Blueberry and Lemon Baby Cheesecakes

Baby Cheesecakes
12 muffin cup liners (I used Reynolds Foil Baking Cups)
12 vanilla wafer cookies
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
finely grated zest of 1 lemon (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place muffin cup liners in muffin pan(s).  Place 1 vanilla wafer in each muffin cup liner.
Combine eggs, cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly with a mixer. Pour over vanilla wafers in muffin papers.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Don't be alarmed if the cheesecakes come out of the oven rather puffy. They settle as they cool and create a perfect little cup which can be filled later.  Top with cooled blueberry sauce (or cherry pie filling or jams).  Since I was transporting these to work, I brought the sauce in a separate container and topped each cheesecake just prior to serving.

Blueberry and Lemon Sauce

1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 teaspoons corn starch
dash of salt
1/2 cup water
1 pint (2 cups) blueberries (fresh or frozen)
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium sized pot.  Stir in blueberries and water.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, until clear and thickened (about 4 to 5 minutes).  Remove from heat and add lemon juice and zest.  This is not a thick sauce, but thickened slightly when cool.  It's great over waffles, ice cream, and baby cheesecakes. This recipe probably makes enough sauce for a double recipe of baby cheese cakes.  The leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator and reheated (if desired).

The cheesecake recipe comes from a friend, Cindi. She brought these cheesecakes (topped with canned cherry pie filling) to a potluck I attended over 15 years ago. Adding lemon zest to the batter was my only alteration. 

The blueberry sauce recipe is another recipe I've had for years but never made at home. Why did I wait so long... it's so easy, good, and delicious!  When growing up in Oregon, we sometimes went to u-pick berry farms not too far from our home. We would bring home the berries and my mom would make awesome strawberry freezer jam and freeze baggies of blueberries for weekend breakfasts.  The blueberry sauce is one of several blueberry recipes my my mom got one day at a blueberry farm.  This sauce is amazing over pancakes and waffles. As for me, my all time favorite is a waffle topped with chunky peanut butter and hot blueberry sauce.  You have got to try that!

Note:  I made these recipes before but never took photos.  Posting this for the 2nd time.

Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits

Look what I made today!  Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits.

I think pretty much everyone who goes to Red Lobster likes their biscuits.  I've only been to Red Lobster twice and the second time I went, I was definitely looking forward to these buttery, flaky gems.

Nope, they are not from scratch.  Look what we found at Sams Club today. I was really hungry when we went to Sams and they say you shouldn't go grocery shopping when you are hungry precisely because things like this end up in your cart.  So glad they did.  Yum!



Oh, you can see my Mother's Day Flowers from my son in the backgrond.

Pretty darn easy.  Just add water and a little grated sharp cheddar cheese to the dry biscuit mix.
While the biscuits bake, you melt some butter and add in the contents of the foil packet.  When the biscuits are done baking, you brush the butter over the hot biscuits.

 

We had breakfast for dinner.  Black Forrest ham (also from Sams Club, a cheesy biscuit, and an over easy egg).  Good stuff.

 

 

I was most curious about the contents of the seasoning packet (the "Garlic Herb Blend").  To me, it smelled like a chicken bouillon cube.  The photo above shows the contents in the seasoning packet.  I think it would be easy enough to make biscuits just like this using a biscuit mix (such as Bisquick) and add in some sharp cheddar cheese.  Then melt some butter and season it with garlic powder, onion powder, salt, sugar, dried parsley flakes... I might just try this... but I think I'll leave out the maltodextrin, malic acid, silicon dioxide, and some of that other stuff.   I will give this a try someday and let you know how it goes.  But for now, I have enough to whip up these biscuits two more times... because, as you know, boxes like this from Sams Club (or Costco) are BIG!

I really think the "Garlic Herb Blend" smelled a lot like chicken bouillon.

Super (Souper) Nachos and NEW Ginsu Knives

Super * Souper * Nachos

Another recipe from my husband... who really doesn't cook.

A few years back, the boys said they wanted "nachos" on Super Bowl Sunday.  We've been making nachos at home like this ever since.  We had this for dinner on Mother's Day on Sunday.  I cooked but I did not do the dishes.

This meal is kind of decadent but darn good comfort food.  It's also a pretty quick and easy meal for a week night. The thing that makes our version of nachos different is that we combine 1 can of Campbell's Fiesta Nacho Cheese Soup with 1/2 a can of refried beans.  We used to heat this combination, which basically makes a hot dip, we ate it with crunchy corn tortilla chips, and we called it "dinner".   Now our nachos have become more elaborate.

