Pepperoni Stuffed Pasta Bake

What does one do when one has the makings for lasagna but not the noodles?  One picks another pasta!

Remember those carnivores I told you about before?  Their idea of a perfect lasagna has lots of pepperoni and meat sauce.  Lots.  Oh, and LOTS of cheese - the more the merrier!

 
Pepperoni Stuffed Pasta Bake

Ingredients:

• 1 lb hamburger
  
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped sweet peppers
• 1 28 oz can/jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 28 oz can pureed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon Italian Seasonings
• salt & pepper to taste
• 8 oz pasta (I used Orecchiette - a cute little dried pasta I found at Trader Joe's)
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• 8 oz fresh mozzarella
• 16 oz container of ricotta 
• 2 eggs
• 1 additional tbsp Italian Seasonings
• thinly sliced pepperoni

 Directions:

1. Boil pasta in a large pot of water till al detente.  Drain and set aside.
2. Brown hamburger, drain off fat and add onion, garlic and peppers. Cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add the spaghetti sauce and the pureed tomatoes to the pot.  Cook on a low to medium heat for 15 minutes.
4. Prepare the ricotta by mixing the container with 2 eggs and Italian Seasonings.  Stir till smooth and light.
5. Slice the mozzerella.
6. Begin the layering by pouring just enough sauce to coat the bottom of a 9" x 13" baking dish.  Pour half the pasta in and spread around.  Add the ricotta mixture and smooth as best you can.  Place pepperoni across the surface.  Spoon on 1 1/2 cups of sauce.  
7. Add the rest of the pasta and place slices of mozzarella on top.  Place on additional pepperoni. Spoon on more sauce. 
8. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and finish up with a layer of pepperoni.
9. Bake 45 minutes (or until cooked through) in a 350 oven.
10. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving - it helps it to set.

Give it a try!
Have fun in the kitchen,
Carrie

Sweet Maple Green Beans - Yum!

We are HOPING to be gathering sap SOON.... albeit the weather isn't cooperating too well.  More cold AND snow in the forecast...What?  Really?  The good news is that hubby is still working on a "releaser" to help with the process and isn't quite done.  :)

That being said, I've been looking for some new recipes to utilize that natural, sweet goodness and ran across this SUPER easy one just the other day.  It involves some lovely green beans and a bit of maple syrup - sounds good, doesn't it?

Sweet Maple Green Beans

Ingredients:

2 cups green beans

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons maple syrup

Salt and pepper

How to Make It:

Steam green beans until softened. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the maple syrup and green beans saute for a few minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

How much easier can you get than that?  Bit o' butter, some syrup and viola!  What else do you put syrup on?

Have fun in the kitchen,
Carrie

OH ... man... Chocolate Nutella Tart...yes, that's what I said!

While thinking about what might absolutely fill my sweet tooth, I ran across this video for a Chocolate Nutella Tart from Cooking with Karma.  Unbelievably easy and sounds amazingly yummy!  What do you think?






I think it might have been perfect for Valentine's Day, but since I didn't see it till now, how about just as a "I need something sweet" dessert?  Let's give it a go!

Have fun in the kitchen,
Carrie

Spaghetti Squash Carbonara

After roasting my first spaghetti squash, I had to decide how exactly we were going to eat it.  I could have just tossed it on a plate as a side dish with a bit of butter, salt and pepper, but I was looking to try something a bit more daring AND, as I've been mentioning, we're fighting off the hopeful end of 'ol Man Winter, so baking things in the oven helps keep the house warmer!

I perused the Internet for recipes using this fun new veggie (to us) and ran across several that would help warm the house.  I took ideas from all I read and came up with my own take on  this one.  Here's the recipe - hope you like it!

Spaghetti Squash Carbonara

• 1 spaghetti squash, cut in half and roasted (see previous recipe)
• 5 strips of bacon
• 1/2 onion
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of plain yogurt
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• salt/pepper to taste

Start by preparing your squash.  I roasted mine in the oven with some olive oil and set it aside.  After it cools, use a fork or scoop out the shredded flesh inside and put in a bowl.

