Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

 

 

Crust:

1 C flour

1/4 C light brown sugar

1/2 C butter, room temperature

Cream Cheese Filling:

1 (8 oz) block cream cheese, room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

Cheesecake Filling:

1/4 C sugar

1 egg

Apples:

2 Granny Smith apples, diced (I used 1 Granny Smith and 1 Pacific Rose) 

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice 

1 T sugar 

Streusel Topping:

1/2 C packed brown sugar

1/2 C flour

1/4 C old fashioned oats

1/4 C butter, room temperature

Caramel sauce

 

Preheat oven to 350°

In a 8X8 pan combine crust ingredients, flour, brown sugar and butter. Using a fork combine the ingredients until they make a coarse crumb and press mixture firmly in the bottom of the pan and bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, vanilla, 1/4 cup sugar and egg. Beat until combined and smooth. Set aside.

Dice apples and sprinkle with the 1 T sugar and 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice. Stir until coated evenly. Set aside.

Make streusel by combining all ingredients, brown sugar, flour, oats and butter and stir with your  fork until evenly mixed. Set aside. I used extra melted butter because it was dry. I also added a dash of cinnamon.

When crust is done baking, spread the cream cheese mixture on top of warm crust, top with diced apples and finally with streusel. But back in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, until center is set. Let the pan cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes and then place in refrigerator to chill for approximately 2 hours, or overnight. Cut into squares when ready to serve and drizzle caramel sauce all over the top.

 

Recipe from: The Inspired Dreamer

Pizza Pull Apart Bread

You want something easy and I mean ridiculously easy, this is it. Kenna and I just threw it together, baked it, and ate it. They are affectionately known as Pizza Puffs now.

1 can of biscuits (cut into fourths)
5-6 T olive oil
1 T Italian Seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder (you can do less if you don't like that much garlic)
1 C mozzarella cheese
1/2 C parmesan cheese
Toppings: olives, pepperoni, ham, mushrooms etc.

Preheat oven to 350.
Cut biscuits into fourths.
In a bowl combine everything, tossing it so that the biscuits get covered with everything evenly.
Place in a 9X13 pan and bake for about 18 mins.
Serve with marinara sauce.

Recipe adapted from: Sweet and Simple Living

Red Velvet Oreo Cupcakes

Kenna loves Oreos! So it only makes sense that we made Oreo cupcakes for her birthday. It also only makes sense that they were in penguin cupcake liners since she loves penguins too. So a shout out to an awesome sister and Happy Birthday! I freakin love you!

Cake:
1 box red velvet cake mix
3 eggs
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 c sour cream
1/2 c buttermilk
2 tsp vanilla extract
Oreos

Frosting:
10 Oreos (just the cookie, scrape off middle)
1/2 c softened butter
8 ounces cream cheese
2 tsp vanilla
4 c powdered sugar
heavy whipping cream
Oreos for decoration

 

Line pans with cupcake liners and put an Oreo in the bottom of each. 

Sift cake mix into a small bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, oil, sour cream, buttermilk and vanilla extract until smooth.

Stir in cake mix.  

Scoop batter over each Oreo to fill the liners about 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 for 16 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool.

Oreo Frosting: Take your Oreo cookies (just the chocolate pieces and not the filling) and crush in a plastic bag using a rolling pin. If you have a food processor that works the best! Sift your finely crushed Oreos to remove any lumps, because if you use a piping bag any big cookie pieces will clog it. In a stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla extract and a little whipping cream and slowly add powdered sugar until you reach your desired consistency. Fold in crushed Oreos. Don't stir too much or the frosting will turn a gross (yet delicious) grey color.

Pipe onto cooled cupcakes and top with extra Oreos.

Recipe from: Your Cup of Cake

Musings of: Frozen’s Let It Go & Change

I wrote most of this post over a month ago and then chickened out. I was thinking to myself, I don't think I'm ready for this kind of scrutiny. That may be right, however, I did feel like I had something to say. Also some controversial posts came out, which made me think I didn't want to be a part of that. I realized though that you choose what you want to see and this is what I saw. This is how it made me feel.

By raise of hands, how many of you out there had this song speak to your heart? Almost all of you…I thought so. Why is it that we can relate to a song telling us to Let It Go? What and why are we holding onto that makes us feel like we can’t show our true selves? Especially for women, do we feel like “conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know,” has become an integral part of life? Why is that?

