Peach Smoothies

These peach smoothies bring back so many great memories!  One of my bestest friends growing up, her mom used to make us these smoothies every day that we would play over there in the summertime!  They had a few peach trees in there backyard, that I swear would produce some of the best peaches I have ever had.  These peaches were so good that all she would do was blend a couple of peaches and some milk in the blender and we were set! 

Recipe:

4 large peaches

1/2 cup milk (you can use vanilla soy if you don't drink milk)

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tsp. Sugar (if your peaches are sweet enough than you won't even need to use sugar)

Peel the skin off of the peaches then slice them up and remove the pits.  Place all of the above ingredients  into a blender and blend till smooth.  

(*Note: You can also peel and slice the peaches then freeze them for a couple of hours before you make up smoothies. That makes for a more refreshing smoothie on a hot summer day)


(Recipe Source: My Good Friend Maria)

Cinnamon Rolls

I hope you all had a wonderful Fathers Day weekend!  We enjoyed Fathers Day so much because we got to hang out with The Hubs ALL DAY on Sunday! He works so hard all week that it was nice to be able to just focus all day on him!  It was so nice! 

I attempted to be a good wife and make him homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast (which until then, I had never made homemade rolls before) but with this great and easy recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything they turned out great!  There really is nothing like waking up to the whole house smelling of cinnamon goodness and eating a warm and comforting cinnamon roll! :)

Recipe:

1 cup warm milk 

2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour or regular flour (bread flour makes for a lighter cinnamon roll)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1 pkg yeast (1/4 ounce)


Filling:
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened


Icing:
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt


Microwave milk for 45-60 seconds in the microwave. Dissolve yeast in warm milk in a large bowl. Add sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour. Mix well. Knead dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour. Put in a bowl sprayed with cooking spray and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size. *Our house is so cold I have a hard time getting things to rise. If I turn on the oven and then put the rolls on top of the stove, the oven generates enough heat for them to rise.


In a small bowl, thoroughly combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Spray surface with cooking spray or sprinkle flour on it. Roll dough into a 16x21 inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Spread dough with 1/3 cup softened butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough starting with the longer side and cut into 12 rolls (or more smaller rolls). Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. *After this I would put them in the refrigerator for the next morning if you are doing them the night before.


Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on while they are still warm so that the frosting melts into the roll. 

(Recipe Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything)

Blueberry Pancakes w/a Buttermilk Syrup

Ok so we actually made these Blueberry Pancakes last weekend and I am thinking I may just make these again this weekend!  They are so good!  I mean, eat the whole stack, and maybe a few more pancakes, good!  When I came across this Buttermilk Pancake recipe, I was excited to try it because it specifically stated that this was not one of those pancakes that is just going to soak up all of the syrup and become soggy immediately, and I can 100% agree with that!

These pancakes were super fluffy and tasted like you had gotten them in a really good diner somewhere. I added Blueberries to the batter to make them blueberry pancakes and they were a huge hit in our home!  And this syrup, well, I like to call it Crack Syrup! It is so addicting and delicious that it will have you coming back for more! 

Recipe:

For the Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes:
2 cups Flour
5 Tbsp. Sugar
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups Buttermilk
3 Tbsp. unsalted Butter (melted)
1 egg
1 cup Blueberries (I used Fresh blueberries, but you can use frozen ones also)
Oil for cooking the pancakes

Whisk together the dry ingredients.  Then in a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, butter, and egg. Pour the wet ingredients into the center of the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is slightly lumpy.  Then fold in the 1 cup of blueberries

Heat a griddle or large saute pan to medium heat or *300 on a griddle, and lightly oil the surface between each pancake.  Cook until both sides are lightly browned.   (You can turn your oven to *200 and place the already made pancakes in there to keep them warm till you are ready to serve)

For the Buttermilk Syrup "aka Crack Syrup":
1/2 cups unsalted Butter (1 stick)
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Buttermilk
1 Tbsp. White Karo Syrup
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Vanilla

Bring the butter, buttermilk, sugar, and karo syrup to a boil over medium heat. Boil for about 2-3 minutes stirring frequently. Then add in the baking soda and vanilla. (NOTE: the mixture will fizz up to 2 times it's size so make sure you use a large enough bowl) Remove immediately from heat and set aside for a few minutes stirring occasionally.  Syrup will thicken more as it sits.  Store remaining syrup in the refridgerater for up to a week and a half.

