rosemary and thyme to the potatoes, and maybe a bit of parsley and oregano to the chicken to make it delicious. What are some flavors you would add?