What I am makin this Holiday..

I have been trying to figure out a few good recipes to make this year to give out to family, friends and teachers. Let me first say none of these are mine (the pictures are mine ) so I will just link to the the recipes original home. Here we go...

Pumpkin Apple Bread


Gingerbread Whoopie Pies
(on this one I left off the peppermint candies but they were still really good

Magic Rainbow Cookie Bars

This post is linked up at Tempt My Tummy Tuesday & Tasty Tuesday

July Cheesecake of the Month

Red, White, and Blueberry Cheesecake

2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/3 c. blueberry pie filling, pureed
1 can. strawberry pie filling, pureed
blue food coloring

1. Beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended.
   
2. Add eggs , 1 at a time.
3. Separate approx. 1/2 of cream cheese filling to small bowl. Add pureed blueberry pie filling and mix well. Then blue food coloring until you get a shade of blue you like, I used 3 or 4 drops.
4. Spread blueberry cream cheese mixture into bottom of pie crust.
   
5. Carefully spread remaining original cream cheese mixture on top of blue layer (make sure to rinse or change spatulas)
6. Bake 35 to 40 mins. or until center is almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 4 hours to overnight.
   
7. Before serving spread pureed strawberry filling over top of chilled cheesecake. (I blended the filling because I simply do not like chunks of fruit but feel free spread strawberry pie filling straight from the can onto cheesecake if you prefer whole fruit, the presentation will probably look nicer. )
   

*Sorry about the picture but this was the only piece left after I dropped the cheesecake off at my families, I almost didn't get a picture :)

Recipe submitted at Recipe Swap Monday over at Our Chaotic Life, Mouthwatering Monday over at A Southern Fairytale, Homemaker Monday over at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday , Tasty Tuesday

June Cheesecake of The Month!!!

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cheesecake

(oh yes two of my favorite things in the world chocolate & coffee)

2 (8oz) packages of cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 instant coffee packet

1 (6 oz) oreo cookie pie crust

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Dissolve instant coffee in 1/3 c. hot water, place in fridge or freezer and cool to room temperature.


2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs on at a time and coffee; mix until blended


3. Spread 1/4 cup chocolate chips into bottom of pie crust.
   


4. Pour cream cheese mixture over chocolate chips.
   


5. Melt remaining 1/4 c. chocolate chips in microwave-safe bowl until melted. Pour into cheesecake mixture and swirl with end of a knife until a 'marble' effect appears.


6. Bake 35-40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool completely on wire rack. Refrigerate at least 3 hours but best if it can chill over night. :)
   

Recipe submitted at Recipe Swap Monday over at Our Chaotic Life, Mouthwatering Monday over at A Southern Fairytale, Homemaker Monday over at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday , Tasty Tuesday

Stuffed Bell Peppers

It's that time again to exchange recipes, tips and all that good stuff for more Recipe Swap Mondays head over to Our Chaotic Life and for more Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays head on over to Blessed With Grace

Stuffed Bell Peppers

1 lb. ground beef 1 c. chopped onion
1 clove garlic, crushed 2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt ½ tsp. pepper
8 oz. tomato soup 8 oz. tomato sauce
8 lg. bell peppers, tops cut off and seeded
1 ½ c. cooked rice 1 tsp. sugar
½ c. shredded cheese

-Cook meat, onion, garlic until done. Drain.
-Add seasonings, tomato soup and tomato sauce. Simmer covered 10 min. Stir in rice Cool.
-Cook peppers in boiling, salted water and 1 tsp. sugar until they are tender. Drain. Add cheese to meat and rice mixture, stuff and back just until bubbly in 350 degree oven.

While your here stay awhile and check out some of the great giveaways I have going on, to check them out click here...

Recipe Swap Monday 6/1

So I was going to use my stuffed bell pepper recipe but when I sat down I had developed a sweet tooth and so I borrowed a from the wonderful Paula Deen a recipe that I have made countless times.


Gorilla Bread

Serves:
12 to 14 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese

2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count)

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon. In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of nuts. Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top and invert.




Copyright 2009 Television Food Network G.P., All Rights Reserved

For more great recipes check out Our Chaotic Life.

The Goodies I found today..

So I took a trip to Trader Joe's today and I can always find something new there to try so these are the wonderful items I picked up today.

I got the pita cracker to go with my White Bean Hummus ( I like hummus just don't care for the chickpeas so I swapped out white beans for the chickpeas. It's really good I think I will post a couple different variations of my White Beans Hummus this week.)

