Dessert: Blueberry Buckle

With the cooler weather here and fresh berries in my freezer, some baking was in order! Someone had recommended this recipe to me earlier this summer and I decided...why not!?!?! So I threw this bad boy together and let me just tell you. This buckle is like a coffee cake but SUPER moist! I am NOT a fan of cake and I had seconds!!! It went perfect with my cup of coffee and my favorite Cinnamon Vanilla Creme creamer from Coffee mate! YUM! Here is the recipe and also below you will find a "how to" on freezing those yummy blueberries! I am defiantly making this again! :)


Blueberry Buckle
From: Tasteofhome.com

9-12 Servings
Prep: 15 min.
Bake: 1 hour


Ingredients:
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar, divided
1 egg, beaten
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed


Directions:
In a bowl, cream shortening and 1/2 cup sugar. Add egg and mix well. Combine 2 cups flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Spread into a greased 9-in. square baking pan. Toss blueberries with lemon juice; sprinkle over batter. In a small bowl, combine cinnamon and remaining sugar and flour; cut in butter until mixture is the size of peas. Sprinkle over berries. Bake at 350° for 60-65 minutes. Yield: 9-12 servings.


Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 piece) equals 293 calories, 13 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 29 mg cholesterol, 231 mg sodium, 41 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 4 g protein.

Freezing Blueberries!

My sweet friend Marta stopped by at the end of the summer from picking fresh blueberries from a local farm. She was sweet enough to bring me 2 gallon size containers FULL of these blue beauties! I decided to eat some & use some right away!!! But then I still had a ton that I needed to freeze. So I rinsed all of the blueberries and let them air dry. Then I put wax paper on some baking sheets and spread the berries out in a single layer and put them in the freezer until they were frozen through.

Then I put them all into a ziplock freezer bag and placed them back into the freezer! Ta-DA! The wonderful thing about freezing them on the cookie sheet first is that they don't stick together! So when you are ready to make that YUMMY Blueberry Buckle recipe, you can go into your freezer and only scoop out the amount you need for your recipe! Easy Peasy!!! :)

MONDAY WITH MARTA: Chicken Curry & Rice

It's that time again!!! Marta is sharing another one of her favorites!!! Take it away girl!

We LOVE curry at our house, a couple years ago I was came across this recipe in the Real Simple magazine and gave it a try with a few adaptations. We've loved it ever since, it's a staple at our house. Our 2 1/2 year-old daughter loves it too. We especially make it when the zucchini in our garden is ready. If you like curry, you won't be disappointed with this recipe! Enjoy!! -Marta


Chicken Curry
Prep. Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4-6


Ingredients:

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons curry powder

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion thinly sliced

2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced

1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 ½ cups heavy cream

1/2-1 whole jalapeno finely chopped, deskinned and deseeded (OPTIONAL for a kick)

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Cooked white rice

½ cup fresh basil leaves, torn

¼ cup almonds, roughly chopped


Instructions:

Rinse the chicken and pat it dry with paper towels. Cut it into 1-inch pieces and place in a bowl. Sprinkle it with the curry and cinnamon, toss, and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and zucchini and cook until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Heat the remaining oil in the skillet. Add the chicken and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Add the broth, cream, salt, and pepper. (To add some kick, add 1/2-1 whole jalapeno, deskinned and deseeded at this point.) Bring to a gentle simmer. Return the onion and zucchini to the skillet and heat until the chicken is cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Divide the rice among individual bowls, top with the curry, and sprinkle with the basil and almonds. Be sure to have some french bread on hand for dipping!


Additional Tip: You can vary ingredients depending on what you have on hand. For example, you could replace the heavy cream for coconut milk and the zucchini for eggplant.

