Peach Cobbler

I was recently watching something on TV (I can't remember what now),  and they were eating peach cobbler. That made me start to crave my mom's peach cobbler. So I got the recipe from her and decided to give it a shot. I thought it turned out deliciously. The recipe is really easy. The only time-consuming thing is peeling the peaches, and that doesn't really take that long. I highly suggest trying this recipe out :)

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp cinnamon
4 cups sliced and peeled peaches (about 6 medium)
1 tsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp butter or margarine
1 cup all purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk 

Directions
1. Heat oven to 400
2. Mix 1/2 cup sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon in saucepan. Stir in peaches and lemon juice. Cook stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils.
3. Boil and stir peaches for 1 minute.
4. Pour into ungreased casserole dish or pyrex dish (the square size is good). Keep fruit mixture warm in oven.
5. In a separate bowl combine flour, 1 Tbsp sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut butter/margarine into mixture until it resembles fine crumbs.
6. Stir in milk.
7. Drop dough by 6 spoonfuls onto hot peach mixture.
8. Bake until topping is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm. 

Credit to my mom for making this recipe so many times over the years. And credit to Betty Crocker for giving the recipe to her initially. 

Quick and Easy Dinner #5: Chinese Chicken Salad

In the spirit of the warm weather and many outdoor barbeques going on for Memorial Day, the last dinner in my Quick and Easy Dinner series is a Chinese Chicken Salad. It's so easy to put together and is really filling. 

Ingredients
1 bag pre-cut Romaine lettuce
1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 can Mandarin oranges
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 package Ramen noodles (yes you read that right...read the directions below to find out how you use them)
1 cooked chicken breast, cubed

Dressing
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp vinegar (Apple Cider works best)
1 Tbsp sugar

Directions

1. Pour lettuce in a large serving bowl and set aside.

2. Slice up strawberries. Open and drain can of Mandarin oranges. Add to salad.

3. Add almonds and sunflower seeds to salad. (if you don't like either of these nuts, the salad will still taste good without them, but they add to the flavor)

4. Crush up the bag of Ramen noodles to break apart the noodles (while they are still in the package). Pour half of the package into the salad. Do not add the flavor packet.

5. Cube chicken and add to the salad.

6. In a saucepan, over low heat, heat up the vinegar and sugar to dissolve the sugar in the vinegar. After it is dissolved, remove from heat and pour into a small bowl with the olive oil. Mix the 2 liquids to combine.

7. Pour dressing over salad and toss to mix in all ingredients.

Serve right away and enjoy this summery and fresh dinner :)

Thanks to my mom for showing me how to make this easy dinner.

Apple Turnovers

I had some leftover pie crust in my fridge, so I decided to make up a recipe for apple turnovers. I think they turned out quite deliciously :)...They're very easy, so give them a try!
 

Ingredients

Turnovers

1 sheet of refrigerated pie crust (like Pillsbury)

1 Tbsp softened butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 large granny smith apple, peeled and diced

Frosting

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp milk

Directions

1. Unroll pie crust and spread most of the butter on the crust (save a little to spread on the top of each turnover).

2. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle half of the mixture on top of the pie crust.  

3. Cut pie crust into 4 pieces (i.e. cut in half and in half again)

4. Peel and dice up the apple and toss into bowl with remaining sugar and cinnamon mixture. Make sure to coat all pieces with the mixture. 

5. Evenly divide apple pieces into piles on top of pie crust quarters. Fold crust over apple pieces to make a triangle shaped turnover. Like so:

6. Spread remaining butter on top of turnovers and cut two small slits on the tops of each to allow for venting while baking.

7. Bake at 425 for 10-15 minutes until crust is a light golden brown.

8. While turnovers are baking, combine all frosting ingredients in a bowl and mix together. After removing turnovers from oven and letting cool for a few minutes, drizzle frosting on top of turnovers. 

Yields: 4

Now enjoy these delicious treats!

Emily's Thoughts

These were really easy to throw together and I didn't need anything special in terms of tools. You can get fancy apple peelers out there, but I don't own one, so I used a potato peeler to peel my apple. If you don't have one of those, use a knife. It may take longer, but it will be worth it.