So do you shop at Trader Joe's? If so, what are your favorite things to get?

Souplantation Review

I like food, and I equally like talking about food. Me and my good friend Trina whos page you can check out over at Mother of Twins have started (without planning it, it just happened this way) to take monthly lunch outings with just us, no kids, or significant others. Yesterday was our second lunch date and we have so far been trying out places that either one or both of us hadn't visited. So I figured I would add another element to my foodish ways blog by adding a monthly Restraraunt Reviews so every month unless something comes up (which stuff frequently does I will try and post another review) So bare with me this is my first one and I am open to suggestions on what you would want to know about a restrauant so if i am leaving key elements out please let me know. So without further ado: May Review goes to... Souplantation which I noticed is also known as Sweet Tomatoes in other states.




I have to say I was really skeptical, I checked out the website before we went and I called up Trina and said "You know they only sell soups and salads." I just couldn't see a place that didn't at least have a sandwich option really being my cup of tea, but shame on me for jumping to assumptions. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised when we finally arrived. To start it is a buffet style restaraunt so you pay a flat fee of about $9.00 per person and then you can have your fill of salad and a variety of soup and baked good choices. I tried my best for research sake to try as many as the items as I could ;). Since it was a buffet I just went ahead and grabbed the Souplantation lunch menu from today edited out the items they didn't have or I didn't try and then I will rate each item 1-5 1= being wouldn't try it again 5= Can't get enough keep it coming and (E )will denote the items I tried and ( T ) the ones Trina tried

Tossed Salads:

Caesar Salad Asiago (Non-Vegetarian) 3 - (T) didnt really care for their dressing
Won Ton Chicken Happiness 4- (T) thought it was very good, but 1 serving was enough


Prepared Salads:

German Potato Joan's Broccoli Madness (Non-Vegetarian) 1 - (T) tried it for the 1st time and wouldn't try it again
Poppyseed Coleslaw (Vegetarian) 4-( T) Good and well worth trying out.

Soups:

Deep Kettle House Chili (Low-Fat) 4-( E) It was good but I did add onions & cheese
Golden Yam Bisque (Vegetarian) 1 -( E) Just didn't float my boat, 3 -( T) different, unique
Yankee Clipper Clam Chowder with Bacon 5 -( E) I can eat a good clam chowder e'erday
Classical French Onion (Non-Vegetarian)3- (E) along side a good roast beef sandwich, 2- (T) as a stand alone soup not impressed
Cream of Mushroom (Non-Vegetarian) 4 (T) Really good!!!

Pastas:

Macaroni & Cheese (Vegetarian) 3- (T) Liked it, thought it would be a good option for kids
Vegetarian Marinara w/ Basil (Vegetarian) 4 -(T) Also very good and a great option for the little ones


Muffins:

Buttermilk Cornbread (Low-Fat) 2- (T) didn't really care for whole corn kernals in the cornbread.
Chocolate Brownie Muffin 5- (E) chocolate!!!, need I say more
Garlic Asiago Focaccia 5 -(E) (T) We are both big on bread good alone or dipped in soup.
Wildly Blue Blueberry Muffin 3- (E) okay but not memorable
Cranberry Orange Bran Muffin (96% Fat-Free) 3- (E) It was good, just a little to thick and heavy for my liking.

Desserts:

Vanilla Soft Serve 5- (E) with the right toppings you can't go wrong
Chocolate Soft Serve 1- (T) tried both chocolate and vanilla but even with topping couldn't finish it, wasnt good.



My favorite part of eating, dessert =>




Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes are not at this time located in all of the states. You can find out if there is a Souplantation or Sweet Tomatoes, also you can check out full menus at their website http://www.souplantation.com/.



A few more ratings:

Family Friendly 4 (E) I saw a lot of high chairs, most of the seating was booth style which works well for my family, but I would have liked to see a few more items my kids would have liked. 4 (T)

Restrooms: 4- (E) clean and stocked, a little small though only two stalls. 2- (T) felt they could have been cleaner.

Staff: 5- (E) Friendly and helpful 3- (T) would like to have seen a greeter/hostess
Dining Room: 5- (E) food stations were clean and well stocked. 5- (T)

Overall I would rate the place at an A-. I really enjoyed eating here (I ate way more than I should of definitely got my money's worth) I would absolutely go back again. :)

Recipe Swap Monday- Memorial Day!!!