Super Souper Nachos

1 pound ground beef
approx. 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, salt, ground black pepper, & crushed red pepper flakes
approx. 1/8 teaspoon dried basil & dried oregano
1 can (14 - 15 ounce size) refried beans (we like Rosarita brand fat-free refried beans)
1 can Campbell's Fiesta Nacho Cheese Soup
1 big bag of Doritos (we like Tapatio Flavor, Taco Flavor, and Nacho Cheese Flavor) or any other corn tortilla chips

Your favorite nacho toppings:
diced tomatoes
shredded ice berg or romaine lettuce
diced red onion or diced yellow onion
jalapeno slices (from a jar)
grated cheese (optional)
sliced olives
sour cream or low fat plain yogurt
your favorite salsa (optional) if desired

In a large skillet, cook and crumble the ground beef until no pink remains.  Drain fat if necessary and season the ground beef.  We really never measure these spices... just a few pinches of the basil and oregano... but we use even more of the garlic powder, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes.  So much easier and tastier than those salty taco seasoning packets.

Meanwhile, in a medium sized pot, combine the can of cheese soup with 1/2 can of the refried beans.  Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently and cooking until bubbling and very hot.   If desired, heat the remaining 1/2 can of refried beans (in the microwave oven) to serve with the nachos or save for another use (See Mexican Eggs recipe HERE which is a great use for leftover refried beans.  Have this for breakfast tomorrow!).

We serve our Super Souper Nachos family style... small containers of the nacho toppings are scattered all over the dining room table and everyone gets to make their nachos to suit their own tastes.  Layer the chips on a big plate (we like to mash up the chips a bit with our hands), sprinkle on some of the seasoned ground beef, drizzle on the hot cheesy bean concoction, and top as desired with your favorite nacho toppings.  Eat with a fork or dig in with your hands.  Enjoy!

Servings: should easily serve 4 people but sadly our family of 3 will eat this all in one sitting. Doh!

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I mentioned above that I made this meal for Mother's Day this past Sunday.  What made this FUN was that I had some Ginsu Knives delivered to my house on Saturday.  You see, my brother-in-law went to the Annual Berkshire Hathaway Convention in Omaha, Nebraska, earlier this month.  From what I what I understand, various companies in which Berkshire Hathaway invests have booths displaying their wares at the convention.  I knew Warren Buffett was into Coca Cola and  Dairy Queen... turns out Ginsu knives factor in there some where too.  Lucky for me!  I used the knives to chop up my nacho toppings and these knives are great! 

Question:  The ultimate test of how good (or bad) a knife is?

Answer:  How well the knife works cutting a ripe tomato!  My new knives rock!

When we were eating the nachos my husband commented, "Why all the extra veggies!"
My reply... "I was having so much fun chopping veggies, I just couldn't stop!"

Cutting the tomato was like a hot knife going through butter.  So stoked about my great new knives.  I especially like the knife that is not serrated; the knife which is the second from the top in the photo above.  I think this is a "santoku" knife.  It's a little smaller than my chef's knife (which is an adjustment) but I LOVE it!

Slow Cooker Italian Beef Roast with Potatoes & Vegetables

I was going to try to make a pot roast recipe which called for 1 packet of Ranch Dressing mix, 1 packet of Zesty Italian Dressing mix, and 1 packet of Brown Gravy mix.  But the Brown Gravy part scared me. I made this instead...

I put 1/2 of the jar of Tomato & Basil sauce in the bottom of the slow cooker... and then I added in the big beef roast... "plop!"  (Sound effects... cool!)

Then I surrounded the roast with a bunch of scrubbed russet potatoes... that's the Zesty Italian Dressing packet sprinkled on top of the roast...

Then I added in the veggies... I had to leave out the second bell pepper since the slow cooker was getting mighy full.

 I was concered I might violate a slow cooker maximum capacity rule and the "Food Police" might come 'a knockin' on my door, but it all turned out fine...

Then I topped all the veggies and the taters with the other 1/2 of sauce.  I cooked it on high for about 3 1/2 hours and then I cooked it on low for about 3 1/2 more hours.  Slow cookers are rather flexible that way.

