Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies

Seriously. No heart-healthy ingredients here! My older daughter loves cream cheese, my son loves peanut butter, and, as you can tell from this photo, my younger daughter simply loves butter! Our afternoon adventure arose out of a promise that everyone could contribute their favorite ingredient to our cooking project. Somehow we turned out a fabulously yummy concoction!

THE BROWNIE

8 0z (1/4 c.) butter (softened to room temp)
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1 c. brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1/3 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1/4 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 c. chocolate chips

1. Line a 9x13 pan with foil and lightly grease it. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Cream butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add brown sugar and mix. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until creamy. Combine flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder in a separate bowl. Gradually add it to creamy mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread in lined pan.

THE CHEESECAKE

8 to 10 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temp
1/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 t. vanilla

Blend all these ingredients together. Drop about 8 or so spoonfuls on top of the brownie batter already in the lined pan. Take a spatula or butter knife and swirl the two together.

COOK FOR ABOUT 40 minutes at 350. Cool and turn the foil onto a cutting board to cut into squares. I think they taste great warm or chilled! Enjoy!!

Creole Chicken Simmer

I had never heard of creole seasoning before I moved to Charlotte, but since I have been here I have seen a lot of recipes that call for creole seasoning. I imagine you can get it anywhere - I bought a brand called Tony Chachere's. However, if you wanted to make your own I have seen the following ingredients suggested: 2 Tbs ground cayenne, 2 Tbs black pepper, 4 Tbs paprika, 1 tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 Tbs garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder.

This recipe is so easy and very delicious. Enjoy!

2 T. olive oil
2 lbs. chicken, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 c. flour or corn starch
2 T. creole seasoning
1 large onion, diced
4 oz. sliced mushrooms (or canned)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 handful of rice


1. 1/4 c. flour OR corn starch (if you use corn starch, do not use the excess in your sauce because it will make the sauce too think) mixed with 2 T. creole seasoning in a large plastic bag

2. Cut up 2 lbs. or so of chicken breasts and toss them in the seasoned flour.

3. Heat 2 T. olive oil in a dutch oven or other heavy bottomed pan. Add the onion and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the seasoned chicken and mushrooms. Cook until the chicken is cooked through - about 15 minutes.

4. Scrape the bits of seasoned flour off the bottom of the pan and stir well. Add the diced tomatoes. Add any remaining seasoned flour. Stir well. Cook for another 15 minutes over medium heat.

5. Add the rice. Cover and simmer over low for 45 minutes.

** Corn starch is a great substitute for flour as a thickening agent if you are cooking gluten free. However, you generally need about 1/2 the amount of corn starch as you would flour.

Coconut Blondies

I almost cried when I bit into these chewy, chocolatey blondies because they tasted so good. I don't mind being gluten-free for most of the day ... but when it comes to desserts, it can really be tough to come up with comparable GF goodies. This recipe is SO GOOD ... and SO EASY ... and totally GLUTEN FREE. Enjoy.

Coconut Blondies

1 c. flour (I used Gluten-Free Pantry's Beth's All-Purpose Baking Flour)
1/4 t. salt
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter (melted and cooled)
1 egg
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1 c. coconut
1 c. chocolate chips

1. Grease an 8 or 9 inch square pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine the flour and salt in a small bowl.

3. Combine butter and brown sugar in a mixing bowl. Mix until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla. Continue mixing.

4. Slowly add the flour mixture.

5. Add the chocolate chips and the coconut.

6. Pour into pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The top will be golden. Just check to make sure it is set in the middle. Cool completely and cut into squares. Enjoy!

Key Lime Martini

So this is my first drink posting ... believe it or not, I had never had key lime pie until about a week ago. For some reason it just never appealed to me! However, this summer my mother-in-law left me a copy of Southern Living magazine as a housewarming present to honor my big move to North Carolina. I skimmed over everything but the recipes. A recipe that caught my eye was one for Key Lime Pie. As soon as I saw that the major ingredient in Key Lime Pie was sweetened condensed milk - canned food of the gods! - I knew I had to try it. (I will post that recipe later.!)

I set about making a Key Lime Pie for an upcoming in-law visit and when my MIL got here she said that a Key Lime Pie would probably taste great with a Key Lime Martini. Who was I to say NO?



I will honestly tell you that I never make mixed drinks any fancier than a margarita. That is the extent of my bartender skills so this martini experience was a learning one for me.

The first thing that I learned ... a jigger (the little silver pourer for measuring alcohol) has 2 sides ... the smaller side is 1 oz. and the larger side is 1 1/2 oz. - for this drink you will use both sides of the jigger.

You will need ...

