Dinner (& Wine Mixer): Grilled Pineaches (& Chardonnay)

I have done it! Not only do I have a recipe that works with dinner, but I have a recipe that makes a great wine mixer, too. (Wine is amazing, but Wine Mixers are just so fun to create!)

I call this grilled pineaches [pine-E-chez], because I had a bag of peaches and a bag of pineapples. . (And because I still take pleasure in combining two words to make one rediculous word.) 

Disclaimer: I call anything I put in a skillet, grilled. No grill was used. 

Directions: 

I let my frozen fruit thaw at room temperature for two hours.  

By dinner time, they were pretty soft.  I threw them in a skillet with a 1/4 cup of juice ( I used Passion Fruit Lemonade, because that's what we had on-hand), 2 tablespoons of  brown sugar,  3 tablespoons of  ground cinnamon, and 2 pinches of ground ginger,

I cooked them on medium for 30-45 minutes, stirring regularly.  And sprinkled nutmeg on top when they were done. That's it. An easy, quick side,

These sweet and savory grilled fruits added some balance to our somewhat spicy fried chicken and potato wedges.  And they weren't too sweet or too bitter, so the husband didn't mind eating them with dinner, and the boys ate them without question or complaint.  

After dinner, the grilled pineaches were absolutely perfect when I added 1/2 cup of them into 1 cup of Chardonnay, and blended it.  It helped cut the bitter after-taste of the Chardonnay.

And although I did not try it, I think these would be wonderful with vanilla ice cream. I will buy some ice-cream tomorrow, and top it with the leftovers and let ya'll know! 

Because of their flexibility and catchy name, Grilled Pineaches just may be my new favorite recipe. 

Kitchen Creations: Mean Green Beans

Isn't my name catchy? It rhymes.  And I am pretty pleased with it. 

Anyhow, green beans are one of my favorite vegetables, and one of the few vegetables I can get Jeffrey to eat.  So we eat them pretty often.  And I wanted to share my no-fail (unhealthy) green bean recipe, since I get a good bit of compliments on them.  

Ya'll, I try to eat healthy and feed my family healthy food.  But I cook often with butter and salt, and that's like the very definition of unhealthy.  A salted green bean is still a green bean, so the good and bad cancel each other, right? (Well, that's what I tell myself.) 

Here's how I make my mean green beans! 

Ingredients: 

Everything is measured to-taste.  

1. Canned green beans (If you use fresh or frozen, you have to up the cooking time.)

2. Butter (I use 1/2 stick to a whole stick.) 

3. Garlic powder 

4. Onion powder 

5. Pepper 

6. Salt 

7. Hot Sauce 

8. Chicken Boilloin Cubes (I use one cube per can) 

9. A few tablespoons of vinegar 

10. Seasoning Salt 

Directions: 

1. Rinse and drain the green beans.

2. Throw all the ingredients into a skillet.  

3. Cook on medium high heat for 10 to 15 minutes, the green beans will be a darker shade of green when they are done cooking,  

Kitchen Creations: Buffalo & BBQ Ribs

For a while now, I've been baking our chicken tenders this way, but today we tried it out on ribs. We were not disappointed.

 My boys don't mind a little spice when I can get them to eat dinner, and Jeffrey likes a little too much spice. (Seriously, the man puts Tabasco in his grits.) So I thought this would be fun and harmless to try today.

Ingredients:
Seasonings of choice-- used salt, pepper, oregano, and seasoning salt.
BBQ Sauce-- I used Sweet Baby Rays Sweet 'N' Spicy
Buffalo Sauce-- I used Louisiana Supreme Chicken Wing Sauce, it's one dollar at Dollar Tree.
Ribs

I did not do any measuring. Everything was "to taste".
First, I seasoned the ribs and boiled them for about 20 minutes. Around 10 minutes in, I preheated the oven to 400F.
Then I placed them in a pan. (Make sure to line it with foil; I forgot that step at first as you can see). Put a good amount of buffalo sauce on each one, and even more barbecue on each one (You can also mix the buffalo and barbecue together, but I enjoy the delightful surprise of  "buffalo sauce spots".) I then put the ribs in the oven.
After 30 minutes in the oven, I flipped them, completely covered them with more buffalo & barbecue sauce, then baked them another 30-40 minutes .
 You can cook them longer to make them more tender, but I was hungry so they only baked 60-70 minutes. They were done & they were fantastic! My husband had sauce all over his hands, chin, and neck- that's how good they were.  I'm just sorry I didn't have more than one rack of ribs!