Blackberry Cobbler

I love making cobbler, especially in the wintertime. It's simple to make and tastes wonderful. I had never tried cobbler with blackberries, but this dish was no exception in taste. It was simple to make and only involved about 15 minutes of preparation time.

Source: Kelly's Kreative Kitchen, adapted from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:

6 cups blackberries
1/2 cup PLUS 4 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice (from 1 fresh lemon)
1/2 whole zest of lemon (from fresh lemon)
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
4 tbsp butter
1 egg
1/2 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine blackberries, 1/2 cup sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest in large bowl. Spread mixture into a 9x9 (or similar size) pyrex dish and flatten with a spoon.

In a separate bowl pour in flour, salt, baking powder, and 1 tbsp sugar. Add shortening and butter and mix well with a pastry blender until mixture is coarse. Measure 1/2 cup milk in large measuring cup, add 1 egg and mix well. Pour into flour mixture, stirring as you go. The final product should not be too dry or too sticky. If too dry, add a little more milk.

Take small clumps of dough and place on top of blackberries until covered. Lightly flatten dough with fingertips and sprinkle with remaining 3 tbsp of sugar. Bake until golden brown, approximately 30 minutes. Berry juice will be slightly thin but allowing it to sit will give it time to soak up into the cobbler topping.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Chicken and Shrimp Jambalaya

I have always been a big fan of Jambalaya but had never tried cooking it myself. I found a recipe off one of my favorite blogging sites, Stephanie Cooks. We have the exact same type of tastes and I try her recipes often. This was a another good one. It was simple to prepare, cook, very healthy, and tasted great. I will in the future try other types of jamabalya recipes that also incorporate Andouille sausage, but this was definitely a great recipe to start my jambalaya journey.

Source: Stephanie Cooks, adapted from Weight Watchers Online

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

1 medium green pepper, chopped

8 ounces uncooked boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

2 14 ounce cans of diced tomatoes with garlic, undrained

12 ounces peeled and deveined shrimp

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp hot pepper sauce

4 cups cooked brown rice

Salt & pepper

Directions:

Add the oil to a large non-stick skillet. Add the onions and peppers, heat for about 5 minutes.

Add the chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink.

Add the shrimp, cook about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and italian seasoning, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and stir. Cook the mixture for 5 minutes or until shrimp are cooked through.

Stir in the rice and hot sauce. Continue cooking until most of the liquid is absorbed, about 2 minutes.

Banana Cream Pie

My blog updates have been a little MIA lately and I apologize. My job at year end has me working 70-80 hours a week. I'll work from 7 AM to 10 PM, go straight to bed, and repeat the day all over again. I promise my posts will start being more frequent again. I did have the chance a couple days ago to try a new recipe for my favorite kind of pie. The pudding turned out great, but when I try this recipe again, I won't layer the bottom of the crust with the bananas and will just mix the bananas into the pudding before pouring it in the crust.

Source: Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

3/4 c. white sugar

1/3 c. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

2 c. milk

3 egg yolks, beaten

2 tbsp. butter

1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked

4 bananas, sliced

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, and salt. Add milk in gradually while stirring gently. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture is bubbly. Keep stirring and cook for about 2 more minutes, and then remove from the burner.

Stir a small quantity of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and immediately add egg yolk mixture to the rest of the hot mixture. Cook for 2 more minutes; remember to keep stirring. Remove the mixture from the stove and add butter and vanilla. Stir until the whole thing has a smooth consistency.

Slice bananas into the cooled baked pastry shell. Top with pudding mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Chill for an hour.

Crock Pot Pot Roast

This weekend my husband and I stayed inside and just read books, worked on some art projects, cleaned, and watched movies. It felt like 10 below all weekend so neither of us felt like leaving the house. I thought that a nice pot roast in the crock pot would be good for our Sunday dinner so we could just relax and enjoy the wonderful smells from the kitchen.

Source: Stephanie Cooks

Ingredients:

2-3LB beef roast

2 cans of round potatoes

1/2 bag of baby carrots

3-4 stalks of celery, chopped up

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 envelope of onion soup mix

Directions:

Place the roast and the carrots in the crockpot. Cover with the onion soup mix and the can of cream of mushroom soup. Set the crockpot on low for 6-8 hours. After about 2 hours of cooking, add the potatoes and celery. Stir, and allow to finish cooking.

Crock Pot Applesauce

Okay, if you're reading this and love applesauce you need to make this RIGHT NOW. This was literally heaven as soon as I tasted it. The texture turned out great and the blend of brown sugar and cinnamon was perfect. For the first blog entry of 2010, this dish will be a hard one to top!

Source: Stephanie Cooks

Ingredients:

6 Granny Smith apples

3 Red Delicious apples

3 McIntosh apples

3/4 cup of light brown sugar

1.5 tablespoons of lemon juice

Cinnamon to taste (several heavy dashes)

Directions:

Peel and slice your apples, place them in the crock pot.

Pour in the lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon. Stir to combine.

Cook on low for about 4 hours.

Using a potato masher mash up the apples. It will be very juicy and liquid. Turn off the crock pot and allow it to sit for about 30 minutes so it reabsorbs the liquid and thickens. Stir well. Serve warm or chilled.