Fresh Peach Ice Cream & Fresh Peach Bread

So I've gotten two pretty large bags of fresh peaches from people who'd had too many to deal with, or WANT to deal with.

I couldn't say no! So I accepted them, and made ice cream and bread from them. I was going to do something else, but didn't have enough left over. I froze what I had, in hopes that I'll get more next week. :)

I just followed the recipe in ice cream makers recipe book for a fruit ice cream, and next time, if the peaches are just as ripe, I'll reduce the sugar by half! I know my husband LOVED the ice cream, and would love it if he had homemade all the time. :)

Then I wanted to make some bread, I love how moist zucchini, banana and apple breads are, so I figured...why not peaches?! I can't wait for it to come out of the oven, and I can EAT it! :)

Look at all that juice! They were SO ripe, I could crush them with my fingers.

So yummy, so ripe, so sticky!

The batter, all mixed and ready for the pans!

I had to taste it of course...

..and again...and again...It was good, I tell ya!

In the oven, ready to bake for Mama! 

Making Your Own Mixes!

Okay, so I've been doing a little here and there to make things cheaper for us. I thought this would be a great thing to try, as did my Mom. But a whole recipe seemed too much for us to use alone. So we split it!

We gathered all of our supplies, and went to town. I made more of a mess than she did...but what can I say?? Flour and I just do NOT get along prettily. ;) And no, I didn't take pictures. Why would I have evidence?!!!  Unfortunately, I also don't have pictures from our quick mix making, and subsequent recipe trying outting thingy...did that make sense?

But here is the link to the blog I found it at, as well as a few other mixes she posted. Which I'm sure we will be making a few of them as well!

http://heart-hands-home.blogspot.com/search/label/Mix%20recipes


Oh, we made the All Purpose Quick Mix, and then did a coffee cake and biscuits. They were YUMMY! Again, no pictures, ;) You'll just have to trust me, haha!

Cooking Up a Storm

Last Friday, I spent some time cooking, baking, prepping things for the freezer...Here are the results for that effort. I used a lot of produce from my CSA share, which is a good way to use up the fresh goodness before it starts to turn!  ***Picture Heavy Post Alert!***

P.S. Don't ask me why I chose to cook, bake et al that day, I had just decided to turn our thermostat up to reduce costs, and then I make the house hotter by using the kitchen...next time....I need to rethink this process! I was sweating by the time I was done! 

I made Easiest Bread Recipe EVER! from love food eat. It was DELICIOUS! I plan on making more, and freezing some, to see how it holds up. I also found some tips on how to store my bread, so I'm trying them out. Right now I'm putting it cut side down on a small cutting board, reserved for this purpose. 

Before it's tanning time in the oven...

Afterwards, doesn't it look yummy?

Nice, crunchy outside, soft and chewy yummy on the inside...

A full pat of butter, why not?! 

Cut side down on cutting board, to keep it fresh.

I then broke out the pots and knives to chop up some tomatoes, carrots, parsley, and onions to make a tomato base.  I ended up adding 3/4 cup of lentils to the tomato mix and blended it all up, and packaged the remaining sauce and lentils separately for the freezer. 

Just chop chop chop, toss toss toss...

Boil and simmer, boil and simmer...

Divide and conquer! 

All pureed and ready to go into the freezer! 

I didn't get a chance to photograph the blender process, because a certain rug-rat woke up and made that step a lot of fun! (i.e. I had to play ref between him and the cat!) 

There's my stash so far. :) How about you? Do you have any recipes or ideas for building quick foods for your freezer? Share them below!

P.S. I was busy over last weekend as well, cooking up rice, beans, etc. Those things take time, and since I've cooked them, and tossed them into the freezer, it's less time when it comes to eatin! 

Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Just the name made me salivate. Thus, the hurried text to my husband to pick the two ingredients we didn't have.

I got the recipe from a fellow blogger-Mom-fellow pregnant one, over at The Real Life of a Redhead, who then lead me to the blog of this woman, and her yummy, sugar coma inducing confection of sweetness that I made last night!

I'll let the pictures do the talking here and then I'll sum up my cooking abilities.

The ingredients! I forgot to put the flour in the picture tho!

Before baking goodness...

So...theres a little problem, don't you think?! Wrong sized pan = Mt. Vesuvius.

In my oven. That I'd just cleaned.  I'm still a little traumatized.

Look at the yummy burnt-ness? Doesn't it make you wanna run out and eat it?! :)

I went into a sugar coma after eating just a small piece.

I actually couldn't FINISH what I'd served myself, it was so sweet!

But, it was still yummy! Even if it's still all over the bottom of my oven...hardened due to longer cooking time...burnt on. *sigh* I guess I should go clean the oven now. And when I'm done, I'm not using it ever again! Okay so that's a broad statement. I'll put tin foil down, as a few people mentioned to me.

Hope your cooking adventures are much smoothing sailing than mine! It's not always a dull moment in my kitchen :)

Peggy

PS, Husbands verdict, It's GOOD. :)

Coffehouse Scones, my way!

Coffeehouse Scones, with a twist!

2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour (Whole wheat flour)

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar (1/8 cup sugar)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt (pinch of salt)

1/2 cup (113 grams) (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces (I used 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce, and 1/2 cup black current jam, and slowly added them to the dry ingredients)

2/3 - 3/4 cup (160 - 180 ml) buttermilk (1/3 cup low-fat milk and 1 tbsp almond extract)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Coffeehouse Scones: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place rack in middle of oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Again, I used a muffin tin, with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. This is where I slowly spooned in my applesauce and jam mix. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Add vanilla extract to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough gently and form into a round that is about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick. Use a 2 1/2 inch (6.5 cm) round biscuit cutter to cut the dough into circles. Transfer the scones to the baking sheet and brush the tops of the scones with a little milk. I used the milk/almond extract mix for this part.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 6-8 scones. I made 12 muffins from this, and they are all good sized!

*Again, my changes are in RED! Hope you love 'em!

Practically Fat-free & Sugar-free Brownies

Yes, these brownies are delicious! Yes, they are moist as well. And yes, I will say these are wonderfully better for you than the others I've made, bought and ate before!

Here is the recipe as I downloaded it (I changed many things, my changes in red)

2/3 1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/3 cup soft natural buttery spread (I used 1/3 unsweetened applesauce as substitute)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/3 cup all purpose flour (Whole Wheat flour as substitute)
1/3 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder (1/4 cup hersey's cocoa powder)
1 teaspoon baking powder



Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place the rack in the center of the oven. Spray an 8 inch (20 cm) square pan with a nonstick vegetable cooking spray. I used silicone muffin forms, and make sure you spray those as well! Or you can use cupcake papers.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the sugar and buttery (or the applesauce mix) spread until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract and egg.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Fold this flour mixture into the sugar and buttery spread mixture. (do not over mix these! it'll ruin the texture)

Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes I baked mine at 21 minutes, or until the edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan and the center of the brownies is still slightly soft. (Do not over bake or the brownies will be too dry.)

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. These brownies can be frozen for a month or two.

Makes 16 brownies.

I made 12 muffins from this recipe. I would double it next time to make the muffins fuller. I used a regular spoon and heaped the mix into the forms.

Next time I'll cut out the sugar completely and add some nuts, or berries. Doesn't that sound yummy!