Slow Cooker Italian Beef Roast with Potatoes & Vegetables

1 beef rump roast or beef chuck roast (about 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 pounds), remove visible fat
6 to 8 small russet potatoes, unpeeled & scrubbed
1 red onion, coarsely chopped
1 bell pepper (I used red), coarsely chopped
5-6 cloves fresh garlic, paper layers removed
about 3/4 cup grape tomatoes (optional)
1 jar (approximately 24 ounces or 3 cups) tomato pasta sauce (I used Barilla Tomato & Basil)
1 packet dry Good Seasons Zesty Italian salad dressing mix..

Pour 1/2 of the jar of pasta sauce into the bottom of the slow cooker.  Place roast in slow cooker and surround with potatoes.  Sprinkle the dry salad dressing mix over the roast.  Add in chopped veggies, whole cloves of garlic, and grape tomatoes (if using).  Pour the remainder of the pasta sauce over the veggies and potatoes.  Cover and cook for 9 to 10 hours on low (or like I did... 3 1/2 hours on high and then 3 1/2 hours on low).

This week I did my big grocery shopping at Safeway.  I prefer to go to Kroger (City Market) but they are undergoing major construction and I was nearly in tears last week in the "self-check-out-line".  You see, no cash registers were open and I had to check out an entire cart of groceries and the thing just stopped working and I was in a hurry you see because I had pies baking in the oven at home!  Argh!!!!! 

So I went to Safeway with my Value Card, digital coupons, and paper coupons in hand.  I tried really hard to shop the sales but I got confused by a few things.  I paid $10.47 for 3 packages of Oscar Mayer turkey bacon that I really did not need because the ad said "3 for $5.00".  Turns out that was a special for Friday only (and I did my shopping on Thursday)! Doh!

I also would have sworn the label on the shelf said "McCormick Brand Spices... buy 2 and get the 3rd one FREE!"  But it did not get rung up that way.

I also found myself buying some convenience foods I would not ordinarily buy since I was trying to catch the sales.  Got some "Hot Pockets" and "Lean Pockets" and Eggo Waffles.  They won't go to waste and will great for days when I over sleep and need a quick breakfast and don't know what to bring for lunch.

I also bought an extra bag of tortilla chips thinking it was "buy 1 get 1 free" but turns out it was "buy 2 get 2 free". 

Live and learn, right? Changing grocery stores is tough.  But all in all, I did okay... saved 31% on my total bill.  

My beef roast for the Slow Cooker Beef Roast with Potatoes & Vegetables was on sale for $3.99 per pound. 

My big score was Hormel brand BBQ fully-cooked ribs for the guys.  They are spendy... a huge rack of ribs for $19.95... but they were "buy 1 get 1 free".  A super easy dinner for the guys with some canned corn and instant mashed taters.  If you were to go to Chili's Restaurant for this meal, it would have easily been a $60.00 to $70.00 for our family and the portions would have been significantly smaller.

Healthy Carrot Cake: Happy Mother's Day to Me!

 

 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU WONDERFUL MOMS! 

 

 

 

In celebration of Mother's Day... I made myself a cake.

 

This is the only magazine for which I have a subscription and it feels just like Christmas each time it comes in the mail... I can't wait to open it up!

Ahhh, you had me at Carrot Cake!

Oh, this looks so good... do you see that nutrition information in the lower right corner.  This is a recipe makeover.  Before... 430 calories per serving.  After... 177 calories per serving.

 

 So of course I had to make it... as you can see, I made two. 

 

I brought one cake to share with all of my lady friends at my Thursday afternoon knitting group at Grandma's Beads and Yarn in Canon City.  This shop is in the back of Word's of Life, a bookstore and gift shop on the Historic Main Street.  The owner of Word's of Life now owns the yarn shop as well.  I spend a lot of time here.  You can see all the gorgeous, colorful yarn in the background.

 

The gals at the knit shop sure liked the cake...

 

 

I put the second cake in this pie pan... my Christmas present from Zach.  When he saw this in the fridge when he got home from school, he was thinking I had made pie for him and he was horribly disappointed to see I did not make pie!  A "terrible mean trick!" he said.

 

 

Oh, do you see the fresh orange zest in the icing!?  Mmmmmm! 

Oh, I like taking photos of this pretty cake!

 

 

Sorry, I got a little carried away with photography.  I wanted to show you how pretty this cake is!

 

I had a slice of cake last night for dessert after dinner with some Tangerine Orange herbal tea. 

Sadly no one in my family will even try this cake. Happy Mother's Day to me!

