Banana Split Kabobs

Happy Friday!

Are you enjoying your summer? How on earth did we get to the middle of July, people?!? This year is FLYING by.

Today's share is quick, easy, takes no heating of your oven unless you want it to, and is a YES, PLEASE! with any age group. :)

This is Banana Split Kabobs from Lemon Tree Dwelling.

(BTW, if you're relatively new here, just click on the link above to go right to whatever I'm sharing!)

Now, the only thing I changed was that I also picked up a sour cream angel food cake and made some kabobs with that rather than the brownies. I looked at purchasing fresh precut pineapple, but whole ones were on sale - and right now, they're only 00 cents at Aldi's! - so I cut my own pineapple up.

They were fun, they were pretty, they were yummy, and they were a hit. :D What more can one ask for?!?

OK, I'm outta here! :) Have a wonderful day, and a wonderful weekend, and try something new! Be blessed, friend!

Southern Peach Cobbler

Good morning! It's MONDAY! And it's the last Monday of July. Where on EARTH did this year go?!?!? Soon, it'll be time to see pumpkins and changing leaves, then get ready for the open house, then Christmas! Augh! :D

My mom hates it when I do that to her. :D How are YOU feeling? LOL!

Anyway.

 

Today's recipe is for Southern Peach Cobbler, from allrecipes.com.

 This recipe is going to go into my "Good recipe to have" file. It truly is a classic Southern cobbler - but it's MUCH better straight out of the oven. Seriously. Eat it warm. Make a half-recipe - still enough for four people!!!! - and eat it all. That's Blue Bell homemade vanilla ice cream on top. Nice compliment. But I thought this was really, REALLY sweet. I would perhaps cut the sugar down that goes on the peaches. LOVED the cinnamon-sugar sprinkled on top - is there ever too much cinnamon??? :D

I also used white peaches, because they were better than the normal ones I had to choose from. But it's also, I think, part of the sweetness issue I had. White peaches are good, but I think they're sweeter to begin with.

OK, I'm outta here! :D Have a WONDERFUL day! Be BLESSED!!!

Pineapple Coconut Bites

It's FRIDAY! :) How was your week? And welcome to MARCH!!! It's so difficult to believe this month is already here - and how much I have to get done before next weekend! AUGH! :D Seriously. SO much to do.

ANYWAY. :D This is a recipe for Pineapple Coconut Bites from Cooking.com.

It's an interesting recipe! The only refined sugar in the whole thing is a few tablespoons of confectioner's sugar in the crust. The rest is honey. I used regular whole wheat flour instead of whole wheat pastry flour - it's what I had on hand. :D I also halved the recipe, and had enough of everything to make a dozen of these little cookies.

I'm not quite sure what I think of them. I like the IDEA of them, but none of the flavors was strong enough. I think I'd like to find some pineapple extract to put in the center of these. And maybe, instead of saving the crumbs for topping, toast some coconut to use. I did like the METHOD for these - and as you can see, I didn't use mini muffin liners. I sprayed the tin with Baker's Secret - my favorite for baked items!! I think it works better - and used my Pampered Chef tamper to easily form the crumb bottom.

I think I'll put this into "Good Recipes to Have", and maybe play with it sometime when I have time. All the ingredients are things I usually have on-hand, except for the pastry flour.

Does that help you at all? LOL!

OK, I'm outta here - I am now pre-posting for this blog. I'm going to try to get you all the way through the first of April before I leave, so you'll have something all month and won't forget me. :D Keep leaving comments! I'll be on my computer, but not having time to post. :)

Have a WONDERFUL weekend! Try something new! :) BE BLESSED!

Pork Chops with Apples & Stuffing

Happy Wednesday! :) Tomorrow is Thanksgiving; I want you to know I'll be counting each of you as blessings. Thank you for coming to see what I make, and for letting me know when you do try something I post! :)

I know I said last week that I'd be posting some of my tried-n-true recipes from now until whenever :D, but I want to share the luncheon recipes while they're fresh in my mind, so I can tell you honestly what I think.

This is from BettyCrocker.com, and is for pork chops with apples and stuffing.