Since I know along with 3 day holiday weekends come a lot of traveling and if you are anything like my family a lot of bbq's so I decided to post a simple and quick dip recipe that is a crowd pleaser at all our gatherings. :)

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

1 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. grated parmesan
1 c. shredded part skim mozzarella
8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
4-6 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. hot pepper sauce
1 (14oz) can artichoke hearts, drained

• Squeeze all excess liquid from spinach, place in a food processor with sour cream, parmesan, 1/2 c. mozzarella, cream cheese, garlic, pepper, and hot sauce.
• Process until just blended but still slightly lumpy. Add artichokes and pulse to form a chunky mixture.
• Place in a 1 quart baking dish. Top with remaining mozzarella. Bake until bubbly, about 30 mins.

I like to serve with sour dough bread or tortilla chips

Head on over to Anissa at Our Chaotic Life for more Recipe Swap Monday.

May's Cheesecake of the Month

Now that it is starting to warm up I think a nice tangy citrus cheesecake would be appropriate so this month cheesecake is an oldy but goody around my house.


Key Lime Cheesecake

2 pkg. cream cheese
1 tsp. key lime peel*
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. sugar
3 tbs fresh key lime juice*
2 eggs
1 honey maid pie crust
1 c. cool whip

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Beat cream cheese, sugar, peel, lime juice and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, mix until just blended. Pour into crust.

Bake 40 mins. or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate at least 3 hrs. overnight if possible. Top w/ cool whip just before serving.

*You can substitute regular limes if key limes aren't available (turns out just as good. )

Sweet And Sour Meatloaf

Yeah it's Monday again and that means Recipe Swap Monday. I found lots of yummy looking recipes to try last week. Head over to Anissa at Our Chaotic Life to check out more wonderful recipes. :)

So this week I am sharing a recipe that helped me to appreciate how good meatloaf can be. I was never a meatloaf person, when I thought of comfort food meatloaf never came to mind, however my family all seems to really like it and I got tired of making a dinner that I didn't want to eat so I tried out a few meatloaf recipes before I found this one and ever since I've found it I can now enjoy meatloaf night with the family. I am going to try adding cheese next time though after seeing Sandra's over at Full Bellies, Happy Kids cheese stuffed meatloaf I've decided one more addition couldn't hurt.

Anywho here it is:

Sweet and Sour Meatloaf

Meatloaf

1 pd. ground beef

1 1/2 tsp. Worchestershire sauce

1 tsp. salt

2 tbs. onion powder

1/4 c. rolled oats

1/4 c. bread crumbs

2/3 c. milk

Sauce

1/2 c. Ketchup

2 tbs. cider vinegar

4 tbs brown sugar

1 tbs. onion powder

6 tbs. water

For the meatloaf, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine the ground beef, worcestershire sauce, salt, onion powder, oats, bread crumbs, and milk. Place the meat mixture in a loaf pan. Bake for 20 mins.

For sauce, combine the ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, onion powder and water. Pour the sauce over the meatloaf after it has cooked for 20 mins. Reduce the over temp. to 375 and bake the loaf for an additional 40 mins.

Lemons Anyone???

This weekend I was using quite a few lemons to cook with so I decided to look up other everyday uses for lemons and here are a few of the ideas I found at gomestic.com:


~Cut a lemon in half and place in dishes for air fresheners.


~Clean and deodorize your microwave by placing 4 tablespoons of lemon juice in 1 cup of water. Place in microwaveable bowland boil for 5 minutes. The condensation from the boiled mixture will enable the microwave to be wiped out easily, and will deodorize the oven.


~By adding a teaspoon of lemon juice to rice while cooking you can prevent your rice from sticking.


~Lemon or orange peels tossed regularly into the garbage disposal will keep the garbage disposal smelling fresh.

~Dry and achy hands and feet can be relieved with a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil used as a massage. The skin will feel softer too.


~Remove the foul odor of fish or the stain of berries from your hands by washing them first in lemon juice and then with soap and water.

Recipe Swap Monday

This is my first Monday participating but Anissa over at Our Chaotic Life is hosting a recipes swap and since I like food I thought this would be a perfect way to share and get some good recipes. So Here goes I don't have pics hopefully next week but here is the recipe

Creole Shrimp w/ Garlic and Lemon

1 pd. large shrimp, shelled and deveined

1 1/2 tbs minced garlic

1 tbs creole seasoning

1 red bell pepper

2 tbs. vegetable oil

Juice of 1 lemon

1/4 c. chopped parsley

• In a bowl, toss the shrimp w/ the garlic, creole seasoning and bell peppers



• In a skillet, saute the shrimp in the oil over moderately high heat, turning the shrimp once, until just white throughtout.



