Strawberry Cheesecake

My mom asked me to bring dessert for Sunday dinner a while ago.  I had so many ideas of what to bring...seriously, most recipes I bookmark to try are desserts.  I was having trouble narrowing my choices down so I turned to Mike.  This is the dessert he picked.  I'm so glad he did, it was so yummy and no-one could tell that it's a healthier version of cheesecake!

1/2 cup crushed graham cracker crumbs
1 Tablespoon light margarine, softened (I used "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spread)
1 package (8 oz.) Nuefchatel cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
6 oz fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt
2 egg whites
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon flour
1/4 cup strawberry jam

1.  Mix graham cracker crumbs and margarine with a fork until evenly moistened.  Press into the bottom of a greased 8-inch square pan.

2.  Gently beat Neufchatel cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.

3.  Gradually beat in Greek yogurt, egg whites, lemon juice and flour.

4.  Pour over graham cracker crust.

5.  Drop jam by small spoon fulls over the surface of the cheesecake filling.  Using a knife, swirl jam through cheesecake filling to create a marbled effect.

6.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, until center is almost set.  Cool and then chill in fridge at least 3 hours before serving.

Source: Gina's Skinny Recipes

Breadsticks

Mike and I love Olive Garden, mainly for their insanely good breadsticks!  It's a good thing we don't have an Olive Garden in our town or we'd be there way too much!  When I saw this recipe that claimed to taste like Olive Garden's breadsticks, I was intrigued and knew I had to try it.  I first made these breadsticks for just Mike and I, we both liked them, so I made them again when we had everyone over for Mother's Day dinner.  They were a huge hit!  We all thought they were delicious, though I must say they were not quite as soft as Olive Garden's...maybe I need to put more butter on them!

You will need:

3/4 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1-1/8 teaspoon yeast
1 Tablespoon margarine, melted
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

2-1/4 cups flour

1 Tablespoon margarine, melted

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1.  In the bowl of your stand mixer, dissolve yeast in warm water.  Let it sit at least 5 minutes, until yeast bubbles. 

2.  Add melted margarine, sugar, and salt to the yeast mixture.  

3.  Mix in the flour using your dough hook.  Knead for 2-3 minutes.

4.  Cover the dough and let it rest for 45 minutes.  

5.  Shape into 8-10 breadsticks and place on greased cookie tray.

6.  Bake at 400 for 7 minutes.

7.  Meanwhile, mix together melted margarine, salt, and garlic powder.

8.  Remove breadsticks from oven (after 7 minutes) and brush with melted margarine.  Return to oven for 8 more minutes, until lightly browned.  

9.  Brush warm breadsticks with remaining margarine. 

Source:  Finding Joy in My Kitchen

****UPDATED PICTURES HERE****

Stromboli

Mike and I usually have pizza once a week; I typically make a batch of dough and divide it in half, using one half for that night's pizza and refrigerating the other half for the next week.  We have actually found that we like the taste of the week-old dough even better than freshly made dough.

Since we had the dough already made, I decided to mix things up slightly and make Stromboli instead of pizzas.  At lunch on Saturday with the women of Mike's family, we were talking about easy meals his Grandma could make and freeze.  His Aunt brought up the idea of making a bunch of small Strombolis and freezing them.  Then Grandma could just take them out of the freezer and reheat them before eating.  This sparked a major craving for Stromboli and so on pizza night, we had Stromboli instead.

You will need:

2-1/4 teaspoons yeast

1-3/8 cups water, 110 degrees

3 Tablespoons olive oil (or vegetable oil)

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 cups flour

Your choice of pizza toppings:
pizza sauce
cheese
pepperoni
ham
pineapple
mushrooms etc.


(You can put the dough ingredients in your bread machine, or you can make the dough by hand)

1. Mix water and yeast together until yeast dissolves. Let it stand about 5 minutes until yeast bubbles up.

2. Stir in salt, flour, and vegetable oil until dough forms.

3. Knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes by hand. You can also use a stand mixer to 

mix and knead the dough.

4. Form the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise until doubled, about 1.5 to 2 hours.

5. Deflate dough by punching down and knead for about 5 minutes. Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes 

before dividing into 4 equal pieces.

