Peanut Butter & Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

Oy! I see how everybody gets behind on their blogging! Man have I been busy! So, last week was our monthly cooking contest at work. The theme was party food - in honor of March Madness. I had originally planned on making fried pickles. However, my bosses switched the day and we found out at 3pm the day before. So, no time to go to the store. That meant I had to make do with ingredients I had on hand. I happened to have two blocks of cream cheese, and mini cheesecakes seemed like a good idea. So, I went on a mission to find a recipe. Now let me tell you - this recipe lies. It said 15 minute prep time. If I had known it was a lie, I would've found a different recipe. The total time for this was supposed to be 40 minutes. Now, maybe I'm retarded, but this took me 2 freaking hours. That does not make for a happy baker!

So, I didn't win. The little cheesecakes weren't bad. I only brought home 3 out of the 50 or so I made, so I think that's a good sign. By the time I was done making them though, I didn't even want to think about cheesecake, much less eat any. Here ya go:

Ingredients:
1 c. chocolate graham crackers, finely crushed
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 3 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 c. milk
2 eggs
1/3 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted and slightly cooled

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325.

Line 12 muffin cups with liners, or 48 mini muffin cups.

Spoon graham cracker crumbs into each cup and press to form crust. Set aside.

Place cream cheese in mixer. Beat until smooth - about 2 minutes. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth and fluffy, about 1 minute. Gradually add milk, then eggs one at a time. Beat for 30 seconds.

Transfer half of batter to another bowl.

Add peanut butter to mixer bowl. Beat until well blended, about 1 minute. Divide mixture among muffin cups.

Return reserved batter to mixer bowl (don't bother to clean bowl or beaters - I liked this part!) and added melted chocolate. Beat until well blended - about 1 minute. Divide mixture among muffin cups, spreading to cover peanut butter batter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until centers are almost set. Cool completely on wire racks. Store covered in refrigerator.

Yield: 12 standard muffin cup sized cheesecakes, or 48 mini cheesecakes

Source: RecipeZaar

Turkey Day Casserole

Thanksgiving is my VERY favorite holiday. I could eat Thanksgiving food all year long and never get tired of it. So, when I was flipping through a cookbook and saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it. I know the picture isn't exceptionally appetizing, but I couldn't figure out a way to make it look pretty.

This wasn't bad. It wasn't nearly as good as I was hoping. Of course, I think it would be better with actual Thanksgiving leftovers. And not all of my stuffing cooked. If I had it to do over, I would actually cook the stuffing first, and then put it in. Also, the recipe called for whole berry cranberry sauce, but I like the jellied kind, so that's what I used.

Ingredients:
1 24 oz. container mashed potatoes
1 lb. ground turkey
1 6 oz. box of stuffing
1 16 oz. can cranberry sauce
2 12 oz. jars of turkey gravy
2 tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Microwave the mashed potatoes for 1 minute. Stir and set aside.

In a skillet, cook the turkey, drain and set aside.

Spread stuffing mix in the bottom of a 2.5 qt. dish. Top with cranberry sauce, then turkey, then 1 jar of gravy and then potatoes.

Dot with butter.

Bake 30-40 minutes.

Serve with gravy.

Yield: 6 servings

Source: "Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Slow Cooker Recipes"

Buffalo Chicken Soup

You have probably noticed by now that I love buffalo chicken anything. Buffalo chicken wings. Buffalo chicken dip. And now *drumroll* buffalo chicken soup! Yep, all that buffalo-y goodness in a soup. I have been waiting to make this soup. And when I saw that milk was only $2.49 for a gallon, I jumped at the chance! This was super easy and it is good! Perfect for cold weather! It is a little odd though - the sour cream didn't melt down. I think that next time (and yes, there WILL be a next time), I will whisk together the sour cream and cream of chicken soup before adding everything else. Just to ensure that there are no weird sour cream curds floating around. Still good though :)

Ingredients:
6 c. milk
3 cans cream of chicken soup
3 c. cooked, shredded chicken
1 c. (8 oz) sour cream
1/4 c. - 1/2 c. hot pepper sauce

Directions:
Combine everything in the crockpot.

Cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Yield: 8 servings (2 quarts)

Source: Taste of Home's "Quick Cooking Annual Recipes" 2002 edition

Sugar Cookie Bars. Again.

I think I am obsessed with these cookies. I have made them 3 times in the last month. You can find the original post with the recipe here. These were the best ones yet though! I made a full recipe (for a 9x13 pan), but then used an 8x8 pan. They were thicker and the middle was still a tiny bit doughy. Mmmm... perfect! The chocolate buttercream frosting is good, but I think that the vanilla frosting was the best. And yes, I ate more of the dough. Licked the bowl clean, actually. Oh, to be a fly on my wall...

