Turtle Cheesecake

So as I type this, I just want to share that I am enjoying a piece of said cheesecake. It's so very rich, and I have to take very small bites....so delicious.

Turtle Cheesecake

Crust:

1 & 3/4 cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup melted butter

Combine crumbs and butter. Press onto bottom and sides of prepared pan.

Filling:

3 pkgs. (8oz. each) cream cheese, softened

1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup sugar

3 large eggs

2 Tbs. lime juice (yes, you read that right)

1 Tbs. vanilla

1 & 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Beat cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add sugar, eggs, lime juice, and vanilla; beat until combined. Microwave chips until melted. Stir 2 cups of cheesecake batter into melted chips; mix well.

Layer batter into crust, starting and ending with white batter. (I just scoop and swirl the chocolate batter, not spread out, it's much thicker than the white batter, and way too hard to smooth out.)
Bake for 1 hour 10 -15 minutes at 300 until edge is set and center moves slightly. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes; run knife around edge of cheesecake. Cool completely.
Topping
Hot fudge ice cream topping
Caramel syrup or ice cream topping
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans, toasted
1/4 cup mini chips
Drizzle syrups and sprinkle with nuts and chips. Refrigerate for several hours, or over night. Remove side of pan.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

My friend Danielle brought these amazing cookies to lunch one day, since they've became our favorite cookie. She got the recipe from Money Saving Mom. Yesterday I made a batch to take to some friends, and with all my recipes packed away in storage some place between Virgina and Colorado, I had to hunt Danielle's blog, and google before I finally texted Danielle to ask where I could find it. So for my own personal convenience, I'm posting the recipe on my own blog. But wanted to give credit, where credit is due.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup butter
1/3 cup peanut butter (I used at least a cup)
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 & 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I used half white, half whole wheat)
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt (I didn't use this much, I don't like to use salt in cookies, so I reduced to a pinch)
2 cups oats (Any kind)
12 oz chocolate chips
Cream first 6 ingredients together.
Add flour/soda/salt mixture.
Stir in oats and chocolate chips.
Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

I'm thinking the next time I make these cookies - this week, for Frank's care package- I'm going to add nuts as well.

Peanut-Peanut Butter Cup-Cupcakes

What can I say? It all started with a craving; peanut butter cupcakes, with rich chocolate icing. Fueled by a riveting episode of Cupcake Wars, and armed with a new idea of topping the pre-baked cupcakes with chopped peanuts, I entered the kitchen yesterday afternoon. Here are the results...

Nothing hard about making these... I used a Dunkin Hines cake mix - I know it's sacrilegious- but I wanted cupcakes, and I wanted them now. My capacity for standing long periods of time have diminished considerably, especially after a full morning of shopping and foregoing a nap to get dinner started. According to true form I doctored the mix a bit and added a cup or more of creamy peanut butter. Scoop, sprinkle (with said peanuts), bake, cool.

Not matter how lazy I feel, I can always muster up enough energy to make my own icing. So that's what I did... butter, vanilla, cocoa powder, melted chocolate, powdered sugar, cream, and Voila! Bag, pipe, sprinkle and top with the new mini Reese's. Best part was sharing with some very dear friends at our prayer meeting last night :)

Deluxe Cheeseburger Salad

Yea, sounds a bit beyond weird, right? I was skeptical the first time I had this salad at a Pampered Chef training event. But it's soooo good. It's been a little while since I made this last, but was organizing pictures last night, and found this one. This is pretty popular when Frank is back on the low carb diet, I just eat his croutons.

Deluxe Cheesburger Salad
4 sesame seed hamburger bun tops - I usually use the bottoms too... I love all toasted bread, so...
1 small red onion, divided
2 plum tomatoes
3/4 pound ground beef - I use a whole pound, or whole package.
1/2 cup sliced dill pickles -  If I feel lazy, which is almost always, I use relish.
3/4 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
8 cups thinly sliced romaine lettuce - I use spinach, or mixed greens.
1 cup (ha!) shredded cheddar cheese - You can never have enough cheese.

I don't measure when I make this recipe... I just mix and taste. I love mustard and don't really like ketchup, so adjust according to your preferences. The above measurements are from Pampered Chef.

Preheat over to 425. Slice bun tops into 1/4 inch strips, arrange a single layer on baking sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes until lightly toasted. Remove from oven and cool.
Cut onion in half crosswise; slice one half of onion into thin rings, dice remaining half. Set aside.
Cut tomatoes lengthwise into quarters and slice crosswise. Set aside.
Cook beef until no longer pink.
Dice pickles, or use relish. ;)
Combine chopped onion, pickles (relish), ketchup and mustard. Add cooked beef, mix well.
Assemble as pictured. I assemble on individual plates. That way I can store any leftover lettuce and beef mixture separate, in case I want to eat the beef mixture hot. Frank likes to eat the leftover salad cold, so I make his containers with meat.

