Peach Crisp for Two

I've been making peach and apple crisps for a while so it's probably time to give them a little space on the blog.

Peach Crisp

1 peach
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons instant oatmeal
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 - 1 tablespoon butter, softened
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease bottom of loaf pan.
2. Thinly slice peach and put on bottom of pan.
3. Mix flour, brown sugar, oatmeal, cinnamon, and butter in a small bowl. Mix with hands to get a nice crumble. Sprinkle over top of sliced peaches.
4. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. It's best served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or cool whip!

My apple crisp is very similar. Sub out the one peach for one apple and add a dash of nutmeg to make it  a little warmer and homier and to make the house smell delicious!

AEM

Sweet and Sour Chicken

I used to make a sweet & sour/Hawaiian chicken back in the day that was baked with some chunky onion, pepper, and pineapple and a different sauce. The idea was right, the dinner was really good, but the sauce was more hawaiian than sweet & sour. The sauce below really does the trick. This one was all over Pinterest and after a few "failed" attempts at Chinese food and a decent Hawaiian chicken thing, we finally found a winner. The previous attempts weren't actually failed, it's just that some weren't even blogable and some were just decent and then there's still a few we've made again and again like the Pad Thai and the Peanut Chicken.  This is another one of those recipes that's been put into the regular rotation. It's easy and delicious. The original recipes are below but here's how I did it.

Sweet and Sour Chicken & Fried Rice

Chicken:
1lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup cornstarch
salt and pepper
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
cooking spray

3/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Cube chicken breasts. Combine cornstarch and salt and pepper to taste in a plastic bag. Toss cubed chicken into bag and coat with cornstarch.
3. In a medium/large bowl, beat egg with water. Remove chicken from bag and put into egg mixture. Do this with your hand, shaking off excess cornstarch because the cornstarch + egg will make a paste.
4. In large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add egged/cornstarched chicken to hot pan. Cook chicken until browned but not cooked fully or chicken will get too dry.
5. Lightly grease glass baking dish. Put cooked chicken into dish.
6. In a bowl, whisk sugar, ketchup, vinegar, soy sauce and garlic salt. Pour over chicken mixture.
7. Bake for about an hour (it'll take about 45 mins before the sauce starts to thicken). Stir/turn chicken every 15-20 minutes.

Rice:
2 cups cooked brown rice
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 small onion, diced
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup soy sauce

1. Heat oil in large pan on medium or medium-high heat. Add peas/carrots, onion, and garlic. Cook until onions are tender.
2. Push veggies to one side of the pan and add beaten egg. Scramble eggs on other side of the pan. Mix with pea/carrot/onion mixture when done.
3. Add rice and soy sauce. Mix and heat until warm.

Original Chicken Recipe: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2008/07/sweet-and-sour-chicken-updated.html
Original Rice Recipe: http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2010/09/baked-sweet-and-sour-chicken-with-fried.html

AEM

More Breakfast Sandwiches

Well once wasn't enough so we had to push our luck and try a second and third time on the ol' Breakfast Sandwiches. I must say, the subsequent tries did not disappoint!

Round 1: Originally we made egg white with turkey bacon and sausage on Thomas' Light Multi-Grain English Muffins.
Round 2: Same english muffins but this time we tried egg white + crumbled turkey bacon + spinach + diced tomatoes, egg white + crumbled turkey sausage + spinach + diced tomatoes, and finally egg, crumbled turkey sausage and spinach.
Round 3: More simple this time, bagels with egg whites

AEM

Sesame Crusted Tuna

There's a restaurant nearby that has the best sesame crusted ahi tuna with an amazing ponzu sauce. I went to the grocery store for artichokes and chicken tonight and as I walked by the seafood department, I spotted tuna and couldn't resist trying this out. It was the first time I've made ahi tuna because I really do NOT like fish at all. This was good!

Sesame Crusted Tuna

2 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons black sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 ahi tuna steaks
1 tablespoon oil

1. Mix sesame seeds and salt in a bowl or plate.
2. Coat steaks in seed mixture. It really helps to use tongs to make sure it's all coated and you're not making a bigger mess than you need!
3. Heat oil in large pan over medium heat.
4. Cook steaks about 45 secs - 1 min or so on each side. Again, using the tops helps with the flipping!
5. Slice!