Cook up the bacon and dice the onion.  Drain off some of the bacon fat and then toss the chopped onion in to cook. Cut up the cooked bacon.

While the onions cook, whisk the eggs, add the yogurt, shredded cheese and salt/pepper.  Once that's good to go, pour into the bowl with the squash.  Add the chopped bacon and the cooked diced onion.

Spray a pie plate with oil and pour the mixture in.

Cook in 350 oven for 40-45 minutes and serve as a side dish.

Have you cooked with spaghetti squash?  What did you make?  Can't wait to try some other ideas!

Have fun in the kitchen,
Carrie

The Veggie with a SurpiseI Inside: Spaghetti Squash

One of the beauties of having a food blog is that one is forced outside the proverbial "box" - a LOT!  I mean would you all want to see burgers and chicken 7 days a week here?

So, I grabbed a veggie I've never tried that seemed to keep popping up as I was on the hunt for gluten free and low carb recipes: spaghetti squash.

This wonderful "winter" squash can be baked, boiled, steamed and microwaved.  Before you cook it, the flesh is solid, similar to other squash.  You need to dig out the seeds to get at the "meat," which, when cooked, falls apart into strands, like spaghetti.

Another bit of info I ran across: it's easy to grow!  Okay, boys and girls - looks like I might have to find me some spaghetti squash seeds!  I wonder if they have them at High Mowing Seeds?  I'll have to go take a peek...

So, I looked up some ways to cook this wonderous vegetable and ran across "How to Properly Roast a Spaghetti Squash" - how perfect!

• Cut the squash in half;
• Scoop out the seeds;
• Rub with olive oil (which makes ALL things better...)
• Brush the cooking sheet with olive oil;
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and
• Cook in a 375 oven for 35-45 min.

Viola!  You have a "base" for some great meals!

Have fun in the kitchen,
Carrie

Mashed Potato Soup - Perfect for These Cold Winter Days!

Did I mention it's been snowing almost every day?  We're kind of forgetting what that bright yellow orb in the sky is around here...

So, let's make some yummy soup!  Warm the soul and all that sort of thing.  Minimally, warm up the tummy.

I ran across a delicious recipe for Crock Pot Cheesy Potato Soup over at Tammilee's Tips and thought I could tweak it to match what I have on hand.

Here's my recipe:

Mashed Potato Soup

Put these ingredients in your Crock Pot:

• 6 chopped potatoes (more/less, depending on their size and how much you want to make)
• 1/2 an onion
• 2 cups chicken stock/broth
• Salt, pepper and minced dried garlic, to taste

Cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 7-9 hours.

Next ingredients:

• 1-2 cups of milk
• 1 cup of shredded cheese

Once they are cooked, mash them and add milk.  Here is a decision point for you: how much milk? Want them like regular mashed potatoes?  Add about 1 cup.  More "soupy"?  Add 2 cups.  

Now, time for the cheesy goodness.  Mix in 1 cup of your favorite (or on hand) shredded cheese.  I tend to have a BIG bag of cheddar/jack mix, so that's what I use.

Final ingredients:

• Bacon
• Additional Cheese
• Green onions

Want to make this a "loaded baked potato soup"?   If so, you just HAVE to have the above ingredients.  Cook up some bacon and crumble it; set aside more cheese (no such thing as too much, just saying) and chop up some green onions.  

After spooning out some soup in bowls, put out a platter with the additional ingredients for people to use.  Personally, TAKE YOUR BACON FIRST!  :)

This was a GREAT part of dinner and then lunch the next day - mmmmm... good!

Have fun in the kitchen,
Carrie

Video: Freezer Meals

I was checking out lots of different freezer cooking videos to find one to share with you and decided this one, by Natalie Dixon was the one I liked the most.  She has some good hints, yummy recipes and seems pretty "down to earth."




