Tailgate Tuesday: Cornbread Two Ways

Our friends over at The SideLion Report recently recruited us for a series of posts dedicated to tailgating and football. Check back every Tuesday for a new recipe relating to football or tailgating. This week we will start the series off with two recipes for cornbread, a sweet family favorite from Catherine and a savory and slightly spicy recipe from Jennifer. For some Lions fans, cornbread has a special meaning as hopes run high for a good season so this is a great way to start off the series.

Catherine's Sweet & Easy Cornbread

1 box of Jiffy Yellow Cake Mix
1 box of Jiffy Cornbread Mix
3/4 C of milk
1 T of water
2 eggs

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking pan or line muffin tins with papers.

Mix all ingredients well and blend for 3-4 minutes. Pour batter into greased baking pan or muffin pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove when a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

Jennifer's Green Chile Cornbread

1 c flour
3/4 c yellow cornmeal
1 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 c fat-free buttermilk
2 eggs
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chilies, drained
3 tbs. butter, melted
1/2 c. low fat shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick spray.
2. Combine the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Combine the buttermilk, eggs, chiles, and melted butter in another medium bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just blended. Gently stir in the cheese. Transfer the batter from the pan and spread evenly.
3. Bake until the edges are golden, 17-22 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Cut into 12 squares and serve warm.

*Taken from WeightWatchers My Turnaround Cookbook.

Peach Muffins

The other week while I was at the farmer's market, I grabbed a bunch of local peaches. I haven't done much baking with peaches before and decided to give peach muffins a try. They turned out delicious! They were some of the best muffins I have ever had. I got the recipe off of allrecipes.com and altered it a bit. Enjoy!

Peach Muffins

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten (I used 2 egg whites and 2 eggs to use up some egg whites)
2 cups white sugar (I used Splenda for part of it)
2 cups peeled, pitted, and chopped peaches

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
2.In a large bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the oil, eggs, and sugar. Stir the oil mixture into the flour mixture just until moist. Fold in the peaches. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups.
3.Bake 15-20 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Chicken, Cheddar, and Apple Wraps

I was excited to get my first bag of Michigan Paul Red apples for the season. As much as I love summer, I really enjoy fall foods, including anything with apples. I made Melissa D'Arabian's four-step chicken the night before and cooked an extra chicken breast without the sauce. The next day, preparing these wraps for dinner was so easy! The combination of cheddar and apples is amazing, and the honey and Dijon mustard sauce pairs it perfectly.

Chicken, Cheddar, and Apple Wraps

5 t. Dijon mustard
1 T. honey
handful of chopped romaine lettuce
12 slices of reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 lb. sliced cooked chicken breast
1 apple, peeled and cut into thin slices (the cookbook suggests Granny smith)
4 large flour tortillas
dash of salt
dash of pepper

1. Combine the mustard and honey in a bowl.

2. Layer the lettuce, cheese, chicken, and apple slices on each tortilla. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with the mustard mixture. Roll them up and enjoy!

*Adapted from Weight Watchers My Turnaround Cookbook.

Pork Loin with Peach Marinade

I am generally scared of cooking pork, mainly because I don't have much experience doing it. I needed a change from our usual summer meals and when I saw that pork loin was half-off at Meijer last week, I thought I would give it a try.

When I got it home, it looked HUGE, even though the entire five pounds cost only $7.50! I planned on making it for when Catherine and Aaron were coming over, and I knew that even with them we could not demolish the entire thing. I promptly cut it and put half in the freezer.

Because I had never had pork loin before, I had NO idea how to make it. I searched all of my cookbooks and didn't find much. I even consulted my mom, who always gives good advice. My Costco cookbook (Homecooking: The Costco Way) had "Ol' Gramma's Stone Fruit Marinade" for a pork loin. It called for any type of stone fruit (nectarines, peaches, or plums) and I had just bought some peaches from the farmer's market. Perfect!

I gave it a try and it turned out great! It was moist and flavorful. I was relieved that we had something edible to eat that night and I feel much more confident about cooking pork now. I can't wait to use the other half from my freezer and make it again!

Pork Loin with Peach Marinade
*Adapted from Homecooking: The Costco Way

3 peaches (or nectarines or plums), cut into chunks
1/2 c packed brown sugar
3 T olive oil
1/4 c cider vinegar
dash of Worcestershire sauce
dash of black pepper
1 clove crushed garlic
1 3-4 lb. boneless pork loin

1. Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until pureed. Pour 2/3 of the mixture over pork and marinade for 12-24 hours. Save 1/3 of the mixture for later.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 325 F. Sear the pork in oil for a few minutes a side. It helps if you can do this in an oven safe pan! Cover the pan (I just used the pan lid) and cook for about 1.5-2 hours or until the pork reaches 155 F. In the last 20 minutes, heat the saved pureed mixture in a saucepan.

3. Let the meat rest for 5 minutes and slice. Serve with the peach sauce and a peach garnish!