Friday, July 5, 2013

Peach Bread

Peach Bread. Photo: SouthernBelle Taste.
Last night,  I wanted something moist and peachy so I had this odd idea to bake a peach cake. :)  Yesterday was also the 4th of July, and hubby grilled a variety of delicious meats.  We watched the fireworks in our neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods, and before I knew it, it was already 10:30pm.  So, the peach cake did not get baked.

Today, I worked from home, and during my lunch break, I decided to quickly whip up a baked peach sweet. Instead of cake, I went the bread route.  Peach Bread!  I have several cans of peaches, so I used one of those since this was a trial recipe.  My mom prepared several quart bags of fresh peaches that I have frozen, but I didn't want to "waste" those in the trial.

This bread turned out great.  So the trial was a success!

Here is my recipe:

Peach Bread

1 can of sliced peaches (do not drain)
1 tsp of vanilla extract
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of butter
2 large eggs
1 cup of whole wheat flour
3/4 cup of all purpose flour
3/4 tsp of baking powder
3/4 tsp of baking soda
1 1/4 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of walnuts (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10" loaf pan.
  2. In a blender, pour slice peaches w/ syrup and chop. (I only allowed the blender to chop the peaches for about 3 seconds. I didn't want the peaches to be totally liquefied, which is why I stopped it so soon.)
  3. Pour peaches in a bowl and add vanilla extract. Set aside.
  4. Beat sugar and butter together.
  5. Add eggs separately to the sugar/butter mixture.
  6. In a separate bowl, mix flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. 
  7. Add flour mixture and peach mixture interchangeably to the sugar/butter/eggs.
  8. Add walnuts.
  9. Bake in loaf pan for 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Peach Bread. Photo: SouthernBelle Taste.
Enjoy!


Thursday, July 4, 2013

Interior Taste: Flipping a Vintage Chair

After moving into a home and having our first child, my focus has been on decorating our home, specifically the family room and baby girl's room.

I am a budget shopper, so when I saw that someone was selling this chair on our online community yard sale for only $5, I told the hubs that I had to have as my first "flip" project.



I bought the chair knowing I would spray paint it and upholster the seat.  I watched this Youtube video for ideas on upholstering chairs.

First, my hubs detached the seat from the chair, and then, I spray painted it gray.  I bought the spray paint from Walmart for $3.97.


While the chair was drying, I used a staple gun to upholster my new fabric to the cushion.  I bought 3/4 yards of fabric from Joann's Fabric for $7.  The fabric was in the "outdoor fabric" section and slightly tough, which is what I desired. I used a 50% coupon for this fabric. I had enough fabric leftover to make a small pillow.

After the chair dried, I reattached the cushion to the chair, and voila!  We have another seating space in our family room.

So basically, I got this chair for $14.50  ($5 for chair + $4 for spray paint + $5.50 for fabric (since I had fabric left over))! Plus, it now has a personal touch...my taste.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Cool Vegetable Salad

Photo: Southern Belle Taste.

Sometimes, it's refreshing to just eat vegetables.  No meat...just veggies.  While I was pregnant last year, I often craved a savory bowl of cold veggies, and that craving is reappearing as I type.  I wanted to make a veggie salad that was simple, yet good. One that didn't have mayo and pasta. So this is what I came up with.  (Considering this is currently approximately 7 months later since the first time I made this, I'm pretty sure I don't have everything accounted for precisely!  Excuse me, please!)

Vegetable Salad 
2 cucumbers (cut in cubes)
1 tomato (cut in cubes)
1 can of corn
1/3 cup chopped red onion (I honestly did not measure this.  Just seems to be an acceptable amount.)

Dressing 
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar (if there appears to be too much oil, add 1-2 extra tsp of vinegar)
2 tsp of Sea Salt  (or enough to your liking)
1 tsp of pepper (or enough to your liking)
Dash of cayenne peper
Juice of a small lime

1. Cut up cucumbers, tomato, and red onion in a medium size bowl.
2. Drain water from can of corn. Add corn to vegetable bowl.
3. In another bowl, mix the dressing ingredients.
4. Pour dressing over vegetables and stir together.
5. Chill in refrigerator until time to serve.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites


Photo: Southern Belle Taste.
Who doesn't love chicken and bacon? I do suppose there are many non-pork eaters, and that is perfectly fine!  Here's a little appetizer recipe for those house parties that need comfort food in small serving sizes.


Photo: Southern Belle Taste.
This recipe is very simple! 

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites
4 chicken breasts (cut up in strips- 3 strips per breast)
6 strips of bacon (cut in half) (I used thick peppered bacon.)
2 bell peppers (6 slices per bell pepper)
Seasoning for chicken (use my favorite- Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning)
Toothpicks for securing

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut up chicken breasts, bacon, and bell pepper.
3. Season chicken strips.
4. Lay out 12 pieces of bacon. 
5. Place chicken strips on top of bacon slices.
6. Place bell pepper on the edge of chicken and roll up bacon and chicken into a roll. Secure with a toothpick. (See picture above.)
7. Line a cookie sheet with foil and place bites on sheet.
8. Place in oven for 40 minutes or until chicken and bacon are done.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

What's One Thing You Could Spend a Million Dollars On?


The other day (which was actually months ago), Hubby asked me, "So, if someone gave you a million dollars, and you could spend it on just one type of thing, what would it be?"

Naturally, since I love shopping, Hubby was expecting shoes, clothes, or jewelry to come from my mouth, but you know what I said...without any hesitation..."Food!"

Lol, I love creating, trying, and learning about new foods, and if I could only spend money on one thing, at least I know that it would be going to the nourishment of my body, you know?  I eat food for enjoyment...my healthy foods are for enjoyment and my comfort foods are for enjoyment, so I can't go wrong.  Running/exercise to maintain my weight wouldn't cost me a thing because it doesn't cost anything now!

So, after he broke down the question, and I rethought my answer, I still said food. :)