• Add lemon juice and parsley and serve.

There it is 7 ingredients 3 steps quick easy and good I ate it over rice. :)

Before & After

Shrimp Ceviche

This recipe since I got it a couple years ago has become one of my husbands favorites so I figured today would be as good as any to share it.

Shrimp Ceviche

3lbs shrimp cleaned
6 limes juiced
1 c. cilantro leaves
1 serrano chile, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 cucumber peeled and diced
4 lg. tomatoes, diced
4 lemons juiced
1 red onion
3 tbs. tomato paste
Salt and Pepper to taste

• Layout shrimp in bottom of dish. Pour lemon and lime juice over them.
• Refrigerate 3 hrs.
• Toss w/ remaining ingredients and refrigerate for one hour longer

That's it simple and tasty we usually just eat it with tortilla chips.

Sorry bout the after picture didnt realize my camera wasn't focused. It's about time to upgrade.

Happy Cinco De Mayo

Meatless Monday Roundup

Interested in sharing your meatless monday recipes, experiences or just get some good recipes visit Native American Momma's page and sign up for her Meatless Monday Roundup.

Meatless Monday

Well it's week two for our household doing Meatless Monday.

So for me I did oatmeal for breakfast, subways veggie delight for lunch

The kids did cereal for breakfast, grilled cheese and fruit for lunch

For Dinner the menu will be:

Spinach Lasagna
Salad
Garlic Bread


Spinach Lasagna Recipe

1ts. extra virgin olive oil
1 (10 oz) pkg of fresh spinach
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried basil
2 cloves garlic
1 (32 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
1 1/2 c. water
2 c. ricotta cheese
1 (8 oz) pkg. mozzarella
1/4 c. parmesan cheese
1/4 c. fresh parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
12 lasagna noodles

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F


• In a large pot over medium heat saute spinach, oregano, basil, and garlic in olive oil. Pour in spaghetti sauce and water; simmer 20 min. In a large bowl mix ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper.


• Place a small amount of sauce in the bottom of a lasagna pan. Place 4 uncooked noodles on top of sauce and top with layer of sauce. Add 4 more noodles and layer with 1/2 sauce and 1/2 cheese mixture, repeat for one more layer.


• Cover with foil and bake in preheated over for 55 mins. Remove foil and bake another 15 minutes. Let sit 10 mins. before serving.

A cell phone pic of the finished product :)

Cheesecake Like I've never had it before.

Yesterday eating dinner at a friend's house she has cheesecake for desert. Cheesecake I love cheesecake, but this cheesecake had a layer of plain sour cream, jello, and fresh strawberries, on top of the cheesecake filling. So I have said before I haven't found a cheesecake I didn't like and this is no exception. Now in fact I am on a mission to find this recipe, duplicate it, and probably list it as my Cheesecake of the Month

Turkey Chili Redeemed

Well I learned a valuable lesson during my chili making experience. I had never made chili before and only did so to be supportive of my 11 yr. old daughter who wants to enter a local chili contest in July. Anyway I learned that every spice isn't interchangeable.
When I gotten all my ingredients together, or so I thought I noticed I didn't have chili powder. How do you make chili without chili powder??? But me being the quick thinker I am figured that chili powder must just add the heat so I will just substitute cayenne pepper for the chili powder, yea that's right cayenne. By the time it was done I couldn't even go into my kitchen without the smell from my crockpot burning my eyes.
My husband bless his heart ate all of the chili I made even though I told him over and over again that he didn't have to. ( It was a little bit comical and great deal painful watching him shovel the spicy concoction into his mouth like he was in an eating contest where swallowing without much chewing was the winning technique all the while telling me how good it is)
So I decided to give it a go one more time before totally giving up on homemade chili and going back to my favorite canned brand. And this time I still only got a little bit but because I couldn't keep my husband and kids out of it. (It actually could have used a little bit more heat, but it turned out mild enough for my kids to eat.)