Her video is just over 16 minutes long, so grab a cup of coffee, perhaps a notepad and prepare to be impressed... I can't wait to try her chicken recipes!

In addition, after watching her video, I would definitely stop by her website (A Turtle's Life for Me)  for more info - I know I AM!!

Have fun in the kitchen,
Carrie

National Junk Food Day - DIY Cheez Its

While searching for a recipe for today I stumbled up this great video for making your own cheese crackers, AKA Cheez Its.  They are also perfect for the snack "remakes" we are playing around with for healthier foods in our current series!  If these are as good as they sound, the family will be thrilled as Cheez Its are hubby's favorites.

This looks like a great recipe and I can't wait to give it a try.  What do you think?  I like that the ingredients are limited, only 4 and there are WAY less things in them we can't pronounce! 




Hope my family enjoys them!
Happy cooking,
Carrie

Delicious Treats That Won't Tip the Scales - Day #1

We all want to indulge in tasty treats now and then; but if you're avoiding all those typical treats - chips, milkshakes, candy, cookies, cakes, and so forth - where do you turn? Are there still sweet and delicious foods that are healthy but still qualify as treats?

The answer lies, in part, in using substitutes. Fried and/or sugary foods may be off-limit, but you can substitute moderate amounts of healthy fats and oven-baking for the fried foods, and natural sugars and sweeteners instead of white sugar.

I thought I might share some recipes with you over the next few days for some tasty treats you might like to try.  Today's is one of our family favorites: oven-baked "fries." 

The crunchy saltiness of French fries and potato chips is almost irresistible, at least in my world. Instead of fried potatoes, why not try oven-baking them?

 
Oven Baked Fries

Ingredients

potatoes
olive oil
salt, pepper, seasonings

Directions

1. Cut washed potatoes into fry-sized strips or sticks.
2. Toss them in a little oil, about 1 teaspoon per potato. 
3. Stir in seasonings of your choice (such as salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, etc.)
4. Bake at 425 for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

 These are so delicious!  The whole family loves them - give them a try!
Have fun in the kitchen,
Carrie

Raspberry Creme Brulee --> We can do this!!

I was looking for a WOW me, summer fruit recipe and this wonderful video from Laura Vitale jumped right off the screen at me!  (New subscriber to her Youtube channel and blog follower, just saying...)

Just the words "creme brulee" scare me.  Right out of my socks.  Seriously, no way I could do this, BUT guess what?  I think we can, folks, thanks to Laura.

Take a peek and see what you think.



Shall we give this a try?  I'm in!

Happy cooking,
Carrie

National Sugar Cookie Day

In honor of National Sugar Cookie Day, I went about looking for a fun recipe to share.

Here's one that I found done by Betty of Betty's Kitchen.  I can't wait to try this!!




Do you have a favorite sugar cookie recipe?  I'd love to hear!

Have fun in the kitchen,
Carrie

Loaded Broccoli Slaw

While whipping up a few different salads for our 4th of July family BBQ, I decided to use up some broccoli I had in the frig and combined a few different recipes to get to where I ended up.

Broccoli Slaw is usually broccoli, onions, bacon, raisins, nuts and a sweet sauce.  We had all that PLUS some other ingredients I tossed in!

Take a peek - leave out what you don't care for, use the ideas that work for you and tweak it to be your own!