Main dish: Ham & Broccoli Frittata with Simple Crispy Oven Baked Potatoes

Some nights around here we like to have breakfast for dinner! Easy ingredients and not as labor intensive! Now, I know you have to turn the potatoes every 10-15 minutes...but trust me, it is WORTH the effort! I LOVE these potatoes better than frying them any day! This meal is so budget conscious & it’s an excellent way to use any leftover ham or veggies! Feel free to skip the meat and make it a full vegetarian dish. You can always add any of your other favorite veggies like mushrooms, tomatoes etc… Yum! Now all we are missing is a good cup of Joe! :)

Ham & Broccoli Frittata

1 cup broccoli florets, diced
½ cup green onions, diced
2 cloves garlic
1-2 tablespoon butter
1 cup cooked ham (or sliced turkey works wonderfully as well)
8 eggs
1/4 cup half & half or milk (you could use water here if you have a milk allergy)
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375° and spray/grease a 1-1/2 quart baking dish. (I used a pie plate and it worked perfectly!)
Clean and dice the broccoli florets and onions. Finely chop the garlic cloves. Cube the ham, & grate the cheese.
Add the butter to a skillet over medium heat and sauté the broccoli, onions and garlic until tender. Add the ham and heat through. Remove the skillet from the heat and cover to keep warm.
In a large bowl beat together the eggs, half & half, and mustard until well blended. Stir in the cheese and broccoli mixture from the skillet.
Pour into your prepared dish and bake for 25 – 35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean and the center does not jiggle. YUM!
Yield: 4 – 6 servings.






Simple Crispy Oven Baked Potatoes

Ingredients:
5 medium potatoes, scrubbed, dried & cubed into 1 inch cubes
4 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
Lawry’s Season salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Drizzle EVOO all over baking sheet.
Place your cubed potatoes on baking sheet and toss with EVOO.
Salt & pepper to taste, then mix again to be sure all the cubes are seasoned.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, turning every 10-15 minutes until cooked through!

Dessert: Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins

I have been CRAVING berry muffins with this pregnancy and a sweet friend stopped by with a TON of hand pick blueberries for our family! That was seriously the BEST gift ever!!! I found this delicious recipe on www.allrecipes.com and just HAD to try it! It was seriously AMAZING!!! The muffins were so moist and the blueberries are so warm and juicy. Seriously, the streusel topping just melts in your mouth! OH YUM!!!! Btw, these freeze really well too! Happy baking! :)



Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins
Original Recipe Yield 1 dozen
From: www.allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, diced

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.

Combine 2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. In a small bowl, sprinkle 1 to 2 tablespoons flour over blueberries, and set aside. (This simple trick will keep you from having "purple" batter)

In a large bowl, beat 1/2 cup butter with 3/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, and stir in vanilla and lemon zest. Fold in dry ingredients alternately with milk. Fold in blueberries. Remember, fold gently, don't stir. Spoon batter into prepared cups.

Combine 2 tablespoons flour, 5 tablespoons sugar ,and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in 2 tablespoons butter with fork or pastry blender until mixture resembles course crumbs. Sprinkle over batter in muffin cups.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack. These muffins freeze really well, and re-heat in the microwave successfully. Hope you enjoy!!

MONDAY WITH MARTA!!!

Dessert: Sour Cherry Crumb Cake

Once again my sweet friend Marta has another delicious recipe to share! She made this yummy sour cherry crumb cake for our family and I LOVED the sweet and tangy that it provided. It was PERFECT after dinner with a good cup of coffee and I was even able to enjoy it again for breakfast!!! I hope you all take the time to make this delicious treat. Here is what Marta had to say...

Our family loves to go cherry picking every year, it's now a tradition. This was the first year that our daughter joined us where she could also help pick. I am always on the search around this time in summer for cherry recipes. This sour cherry crumb cake seemed like the perfect dessert to use up some of the 18 pounds of cherries that we picked. Enjoy! -Marta

Sour Cherry Crumb Cake

From Martha Stewart

Frozen dark sweet cherries may be substituted for fresh sour cherries.

Let frozen cherries thaw before using.

Ingredients:

Makes 16 squares

FOR THE TOPPING
2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for dish
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dish
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

FOR THE CAKES
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 cups (1 pound) fresh sour cherries, pitted, or frozen dark sweet cherries

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking dish, and dust with flour, tapping out excess.
2.Make the topping: Stir together butter, flour, sugars, salt, and cinnamon.
3.Make the cakes: Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. With a mixer, cream butter and granulated sugar in another bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Working in alternating batches, add flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat until just combined. Pour into prepared dish, and smooth with an offset spatula. Dot top with cherries, and sprinkle with crumb topping.
4.Bake until golden and a tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool before cutting.