Turkey Chili

3 tbs. oil
1 large onion
3 cloves, garlic
1 lb ground turkey
3 c. water
1 (30oz) can tomato sauce
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. cumin
1 small bay leaf
2 tbs. chili powder
1/4 tsp. basil
1 1/2 salt
2 (15 oz) cans red kidney beans
1 (15 oz) can great northern or white beans

• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, add onion and garlic saute until golden brown.
• Add turkey and brown
• Add the remaining ingredients, except the beans and cooked turkey to crockpot.
• Stir to mix and cook on high 15 mins.
• Reduce heat and simmer, covered until the sauce is as thick as desired.
• Add the beans and heat through.

* you can add black beans (if you prefer) and more cayenne for more heat. Enjoy!!

Meatless Monday Dinner

So I have decided that we are going to try to have Meatless Mondays. I watched Oprah on Earth Day and of course when I got done I felt all empowered "to be the change I want to see" and so I did take a few things away from the show that I am going to try Meatless Mondays being one of them I wrote a little bit more about it on my But Mommy..... blog but for this page I wanted to include our 1st meatless Monday dinner recipe.


I found this recipe online at cooksrecipes.com and then tweaked it to my liking, I am going to type the portions they have but I didn't really measure i just pour till it looks good :)



So we had Bean and Cheese Enchiladas and Spanish Rice



Bean and Cheese Enchiladas


2 cups colby/jack cheese blend


1 cup sharp cheddar cheese


1 can (16 oz) refried beans


1 jar mild taco sauce


1/4 c. salsa


1/2 tsp. cumin


12 flour tortillas


Sliced ripe olives, optional


Sour cream, optional

• In a medium bowl mix all of the cheeses


• In another bowl, combine beans, 1/4c. salsa, 1 1/2 c. cheese mixture and cumin


• Spread 1 cup taco sauce into the bottom of a 13x9x2 inch baking dish


• Spoon a heaping 1/4 c. bean mixture down the center of each tortilla. Place tortillas seam side down on taco sauce. Top with taco sauce and remaining cheese.


• Bake at 350 F. for 30 mins. or until heated through


• Serve with sliced ripe olives, green onions and sour cream if desired.

Spanish Rice

2 tbs. oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 oz. tomato sauce

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. rice

1 tbs. onion powder

2 c. cold water

2 tbs. chicken bouillon

• Coat bottom of saucepan with oil and saute rice until golden brown
• Add garlic to rice and saute for 1 min.
• Add tomato sauce, water, salt, onion powder, and chicken bouillon and stir well to mix ingredients.
• Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat to simmer. Cover and simmer for 25 mins.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

World's Largest Cheesecake Baked in Mexico
Our affinity for World's Largest items knows no bounds, obviously and now we have a new item to tack onto the already "huge" (GET IT?) group of bizarrely big things: cheesecake.
But the world's biggest cheesecake isn't coming from where you would think, like New York. It was baked in Mexico. And it's quite large.
Chef Miguel Angel Quezada says 55 cooks spent 60 hours making the world's biggest cheesecake — a 2-ton calorie bomb topped with strawberries.
The monster cake used nearly a ton of cream cheese, the same amount of yogurt, 350 kilograms (772 pounds) of pastry, 250 kilograms (551 pounds) of sugar and 150 kilograms (331 pounds) of butter.
And, lest you question it, Guiness has already certified it as the record holder for World's Biggest Cheesecake. It's the first attempt at this record, of course, but, before you try and make a run at the record, remember: TWO TONS of cheesecake. TWO TONS. That's not exactly something you can just whip together on a Sunday afternoon.
Posted by Brinson at 9:36 AM

Cheesecake of the Month

Banana Cream Cheesecake

So today was the first day that I made this one and I think it turned out pretty good it was kind of an ode to one of my good friends who really likes banana cream pie, the thing is I am not a big fan of banana cream pie, cheesecake however I do love so I figured a banana cream cheesecake would be a wonderful combination of our tastes. My best friend refered to it as deliciously different I do believe that meant she liked it. My husband and daughter also gave it the seal of approval.

Banana Cream Cheesecake:

1 Nilla Wafer Pie Crust

1/2 c. Sugar

1 tbs. cornstarch

2 eggs

1 1/2 med. bananas, mashed

1/3 c. whipped topping

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract*

* I used 1 tsp. vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp. banana extract

Beat cream cheese in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add sugar and constarch; beat until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas, whipped topping and vanilla. Pour cream cheese mixture into prepared crust. Place pan on cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees F and continue baking about 55 minutes or until center is almost set. Refrigerate, uncovered, 6 hours or overnight.

I also added more whip cream on top.