Loaded Broccoli Slaw

Ingredients

2 cups broccoli in bite size pieces
1/4 cup onion, diced
1 apple, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup nuts (I used almonds and walnuts - almonds were sliced and walnuts were finely chopped)
2 oz cheddar cheese, cut in small pieces
1/8 cup bacon bits (I would have preferred real bacon, but none in stock)
1/2 package Ramen noodles, uncooked and broken into small pieces
1/2 cup salad dressing, mayo OR Greek yogurt
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/8 cup sugar OR maple syrup (I didn't try that this time, but bet its GREAT!)
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions

1. Chop broccoli, onion, apple and nuts.
2. Cut up cheese and break up Ramen noodles
3. Mix broccoli, onion, apple, raisins, nuts, cheese, bacon bits and Ramen together in a bowl.
4. In a small bowl, stir together salad dressing, red wine vinegar, sweetener and pepper.
5. Once it's mixed, pour it over the salad and combine.
6. Cover and put in the refrigerator for at least 1/2 hour to help tastes blend.

 NOTES:

• Some people like the Ramen crunchier, so, hold off on adding that till your ready to serve the salad.
• I used a full package of Ramen - it really only needed 1/2 package.  If you make a larger amount, a full package might work, otherwise, don't!
• I would like to try it with maple syrup for the sweetener (we don't use it in EVERYTHING!!!) and perhaps cider for the sour/tart flavor.  I think it would be a perfect fall salad that way.

Do you make Broccoli Slaw?  What do you add in?

Have fun in the kitchen!
Carrie

Strawberry Pretzel Crust Pie

We had a few extra strawberries yesterday so I decided to whip up a dessert with them.  I hopped over to Pinterest and went in search of something I could make with ingredients on hand and came up with a tasty looking pie over at Yammie's Noshery.  As often is the case, I didn't have everything her recipe for Strawberry Tart called for ... sigh... but that meant I could do a bit of tweaking and see what the result was!

As you might recall, we are into maple syrup here (Dodge Hill Family Farms) so I replaced the sugar in her recipe with maple syrup, based on the substitution ration you can find here at Maple Syrup World.  I also didn't use jello mix in my strawberry layer, I used about 1/2 cup of jello!  We had JUST used up the last of what we had.

Strawberry Pretzel Crust Pie

Ingredients
Crust:
2 cups finely crushed pretzels
1 1/2 cups melted margarine
1/2 cup sugar

Filling:
8 oz 1/3 fat cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups whipped topping

Strawberry Layer:
3/8 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp corn starch
1/2 cup jello (Made up!  Most other recipes use a portion of a package of jello mix - I had NONE!)
1 pint strawberries

Directions

1. Crush the pretzels.  I like to use a food processor as the family likes it as "smooth" as possible.
2. Mix crushed pretzels, margarine and sugar together, stirring until all ingredients are well mixed.
3. Empty the bowl into a pie pan and squish mixture out evenly.
4. Bake in 350 oven for just 10 minutes.
5. Set aside to cool.
6. Soften the cream cheese and mix in sugar and vanilla.  I DIDN'T use maple syrup here as I thought it might change the consistency of this layer.  Once they are well mixed, fold in the whipped topping and set in the refrigerator to wait.
7. Add maple syrup and water to a small pot.  Stir.  Once it's boiling, add the cornstarch and the jello.  Continue whisking for about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.  
8. Cut the strawberries and set aside.
9. Once the crust is cooled, add the cream cheese layer.  
10. Cover the filling with strawberries and pour the glaze over the top.
11. Put in the refrigerator till it's time to eat!

NOTES:

• Using the jello already mixed up was fine - it was yummy.
• I think I will try a graham cracker crust next time - the consistency of the pretzel crust didn't work for me, BUT that being said, my daughter-in-law liked the saltiness they provided, vs the rest of the pie.

Hope you have fun in the kitchen this weekend!!
Let me know what you are up to,
Carrie

What's in YOUR Potato Salad?

With some potato salad in production for today, I thought I'd ask what YOU put in yours?  Prior to spreading our family's culinary "wings" my potato salad was the epitome of boring: potatoes and Miracle Whip (salad dressing)... period...

We've started branching out and I came up with this version we all rather liked that I thought I'd share with you, after which I'd LOVE to hear about what you do!