This is definitely a YES, PLEASE! recipe. The pork was moist, the stuffing flavorful, and overall it was a great, easy recipe.

I did everything pretty much exactly as written. We used no-added-sugar apple juice; I think, next time, I'll use half chicken stock and half apple juice - I don't think the flavor was so very intense with all apple juice, and I'd like to cut out any extra carb I can. :) I also didn't use sugared cranberries. And it was wonderful!

OK, I'm outta here! Soooo much to do, so little time. :D May your Thanksgiving find you truly thankful; may you be with family and/or friends, and find yourself warm, clothed, and fed. We are so truly blessed!

Pear Bread

Happy Wednesday! Are you having a good week?

My friend has lots of pears, and pneumonia. So I was gifted a big pail of pears. :D My sister asked that we bring some quick breads for the kids' breakfasts, so we decided to try pear bread!

This is a Taste of Home recipe. And it gets a MEH from me.

Now, don't get me wrong: as quick breads go, it's easy, makes two loaves, and has pretty common ingredients. But I have yet to find a pear bread recipe that tastes like pears. This one only tastes like pears when you bite into a piece of pear.

My dad liked it - I think its texture is more of a muffin than a bread. It will definitely do the job, and I've added even more fruit to the following batches, to give more pear to bite into. :) I'm sure it will be a hit with the lids! If I get gifted with pears again, I might try pureeing some pears to use in it, too, and see if that helps or changes the texture too much.

Let me know what you think - or if you have a pear quick bread recipe you like!

Have a wonderful day! Be BLESSED!!!!!

Peachy Keen Bars

 Good Wednesday morning! How are you doing today? Are you having a good week? Tried anything new?

Today's recipe came from Just a Pinch - I've mentioned them before; Kenn and I went to a luncheon where we got to try out some award-winning recipes. :) This one is called "Peachy Keen Bars".

I made these JUST to show you! :D Well, the core family is enjoying them.... :D

This is an extremely easy recipe; it does have four separate layers, but it's still very easy. And if you keep canned peaches in your closet, you've probably got everything in your pantry you need!

I'm on the cusp about what to recommend about this recipe. I didn't tweak anything, just FYI. It's good, but it just doesn't knock me out. So I'm giving it a YES, THANK YOU - a mixture of both! :D I might use the recipe again if I need something quickly, or to take to someone - it's that easy! :) It's not super-sweet, but it is rich; if you like coffee, this definitely would benefit from a cup. :)

OK, I'm outta here! It's a busy day! Have a wonderful day - and be sure and let me know if you try something new, something I've recommended, or find something you want me to try! :D BE BLESSED!

Pineapple Fried Rice

Good Monday Morning! :) Did you have a good weekend? I'd LOVE to hear if you tried something new this weekend! What was it? Did you like it? Is it online? Can you link me? :D

Today's recipe is half of this one from The Pioneer Woman - the pineapple fried rice. We didn't get a chance to do the pork chops - I served this with chicken.

OH. MY. GOODNESS. Was this ever good! Let's see. Did I tweak much? :D We used mixed vegetables instead of just peas; we used Minute Rice microwaveable brown and wild rices. I used a grill pan on the pineapple instead of doing it outside. I didn't use a lot of onion, because my dad doesn't like chunks of onion. :D

This is definitely a YES, PLEASE. Y'all know I try to be careful with rice; I had to REALLY watch myself with this. Pineapple sends my sugars skyrocketing, too. And this was REALLY, REALLY good. I felt a little better with the rice mixture I used, but I still didn't eat as much as I wanted. Which would have been most of it. :D We'll definitely try this again - and maybe the chops, too. :D

Let me know if you try it! I'm telling you, you'll love it. :D You could spice it a bit, too, if you wanted. But don't ignore this recipe. :D

OK, I'm outta here. Have a wonderful day! Be BLESSED!!!!

Cherry Cheesecake Cookies

It's FRIDAY! Do you have big plans? Going to try something you found online for a get-together this weekend? Fill me in! Tonight - if our car's fixed! - we're going to our friends' house for dinner; I don't know what she wants me to bring yet. That will help me decide: do I take a TNT dish (tried-n-true), or try something new? :D

ANYWAY. Today's recipe comes from Mel's Kitchen Cafe. Not gonna make you wait: it's a definite YES, PLEASE!!!!

