Peachy Keen

A couple of things happened yesterday.
1. I became acutely aware of the last bit of ..."fluff"...lingering from my pregnancy that has settled itself around my midsection.
and
2. I was making Harrison baby food from the fruits & veggies I got at the store this weekend - specifically peaches.

The very helpful online resource I use for everything baby food related, Wholesome Baby Food, recommended baking peaches before pureeing them, which after a google search is how I ended up staring at this:

[source]

 

More staring. My eyes got wide and my stomach grumbled. There was probably drool involved. And the urge to lick my computer screen. That's not weird, right?

And right then and there I decided that my baby didn't need two peaches worth of baby food, he only needed one, and the other peach was most definitely getting that drool-worthy treatment and going into my stomach.

Oh right - my stomach. There is a reason I brought that up - these babies, despite looking quite sinful, are actually pretty dang healthy. I mean obviously, it's a peach. A peach with some added goodness, but still a big honking peach nonetheless. Way low in calories and according to my trusty dusty baby food resource, they're high in Vitamin C and A.

So what makes it look so decadent? A small pat of butter (1/2 a tsp...for real), a touch of brown sugar and as much cinnamon as your little heart desires. Das it. Eat it almost as soon as it comes out of the oven and it tastes just as good as peach cobbler without all the unhealthiness. Charles agrees and that man loves himself some peach cobbler. It's a good thing we didn't have any ice cream in the house though, because it probably would have been devoured alongside the peaches and then suddenly the health(ier) dessert would become not so healthy. But some fat free whipped cream would be pretty delicious....

Here are the ones that we scarfed down, hunched over our bowls like little kids while Harrison slept.

So I was happy to discover that healthier choices for treats can still be melt-in-your-mouth good. Here's the recipe, via The Kitchen is My Playground. Go make it and die happy.

Brown Sugar Baked Peaches

Per serving:
1 fresh peach
1 tsp. unsalted butter, divided
2 to 4 tsp. brown sugar, divided
Sprinkling of ground cinnamon, to taste

Halve peaches and remove pit. Place in baking dish, skin side down. Place 1/2 teaspoon butter in the hollow of each peach, top each peach half with 1 or 2 teaspoons brown sugar, and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake at 375 degrees until peaches are tender, about 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Pot Roast Monday

Pot Roast has become somewhat of a tradition around here on Mondays and I never get tired of it! We don't do a whole lot of variation (why mess with a good thing?!) but it still lets us have melt-in-your-mouth meat once a week with deliciously season potatoes and broccoli. It was always one of my favorite things my mom made growing up and ever since I invested (okay, it was $20) in a good crock pot, I've been a happy camper :) It's a good "meat and potatoes" dish (literally) - warm, comforting and best of all, easy to make. And as crazy as Mondays can be, that's a good thing.

QUICK AND EASY POT ROAST
- One rump roast or similar cut of meat, roughly 3/4 lb per person
- Beef or Chicken broth, enough to nearly cover your meat (we've used both with equally good results)
- Vegetables 
- Seasonings (I use garlic powder, pepper, onion powder and red pepper flakes)
- Flour

Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Mix the flour with seasonings of your choice (for this step I use pepper and garlic powder) and cover both sides of the meat. Place meat in the skillet to brown, two minutes per side. Remove from heat and transfer to crock pot.

Cover meat with the beef or chicken broth and add the rest of your seasonings (I reapply pepper and garlic powder and add in the flakes and onion powder. Because the broth already contains a massive amount of sodium, I never add additional salt). Cover and cook on high for 7-9 hours.

Optional: Add in vegetables during the last hour or two of cooking, depending on the type of veggie. I use red potatoes - one per person - and put them in for at least two hours. They are delicious by the end. I also throw in broccoli about 15 minutes before we sit down to eat so that it doesn't get soggy but that it has a chance to absorb the flavors.

Yum!

What about you? Do you have a staple dish that you keep coming back to?