Monday's Munchie

Cookies & Cream Mini Cheescakes

My husband loves anything cookies and cream. I was looking for something to make for dessert and I came across THIS recipe on The Girl Who Ate Everything blog and made it and it was SO easy and my hubby loved them! They reminded us a lot of our favorite cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. I definitely recommend making these but only if you don't mind going back for seconds!

Here is my spin on the recipe......

(I cut the original recipe in half and then in half again because I have a small family and didn't want the temptation of having all that cheesecake in my fridge :)

1 package of Neufchatle cream cheese (1/3 less fat than regular cream cheese)

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup melted white chocolate chips

4-5 crushed Oreos

6 whole Oreos

Mix the cream cheese and sugar with a hand mixer.

Add the vanilla and egg & mix

Next, add 1/4 cup of sour cream

Melt your white chocolate chips in a separate dish

Add 2 tablespoons of the cheese mixture into the chocolate and stir

Now, add the chocolate into the rest of the cheese mixture.

Mix in your crushed Oreos.

Place an Oreo in the bottom of a lined muffin tin and pour the mixture over the Oreo cookie.

(I fill to the very top of the muffin tin).

Bake at 275 for 22-25 minutes.

Let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes and once cool remove from pan and refrigerate for 2 hours. Top with whip cream!

Makes 6-7 mini cheesecakes

Monday's Munchie- Halloween Dessert

In our little family, we have started a tradition where we go to a little pumpkin stand to pick out our pumpkins the Monday before Halloween, for Family Home Evening. So, it being the Monday before Halloween, tonight is the night we are going! We will be having Chili and Cornbread for dinner and then when we het home from the pumpkin patch we will devour these heavenly Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies! They have the perfect amount of spice and pumpkin flavor. They are moist and light at the same time. You have to try these delicious bites of heaven. You won't be disappointed.

( I got this recipe from a friend awhile back and adapted it a little to my liking to the ingredients that I always have on hand in my pantry.)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

4 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice or allspice

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup shortening or margarine
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cup pumpkin
1 cup chocolate chips


Cream butter & sugar. Add eggs, pumpkin & vanilla.
Add 1/2 of flour mixture a stir to combine. Add the rest of flour mixture with chocolate chips.
Preheat oven to 350.
Bake for 12-13 minutes.

* the recipe calls for shortening instead of butter, but I never have shortening just because it kinda grosses me out. I like the mixture of butter & margarine.
* the original recipe also calls for allspice, but I rarely have it on hand, so I use pumpkin pie spice and it tastes just as good.

Monday's Munchie

Pudding Pie

It seems like every summer we eat alot of this pudding pie dessert.  It is just light, cool and refreshing!

1- 3.9 ounce box of instant pudding (we prefer chocolate)
 
1 standard size graham cracker crust

OR

Our favorite.....individual size graham cracker crusts (comes in a pack of 6)


Prepare the instant pudding to the directions on the box.
    (usually it calls for 2 cups of milk.  Whisk in the pudding mix into the milk.  Whisk for 2 minutes & let  
      sit for 5 minutes to thicken.)
Pour into crust & refridgerate for 15-30 minutes.

Eat as is or top with whip cream & cookie crumbs if you are so inclined!

Monday's Munchie (a day late)

Yesterday for our family Memorial Day BBQ, I made a grape salad. I didn't take a picture, but it is probably a good thing because the salad's look can be a little deceiving. I think the common question was "what is that?" with their nose crunched in disgust. Not what you want when you bring a dish to a gathering, but everyone's soon changed their tune when they tasted this glorious salad! It was completely devoured by everyone! So, with further ado, requested by my sister-in-laws the recipe........