I didn't tweak a THING on these cookies. :D I've been looking for a cookie recipe that I had when I was in college; this is the closest thing I've found to it. However! The depression in the middle of the cookie leaves the bottom too thin, in my opinion. I think the next time I make them, it will be more of a thumbprint cookie - and I'll only try to fit one or two cherries in. Not only will that help with them trying to fold in half when you pick one up, it will help with using the dough and the cherries up at the same time. :D I had extra dough after using the two cans, so I opened a can of mixed berry filling and used about a third of it, as well.

I made these for the Fourth of July, so I had red, somewhat-white, and blue on the plate. They were tender, sweet, and a perfect dessert. And they freeze well! :)

Let me know if you try these. I think you'll enjoy them!

Have a wonderful weekend! Be BLESSED!

Cheese Ball

Good Monday Morning!!!!!

Did you get to try anything new over the weekend? We did - but that's a later post. :D I also heard from my friend who I took the Meatball Bubbles to:
Thank you so much for the meal you sent us... those meatball things were sooo good! Even tho I was soo sick that first week, I wanted them every meal! thank you so much.

 I love the fact that something that's so easy is so tasty. I know I keep telling you that, but they really are wonderful. :D She's still not feeling too well - please pray for her! - so I'm taking them another meal this week, and doing the bubbles again. :D

OK, on to today's recipe from Chef In Training. It's a different kind of cheese ball than I normally make; I usually do the one that's partially cheddar, partially cream cheese. This one was pretty good, too!

I did modify it a bit. (Shocker, right?? :D) I didn't use the powdered sugar, and kept just a bit of the juice from the pineapple in the mix. But that's it! :)

It was really light-tasting. I *might* use just a bit more ham next time, just to up that flavor a bit. I ate it for breakfast a couple of times; the longer it sat, the more the individual flavors of the things added to the cream cheese flavored the whole thing. It was popular at the barbecue we had with Kenn's discipleship group - I served it and our homemade "salsa"(more like a pico de gallo) as appetizers. Good thing, too - it was LATE when we finally got everyone here and ready to eat! :D

This is a YES, PLEASE! for us. It might be another new addition to the open house this year. :) I hope you'll let me know if you try it! Have a wonderful day! Be BLESSED!

Peach Strawberry Jam

Good Friday morning! :) I hope you're doing well today! Have you had a good week? Eaten or tried anything new lately? :)

Today's recipe review is from Jen's Happy Spot. We tried this first last year, and then I couldn't find the blog I'd copied-and-pasted from. When we made more jam this week, I had to search for it so I could share with you! :D

 Obviously, if we've made it twice, it gets a YES, PLEASE! from us. :D It's a wonderful jam, full of fruit and summer flavor. It's also a beautiful jam!

Mom did the fruit prep this year; the peaches weren't quite ripe, so they didn't break down as far this time. So the fruit chunks in the jam are quite large. Never a *really* bad thing, in my opinion. :D

It makes a beautiful gift, too! The jars are just out of the processor, cooling before going on the shelf. This is one of those jams that I love to have around in the dark or winter; just one taste, and it's like being in summer again. What could be better than fresh peach and strawberries?

We used regular peaches, not white ones. We also used all-natural pectin, purchased from an Amish store in Indiana. I WILL tell you that this jam is super-sweet, but it doesn't take much to get a jam taste. :) I use maybe 1/2 teaspoon on toast or PB&J! (That's because I'm being super careful of my carbs, NOT because I don't want more! :D )

You can also use strawberries you've put into the freezer! Now's a great time for strawberries; peaches really don't hit their peak for another three weeks. Get the berries now, and freeze them in measured amounts. If you like more peach than strawberry, then make sure your fruit mix has more of them. :D

OK, I'm off! Enjoy your weekend, try to stay cool, and try something new! If you try something I've reviewed, please let me know what you thought!!!! Hey, anyone made any of the meatball bubbles? I'm taking some to a family next week. :D

Be blessed!