Butterscotch Cake

So, I had really good pictures of everything I made today. But then when I stuck my memory card in the computer, it said it wasn't formatted and I lost everything. This is like, the fourth time that has happened so it is really starting to tick me off. So I had to pull everything BACK out and re-take all my pictures. I was kinda frustrated at that point, so I just hurried through it and didn't bother trying my best to take good pictures. Sorry :)

Anyways, I love butterscotch pudding, so when I saw this cake, I thought it sounded pretty good. It didn't look too hard and it was different from the stuff I usually make. All in all it turned out pretty good. I think that if I made this again, I wouldn't necessarily use butterscotch frosting. The cake itself was by far the most moist cake I have ever made. So, here ya go.

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
5 large eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. almond extract (I didn't have any, so I just put in a little extra vanilla)
2 1/2 c. cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 cake pan.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and then add extracts.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the butter mixture, alternating with milk.

Bake 25-30 minutes.

Let cool 10 minutes. Then, cover with parchment paper and cooling rack and invert.

Frosting Ingredients:
1/3 c. butterscotch chips
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tbsp. milk (if necessary) (and it was totally necessary)

Frosting Directions:
In a microwave safe bowl, melt butterscotch chips and half of the butter on low heat. Stir.

Cream the other half of the butter and half of the sugar. Add the melted butterscotch mixture.

Add the other half of the sugar.

Add milk if necessary to create a more frosting-esque consistency.

Frost the cooled cake.

Source: www.kingarthurflour.com

Clean Out The Fridge Fajitas

First of all, I know this picture is awful. I had actually already taken a bite out of the other side before I went "Oh crap! I forgot to take a picture!" Oops!

I didn't really have a dinner plan tonight, but I knew I was feeding the boy. So, I pulled out all the leftover STUFF from the last couple weeks and made fajitas. It was actually pretty good. I always feel kind of proud of myself when I can throw something together like this and it turns out well! I didn't really measure anything, I just kind of threw stuff in, so everything is approximate. :)

Ingredients:
Cooked chicken - I used 3 small leftover chicken breasts
1/2 red pepper, cut into strips
1/2 packet fajita seasoning
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. black beans
chili powder to taste
tortillas, cheese, lettuce, sour cream, salsa, etc.

Directions:
In a skillet, throw everything in and heat/stir until blended and heated through.

Serve on tortillas with whatever toppings you have. As you can see, I smothered my fajita with leftover queso. I could drink that stuff through a straw.

Caribbean Spice Roast Chicken

I made a chicken. A whole chicken. I feel like I've just added a notch to my cooking belt. When I saw this recipe on Nancy's website, it looked SO good, and I knew I wanted to make it. For a couple weeks I debated about whether I wanted to just try it with chicken breasts, or if I wanted to go for the whole chicken. Well, whole chickens were on sale this week at the grocery store, so that kind of made my decision for me. And this was good. It was super easy - except for the disgusting sticking my hand inside a chicken part. And apparently, I roasted the chicken upside down. But you know what? The package didn't have a top and bottom sign on it. How was I supposed to know there was a right side? My family seemed to enjoy it. I was surprised that I didn't dry it out. Ooh! And I got to break out my new digital meat thermometer! I was so excited!

Like the hand pies, this picture is pretty lousy, too. I had told everyone that dinner would be at 5:30 or so. Well, it was a beautiful day out, so the boy and I went for a motorcycle ride. And that made me a little late. So I was rushing to get everything out of the oven, into the car and over to my parents' house. And I almost forgot to take a picture - and if I had, I would've been SO upset! But, a bad picture is better than no picture, right? Right.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tbsp. lime juice
2 oz. rum
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. thyme
1 3 lb. chicken
1 tbsp. vegetable oil (I used EVOO)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325.

Combine lime juice, rum and brown sugar. Set aside.

Mix all dry ingredients.

Brush chicken with oil and coat with spices.

Bake 90 minutes, or until meat thermometer in thickest part of the thigh reaches 180.

Baste every 20 minutes with the sauce.

Yield: 4 servings:

Source: www.nancysrecipes.wordpress.com

Hand Pie

Sorry for the lousy picture. I was in a huge rush! I had a half can of cherry pie filling left, but didn't want to take the time to make more "pretty" pies, so I made simple hand pies instead. I made a variety of pies - cherry, cherry chocolate, chocolate, dark chocolate peanut butter... Lots of pies. They weren't bad. They would've been better if I had taken more time on them!