Vanilla Vodka (we used Stoli)
Midori
Pineapple Juice
Cream
Limes
Sugar
Crushed graham crackers (we used teddy grahams)

1. Prepare the glass. Cut the limes into slices. Rim the glass with the juice from a lime and then roll the lip of the glass in the crushed graham crackers.

2. Prepare the drink. If you are a novice, like me, you will measure everything... In a drink shaker measure 1 1/2 oz. Stoli Vanilla, 1 oz. midori, 1 1 /2 oz. pineapple juice, and 1 1/2 oz. cream with a pinch of sugar over ice cubes. (Basically the midori is the only ingredient you measure in the small side.) Shake.

3. Pour the drink into the prepared glass. Add the lime. Enjoy!

My unsolicited advice ... limit yourself to no more than 2 of these fabulous things. They taste very non-alcoholic ... consider yourself warned! Cheers!

Spinach and Potato Curry

Wow! This recipe is absolutely fantastic. Serve this with rice (spiced basmati rice, perhaps) and you have a meal.  At an Indian restaurant, you might see something called Saag Aloo - that also means Spinach and Potato Curry - but their version will probably look a little different than mine!
Ingredients:
1 cup water
6 oz. baby spinach leaves
1 T. olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 piece ginger (about an inch) peel and dice 3 cloves garlic, diced
1 t. salt
2 T. Calcutta Heat Curry powder (or use 1 T. turmeric and 2 t. cayenne pepper or crushed red pepper)
6 medium potatoes, diced into small cubes

Directions:
1. In medium saucepan, bring 1 cup water to boil. Add spinach leaves and cover. Steam them over high heat for about 5 minutes. Remove the spinach with tongs and reserve the cooking water for later. Drain the leaves in a colander and let them cool a bit while you cook the potatoes and onions.
2. Heat 1 T. olive oil in a deep skillet or dutch oven. Add the onion and cook for about 10 minutes until it starts to brown. Add garlic, ginger, salt, curry powder. Cook for a few more minutes. Add the spinach water and stir.
3. Squeeze the excess water from the spinach and add to the pan. Add the potatoes and stir well. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender. If the pieces are small enough it might take only 10 minutes or so.
Serve as a side dish or over rice as a meal unto itself! Delicious!

X-Wing Fighter Cake

X-Wing Fighter Cake

Believe it or not, this lovely creation was for my husband, not my son. Apparently, B felt left out of the cake action. After Q got a Little Einsteins Rocket cake, B felt that he should be able to pick something fun for his birthday - who cares if he is 34, not 4? I jokingly told him I would make him an R2-D2 cake due to his love for all things Star Wars ... his reply, "How about an X-Wing Fighter?" X-Wing Fighter? Seriously? Well, I did my best...

This was actually a lot easier than an R2-D2 cake so I think it worked out in the end. I started out by baking 2 mini loaf pans and one large flat layer (in a pan about the size of a cookie pan but a little deeper). I let everything cool over night and put the pieces together on day 2. My vision was to use the mini loaf pans for the wings and slice the jelly roll cake layer into three even strips to use for the body.

Step 1. Body - Slice jelly roll cake into three layers. Lay one thin layer down the middle of your space. I decided to use white frosting. I debated between white and gray - but decided white would work. Easy won out. Frost your one thin layer and place the second thin layer on top. Taking a sharp knife, shape the cake so that the front looks like the nose of the plane.

Step 2. Cockpit - take the third slice and cut out 2 pieces that can serve as your cockpit. One part of your cockit will be where R2-D2 sits and the front part of the cockpit, of course, will be for Luke Skywalker. If you have an action figure to use in your cake - all the better.

Step 3. Wings - slice the bumpy tops off your mini loaf pans and place them to the sides of the body. Frost with white frosting.

Step 4. Engines, etc - I used Pepperidge Farm Pirouettes (cylindrical cookies), marshmallows cut in half and long lollipop sticks from Michael's to create my engines, rocket boosters, etc. I stuck toothpicks into the chocolate middle of the pirouette to attach 1/2 of a marshmallow and stuck that under each wing where the wing touches the body and on top of each wing where the wings touch near the cockpit. I used 4 more pirouettes for the end of the wings where the long stick-like things point out almost as long as the body of the plane itself. I simply stuck the lollipop sticks into the chocolate middles of the pirouette and placed one under and one over each wing on the end.

Step 5. The details - I bought a 4 pack of primary color fondant writing gels (also from Michael's) to create the red and yellow details on the body of the plane. I outlined the different shapes, scribbled gel in the middle and then smoothed it out with a knife. It came out quite nicely.

Enjoy! This was not very hard and it got rave reviews from our friends. Let me know how it goes!