Grape salad

2 pounds red seedless grapes
2 pounds green grapes

1- 8 ounce package softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 container of cool whip
2 Tbl white sugar
1cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup chopped (toasted & glazed w/ brown sugar) pecans
2-3Tbl brown sugar

Wash & dry grapes

Combine cream cheese, sour cream & beat together
Add sugars & vanilla.
Beat until light & fluffy
Fold in whip cream

Add grapes to a 9x13 dish
Add 3/4 of cream mixture to grapes & stir well to cover all the grapes
Pour remaining cream mixture over all the grapes & smooth out

Toast pecans in a dry skillet on stovetop over medium- medium low for 5 minutes. (your nose will know when they are done)
Add a Tablespoon (or 2 or 3) of brown sugar to the pecans and stir to cover all the pecans.
Chop pecans and scatter over grapes.
Spinkle a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar over the entire salad to finish it off.

Refrigerate for an hour & serve it chilled.

( I found 2 different recipes for this salad & took things from both & did my own thing with my salad. 1 recipe used cream cheese, sour cream & white sugar. The other used cream cheese, whip cream & powdered sugar. I think I came up with the best of both worlds :)

Hope you enjoy!

Monday's Munchie

Happy Monday!  Last week was so busy and I had an even busier weekend but I just have to share this recipe that I came across and made this weekend.  I found a recipe for Homeade French Bread on the Meals to Deals Blog....found HERE. (This is one of my favorite blogs that helps you with food storage and how to use your food storage)  We had friends over for dinner so I made this bread and made hoagies out of it and it turned out pretty good.  My husband liked it better than the store bought french bread which is quite the compliment from him :)  So, you should try it and if you do let me know what you think!

Homemade French Bread
from deals to meals website

This makes 3 small loaves or 2 large2 1/2 c. warm water

2 T. yeast
3 T. sugar
2 T. white vinegar

Add these ingredients together and let sit until bubbly

1 T. salt
1/3 c. oil (I use Canola)
5 1/2-6 c. flour (or a little more if it's too soft)

Knead for 2-5 mintues and then put in the oven with a small pot of boiling water. The water will keep the dough moist. Watch the dough and punch it down when it gets to the top of the mixing bowl. Do this every time it gets to the top of the bowl, as long as you have time to babysit it (2-5 times). Put the dough on a greased countertop and divide into 3 sections. Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and sprinkle a thin layer of cornmeal on the bottom of the sheet. Roll the dough balls into rectangle/long French bread shapes. Slash tops of bread diagonally 3-5 times and cover with a beaten egg. Let rise 30 minutes (or until doubled)on the counter, or you can put them in your oven at 170 and wait until they are the size you want to cook them at. Once they are to the right size, turn up your stove to 375 (without opening the door!) and let them bake until done. Or, just raise on the counter and bake at 375 for 30 minutes. Enjoy! Dough--can be a little soft, if too sticky, add a little more flour. Put the boiling water in the oven with your bowl of dough to help it rise faster. Cut the dough into four equal parts (or six if you are making smaller loaves).Slice the dough diagonally and white wash with 1 beaten egg. Bake and serve warm out of the oven!

Monday's Munchie

I have had a busy weekend and already a busy Monday morning, So today's munchie is a quick fix dessert that I just love when I am in a bind and need something FAST!  A staple that I always have in my pantry is Betty Crocker Cookie Mixes.

I have to give credit to my friend, Emily who told me about these little bags of goodness.  She brought over some warm, out of the oven cookies one night and they were just delightful!  I asked her for the recipe and she told me they were a mix!  My favorite is the Chocolate Chip Cookie and the Peanut Butter is a close second.  Some of the other Cookie Mixes they have are Sugar Cookies, Oatmeal, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Double Chocolate Chip I like to stock up on them when they are $1 a piece and then I have them on hand when I am in need.  Tonight for Family Home Evening, we will be having the Peanut Butter Cookies with Resee's Mini Peanut Butter Cups mixed in....YUM!

Don't forget about the GIVEAWAY that ends tomorrow morning at 10am!

Monday's Munchie

Egg Salad BLT

In Leu of Easter leftovers I thought I would share a recipe I tried from Our Best Bites a couple weeks ago for Egg Salad Sandwhiches.  It was really yummy and light feeling with adding lemon zest into the egg mixture.  This is what we are having for dinner tonight!