Carrot Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Icing
from www.cleaneatingmag.com

Ingredients:

For the cake:

cooking spray
3 large carrots, ends trimmed and peeled (I think I used way more carrots that that)
1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. sea salt (I used iodized salt)
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom (optional)
2 large eggs
2/3 cup maple sugar (I used 2/3 cup graulated sugar and 1 tablespoon real maple syrup)
1/4 cup safflower oil (I used Wesson vegetable oil)
1/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt (do not use non fat or Greek)

For the icing:

1/2 cup Neufchatel, low fat cream cheese (room temperature)
1/4 cup raw honey (I used clover honey from bear-shaped container)
1 tsp. orange zest

Sorry, but it's Mother's Day and I don't feel like typing so I snapped photos.

I brought a 3rd of the cake to my good friend, Tracy.  She was excited.  She let's me hold her new pug puppy and I bring her cake!  It's a very symbiotic relationship (Sorry, I'm a Biology Nerd!)



Me and Sweet Belle (grainy cell phone photo)

Lasagna Soup

Lasagna Soup

I read a blog called My Bizzy Kitchen nearly every day. I sure like this blog. From reading the blog, I feel like I can relate pretty well with the blog's writer who refers to herself as "Biz".  She's about the same age as me, she likes to cook, and she's been struggling with keeping her weight down; I can relate to all of that.  She blogs about pretty much everything she eats and also what she is doing for exercise.  She is diabetic and often includes Weight Watcher's points for many of her recipes (if you find that helpful).

I have tried a number of Biz's recipes and they are all fantastic.  In general I get lots of good ideas from seeing what she's cooking and eating.  Biz has been going on and on about Lasagna Soup so I decided to give it a whirl.  Biz says she's making the recipe she found on a blog called Two dogs in the Kitchen.

 

Broken up pieces of lasagna pasta... any small or medium sized pasta would do (bowties and shells come to mind).  I will use something other than lasagna next time... a little easier to eat in soup...

 

 I cooked the soup, portioned it out into 4 servings, and the kept the pasta in a separate container.  The pasta, if left in the soup, would soak up all the soupy-ness and the pasta might get mushy.

 

When I was ready to have some soup, I warmed up one portion in the microwave for about 2 minutes, added in a bit of the cooked pasta, and then warmed it for another 30 seconds in the microwave.  I put a scoop of "cheesy goodness" in the bottom of my soup bowl and then added in the hot soup.

So tasty.  It really does taste like Lasagna!

I strayed wildly from the recipe as written but it still turned out great.  I've been making lots of homemade pizza lately and I never quite use an entire jar of sauce (I use two kinds of Bertolli brand jarred tomato pasta sauces).  I started to save the leftover sauce in the freezer in small plastic storage containers so when I made this soup, I thawed some of the leftover odds and ends of sauce and even threw in 1/2 of a small can of tomato sauce which was also in the freezer.  I used leftover cooked crumbled Italian sausage (Johnsonville brand hot bulk Italian sausage) and leftover lasagna noodles.  I just had to get some ricotta cheese at the store for the "cheesy goodness".  You CANNOT skip the "cheesy goodness" (see below)!

Lasagna Soup

For the soup:
2 cups jarred tomato marinara sauce (such as Bertolli brand tomato basil sauce)
1/4 cup tomato sauce (optional)
1 cup water
1 can (14.5 ounce size) chicken broth
cooked crumbled Italian sausage (I used less than 1/2 pound)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
5 to 6 ounces dried pasta

For the "cheesy goodness" which is what TOTALLY makes the soup amazingly wonderful:
4 ounces ricotta cheese (I used a low fat/lower calorie variety, Friggo brand)
2 to 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (I used KRAFT brand)
a generous pinch of salt
a few grinds of black pepper.

In a soup pot, combine all of the soup ingredients except the pasta.  Bring to a boil, cover with a lid, and allow to gently simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package instructions.  I used left over lasagna noodles which I broke into small pieces but any small or medium sized pasta would be great.  Drain the pasta and spread out on a cookie tray or platter to cool.  If desired, drizzle a little olive oil on the pasta to keep it from sticking together. I skipped this to save on calories.

In a small bowl, make up the "cheesy goodness".  Combine the ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper; stir well with a fork to combine.

To serve, place 1/4 of the "cheesy goodness" in a soup bowl.  Add in 1/4 of the cooked pasta and cover with hot soup. Stir in the cheesy goodness and enjoy!

I stored my soup, pasta, and cheesy goodness in the refrigerator in separate containers to keep the pasta from absorbing all of the soup liquid.  I added the cheesy goodness to each individual portion of warmed up soup.  This soup was so good I had it for lunch and for dinner yesterday!

