Sweet Potato & Peach Casserolesque Bake

Two of my favorite seasonal items are fresh Georgia peaches in the summer and sweet potatoes in autumn. So what about that period of time in September and October when it's not quite either? Or any other time for that matter! Mix these two delicious seasonal favorites to make a dessert/breakfast/snack that satisfies both cravings.

What you need:
6-10 peaches, sliced. (I use Georgia peaches because they're available here, but use what is locally grown for you. I'm sure you could even use canned peaches, but I'm not sure how many cans you would need.)
1-2 cans of sweet potatoes (last time I used 1 can and wished I had used 2)
1/4 brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1/4 sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
1 T. melted butter/margarine
a pinch of cinnamon or cinnamon sugar

What to do:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line the bottom of the pan with peach slices. (I use a 9x9 Pyrex, but you could use a 13X9 or 8X8) Mix together brown sugar, egg, flour, sugar, vanilla, and butter. It should be a bit dense. This is where the "secret" ingredient comes in. That water/juice stuff in the sweet potato can, pour that into the mixture, making sure to keep the sweet potatoes themselves separate. If you are using 2 cans, I'm not sure that I would use all the liquid from both cans as it could get a bit runny. The mixture should be a thick liquid, so that it pours, but slowly.

Pour 1/3 of mixture over bottom layer of peaches. Add sweet potatoes on top of peaches. Pour 1/3 of mixture over sweet potatoes. Continue to layer the peaches and sweet potatoes (or even mix them together) until there are no more. Pour remainder of mixture over top. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake 20-30 minutes depending on your oven and how "well done" you want it to be. If the mixture looks slightly liquid still when you're done, bake another 2-3 minutes and then let it cool a bit and it will harden.

This "casserolesque" baked dish makes a great dessert, breakfast, or even side dish!

Enjoy!
-Mimi-

Simple White Rice

Rice is definitely a staple, but you need to change it up every once in awhile or it just tastes like... rice. This is a simple recipe to spice up your rice, but not too much. This is the rice recipe I serve with the Baked Mango Chicken.
The way it's written is what 2 of us eat for one meal, as rice doesn't keep well, but it can easily be doubled.

What you need:
1/2 c. white rice
1 t. olive oil (or vegetable, peanut, canola, etc. oil)
seasonings:
dill weed
basil
thyme
bay leaves
garlic powder
celery salt (could be substituted with any other salt)

What to do:
In small-medium sauce pan, combine 1 c. of water with olive oil and seasonings. I use 2 "shakes" of each, and 3 shakes of the garlic powder. (Yes, I know, this is HIGHLY scientific King Julian.)
Bring water mixture to a boil and add rice. Reduce heat and simmer COVERED for 15-20 minutes until all water is absorbed, stirring occasionally.

*For 1 c. of rice, use 2 c. of water and 3-4 shakes of each seasoning.

Enjoy!
-Mimi-

Pain Perdu a la Mimi (French Toast)

Have you ever been craving French Toast only to realize that you didn't have any syrup in the fridge or pantry? Well I have plenty of syrup, but this French toast is so good that I don't want to ruin it with syrup.
According to mommie, my "secret" is that I use margarine to cook them rather than oil.

What you need:
Bread, any type will do. I personally prefer white wheat, and this makes about 5-6 slices.
1/4 c. milk
1 egg
1/4 c. sugar
2 T. cinnamon
1 t. vanilla extract
1-2 T. butter/margarine for cooking

What to do:
Mix together milk, egg, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. I then pour the mixture into a shallow baking dish to make it easier to coat the bread, but this is not necessary. Heat a bit of the butter/margarine in a frying pan over medium heat. While the butter is heating, begin coating slices of bread in the mixture. Two minutes on the first side and a minute on the second side is good.

Once the first slice is coated, put it in the pan and let it cook, about 90 seconds to 2 minutes on the first side and another minute to 90 seconds on the second side. While one slice is cooking, put the next slice into the mixture to absorb the liquid.

Continue cooking slice by slice, adding more margarine/butter to the pan if needed.

I think these taste great with just a bit of margarine on them, but I have served them with syrup or a can of strawberries before and both were fabulous. The canned strawberries are particularly good because this French Toast is slightly sweet and the strawberries are a bit tart.

Enjoy!
-Mimi-

Baked Mango Chicken

The combination of sweet and spicy never fails to amaze me. The trick is to make sure that neither of these flavors is too overwhelming.

What you need:
1 lb. chicken breast tenders (or any other kind of chicken. This is just what I usually buy)
1 can mango slices (or fresh mango, sliced, although the juice in the can is good for the marinade)
1 T. (or more) lemon juice
a bit of the following spices:
chili powder
black pepper
garlic powder
bay leaves
thyme
basil
(optional: a bit of Sprite, Sierra Mist, or 7up)

What to do:
In a gallon size plastic bag combine lemon juice, seasonings to taste (I tend to use twice as much garlic than anything else), a bit of mango juice syrup stuff from the can, and some Sprite. The liquids don't have to be a perfect amount, just make sure there's enough to cover and moisten the chicken.
You can add the mango slices at the marinade step or wait to add them later. I personally like to marinate the chicken with the mango slices because I think it adds more flavor. Add chicken and let marinate in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and pour contents of bag into a baking dish (I use a 9x9 Pyrex). Bake 40-50 minutes, turning over chicken pieces in the marinade several times while baking (every 15 minutes or so).