AEM

Nana's Scones

Made a double-batch of Nana's scones tonight! Chocolate Chip, Mikey's favorite! Can't share the recipe though, it's a family secret :)

AEM

Green Bean Chicken Casserole

I had some leftover chicken and really wanted to find a use for it. I've been getting good at using leftovers but wanted to try something new but easy so I gave Green Bean Chicken Casserole a go.

Green Bean Chicken Casserole

2 chicken breasts - leftover or raw (probably better raw)
1 cup green beans (frozen, canned, fresh)
1 package sliced mushrooms
1 can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1/5 cups Stovetop Stuffing
cooking spray
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray glass baking dish lightly with cooking spray.
2. Prepare stuffing according to directions. I omit the butter. Sautee the mushrooms*
3. Cube chicken and place on bottom of pan. Top with green beans. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top with mushrooms.
4. Mix soup with about 2 tablespoons of water and pour over the top of the mushrooms.
5. Layer on the prepared stuffing
6. Bake for about 20 minutes if the chicken is pre-cooked. If chicken is raw, bake for about 30-40 minutes.

*I had a little bit of liquid at the bottom of my dish when it was done. I did not pre-cook my mushrooms before adding them so I think that may have been the problem. Next time I will pre-cook the mushrooms.

AEM

Smore's Martini

We like to go to a restaurant nearby that has an amazing Smore's Martini on the menu. One night after dinner, I was staring down that martini on the menu but I was just not quite in the mood for it yet. We decided to take matters into our own hands and make them ourselves.

Smore's Martini

Vanilla Absolut
Frangelico
Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur
Creme de Cocoa
2 Graham Crackers
2 large marshmallows
water

1. Crush graham crackers and put graham cracker dust into a bowl. Put about 1/2 inch of water into a bowl. Dip the rim of your martini glass into the water and then the graham cracker to create a nice graham cracker rim on the glass
2. In a martini shaker, Add ice and equal parts of Vanilla Absolut, Frangelico, Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur, Creme de Cocoa. Shake
3. Pour into cracker-rimmed glasses (straining out the ice) and top with a marshmallow.

AEM

Breakfast Sandwiches

Mike is always looking for a healthy on-the-go breakfast that he can grab in the morning on his way out the door. He's always eyeing the little egg breakfast sandwiches in the freezer section of the grocery store but they are all either too unhealthy or coated in cheese and that just won't do. Finally, in a moment of boredom and probably insanity today, I figured it out. I'll just make little breakfast sandwiches and drop two in a bag, put them in the fridge, and he can grab them on his rush out the door in the morning. Brilliant!

Breakfast Sandwiches

6 eggs
6 English Muffins
6 pieces of turkey bacon
1/4 - 1/2 fresh spinach
salt and pepper
cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 6 cups of muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. Place a few spinach leaves in the bottom of each muffin tin. Top each spinach pile with an egg (either the full egg or I just used the whites). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bake for about 10 minutes.
3. Cook turkey bacon. Split English Muffins and toast. Top muffin with a piece of bacon and a cooked egg cup which will pop right out of the tray when done.

AEM

Tiny Taco Cups

I had some wonton wrappers left over from the crab rangoons and I had some ground bison leftover from burgers and I had an avocado that needed a home so I decided to try out some tiny taco cups for a snack before dinner one night. I enjoyed them but Mike wasn't a huge fan of the wonton wrappers, claiming they hurt the top of his mouth...

Tiny Taco Cups

12 wonton wrappers

1/3 lb ground meat, cooked (I crumbled up a left over bison burger patty)

1/4 cup salsa

1/4 - 1/2 cup shredded cheese

1 avocado

1 teaspoon lime juice

salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350. Put wonton wrappers into the cups of a muffin tin.

2. Peel and mash avocado. Season with lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. 

3. Divide meat between wonton cups. Top with salsa and shredded cheese. 

4. Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until cheese is melted. 