Recipe Source: Both from Tasty Kitchen, Syrup & Pancake recipe found here)

Banana Bread with a Streusel Topping

Growing up I was never a fan of banana bread.  I thought those little brown speckles that you see throughout the bread were bugs, Gross I know! Now your thinking why on earth would I want to make Banana Bread??!!?  But let me just tell you, I grew up, my taste buds and senses have majorly changed, I realized those speckles were only the center of the banana, and I have come to realize that I LOVE banana bread!  I took this recipe and added a lovely streusel topping and I love it even more.  This would be a lovely recipe to whip up this weekend for a mothers day breakfast/ brunch. 

Recipe:

For the Bread:

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup Butter (softened)

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups Ripe Banana (mashed) (about 3 medium bananas)

1/2 cup Buttermilk

1 tsp Vanilla 

2 1/2 cups Flour

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp Salt

For the Streusel Topping:

1/2 cup Brown sugar

1/2 cup Flour

1/4 cup Granulated Sugar

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 cup Walnuts chopped (optional)

5 Tbsp. Butter (chilled) (diced)

Preheat the oven to *350.  Lightly grease 2 loaf pans.  Cream together the butter and sugar.  Add in the eggs one at a time until well combined. Next, add in the mashed bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla.  Beat till smooth.  Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Slowly add it into the creamed mixture just until moistened.  Pour into the prepared loaf pans and bake for 40 minutes.

For the streusel topping, combine all the ingredients except for the butter. Next using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until the mixture forms into a crumbly substance. Pour over the baked banana bread and place back into the oven and bake for 20 more minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

This banana bread will store for up to 4 days at room temperature or up to 10 days in the refridgerator.

(Recipe Source: Slightly adapted from Sisters Cafe)

Ham & Cheese Sandwich-Quiche Style

Leftover Ham-A-Rama Recipe #1!

So as you all know I made a HUGE ham on Sunday and am trying to use up every last bit of it.  I love me some good old ham and cheese sandwiches but I wanted to be a bit more creative so I turned my typical ham and cheese sandwich into a ham and cheese quiche that the whole family can enjoy. This recipe is perfect for Breakfast or Dinner. I made mine for dinner last night and also had me a slice for breakfast today! How nice is that! 2 meals out of one dish. Gotta love that! 

Recipe:

1 unbaked Pie Crust (I homemade mine click here for recipe)

1 1/2 cup Ham (chopped into small bite size pieces)

1/4 cup Onion (minced)

2 cups Cheddar Cheese (shredded)

5 Eggs 

2 cups of Heavy Cream (or whole milk)

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/4 tsp. Sugar

Preheat the oven to *425.  Sprinkle the ham, onion, and shredded cheese into the bottom of the pie crust.  In a large bowl,  mix together the eggs, cream, salt, and sugar.  Pour the egg mixture over the ham in the pie crust.  Place the quiche in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Next, turn the temperature on the oven to *300. Place a pie shield over the edges of the crust to avoid burning, and return the quiche back into the oven and bake for another 30-35 minutes.  The quiche is done when a knife, stuck into the center comes out clean. 

Blueberry Crumb Muffins

I was having a major craving for some Blueberry Muffins the other day. I have to be honest when I say, that unless they have been store bought or made from a package I had never made blueberry muffins from scratch before, until now. And I will NEVER go back! These muffins are so moist, and yummy I could eat the whole batch! Which i pretty much did! I should probably stop baking if I want to even step foot into a swim-suit this year! Lets, be honest though, that's probably not gonna happen!  Anyways, on to the recipe!

