what have you done with peaches?

Peach season has come and is almost gone.  I. Love. Peaches.  This is what I did with mine.

 

A local grocery store had a 22# box for 11.99 one Friday.  I went and bought a box, a case of jars, sugar and pectin.
1. I brought it all home and made 3 batches of jam.

Jam is super easy, I promise.  I follow the recipe exactly that's inside the pectin box.  I boil my lids and jars in cake/bread pans on the stove while my jam is boiling.  And instead of water bathing my jam, I turn my jars over after I tighten the lids.  After a few minutes, I flip them back over and listen to them pop which signified they're sealed :)


2. Then I canned one batch of peaches.

This was my first year canning peaches and I was nervous.  But guess what?  I totally thought it was easier than making jam.  I did have to borrow my friends canner.  How I canned my peaches:
I filled the canner with enough water so when I put my pint size jars in, the water would be about an inch over the jars.  Then while I waited for that to boil, I put my jars and lids in the bread/cake pans to boil as well.  Next, I washed and began peeling the skin off of the peaches.  If they're not ripe, blanch them for just a minute.  A pillow case works great!  Dip the whole case into the canner for about 60 seconds, then pull it out and the skin comes right off the peach.  I put the peaches facing down into the jar.  I made a syrup mixture: 1.5 c sugar and 5 cups of water in a saucepan and when the sugar dissolved I began pouring into the jars over the peaches.  Topped off the jars with extra warm water so it touched the bottom of the rim.  Tightened the lids and placed them into the boiling water in the canner.  I boiled for 30 minutes.  Pulled them out and set them out to dry and seal.  They all popped :)

3. I made this heavenly peach cream pie

 

I got the recipe from this blog.

 

 

4. We ate a bunch,
5. I sliced up two sandwich bags full of peaches and put them into the freezer for smoothies.

The End.

how we grill our chicken

(I should really call this post - How we grill our chicken when I'm lazy and have no ideas and it's 4:30)

I have hardly cooked this summer.  I'm sure you've all felt the same way. 

If I can't grill it or chop it up into some kind of salad, I won't make it.

So here is the NUMBER one thing we've been eating all summer.

 

Barbeque chicken with a little marinade James(the hubby) came up with himself.

 

What's even better, is this recipe has been tested and loved on steak and pork chops.  So mix it up and marinade whatever meat you love most.

It's the easiest recipe.  And when you read it, you'll laugh.  But I promise, it's a whole new flavor and it's delicious.

 

Marinade:

1/2 barbeque sauce

1/2 Italian Dressing

 

 

That's it.  Pour it into a bowl with your defrosted meat.  Let marinade for a few hours or just grill it.  And while you're grilling it, brush more sauce onto meat.  Enjoy!

*And a shout out to Crystal.  Thank for motivating me once again to have a go at my food blog :)

 



Follower Friday: Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

Remember how I love comfort food?  Well this dish that Candice makes is right down my alley of comfort food :) 

Candice is my cousin.  She's a year and a half younger than me but we might as well be twins.  We think a lot alike and everyone at college got us confused.  We loved that.  We got married within a few months of each other and our life goal would be to live next door to each other.  But I doubt I'm ever moving to Lund. :)  She's an amazing woman and mother.  And I wish we had more than Facetime.  Enjoy her recipe!


Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

 

 

 

What you need:

 

 

16 oz. Penne Rigate Noodles

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 15 oz. bottles of Alfredo Sauce

1/2 c. apple juice

2/3 c. milk

4 tsp. olive oil

2 tsp. butter

1 1/3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup crumbled cooked bacon

3 chopped green onions (optional)

 

 

Heat to sizzling:
olive oil and butter 

Add:
4 boneless chick breasts, sliced and patted dry, sauté in oil & butter until tender season lightly with salt & pepper
 

 

Heat in saucepan:

Alfredo sauce
apple juice
milk

 

Add pasta and cooked chicken to sauce.  Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan. 
 

Top with:
mozzarella cheese
crumbled cooked bacon
green onions
 

 

 

Bake at 450 until heated through.  (Bake 10-15 minutes if sauce and chicken were hot before baking.)

beef stroganoff

Still needing emails for Follower Fridays - even if you've DONE it, you can do it again :) Add your email to the comments.

 Stroganoff is a food that I have one of those love/hate relationships with.  I know it's bad for me.  I know it is.  But it's also one of my comfort foods.  A big pile of warm, creamy, TASTY food.  So I make it sometimes.  I know I shouldn't.  But I do.  And I'm sure many of you are thinking, "Tiff, those ingredients are bad for you."  I know they are.  But like I said.  It's a love/hate relationship.

And this recipe, I'm telling you, is FREAKING delicious.  So don't try it unless you want to have a guilty conscience each time you make it ;)

Oh wait...and one more reason why it's on my love list - it's one more recipe that uses leftover Sunday Roast.

Beef Stroganoff
Beef
(I know that's really vague but you can use what you like - ground beef, leftover pot roast, stew meat, steak, whatever, you choose!)
1 cup of sour cream
1 block of cream cheese
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 packet of onion soup mix
2 cups of water
salt and pepper to taste
(I told you it was bad)
Mix it all together in a crock pot.  Simmer on low for 6-8 hours.

My kids LOVE it!  And they are picky eaters.  So that's ONE MORE reason why I love it.

(terrible pictures - I'm no photographer, but I am a baker and an eater...haha, I'm so funny)

ginger chicken kabobs

(I am in need of followers who would like to do a guest post for Follower Friday.  If you're interested, please comment with your email so I can get you onto the schedule.)

 

I found this recipe inside a magazine years ago.  Pretty vague, huh?

 

But it's foolproof and delicious.  And perfect for end of summer barbeques!

 

Ginger Chicken Kabobs:

1/2 c. honey

2 T. minced garlic

2 T. grated, peeled ginger root

4 T. soy sauce

2 chicken breast (cut into chunks)

(When you buy the ginger root, I just break a chunk off of the large pieces they have in produce!  They're huge and you only need a little.)

 

Cut defrosted chicken into small pieces.  Put them in a shallow pan.  Combine honey, garlic, ginger root, and soy sauce in a saucepan.  Stir over low heat until honey melts. 

 

 

Pour honey mixture over it, mix well and refrigerate overnight. (I never do this part - I'm lucky if it marinates for 30 minutes.)  .

 

 

Place chicken on skewers and cook over the grill turning every few minutes

Now this is where I changed the recipe.  I've never had skewers.  The first time I made this I bought wooden skewers.  Which works just fine, just be sure to soak them in water first.  But I have since lost the entire package of skewers and never bought any again.

 

SO...I do this:

 

Put a large piece of aluminum foil onto the grill.  Spray with cooking spray.  Pour the contents of the pan onto the aluminum foil.  And then grill the chicken, stirring/flipping the chicken every few minutes.

 

 

I've put this with rice or salad.  Last week we had it with fresh salsa and peaches.

 

 

ENJOY!