5. Remove from oven and top with avocado mixture. 

AEM

Eggs Benedict

Sometimes, when all else fails, the best thing to do is just make breakfast for dinner. I was having one of those days where NOTHING sounded appealing and I just wanted something comfortable and tasty but not totally disgustingly unhealthy. Ah yes, breakfast for dinner, that'll work! And what could be better than some Eggs Benedict, the way my dad taught me! I also made some mini-cini rolls because I just couldn't resist the idea of something sweet but not deadly!

Eggs Benedict

Eggs (we used 5)
English Muffins (each benedict gets one half)
Canadian Bacon
Hollandaise Sauce Packet
Paprika
Sliced  Olives (optional)

1. Bring pot of water to rolling boil. Drop cracked eggs into water, cover, remove from heat and set aside for about 8-10 minutes. I did all 5 eggs for about 10 minutes and the yolks were a smidge runny.
2. Split and toast English Muffins. Top each half with Canadian Bacon.
3. Prepare Hollandaise Sauce as directed on package. Take care to whisk constantly, chunky or burnt sauce is a no-go. I prepared mine using only water, no butter as suggested on the package.
4. Remove eggs with slotted spoon and place on bacon-topped-muffins. Spoon on Hollandaise sauce. Sprinkle with paprika and an olive slice if desired.

AEM

Kahlua & Cubes

Why not spice up the after-dinner world with a nice mix of Kahlua and coffee cubes? It's fun and delicious!

Kahlua & Cubes

1 cup of coffee
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup fat free half-and-half
2 shots Kahlua (or as your heart desires)

1. Freeze coffee in ice cube tray
2. Add coffee cubes to each glass. Add half the milk, half-and-half and Kahlua to each glass.
3. Enjoy!

As a side note, we tried it a second time with about 1/4 cup skim milk and equal parts Kahlua, Creme de Cocoa, and Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur. Also delicious.

AEM

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

We love strawberries with cool whip in the summer so when I stumbled upon a recipe for Strawberry Shortcake cookies I just couldn't resist (recipe link below). Of course I had to try my best to ruin them by making cutting the recipe in half and making them fat free. The result was delicious (Mike ate 5 of them within 20 mins of them coming out of the oven) though the texture was definitely not the same as the original. Here's how I did it...

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

1 cup strawberries, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup fat free half-and-half

1. Preheat oven to 375. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or baking mat.
2. Mix strawberries, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of sugar and set aside.
3. In large bowl, combine lemon zest, vanilla, 1/4 cup sugar in bowl with hands. Add flour, baking powder, and salt and stir. Stir in applesauce. Add half-and-half and stir. Fold in strawberries.
4. Drop rounded tablespoons onto baking sheets. Bake about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Original recipe: http://www.bakedperfection.com/search?updated-max=2011-08-14T21%3A08%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=3


AEM

The Scoop: "Cherry Garcia"

My dad is a huge fan of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia ice cream. While floating around online the other day I found a recipe for a Cherry Bourbon ice cream. It sounded delicious and I knew I had to try it. I'm not a big whiskey/scotch/bourbon girl but a splash of it in this recipe really makes the ice cream amazing.

Cherry Garcia

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups skim milk
1 cup fat free half-and-half
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 can pitted cherries in heavy syrup, drained and chopped
2 tablespoons bourbon
1/4 - 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in large saucepan. Gradually whisk in milk and half-and-half. Warm over medium heat, stirring constantly about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
2. Whisk egg yolk. Gradually whisk in about 1 cup of the milk mixture. Add yolk/milk mixture into saucepan with remaining milk mixture, whisking constantly. Whisk in vanilla.
3. Pour mixture through fine wire mesh strainer into a bowl. Throw away any chunks collected in strainer. Cool about 1 hour, stirring occassionally. Place plastic wrap directly on cream mixture and chill in refrigerator for 8-24 hours.
4. Pour mixture into ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. About halfway through add cherries and bourbon. In the last few minutes add chocolate chips. For my KitchenAid mixer attachment, I let it mix/freeze about 10 minutes, added the cherries and bourbon, let that go for another 5 minutes or so, and then added in the chocolate chips for the last 3-5 minutes.
5. Store in air-tight container in freezer. Let stand at room temperature about 5 minutes to help with scooping before serving.

original recipe featured on Southern Living: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/cherry-bourbon-ice-cream-50400000113396/

AEM