6. Flatten each piece of dough into a circle, about 9 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick.

7. Spread pizza sauce over half the dough.  Top with your choice of toppings.

8.  Fold dough over fillings and press tightly with your fingers to seal.  If desired, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  

9.  Bake at 400 for 17-19 minutes, until stromboli are golden brown.  Serve warm.

These also freeze well, just cool and then freeze in freezer bags.  To serve, just microwave for about 2 minutes, until filling is warm.

Cookie Dough Scotcheroos

When I saw these, I knew I had to make them!  The idea of cookie dough in another treat is something that intrigues me (as you may have noticed from my Cookie Dough Brownies).  I love my cookie dough: plain, baked, in other foods...you name it, I probably love it!  I asked Mike what he thought would be better, cookie dough balls in Scotcheroos or in Rice Krispy treats.  He thought the Scotcheroo base sounded better so that's what I went with!  Originally I was just going to drizzle chocolate on top of the bars, but when I tried, it was too thick so I ended up spreading it on top; I think it was perfect!  I sent a plateful of these to work with Mike and they were gone by 9am!

You will need: 

1 batch Ready to Eat Cookie Dough

1 cup sugar

1 cup corn syrup

1 cup peanut butter

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1.  Roll cookie dough into small bite-sized balls (mine were about 3/4 of an inch).  Refrigerate until you're ready to use them.

2.  Combine sugar and corn syrup in a medium pan until sugar is dissolved and mixture bubbles.

3.  Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter. 

4.  Stir in Rice Krispies until well coated.

5.  Spread half the cereal mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  

6.  Place cookie dough balls on top of cereal mixture.

7.  Top with remaining cereal mixture and press firmly.

8.  Melt chocolate chips and spread over bars.  

Inspired by: Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Strawberry Banana Muffins

What do you do when strawberries are on sale for $1 a pound?  Stock up, of course!  And then eat as many as possible before they start to go bad!  I bought about 6 pounds of strawberries with the intent of freezing a lot, and baking with the rest.  I froze the majority of the strawberries to use for smoothies.  Then I had to decide which recipes to try with my fresh strawberries.

I love the mix of strawberries and bananas, so when I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it!  I thought they were delicious; they were like a banana bread muffin with strawberries mixed in.  This recipe made about 24 muffins, so I froze most of them and pull them out of the freezer when I want a quick breakfast.  A short time in the microwave and I have warm from the oven tasting muffins!

You will need:
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar 
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup bananas, mashed (I used 3 small bananas)
1 cup strawberries, cut into small pieces
2-1/4 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon 
1/2 teaspoon salt


1.  Melt margarine in a small microwave-safe bowl and set aside.


2.  In a medium bowl, mix the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and bananas.


3.  Stir in the melted margarine.


4.  In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.


5.  Gently fold in strawberries, making sure they are coated in flour. This will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins.


6.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.


7.  Scoop batter into greased muffin tins.  I like to use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the batter, it's the perfect size for my muffin tins. 


8.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Source:  This Mommy Cooks

Pull Apart Asiago Bread

I love Asiago cheese, so when I saw it at the store a few weeks ago, I definitely went might have gone a little overboard!  You've already seen my Asiago Bagels, yum...I think I'll make those again soon!  Since I stocked up on Asiago, I've had the idea for this bread forming in my brain.  I was quite happy with how this turned out, and if you're a fan of Asiago cheese, you'll love this too!

You'll need:
2 cans buttermilk biscuits
3 Tablespoons margarine, melted
1 cup shredded Asiago cheese

1.  Cut (or tear) each biscuit in half.

2.  Dip in melted margarine.

3.  Roll in Asiago cheese.  If you want really cheesy bread, make sure biscuits are thickly covered in cheese.  If you want less cheesy bread, go really light on the cheese.  I went somewhere in between and it was perfect!

4.  Place cheese covered biscuits in a greased bread pan.

5.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, until cheese is golden brown and biscuits are done.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

I signed up to bring a dessert for our last SEM meeting of the year.  I wanted something fun that the students would really enjoy.  These cupcakes were the perfect treat!  I made a bunch of mini cupcakes for SEM, and then I brought some to a friend who was having a bake sale for a mission trip to Guatemala, and I still had leftovers for Mike.  Good thing I saved some for him, because he loved these!  

These cupcakes really do have the taste of chocolate chip cookies, I love the addition of the cookie dough filling, and their presentation is quite nice as well.  I had fun making these and everyone had fun eating them!