Cranberry Cake

This morning before church, my domesticated self, whipped up Cranberry Cake. This was a first time recipe for me to prepare, although my mom has been making it since we moved south of the Mason Dixon.

Cranberry Cake
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup softened butter
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 & 1/2 cups cranberries
1 cup chopped pecans
almonds

Beat eggs with sugar for 5 minutes.
Add butter and extracts.
Stir in flour, then cranberries and pecans. Today I used walnuts. Also we use a whole bag of cranberries - no sense in saving leftover berries to rot in the fridge.
Top with slivered almonds.
Bake at 350 for 55 minutes - 1 hour.

Becoming Domesticated One Project at a Time

I am by no means a crafty person. I do not recover furniture. I don't know how to use a hot glue gun. I have never spray painted. I don't scrapbook, and I do not anticipate I ever will. My skills with a hammer are minimal, at best. But ever since I stumbled upon Pinterest I have become somewhat obsessed. It started with a wanting a sewing machine for Christmas... My mom told me, "Rachel, I'm not your Santa anymore. You need to tell Frank." A lot of good that would do. Then Christmas morning I got a surprise... A Singer! (From my momma) There was only one slight problem, I didn't know how to sew. I can hand stitch enough to get by and I can sew on buttons, my skills were limited to that. Thus began the past 2 week journey of learning how to thread my machine, thread a bobbin and so on. I visited the local fabric store and I have never been so lost. After wandering the store for more than an hour, I emerged with 4 scrap pieces of fabric, 3 spools of thread and an angry toddler... She was mine to begin with. Turns out my fabric was enough to make a purse for me and Kay (said toddler). Another visit back to the fabric store, with mom in tow, resulted in material for handles and some buttons. I got my pattern from Pinterest. Although, I altered the pattern and made my purse bigger. Because face it, purses are never big enough. I finished my purse before my trip to Texas, I wanted to surprise Frank, he had no idea I was using my machine, let alone that it was out of the box. He was beside himself, "what do you mean, you made it?" "I know you bought this, where'd you get it, and how much did it cost me..." And so on. This morning I finished Kay's purse. And here are the results...

Here is where I got the pattern and instructions... 

http://vintagericrac.blogspot.com/2008/01/1-hour-bag-tutorial.html

My purse has two pockets, because I'm a bit obsessed with organization, and Kay's has one. I also put a magnetic snap type thing in mine.

Next sewing project will be an ECU (my Alma Mater) T-shirt quilt...

The. Brownie Trifle

1 pkg. (18.25) brownie mix - it makes a difference. Get the right size!
ingredients for brownies... you need 2 eggs, oil and water for the Betty Crocker mix.
3 tsp. instant coffee granules
1 & 3/4 cups cold milk
2 cups cool whip, thawed
2 pkgs. white chocolate instant pudding and pie filling (This is a challenge, I can only ever find the sugar free white chocolate pudding, and I never buy sugar free, because what would be the point of having a sugar free dessert? You can use cheesecake, vanilla, chocolate... Whatever your heart desires...)
3 toffee bars
1/4 cup warm water

I always take this dessert somewhere, so I always make a double batch. I do this for 2 reasons.
1. A full batch doesn't quite fill my trifle bowl, and kind of looks like I'm bringing a half finished dessert.
and 2. I like to have leftovers. And if you take this dessert somewhere, the chances of you bringing some home are not good.

So I use about a batch and a half for the party and layer up the rest for my family. :) It's a win-win.

Bake brownies according to package in a 9x13. Use cake-like directions.
Cool completely.
Dissolve coffee granules in warm water.
Whisk milk into pudding mix until mixture begins to thicken. Add coffee to pudding, mix well.
Fold in cool whip. I use the whole container.
Why? 1. It's ridiculous to measure 2 cups out. It's close enough. and 2. You can never have too much cool whip.
Cut brownies into 1 inch cubes. I'm very particular about my layers, so I section the pan off for my 3 layers.
Chop toffee bars. I do this one at a time, so I know how much to use on each layer.
Layer 1/3 of brownie cubes onto bottom of trifle bowl.
Top with 1/3 of pudding, pressing lightly, and 1/3 of toffee bars. If you're like me, 1 bar.
And. Repeat. Then repeat again.
Chill 30 minutes.

The longer it sits, the better. I usually make this first thing in the morning for an evening event. I would do it the night before but the later it gets, the lazier I get.

Enjoy :)