I like to serve this dish on a bed of slightly seasoned rice.

Enjoy!
-Mimi-

Chunky Tomato Sauce

What's better than good pasta? Good pasta with fabulous fresh sauce of course!

What you need:
Seasonings! I use salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil, thyme, bay leaves, and garlic salt. Fresh garlic is also encouraged but I rarely have it as my garlic cruncher thing sucks.
6 Tomatos (I use Romas, but any tomatos will be fine)
1 green pepper
2-3 handfulls of baby carrots
1/4 c olive oil

What to do:
Heat olive oil in a medium-large saucepan over medium heat. Add seasonings (about 1 t of each, but more 2-3 t of garlic). Begin chopping the green pepper into small bits. Add chopped green pepper to oil. Chop tomatos and add to oil. Chop carrots (you can use regular size carrots too obviously. I just never have those) and add to oil. Mix everything in the pan. Cover and let saute 30-40 minutes.
Serve over pasta or with bread.

Variations:
If you have cloves of garlic, chop those and add them! Yum!
Also you could add onions, squash, other peppers, etc. The variations are endless.

Enjoy!
-Mimi-

Sugar Body Scrub

Ok, so I'm not sure I would *eat* this kitchen creation (maybe before adding oil), but it's definitely great for the shower.

What you need:
1 c white sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
1 t vanilla extract
olive oil (I'm honestly not sure how much I used)
optional: add a bit of coffee grounds (really fine powder) as caffeine revitalizes your skin.

What to do:
Mix the sugars and vanilla (and coffee) in a bowl (or container that you want to store it in). Slowly add olive until it reaches the proper consistency.

Use in the shower (leave it on your skin for a few minutes for even better results).

Enjoy!
-Mimi-

Focaccia Bread

Cooking is a lot like fashion. I don't mean in the sense that you can redesign your outfit by getting flour all over yourself!
In fashion, the key to a great outfit is to mix those WOW designer pieces with other pieces. Being head to toe Louis or Coco just looks tacky. A meal is the same way. You don't have to spend HOURS on each part, just add a great staple to dress up any meal. And what kind of staple? How about a homemade bread? :)

What you need:
1 t sugar (you could also use honey)
1 package of active dry yeast
1/3 c warm water
2 cups flour
2 T or so olive oil
pinch of salt

What to do:
In a small bowl dissolve the yeast & sugar in the warm water. Let it sit for about 10 minutes until it gets creamy.

Pour the flour into a large bowl. Add the yeast/sugar/water mixture and stir together. Begin adding water to the mixture. The original recipe that I modified called for you to do this tablespoon by tablespoon. I usually use a little less than 1/2 a cup. I suggest adding 1/4-1/3 cup and then doing it tablespoon by tablespoon until all the flour is absorbed.
Before kneading the dough, prepare another large bowl coated in oil (I use olive oil). Then begin kneading the dough (I do this in the bowl because I hate making a mess) for about a minute. Transfer the dough to the oil coated bowl. Cover it with a damp cloth and let it rise until it doubles in size (at least a half hour, but an hour works better).

After the dough rises, preheat your oven to 475 and grease a baking sheet (or bowl) with oil. Knead the dough briefly and flatten it down a bit. If you make some indents with your thumb on the surface of the dough, they will fill with olive oil and be extra juicy and delicious. Place on the baking sheet and brush with olive oil, sprinkle on salt, and any other seasonings that you like.

Bake the bread for 10-20 minutes depending on how crisp you like it. I find that 10 minutes is perfect, but I'm also burnt-a-phobic. Go nearer to 20 minutes if you like crispier browner breads.

Enjoy!
-Mimi-

Peanut Butter Cookies

This might just be the EASIEST recipe on Earth (not to say that it can't be messed up, but it's pretty flippin' easy!).

What you need:
1 c Creamy Peanut Butter
1 c sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
some extra sugar for the end (just a little bit in a bowl)
a cookie sheet or two (this makes 30-36 cookies depending on the size and how much dough you eat, not that I condone eating dough, while making them)

What to do:
Preheat your oven to 350.
Mix it all together. I've found that the easiest way to do it is to mix the egg, vanilla, and sugar and then slowly add the Peanut Butter. It's pretty easy to mix it all together since there's no flour in this recipe.
Start by rolling out small balls of dough. Take a fork, and dip it in sugar and then make a criss-cross shape on top of the cookie. Place it on the cookie sheet and continue.
Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. If you like cookies a bit crispier, go to 12 minutes, but don't go more than 13 or the edges will start to burn.
Let cookies cool before storing.

Enjoy!
-Mimi-