Warning:  This recipe calls for a TON of margarine, so stay away if you're dieting! ;)

You will need:

For the cupcakes:

3 sticks margarine

1-1/2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

2-2/3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

For the cookie dough filling:

1/3 cup margarine, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

For the frosting:

2-1/2 sticks margarine

3/4 cup brown sugar

3-1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoons milk

2-1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1.  For the cupcakes:  Combine margarine and brown sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer.  Cream for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. 

2.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg is added.

3.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  

4.  Add a small amount of the dry mixture to the margarine mixture.  Then add some of the milk and alternate until everything is mixed together.  

5.  Mix in vanilla.

6.  Fold in chocolate chips.

7.  Scoop batter into muffin tins.  Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes.  Cool completely.

8.  While the cupcakes are baking (or cooling) prepare the cookie dough mixture:  In a small bowl, combine margarine, brown sugar, and sugar until light and fluffy.  

9.  Beat in milk and vanilla.  

10.  Stir in flour and mini chocolate chips.  

11.  Scoop cookie dough into a pastry bag with a large tip (sorry, I don't know sizes!).  Poke the tip into the center of cupcake and fill with cookie dough.

12.  For the frosting:  beat the margarine and brown sugar until creamy and fluffy.

13.  Mix in the powdered sugar until smooth.  

14.  Beat in flour and salt.  

15.  Mix in milk and vanilla until smooth.  

16.  Scoop frosting into a pastry bag with a decorative tip.  Pipe frosting over cupcakes and garnish with mini chocolate chips.

Source: Tidy Mom

Toffee Brownie Cake

Chocolate cake, with chocolate ganache, topped with Heath toffee bits.  Do I need to continue?  It was delicious!

You will need:
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoon cocoa powder
4 ounces semisweet chocolate (I used Baker's squares)
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

for the chocolate ganache:
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Baker's squares)
1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup Heath toffee bits

1.  In a medium bowl, mix together flour, salt, and cocoa powder.

2.  In a medium microwave-safe bowl, stir the chocolate and margarine.  Microwave in 30 second increments until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.

3.  Add the sugar to the chocolate mixture, and then the eggs.  Mix in the vanilla.

4.  Pour chocolate mixture over dry ingredients and stir until just blended.

5.  Pour batter into a greased 8x8 pan.  Bake at 325 for 30  minutes. 

6.  While brownies are baking, prepare ganache:  Place chopped chocolate in a small bowl.  

7.  Measure cream into a glass measuring cup.  Microwave for 90 seconds until cream is hot.

8.  Pour hot cream over chopped chocolate.  Let it sit for 1 minute and then stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth.  If needed, microwave for 15 seconds, until chocolate is melted.

9.  Let ganache sit until it's thicken, about 30 minutes. 

10.  When brownies are done, let them cool for about 15 minutes.  Then pour ganache over the brownies and spread evenly. 

11.  Sprinkle with toffee bits and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. 

Source: A Farmgirl's Dabbles

Sanding Sugar

Have you ever wanted to decorate something with colored sugar like homemade Peeps, or cookies?  And then you go to your pantry to discover that you never bought colored sugar.  Now, you can make your own colored sugar at home.  It's so simple!

Just 2 ingredients:
Sugar
Food coloring (can use gel or liquid)

1.  Place sugar in a bowl.

2.  Add a small amount of food coloring to the sugar.

3.  Stir until food coloring is evenly distributed through sugar, adding more if you need to.

4.  Store in an airtight container.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Chicken Cordon Bleu is one of my favorite meals.  It's one that I would often request when it was my birthday and I got to choose the dinner.  I don't make it too often though because it can be quite time consuming and a pain to roll up and keep the filling in the chicken.  I knew there had to be another way, and guess what?  There is!  This is such an easy way to make Chicken Cordon Bleu and it tastes the same as the more complicated version!

You will need:
2 chicken breasts
2 slices of thick sliced ham
2 slices Monterrey Jack cheese
breadcrumbs

1.  Slice each piece of chicken in half, but don't slice all the way through, to create a pocket.

2.  Place a piece of ham in the pocket.

3.  Place a piece of cheese on top of the ham.

4.  Close the chicken with a toothpick.

5.  Sprinkle the top of each chicken breast with breadcrumbs.

6.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, until chicken is cooked all the way through.