Peach Pineapple Cobbler

You can thank a late night craving for this one, haha. I wanted a peach cobbler with a little tang and thought of pineapples. I easily had all the ingredients on hand in my cupboard/fridge. The bonus is it taste great AND makes your house smell like peaches. Have I mentioned how I love the Blogger iPad app? It lets me do all my editing and pictures right in the app. I wish I could adjust the hue of the pictures here since some appear kinda bluish, but you get he idea. To was definitely delicious. The edges were buttery and slightly sweet. I preferred it sprinkled with brown sugar and cinnamon for that caramel effect. You can easily adapt this with different fruits. You need about 4-6cu of fruit when it goes into the oven. The peaches cooked down some during baking. I'm already thinking of maybe a mango pineapple and substitute coconut milk for the plain milk in the baking mix!!

29oz can peaches packed in juice (1cu juice reserved)
20oz can pineapple chunks packed in juice, drained
8 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1cu sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
Ground cinnamon and brown sugar, optional

1. In a saucepan heat the peaches with juice and drained pineapple to boiling. Let cook uncovered for about 10 minutes until syrupy.

2. Meanwhile, place the butter into a 9x13 baking pan and place into the oven. Preheat the oven on 350*.

3. Mix the self rising flour, sugar, and milk. Carefully pour over butter in dish, but DO NOT stir. Spoon fruit over and then slowly drizzle remaining drizzle. Sprinkle with cinnamon and a little brown sugar if desired.

4. Place into oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the batter comes out clean.

5. Serve topped with your favorite creamy topper and enjoy! Can be served warm or cold.

Smoothie Tips

We all know that you shouldn't skip breakfast, but if you're like me you just can't eat really early in the morning. Blending up a smoothie is a great way to get something in your belly that's filling yet light. I'm always looking for inspiration on different combinations and one thing that's pretty consistent across the board in recipes is using ice in a smoothie. Now why would you want to use ice when it will just dilute your smoothie?!?

 I've NEVER made a smoothie with ice yet mine always come out delicious, thick, and ice cold. My secret is to use frozen fruit. Peaches, mangoes, and a wide assortment of berries can be found in your frozen food section for much cheaper than buying them fresh usually. I don't buy any of the packages that are marketed as smoothie blends or have added ingredients like yogurt. Just the plain ol' bags of no sugar added fruit. If you shop at Costco and have the freezer space their bags of frozen fruit are even cheaper when you break it down to the per ounce price. Frozen fruit and time to blend well are all that you need.

And if you want to add even more nutrients without totally altering the flavor put in a handful of spinach leaves. I know it sounds weird, but you don't even notice it! I've added the spinach in with every combination imaginable. Canned pineapple and frozen mango, strawberries and peaches, bananas and blueberries, peanut butter and Nutella with banana are a few of my favorites. Lastly, to get the perfect one person smoothie you can put all the ingredients in the smoothie into the cup you are going to drink it in. I put in the frozen fruits first, then unfrozen (like banana and spinach) items, and finally the milk or other liquid. If you are going to add in a protein powder wait until you place everything into the blender and add it in there. When you blend it up it's just enough of a portion to fit into the cup you used to measure everything out. Works everytime for me!

What are your favorite smoothie combinations?