1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
3 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Dash of salt
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon rind
8 hard boiled eggs

4 Rolls, (or 8 slices peasant bread/firm sandwich bread), toasted
8 bacon slices, cooked
8 slices tomato
4 large lettuce leaves

*if you like it extra tangy, add a teaspoon of vinegar too.

Monday's Munchie

Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies

My husband LOVES these cookies!  They are light, soft and oh so yummy!  I got this recipe from watching Paula Deen on the Food Network. You can go HERE if you want a video tutorial. They are very easy to mix together because you only need a few ingredients.

Ingredients

• 1 (8-ounce) brick cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 stick butter, at room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (18-ounce) box moist chocolate cake mix
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll the chilled batter into tablespoon sized balls and then roll them in confectioner's sugar.

 I use a cookie scoop to make my life easier. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart and lightly smoosh the cookies. 

Bake for 12 minutes and tada...yummy chocolate cookies!

Monday's Munchie

Cinnabon Caramel Corn

I made this for Family Home Evening last week and it was delicious!  It was fairly easy and I had everything already in my pantry; a win, win in my recipe book!

Recipe from:
Our Best Bites

12 C popped popcorn (about 1/2 C kernels)*
1 C roughly chopped pecans
1 C brown sugar
3/4 t cinnamon
1/4 C Karo syrup (or honey makes a good substitution)
1 stick real butter (1/2 C)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
3 squares almond bark


Go to the website for a video tutorial!

Monday's Munchie

This is my all time favorite banana bread!  It is so easy and quick to put together and it comes out so moist and yummy!  My 2 year old can't get enough of it and loves when I make them into muffins for breakfast.

  I found this recipe off one of my FAVORITE blogs, I Heart Naptime.  Follow THIS link to check it out!

1 stick butter                              

11/3 c sugar

2 eggs

 1 tsp vanilla

1 c sour cream

2 c flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 c mashed bananas

1 c milk chocolate chips

1/2 c chopped pecans (optional - I left these out!)

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in separate bowl. Slowly add to sugar mixture. Fold in bananas, nuts, and chocolate chips.  Pour into 2 loaf pans or 2 muffin pans-or 1 of each. Bake at 325 for 1 hour in a loaf pan or 25 min in a muffin pan.

My little spin on these little yummies.....

*  I don't add the chocolate chips in when I make it because I usually make muffin for breakfast but I am sure it would be quite yummy to have chocolate chips in there!  I also like to substitute plain yogurt instead of sour cream to make them a little more figure friendly (you can't even tell...they are still very moist)!

Hope you enjoy!

Monday's Munchie

I am letting you in on a little secret of mine.....my go to recipe for chocolate chip cookies.  This is by no means a crunchy cookie that spreads out flat once it enters the oven.  I am not a fan of hard cookies at all!  I like soft, moist, chocolaty little pieces of heaven. If you are like me you will LOVE this cookie.  This is my husbands favorite cookie and it just happens to be SUPER SIMPLE to make.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 box of yellow cake mix
1 stick of (softened) butter or margarine
1/2 cup of creamy peanut butter (sometimes I do 1/4 cup creamy, 1/4 cup crunchy)
2 Eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips (I never measure.....just put in how much you want)

Combine all the ingredients together (except the choc. chips) and mix.  I wouldn't use a hand mixer because the dough is quite thick.  I just take the opportunity to burn a few calories (since I will be devouring cookies) and mix by hand.  Once combined add in the chocolate chips.

I use a cookie dough scoop to measure and form my cookies but you can just eye it if that is what you are used to. I do highly recommend a scoop, though.  It is just a time saver and makes your cookies all come out the same size and they are all done at the same time!

Bake @ 350
9-11 minutes
(these cookies stay light in color and will burn on the bottoms if you don't keep an eye on them, so once you see they are set take them out!)
Let them set on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

* you can also try a chocolate or devils food cake mix for double chocolate chip peanut butter cookies.  Both are fantastic!

I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!