My quantities vary, based on the size of the crowd.  It was a challenge to write the recipe because I adjust amounts around the potatoes!  Full bag, half bag, half dozen or four potatoes?  Each require an eye to the amounts of other ingredients.  That being said, feel free to tweak what I've listed in this particular recipe to your tastes.

One of the ingredients that REALLY jazzes this recipe up is the Trader Joe's Thai Yellow Curry Sauce.  I discovered this after chatting with a friend about what his wife put in the chicken at our wrestling banquet.  He told me he wasn't sure what it was, but that she got it at Trader Joe's and that it came ready to mix in.  I bought a bottle and have used it several times in a few different meals - it's GREAT in this!  Be careful though, if you use it.  We all agreed that a bit of background flavor was better than going for Thai-flavored potato salad, we can only take so much change at once!!

Jazzed Up Potato Salad

Ingredients
5 lbs potatoes
1 rib of celery, chopped
1/2 - 1 cup onion, chopped (we go light OR use green onion - it's an "onion thing" around here...)
1/2 - 1 cup chopped sweet peppers
1- 2 cups salad dressing or mayo
1 cup Greek yogurt
1/8 - 1/4 cup Trader Joe's Thai Yellow Curry Sauce (base this one on a taste test)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Peel, cut to the size pieces you want and boil the potatoes.  Then, let cool.
2. Chop celery, peppers and onions.  Set aside.
3. Mix salad dressing, Greek yogurt,Thai Curry Sauce, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Look at the amount.  Look at your potatoes.  Will it give good coverage?  No?  Add more of the salad dressing and yogurt.  Taste.  
4. Once the potatoes are cooled, place them in a big bowl.  Pour the dressing over the mixture.  Add the onions, peppers and celery and stir gently.  
5. Put in the refrigerator to let flavors meld and serve cold.

So, here's what I'm curious about: what goes into YOUR potato salad?  Do tell!

Have fun in the kitchen today and enjoy the 4th, all my friend in the US!
Carrie

Red, White & Blue Sundae --> Just in time for the holiday!

When I was thinking about all the fresh fruits available to us right now and what sort of dessert I could make for the 4th this week, I thought THIS recipe was perfect: Red, White & Blue Sundaes!

You'll need some vanilla ice cream, blueberries and strawberries - how perfect right now!




Let's get scooping!
Have a great day,
Carrie

Homemade Donuts

Today I would like to share a recipe handed down by my grandmother and mother-in-law (between the two, I think I got it right) that I make with my daughters.  We also use the recipe for donut making at the Monadnock Center for History & Culture (where I work) for Harvesting History Day each year.  You can smell them from the street!

It's for homemade donuts.

Incredibly yummy, fresh from the shortening, honest to goodness donuts.

Yes, you too can do this!  Please DO!

Here's how...

Fried Donuts

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 4 tbsp melted shortening
• 4 cups flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• shortening to fry donuts in

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat shortening to 370 degrees.
2. Beat the eggs. Then slowly add the sugar.
3. Once mixed, stir in milk and melted shortening.
4. Sift flour before measuring and resift with baking powder, spices and salt.
5. Mix the wet and dry ingredients.
6. Flour your cutting board and roll out the dough to about 1/4" (thicker the dough, thicker the donuts!).
7. Cut out the donuts. (I have a vintage donut cutter from my memere. It cuts the donut and hole at the same time. I have also done it with a glass and an apple corer. You can ALSO shape them by hand.)
8. Once the shortening is up to 370, drop donuts in one at a time. I do 3-4 at once. ** BE CAREFUL of the hot fat...yup...even after all these years I tend to get burned... I drop mine in by hand and turn them with a long handled wooden spoon. I use that to remove them, as well.
9. When you remove them, place them on a paper bag to absorb excess shortening.
10. Once they cool a wee bit, you can drop them in a bag of sugar, shake and EAT!!! Or, like my hubby, eat them right off the plate! 

