Peach Heaven

I discovered a little slice of heaven yesterday.
And if heaven were an end of summer days dessert,
it would be known as Cheescake Stuffed Peaches.
Simple. Easy. Amazingly delicious. And Gluten free. What more can you ask for?
Here's how I made mine:

Ingredients:
8 Peaches halved and pitted
3 Tbsp. Sugar with 1 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/4 C. Sugar
1 Egg Yolk
1.5 tsp. Vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 15x10 baking pan with aluminum foil; set aside.
Trim a very thin slice from the round side of each peach half so halves stand flat on the baking pan. Arrange peach halves, cut sides up, in prepared pan. Sprinkle cut sides of peaches with cinnamon-sugar; set aside.
2. in a medium mixing bowl beat cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla. Beat until combined. Spoon cream cheese mixture into peach centers.
3. Bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes or until lightly browned and softened. Serve warm!

I served these with vanilla bean ice cream. Heaven. Simply heaven.

My Guide to Life {that I rarely follow}

For those of you will not be in attendance for my little enrichment lesson tonight -- here is just a teensy-tiny snippet of what you will miss.
Me.
Being really tired because I stayed up til midnight and got up at 5am to finish working on the lesson and the handout, even though I've known for a month I was teaching, and even though my lesson is on 'how to de-stress your life'.
Funny, eh?
I apparently don't follow my own advice very well.
I've always done my best work under pressure though. A little stress can be a good thing for me. Keeps me on my toes. Keeps life interesting. Keeps my house in utter chaos while I'm focusing on alleviating that one stressor.
But, according to the cute little pamphlet I JUST finished putting together, that's not the way it has to be. Especially during this joyous, merry, uplifting, and crazy time of the year!
One of the things that I didn't love growing up, was that my mom rarely joined us in family activities during the holidays - like sledding, or swimming, or playing dodgeball – because she was too busy in the kitchen, preparing a meal for when we came home from said activities. {at the time, I wasn't thoughtful enough to actually offer to help her so she could have time to come with. darned hindsight.}
I really want to make time for those things. I want to be out there with my kids, and family, and friends. Who wants to be stuck in the kitchen when you could be dodging an orange rubber ball to the head?
It doesn't just happen though. Someone has to plan and prepare so hungry little, red cheeked, frozen fingered chitlins have something warm to eat upon walking in the wreath bedecked front door. And that someone, is me. Or you. Here's how:
Some families solve this dilemma by eating out, ordering in, or drive-thruing it through the holidays. We generally will have pizza one night the week of Christmas, but eating out every day isn't an option for us. So...preparing meals weeks ahead of time, and freezing them, or putting the crockpot to use is the way I make it all work.
So, as my little pre-Christmas gift to you, here is my favorite Pumpin Cake Roll recipe (perfect for freezing, then serving with Christmas dinner later) and my favorite Crockpot chicken dish that will have your snow covered little ones leaving scarves, mittens and clunky boots in a chilly trail on their way to the kitchen table.

Pumpkin Cake roll (thanks molly)
3 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar, divided
2/3 cup canned pumpkin (you can also use instead of pumpkin mashed bananas to make 2/3 cup and make it a banana cake roll)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
Filling:
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
2 T butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla
Additional confectioners' sugar

Line a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan with waxed paper; grease the paper and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks on high speed until thick and lemon-colored. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar and pumpkin, beating on high until sugar is
almost dissolved.
In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Fold into egg yolk mixture. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gently fold into pumpkin mixture. Spread into prepared pan.
Bake at 375 for 12-15 min. or until the cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool for 5 minutes. Turn cake onto a kitchen towel dusted with confectioners' sugar. Gently peel off waxed paper. Roll up cake in the towel jelly roll style, starting with a short side. Cool completely on a wire rack.

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Unroll cake; spread filling evenly to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up again. Cover and freeze for up to 3 months. Remove from freezer 15 min. before cutting. Dust with confectioners' sugar if desired.

Angelic Chicken
6 skinless, boneless chicken cut in strips or chunks—your choice
¼ c. butter
1 (0.7 oz.) pkg. Italian salad dressing mix
1 (10¾ oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 C. white grape juice
½ of 8 oz tub cream cheese with chives and onion
Hot cooked rigatoni pasta
Serves: 6

Place uncooked chicken in a 3-4 quart crock pot.
In saucepan, melt butter, stir dressing mix into butter.
Stir in soup, juice and cream cheese until combined.
Pour over chicken
Cover, and cook on low heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.
Shred chicken if desired.
Serve over hot cooked pasta.

Have a very Merry {and low stress} Holiday Season!

Comfort Food

There is a lengthy list of meals that I LOVE to make and eat that my sweet husband is just not a fan of.
It includes, but is not limited to:

Hawaiian Haystacks
Grilled Pork with Fruit Salsa
Chicken Pot Pie (especially if it has peas.)
Breakfast for Dinner
Any Casserole (Yes, ANY casserole, but he's particularly un-fond of the Tuna variety)
Spaghetti
Most Pasta Dishes - unless it's from Macaroni Grill
Soup (He says it's not a meal - ok as a side, but not a main dish)
Pretty much anything made in the crockpot
Steak Cosmopolitan (I've never actually made this, but he's still not a fan.)

And as of last night, there's a new one to add to the list:

Chicken with Gravy over Mashed Potatoes
I lovingly, tenderly, with all my sweet motherly soul, and a wink and a smile, put this meal on the table last night for Sunday dinner complete with homemade breadsticks, corn, and Celestial Cake for dessert.
D: What is this? Shepherd's Pie or something?
Me: No...it's chicken and gravy with mashed potatoes.
D: Hmm.
Me: You're telling me you've never had this before?
D: No, not as a main dish. What, did you just make it up? Or did you use a recipe?
Me: I used to get this as a little girl for hot lunch (which I only ever got once a month so it was a BIG deal) and I really, really liked it. I thought the kids might like it too.
D: Hmm.

Well, the kids did like it. They scarfed it down. As for Dan, well, it gets added to THE LIST.

If you're husband is not as picky as mine, and you like EASY TO MAKE comfort food, try it!

Four Small (or three large) Frozen Boneless Chicken Breasts
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Cup Strong Chicken Broth (I used two buillion cubes to 1 cup water)
1 Packet Golden Onion Soup mix

Put the chicken in the bottom of the crockpot, put other ingredients over top. Cook on low 6-8 hours. Shred the chicken. Mix it up with the soups. Serve over creamy mashed potatoes. (I use Yukon Gold potatoes). Enjoy!