Peach Cobbler Muffins

I had some peaches in my Bountiful Basket that were REALLY ripe on the outside and hard near the pits.  But I still wanted to use them, and figured any cooked peaches are good.  These really tasted like peach cobbler.  I got the recipe from allrecipes, but I have totally tweaked it.  Sarah and Lizzie each had several after dance yesterday, so there's the kid endorsement factor.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups white flour
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups applesauce
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups peeled, pitted, and chopped peaches-I like even more, and the smaller the pieces the better.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease 16 muffin cups.
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the applesauce, eggs, and sugar. Stir the wet mixture into the flour mixture just until moist. Fold in the peaches. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups.
3. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Fry Bread, a.k.a. scones

So, I'm posting two recipes today: What I think of when I hear the word 'scone' (deep fried goodness), and also the more biscuit-like, English version of the word. Both recipes are yummy and easy.

I believe I got this recipe from my sister in law, Dani. What I like about this recipe is that it is fast. I love scones, but I don't usually plan ahead and get the dough going in advance. These don't require much raising time, so it works very well with my unorganized self. These are great for Navajo tacos (I use the 'taco plate' meat mixture that I sort of posted on here a while back).


Fry Bread

4 c. flour (more if needed)
2 tsp salt
1/3 c sugar
2 oil
1/2 c milk
1 1/2 c very warm water
1 Tbl yeast (I usually use regular yeast, but I imagine that quick-rising would be better)

Dissolve yeast & half the sugar in the warm water and let sit for a few minutes. Mix flour, salt, and the rest of the sugar. Add milk, oil, and yeast mixture to the flour and mix to a soft dough (until it pulls away from your bowl). Add more flour if necessary. Knead for about 5-7 minutes. Let rise in warm place for about 20-25 min. Punch down. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick and cut into lengths (I just pull off pieces of dough and stretch to the thickness I want). Fry in hot oil until golden brown.

Strawberry scones

I found this recipe at Annies Eats. I love this type of scone and these were a good and easy recipe. The strawberries are yummy in them, but I think it would be good with other things as well (blueberries, craisins, currents, etc).


Strawberry scones

1 large egg
1/4 cup plain or vanilla yogurt (I didn't have yogurt, so I used sour cream)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. orange or lemon zest
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I had to add a little extra)
1/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling (I bumped it up to about 1/3 c)
1 Tbl. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
8 tbsp. cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 heaping cup diced fresh strawberries
I also added 1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, yogurt, milk and citrus zest until blended; set aside. In the bowl of a food processor combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse briefly to blend. Add the butter pieces to the bowl with the dry ingredients and pulse several times to cut the butter into the flour, until the largest butter pieces are the size of small peas. (If you don't have a food processor, you can just as easily mix up the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and cut in the butter using a pastry blender or two knives or forks.) Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl.

Add the strawberries to the flour mixture and toss to coat. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and gently fold together with a fork or spatula until a sticky dough has formed. Knead just a few times to ensure that all the dry ingredients are incorporated and the dough is cohesive. (Only if absolutely necessary, add more milk 1 tablespoon at a time to hydrate the remaining dry ingredients.)

Transfer the dough to a well floured work surface and pat into a disc about 7-8 inches in diameter. Sprinkle lightly with additional sugar. Slice the disc into 8 wedges.

To bake the scones, preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Place the shaped scones on the prepared baking sheet and bake until lightly browned on top, about 15 minutes. Let cool a few minutes before serving.

To freeze, transfer the baking sheet with the shaped scones to the freezer and let them chill until they are firm, 30-60 minutes. Wrap the scones individually and store in a freezer-safe bag until ready to bake. Bake as originally indicated, adding a few minutes to the baking time.

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

Are any of you in need for a new lunch idea for this summer? Did you say yes? Oh good, because I have a fun and creative idea. I found this recipe in kind of a round about way on this website. All of my kids and Drew Sullivan loved these today when I made them for lunch. The mini pepperonis were a huge hit. The kids thought they were great.

Tyler: "Oh man, I love these!"
Drew: "I know, I wish my mom made these!"

Luckily for Drew I know his mom and I will make sure she gets the request.

They all liked them so much they have already requested them for tomorrow's lunch. I think when we make them tomorrow we will try some different variations for the toppings.

At the end of this recipe I have included the recipe I used for the pizza sauce. I have been trying a lot of different pizza sauce recipes lately in hopes of nailing down my absoulute favorite. I found this one on allrecipes.com. I think this may have earned one of the top spots. I will have to try it out on a pizza to be completly sure it is the one. I really liked that it had rosemary and olive oil in it.