Ingredients:
1 pie crust
Filling of your choice
1 egg, beaten

Directions:
Use a biscuit cutter to cut out rounds from the pie crust.

Place filling in the center of each round. Seal edges with cold water and press with a fork to make it pretty.

Brush with egg.

Bake at 375 for 10-15 minutes.

Teeny-Tiny Cherry Pie

Seriously, who doesn't love miniature food? I think everybody does. And if you don't, you should. I didn't actually MAKE any of this, I just put it all together. This was more of an experiment to see if I have the ability to make pretty food. I am pretty impressed with myself. These weren't nearly as hard as they look, which always makes me happy.

Ingredients:
1 pie crust
1 can of pie filling (I only used half a can)
milk or egg to seal crust
sugar to sprinkle over the top

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.

Roll out a pie crust and use a biscuit cutter (or cookie cutter, or glass top, whatever) to cut out small circles. Press into a mini muffin tin.

Spoon pie filling into each cup.

Top with pastry dough in shapes of your choice.

Brush with milk or egg to seal the tops so they don't pop off and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 10 minutes or so.

Yield: 10 baby pies

Baked Potato Soup

I hope everyone hates this soup. By the time I got to dicing potato number 3, I wanted to quit. I wanted to throw away the other potatoes. I hope I never have to cut up potatoes again. So, logically, if everyone hates it, I won't EVER have to make it again and therefor, never have to dice up potatoes again.

Quite honestly, it isn't that bad. It's a little bland, but I think you could dress it up with cheese, bacon, sour cream, etc. and it would be great. When I was looking for this recipe, I was purposely looking for something that it didn't have a lot of extra stuff. My sister is pregnant and she keeps saying that baked potato soup sounds good. And I know that, like me, she is picky about her baked potato soup. We don't like big chunks of potato, we don't like onions in it. I know you are totally wishing you had kids just like us.

Ingredients:
6 large potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large onion (I used onion powder)
5 c. chicken stock
1 15 oz. can evaporated milk (I only had a 12 oz. can)
1/4 c. butter (I love butter, so I used a little extra)
salt & pepper

Directions:
Place potatoes, onions (or onion powder) and chicken stock in crockpot.

Cook on low for 9 hours (or high for 5 or so).

Mash potatoes with a potato masher (which I don't have, so I used my immersion blender).

Add milk, butter and salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Serve.

Yield: a freaking lot of soup. 6 potatoes worth.

Source: www.dinnersforayear.blogspot.com

Cocoa Says What?

"You're blocking my sun woman. What more do you want from me?"

My poor baby had a vet appointment today. She got shots in both sides of her ass and she got microchipped. And apparently, when you microchip your dog now, they put in two - one of the "old" version ones and one of the "new" version ones. I understand the purpose, but I feel bad that she had to go through it twice. That is one big ass needle!

So now she is mad at me. Even though after the doctor, we went to the Sonic playground with my niece and she got to eat some other dog's poop. That made it all worth it for her.

Kahlua Jerk Chicken

This is some damn good chicken! I admit, I was skeptical when I first saw the recipe. The ingredients aren't something I would ever think to put together. But I figured that if Kahlua was in it, how bad could it be? So, I made it anyway. And it was good. Now go. Make chicken!

Ingredients:
4 chicken breast halves
salt and pepper
1/2 c. flour
2 tbsp. EVOO
3/4 c. Caribbean Jerk Marinade
3/4 c. Kahlua
2 tbsp. chunky peanut butter (I only had creamy)

Directions:
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place in a ziploc bag with flour and shake to coat.

Remove chicken from bag.

In skillet, heat EVOO over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook 4 minutes on each side. Remove from pan.

In same skillet, combine remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low.

Add chicken and simmer 5-6 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings

Source: "Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade 20 Minute Meals"

Simple Grilled Chicken

Since it is just me tonight, I didn't feel like making something very... involved, I guess. I remembered a yummy recipe I saw at www.kevinandamanda.com. It was actually from a chicken pasta, but I figured I could just make the chicken. I heated up some sweet potatoes to go on the side. And man, this is some GOOD chicken. I didn't actually grill it. It is supposed to SNOW tomorrow morning (holy cow!) so it is pretty cold outside right now. Plus, it has been raining for two days. I will definitely be making this again. It would be perfect to make a quick chicken sandwich, or to throw on top of a salad.