Recipe:
2 cups Frozen Blueberries (you can use fresh if you have them on hand)
1 1/8 cup & 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 large eggs
4 Tbsp. Butter (melted and slightly cooled)
1/4 cup Veg. Oil
1 cup Buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
2 1/2 cups Flour
2 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt

Crumb Topping:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
6 Tbsp. chilled Butter
pinch of salt

Take 1 cup frozen blueberries and rinse in cold water then lay on paper towels to dry. Take the remaining 1 cup frozen berries and 1 Tbsp. sugar and mash over low-med. heat in a small saucepan, stirring for about 5-6 minutes.  Set aside and let cool for 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs. Whisk in melted butter and oil. Then whisk in buttermilk and vanilla.
Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and berries and fold into the wet ingredients. Don't over mix or else the muffins will come out a little dry.
Pour into lined muffin tins and top with 1 Tbsp. Crumb Topping. (For the topping mix all ing. together and cut in the chilled butter with either a fork or a pastry blender)  Bake @ *375 for 16-18 minutes just till the tops of the muffins look firm.  Enjoy!

(Recipe adapted from Melanie @ Mels Kitchen Cafe)

Pixies

These breakfast sandwiches are a favorite in our family! My grandmother (who passed away over a year ago, and who we miss greatly) would make these sandwiches for us. Next, to her Mickey Mouse pancakes (which were my all time favorite!) these were always our next choice. Grams would always make these sandwiches with 2 eggs, 2 sausage patties, some ham, and 2 pieces of cheese (wow that's alot in one sandwich some might say, but grams was from the south, it should make more sense now) However, we have made a few changes over time but the name will always stay the same in memory of Grams! Happy Friday everyone! Make sure to make these sandwiches over the weekend I'm sure your families will love them! This recipe will make 2 sandwiches.

Recipe:
2 English Muffins (Toasted)
2 eggs
4 slices of cheddar cheese (We just use the velveeta slices, they melt really well)
4 strips of bacon
Salt and Pepper

Heat griddle to medium heat.  Start cooking the bacon. When the bacon is about halfway done, start cooking your eggs. Salt and pepper the egg while it is cooking. Throw your english muffins in the toaster. Remove bacon from griddle and lay on a paper towel to absorb any excess oils. When english muffins are toasted, immediately place cheese down, one on top and one on bottom so the cheese can melt. Lastly place the cooked egg on bottom, and layer 2 slices of bacon on top of that and top off with remaining bun. Beware, this little sandwich can become addicting and is not low in calories. ENJOY!

Crepes

(Filled with strawberry yogurt and topped with powdered sugar and bananas)

Oh, how I love crepes. (or as my husbands family calls them, "Thinnies") They are such a versatile food. You can eat them for breakfast as we usually do, filled with our favorite yogurt and topped off with a little powdered sugar or brushed with a little butter and topped with syrup. Or you can have crepes filled with a delicious chicken and creme sauce, nutella and bananas, cream cheese filling and fresh fruit, or so many other ways! Really the skies are the limit. Ok that was cheesy but you get my point.

Recipe:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. butter (melted)
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter. Mix well so the butter is incorporated well (cause once you add the milk in you don't want large clumps). Whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla then slowly pour into the dry ingredients beating till no clumps. Heat a skillet to low-medium heat.  Lightly grease skillet between each crepe being made. Pour a small amount into skillet and move around till pan is completely covered. (Best way of doing this is immediately after pouring batter into skillet lift skillet off burner and move the pan from side to side allowing the batter to spread out completely) Cook about 15-30 then flip and cook for another 15-30 seconds on the other side. Finally, spread your favorite filling onto one side of crepe then roll it up and enjoy!