3/4 c. flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 egg
1/2 c. mozzerella cheese
1/2 c. parmesad cheese
1/2 c. mini pepperoni

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, milk, salt, oregano and egg. Stir in cheese and pepperoni. Let stand for 10 min.

Stir the batter. Divide evenly among the mini muffin cups. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with warm pizza sauce for dipping.


Easy pizza sauce

1 (6 oz.) can of tomato paste
1 1/2 c. water (I only used 1 c. because I wanted it a little thicker for dipping)
1/4 c. olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary


Combine all ingredients in small saucepan. Simmer on med-low until ready to serve.

The directions for making a pizza with this sauce (from allrecipes.com):
Mix together the tomato paste, water and olive oil. Mix well. Add in garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, basil and rosemary. Mix well and let stand for several hours to let the flavors blend. No cooking nessesary, just spread on dough.

Good for you blueberry muffins

For the last few months the only thing Sam will eat for breakfast are muffins. As if that request was not specific enough, he will only eat the "tops" of the muffins. So, every morning I have plenty of "stumps" leftover. Until lately, Sam's muffin of choice has been these. After three solid months of making these almost daily, the other 3 kids don't want anything to do with the applesauce muffins. I realized that I probably should find another recipe to please everyone. I found this recipe on Annie's Eats. These muffins looked like a good and healthy option. The list of ingredients is packed with good for you things with minimal oil and sugar. I did make a couple of minor adjustments. The first time I made these I followed the recipe exactly and the batter was pretty runny. The next time I made them I added an other 1/4 c. flour, more blueberries and switched the brown sugar for white sugar. As a result, the muffins baked up a little taller and so the had more of a "top". Here is the recipe with my changes.

I will post a picture the next time I make them (which should be tomorrow).

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/4 c. quick oats
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 4/ tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. unsweetend applesauce
1/2 c. buttermilk (I just used 1/2 c. milk with 1 tsp. vinegar)
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1 -1 1/2 c. blueberries

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, oats, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl combine applesauce, buttermilk, egg and oil. Stir wet and dry ingredients together just until dry ingredients are incorporated. Gently fold in blueberries. Divide batter evenly between 12 muffin cups. Bake for 16-18 minutes at 375 degrees.

Bacon Wrapped Turkey Kabobs

When these babies are grilled correctly, they are amazing. They trick is to get them cooked through without burning them. Steve can do it, but I can’t. I served them undercooked to my parents, and completely charred to a few guests last summer. I think the trick is to keep the heat low, and make sure the bacon gets crispy. 

Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbls lemon juice
1 Tbls brown sugar
2 (3 pound) boneless turkey breast halves
1 (16 oz) pakage of bacon

You might also need:
Fresh Pineapple Chunks, Cherry Tomatoes, Sweet Onions, yellow squash, zucchini or any other type of veggies that you want on your kabobs. (Sometimes I save a little marinade for any veggies that might benefit from some extra flavor)

Directions:
Cut turkey into 1" cubes. In a large bag, combine first 7 ingredients and mix well. Add turkey to marinade and let sit for about an hour, or more. Even overnight if you want to.

When its time to put together your kabobs, cut bacon slices in half and wrap each piece of turkey with a 1/2 strip of bacon. Then assemble your kabobs with desired fruits and veggies.

Grill kabobs until the bacon is all nice and crispy and enjoy. Makes about 10 kabobs with 4 pieces of turkey on each kabob. This will vary depending on how many veggies you put on the kabobs.

I get turkey breast halves at Smith’s. Sometimes they have them in the butchers case or sometimes by the chicken in a Jenni-O package.
If you don’t have turkey, I’m sure chicken would also be tasty.

If you didn’t want to use chicken or turkey – how good would shrimp be? Or, how good would bacon wrapped anything be? But seriously,
I have a recipe for bacon wrapped water chestnuts that we make at Christmas time, and I think they might work as a substitute for those of you who are not to hip on poultry.

Chicken Salad

We had this at a Relief Society dinner a couple years back, and I've been asked for the recipe multiple times. So, I suppose that makes it a keeper. I will add a picture next time I make it.

2 cups cooked chicken, chunked or shredded
2 cups chopped celery
1 1/2 cups grapes, halved
1/2 cup cashews
1/3 cup Light Mayo*
3/4 cup Light Miracle Whip*
1/2 tsp. Onera
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. salt
pepper to taste (optional)

*I switch the amount of mayo and miracle whip because I prefer mayo.

Also, Onera is a locally made seasoning that you can purchase at Days behind the produce section and in front of their seafood case. It is quite tasty, and in the summer we love to saute our zucchini with it.