Ingredients:
Chicken (however many chicken breasts you need)
Montreal Steak Seasoning
Butter
EVOO

Directions:
Season chicken.

Heat up butter and EVOO in a skillet.

On medium heat, cook chicken. About 5 minutes on each side.

Source: www.kevinandamanda.com

Key Lime Pie

Remember those cupcakes that I made last week? Well, I bought a bag of key limes so that I could use the limes as a garnish. I didn't want to be wasteful, and the only thing I could think of to do with the leftovers was to make a key lime pie. I love key lime pie and so does my dad, so I figured that it was a win-win situation. Plus, how this happened I don't know, but I actually had graham crackers to make the crust! Wow!

This turned out pretty good. Next time I will make a little more crust since I LOVE graham cracker crust. I used to buy those tiny Keebler graham cracker crusts and just eat them plain. Mmmm... You have probably noticed by now that I have some weird eating habits. Oh well. I also think I didn't add quite enough butter to the crust. It isn't bad though. I don't know, but I was really surprised at how easy this was to make. Other than juicing the limes. I don't really own a juicer, so I juiced all those little boogers by hand. One word: Ow. My hands hurt so bad now. I bite my fingernails (a lot), so it burned the entire time. I was able to comfort myself with pie though when it was all done, so that kind of made it worth it.

Ingredients:
1 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
1/2 c. key lime juice
2 tsp. lime zest
1 prebaked graham cracker crust (recipe below)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 300.

Whisk together first four ingredients until smooth.

Pour into pie crust.

Bake for about 20 minutes.

Let cool and then refrigerate for 3 hours.

Pie Crust Ingredients:
8 large graham crackers
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. melted butter

Pie Crust Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.

Pulse graham crackers in a food processor to make crumbs.

Mix in sugar.

Mix in vanilla and butter.

Press into a pie plate.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Source: http://www.closetcooking.blogspot.com/

Italian Spinach Chicken

My boyfriend loves spinach. And since he is on a diet, I have been trying to find healthy (or healthier) meals to make. When I saw this one, I added it to my list because it looked really REALLY easy and delicious. And it was. The boy loved it. This will become one of my standard dinners probably, especially for weeknights because it is easy and only took a half hour or so (not counting marinating). I tried to serve this with roasted baby carrots with balsamic vinegar and rosemary. They kind of didn't turn out as planned. So instead, I served burned baby carrots with balsamic vinegar and rosemary. Close enough. Roasted, burned. Same thing. They didn't taste bad. Well, not really bad anyway.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breast halves
8 tbsp. Italian dressing, divided
6 c. fresh baby spinach
salt
2 slices Provolone cheese

Directions:
Please 6 tbsp. dressing in a plastic bag and add chicken. Marinate for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350.

Drain and discard marinade.

In a skillet, brown chicken. Remove and keep warm.

In the same skillet, saute spinach, remaining dressing and salt.

Place chicken in a baking dish coated with non-stick cooking spray. Top with spinach and cheese.

Bake, uncovered, for 18-22 minutes.

Yield: 2 servings

Source: Taste of Home's "Cooking for 2" magazine, Spring 2009

Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookie Bars

I was so disappointed when my sugar cookie bars were gone. I just couldn't get them out of my head. They were that good. So, I made more. Quite honestly, I really just wanted to eat the cookie batter. I know, I know. Raw eggs, blah blah blah. I don't care. It hasn't killed me yet. And if I die from cookie dough, I will die a happy death and it will have been worth it.

Okay, back to cookies. I wasn't really feeling up to making frosting. Especially because I just wanted to eat the dough. So I decided to just sprinkle some chocolate chips on top and call it a day. I used the exact same recipe as last time and just added chocolate chips. The dough was amazing. The cookies weren't bad either. I had to suck it up and bake them though, because otherwise, I seriously could have eaten the entire bowl of dough. I know, some of you find that disgusting, and well, that is just un-American. :)

Banana Bread Take Two

I love banana bread. With lots of butter. The last banana bread recipe I tried was good, but I wanted something even better. And I found it. This is super simple and will probably become my staple banana bread recipe. I sent half of the loaf to my parents, but I haven't heard back from them if they liked it. I was pretty pleased with it.

Ingredients:
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter, room temperature
3/4 c. brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 c. banana, mashed (I didn't actually measure. I had four bananas and just used them all)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Mix flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Cream butter and brown sugar.

Stir in eggs and banana.

Stir into the flour mixture.

Pour into a 9x5 loaf pan.

Bake for about 1 hour.

Source: www.closetcooking.blogspot.com