 

What do you think, guys?  Willing to give it a try?  Let me know how they come out! BTW... just for the record, there is NOTHING low fat/low cal about these - just WICKED GOOD!
Happy cooking!
Hugs,
Carrie

Potato Leek Soup

The mighty leek is a member of the onion and garlic family - no surprise if you've ever eaten or cooked one. I find they have an onion-like taste and a similar consistency when cooked.  

Historically, according to Wikipedia, dried specimens were found in ancient Egyptian archeological sites and were concluded to be a part of the early Egyptian diet. (History geek alert!!)  Personally, I find them at the grocery store and purchase them several times a year.

After a recent trip to Trader Joe's, I found myself staring at a bag of frozen, chopped leaks at dinner time.  I also noticed a bag of shredded potatoes.  It occurred to me that between the two, this would be easy-peasy to prepare.  I decided it was time to make them part of an evening's meal.

The result: some mighty tasty soup.  At one point in it's creation, it was a mere clear soup - the sudden urge to make it a cream soup was masterful, if I don't say so myself!  I had purchased the powdered milk to make a cream soup base mix, but hadn't gotten to it yet.  That will be an upcoming blog post, for sure.  Have a gander at the resulting recipe.

Potato Leek Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1/2 onion 
1 rib celery
6 mushrooms (more or less to taste or what you have available)
dash of each, salt & pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 bag Trader Joe chopped leeks (equivalent of 1 leek. by my eye, at least)
1 1/2 cups Trader Joe shredded potatoes (about 1/3 bag)
1 cup dry, powdered milk (No powdered milk?  Use milk or cream instead)
32 oz container chicken or vegetable stock (or your equivalent)
1/2 tsp dill
1/4 tsp rosemary

Directions:

1. Pour olive oil, salt and pepper in pot.
2. Chop onion and celery.  Slice mushrooms.  Add to the pot and saute on medium heat for about 4 minutes.  Stir occasionally.
3. Put in leeks (chop first, if you have fresh) and 1 cup of stock, continue stirring.  Cook for 5 more minutes.
4. Add the rest of the stock, shredded potatoes and herbs, cooking for an additional 10 minutes.
5. Pour in powdered milk (or your other milk) and continue cooking for 3 minutes.

I brought this out to Bri to try (first course, I told him...being fancy).  He wanted to know what it was.  I said, "Try it first."  He did.  He loved it!  Yahoo!  Score one for me!

Hope you enjoy this recipe!
Carrie

Cream of **** Soup Mix: Quick, Easy & Healthy!

Have you ever looked at the ingredients on the back of a can of soup?  Don't.  Well, actually, do, but it might frighten you.  The number of things we can't pronounce and don't grow naturally are, well, scary.

To that end, there is less and less processed food finding it's way into our kitchen.  I say "less and less" - I am not the canned food police - I used what I need to.  But I am trying to make more informed choices.  That means NO cream of blah-blah soup.  Period.  That one I can control and replace with a super easy mix.

I did a bit of searching and found several recipes.  I tried some out and made up something that works for me.  Take a gander and then get yourself some powdered milk and give it a try!

 
Cream of  *** Soup Mix

Ingredients:
1 cup powdered milk
1 tbsp dried onion
1/8 cup chicken bouillon granules
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 tsp Italian Seasonings
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Pour all ingredients in a bowl and still with a whisk to combine thoroughly. 
2. Store in a glass jar or other marked container.

To use:

For one can of cream soup, combine in a saucepan, 1/3 cup of mixture and 1 1/4 cups of water and cook over medium heat.  Stir continuously until thick.  You are ready to go!

NOTE: This is NOT thick and gooey... but works well mixed in with other things.

Want cream of mushroom?  Slice, dice & saute several fresh mushrooms in olive oil.  Add to above mixture.  How about cream of celery?  Chop a stalk of celery and saute in olive oil  Add to cream mixture.

Get the idea?  What a delicious, simple way to cut out some of the additives and such in your diet!