Taco Pizza

TACO PIZZA

A recipe from my husband... Taco Pizza.  We've been making this recipe for years but I keep tweaking it.  It's one of my husband's favorite meals and it's actually a vegetarian dish... which is hilarious to anyone who knows my husband because he's quite the carnivore.  My husband said when he was a kid, he loved to go to "Happy Joe's Pizza" and get a taco pizza.  It would come smothered with shredded ice berg lettuce and sliced fresh tomato and he tells me how he used to remove and throw away all the tomatoes. Now he likes the tomatoes.  Here is our version...



It doesn't look like much... crust, sauce, diced red onion, and grated cheese... but wait... there's more.

Crushed corn tortilla chips for crunch.  This time we used Tostitos brand blue corn chips... great!

A few teaspoons of warm and creamy refried beans (from a can).  My husband does not eat the pizza with beans... so the beans are optional but I think they add a LOT!

Here's where it gets really good.  Shredded lettuce and lots of fresh diced tomatoes... add a little salt and black pepper if desired.

And if you want to get even fancier, drizzle on a little sour cream.  I use low-fat plain yogurt.  I added a sprinkle of salt and freshly ground black pepper after I snapped this photo.

You can make this meal with your own favorite crust recipe, your own favorite taco sauce, and you can add your other favorite taco toppings... ground, seasoned hamburger, black olives, jalapeno slices.  Whatever you like.  The recipe below is very flexible.  It's more of an idea than a precise recipe.

I have used home made pizza dough but I have also used pre-baked pizza crust such as Mama Mary's, which I think are very good (if you are using a pre-baked crust, follow the cooking instructions on the package).

Taco Pizza

1/2 recipe pizza crust - See RECIPE below or use your favorite store bought crust
about 1 cup taco sauce (we use Ortega brand mild taco sauce)
1/2 to 3/4 cup red onion (small dice) - yellow onion works too
1 to 1 1/2 cups grated cheese (cheddar, colby jack, Mexican blend)
canned refried beans, warmed in microwave
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes
sour cream or plain yogurt
optional toppings: black olives, sliced jalapenos, radishes

I yammered on and on about making great homemade pizza at home in a recent post about pizza; click HERE to see that post.  I will be more brief this time around. I measure nothing when I throw this together.  It's all about the ingredients, your preferences, and technique for using a pizza stone.

Ready to make this Taco Pizza? Let's go!

1. Move your oven rack to the highest position available.
2. Place your pizza stone in the oven on the top rack.
3. Preheat your oven and pizza stone to 485 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. Assemble all of your ingredients and have them ready; you want to work rather quickly once the dough hits the hot, hot, hot pizza stone.
5. On a cutting board, sheet pan, or clean counter top, roll your crust out into a sort of round shape about the size of your pizza stone. Use a little a little flour on your work surface and rolling pin to keep the dough from sticking. You can also put a little cornmeal under the dough.
6. Once your pizza stone and oven are preheated to 485 degrees, put your smokin' hot pizza stone on the counter top every hot pad you own to protect your counter top. Carefully put the dough on the pizza stone... shape the dough a little if you need to but it pretty much starts to cook the second you put the dough on the stone so you don't have a lot of time to mess with it. Top the dough with taco sauce, grated cheese, and diced onion. Quickly and carefully get this pie in the oven.
7. Bake 10 to 13 minutes, depending on how well done you like your pizza. I like it crisp on the bottom and the cheese browned on the top. Start checking after 10 minutes. Things can change quickly in 1 minute when the oven is this hot. I usually turn the pizza 180 degrees since the back of my oven is hotter than the front of the oven.
8. Slide pizza carefully off of the pizza stone and onto a cutting board or sheet pan; slice into 8 slices.  Top as desired with taco fixings. Enjoy!

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Bread Machine Pizza Crust (makes 2 large, thin pizza crusts)

1 cup warm water

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons yeast (I use Fleishman's bread machine yeast; keep in in the fridge)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Place ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed. I put the yeast on top of the flour and I put the salt, yeast, sugar, and oil, in the corners. Set to "dough" setting and start (according to your bread machine's instructions. My dough cycle takes 1 1/2 hours.  Let the dough rest for about 20 to 30 minutes before rolling out.  If dough is refrigerated, let it come to room temperature before rolling (sit out for 1 to 2 hours to come to room temperature).