Good Eating Monday: Zingy Jiffy Cornbread

It was nice today and I saw the first sunny yellow daffodil bloom starting to open!  The hubby and I worked outside an hour or so, clearing blackberry brambles out of the bed above my veggies garden. A pair of Lantana plants have been there for years, but I've decided to remove them (thus get to the blackberries woven in with their roots). I want to turn that entire area into a flower/herb/veggie garden. More flowers and herbs, but if I need space to put some veggie, then it will serve. Spreading veggies amongst flower beds is trendy and logical.

I'd like to grow an artichoke (for the flowers), but in looking that up discovered it's a very large plant with like a 3 foot spread and I'm just not ready to accommodate that. 

This past Friday we visited our friends, Bernie & Jaci in Pensacola. They're on Navigator staff like we are, though they work with Navy people instead of Air Force. They just moved here last spring and we met at the spring conference last May. They're about our age, their kids all grown and we just hit it off. So, now we take turns visiting each other every 6 weeks, usually trying a new local restaurant. Jaci and I get immersed in talking about gardening & flowers for her landscape. (They have a great spacious yard with the house they bought, but hasn't been cared for in some years and is very over-grown, so taming it is a major project. Particularly the invasive bamboo!)

Today's good eating recipe is how I fix up Jiffy cornbread that the Air Force kids just gobble up!

I prefer the Jiffy mixes because you add egg and milk to them rather then just water, which, in my mind,  make a more nutritious cornbread!

My secret ingredients are applesauce and chopped peperoncini's plus some of their juice to give it zing!
Peperoncini's are spicy, but not hot and adding applesauce doesn't effect the cornbread flavor; just makes it more moist, since I find the cornbread mixes on the dry side. I just dump a glob of applesauce in, so I'm guessing on the 1/3 cup. You could add more if you like.

I usually make a 10 x 13 pan that can be cut into 24 squares.

Zingy Jiffy Cornbread

(for 10 x 13 pan)

Ingredients:

3 boxes Jiffy Yellow Cornbread Mix

10 peperoncini's, chopped coarsely

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

About 1/3 cup unsweetened natural applesauce 

1/4 cup peperoncini juice

Directions:

Set oven for 350 and spray a 10 x 13 baking pan with oil cooking spray. Set aside.

  Empty all 3 Jiffy boxes into a medium mixing bowl.

Add milk, eggs, applesauce, peperoncini juice and chopped peperoncini's, including seeds. Stir together until well combined. Consistency should be moist on the thick side like a brownie mix, but not runny. If it seems dry or too thick, thin it a little by pouring in a bit more peperoncini juice and stir in.

Pour your cornbread into a baking pan and bake according to directions on Jiffy box: about 20 mintues. Center should be lightly firm to the touch when done.  If not, bake 2-3 minutes more and check again.

Remove from oven, cool on rack for 10 minutes, then cut into 24 squares and serve with butter, jelly or honey as a side to whatever you want.
We had it with Jambalaya this week and I didn't have a scrap leftover of any of it!

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Eat up, me hearties, yo-ho!