Any more ideas?  Let me know.

Have a great day,
Carrie

Strawberry Topped Cinnamon Cheesecake

 Hello, all!

With strawberries in season here, I wanted to share a guest post I did for Seduction in the Kitchen recently.  As you might know, some recipes are born of mistakes.  This is one.  It was communication, or the lack of it that led to the error.  The good news?  It was all just fine in the end.

We were whipping up a cheesecake for hubby's birthday while trying to watch our grandsons, 3 & 2, at the same time.  Between making this and having their "help," I didn't get a chance to tell my daughter NOT to put cinnamon in the mix (as the recipe called for) and to make it plain.  So... we had a cinnamon cheesecake to work with.

The strawberries were a part of the plan from the get-go, all cut by my almost 4-year-old grandson using my Pampered Chef strawberry slicer.  Great way to get his help, safely.  He was pretty excited to be making a "strawberry cake" with me.

Some how, the tastes worked!  The strawberries blended with the creamy, cinnamon-y cheesecake for a tasty new dessert.  How wonderful!

Take a look:

Strawberry Topped Cinnamon Cheesecake

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 sleeve of graham crackers, crushed (approximately 5 oz worth)
1/4 cup of butter, melted

Filling:
3 packages cream cheese (8 oz each), softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs

Topping:
sliced strawberries, soaked in sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  
2. Slice strawberries, put in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar.  Refrigerate.
3. To make the crust, put graham crackers in a food processor and pulse till fine crumbs.  Pour into a small bowl and stir in melted butter.  Press mixture into the bottom of a spring form pan (perfect job for 3, almost 4-year-old!).
4. To make the filling, in a large bowl cream the cheese, sugars, cinnamon and vanilla.  Then beat with a mixer till creamy.  Add your eggs one at a time, incorporating each one.
5. Pour the filling into the spring form pan and smooth the top.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until the center is set.  Cool and then remove from pan and refrigerate for several hours. 
6. When ready to serve, top with strawberries and share!

This was one of our best "accidents" so far!

Have fun in the kitchen,
Carrie

Flavored Water - Citrus Style

I saw several ideas on Pinterest for flavored water and thought "I can do this..." so I gave it a try.  The jist of it is, we all NEED to drink plenty of water.  I am a coach and am encouraging my players all the time to be sure they stay hydrated.  I am the WORST at taking my own advice.  So, I thought this might help.

The idea is to add fruit to water.  Period.  No sugar.  Nothing artificial or unpronounceable to it.  Just fruit and water.  I'm in!

I've tried a citrus water and one made with pineapples.  I am a HUGE fan, so far!  They are really easy to make and good for us as it's just fruit and water - nothing added.

Citrus Water

1 each: orange, lemon, lime (or combination = 3)
ice
water
1. Slice each fruit and place in pitcher.
2. Fill pitcher half full with ice.
3. Fill rest of the way with water and put in the refrigerator.
4. Leave for at least 2 hours and then enjoy!

NOTE:
We found that this was only good tasting the first day, at which point it was delicious.  On the second day, it became very bitter from the rind of the fruits.  Downright nasty, actually!  So, drink it up on day #1!

 
Pineapple Water

1/2 bag of Trader Joe Frozen Pineapple Tidbits (16 oz bag, so 8 oz)
ice
water

1. Pour 1/2 of the bag of pineapple into the pitcher.
2. Fill pitcher half full with ice.
3. Fill rest of the way with water and put in the refrigerator.
4. Leave for at least 2 hours and then enjoy!

NOTE:
This seems to last better.  No bad taste on day #2.  Really enjoyed this one.  It was fresh tasting and refreshing!

We will be experimenting with more flavors over the summer as fruit comes available.  I've also   read about people adding herbs and such, like mint to pineapple flavored water.  Sounds like something I'll need to try!

Have you ever tried this?  Did you like it?  What flavor/flavors did you try?

Happy creating,
Carrie