Let’s start with the what that we hold onto. We have this “swirling storm inside” of us. It’s all the things we are responsible for; in addition to, all of our hopes and dreams. The storm that is responsibility: jobs, children, bills, family etc. Included in that storm are our aspirations of all the things we hope for, for ourselves, for our loved ones. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying let go of all your responsibilities. The key here is to let go of the worry, guilt, fear, and stress that make it so that the responsibilities overwhelm the adventure that is life. Do I have the perfect formula? Of course not! Everyone will have something that works for them. For me when the worry wave starts to crash against my shore and I feel like I’m going to drown I have to remember that I love the beach. Haha, no it means I look for my lighthouse. I look for the reason to break through, the light that guides me back to the walk along the sand. It also means I need some distance. Distance from the environment or situation. Sometimes we can get that distance when we blare our music and drive up Big Cottonwood canyon but when we can’t we need to force ourselves to view what’s going on from an objective distance. Getting lost in the moment happens so often that, of course, hindsight is 20/20. Trying to catch some of that hindsight early is the trick.

Change always starts in the same place. It starts with you, whether it's a change for yourself in your life or a change in the world. It always starts with the person you see in the mirror. The mirror is just a reflection of who we see. I believe we choose what we see. Change starts with a conscious effort of thought pattern change. For so long my thoughts were self-defeatist to the extreme. It's what I was taught. I would start trying to change, trying something new and halfway through it, I would end up sitting there lost in my own thought of, you can't you can't you can't, only to realize 20 minutes had gone by and I would have to stand up and just start doing something. It would happen again and again and I just have to keep standing up and continue working towards my goals. Change is constant. It has flow into almost every aspect of your life, so that the repetition sticks.

The why of what we hold onto being because we are constantly putting on a show/mask for others, “don’t let them in, don’t let them see, be the good girl you always have to be.” I feel like the Queen of Isolation, like if anyone were to really know what goes on in my crazy head they would give me that raised eyebrow look and call for a straightjacket, so I stay in my “Kingdom of Isolation.” It boils down to this idea of perfection. This ideal that is stuck in everyone’s mind, the picture that doesn’t exist, if someone were to look close enough there would be a flaw. A flaw, that in my opinion, would make it unique. Elsa's power spirals in frozen fractals, which fractals are uneven and irregular. Every snowflake is unique. Every diamond has a flaw. It's our uniqueness and our differences that make us beautiful, that in itself is perfect. The why for me is because of fear. For me it’s rejection, even as I am writing this I had to stop myself from stopping. The habit kicks in, stay hidden where you can’t get hurt. But does that really mean I’m not hurt? It doesn't. I think that most people need to be accepted somewhere. Even if you can say, I don’t care what people think, there is an innate desire inside most of us to belong somewhere. Everyone needs to feel needed. Here we are wanting to feel like people understand us, like we belong somewhere and yet so afraid to show our true selves. If we don't put ourselves out there, we'll never even have the chance to be accepted.

If you have ever read, “You Are Special” by Max Lucado, you'll know that the important thing is being so confident in yourself that the stickers can't stick. (Read it!) It goes back to what we choose to see in the mirror and having it be the outward reflection that we show people. We will choose to see ourselves as beautiful, confident, talented, intelligent, capable, caring, kind, and inspiring people such that everyone else sees it too.

I believe all of us have it within us to build our own beautiful ice castle, not to hide up on mountain but to share with the world. Letting go of the fear holding us back. For me this post was about letting it go. I am so afraid of putting myself out there when so many of my friends have blogs, talents, careers or families and I feel like I don’t have something unique. I do have talents to offer. I have potential that I don’t want to let go to waste any longer. I am ready to “test my limits and break through.” Corny as it may be that a Disney song really made me take a look, Disney rocks!

Chicken Parmesan

Spicy pasta. Ever since we had some in Edinburgh I have been wanting to duplicate it. We were staying in this hotel on the waterfront and the closest food was a strip mall with a couple restaurants. We ordered some spaghetti and meatballs and it was so different from what we usually had and we loved it. I have been making this chicken parmesan recipe for awhile and I like that it has a little kick to it. This is a really delicious dish that gets gobbled up in thirds and any leftovers get eaten the next day.

Chicken Parmesan:
2 cans petite diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup water
1 can (2 cups) low-sodium chicken broth
1 box of pasta (I use shells)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more to sprinkle on top
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 oz (about 1 cup) shredded mozzarella cheese
1-2 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
Fresh parsley or fresh basil

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt and cook just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the diced tomatoes, the water, and the chicken broth, bring the mixture to a vigorous simmer and add the pasta to the pan, stirring to combine. Then cover the pan and continue simmering (you may need to reduce the heat slightly) until the pasta is tender, about 16-18 minutes. Stir the pasta frequently as it cooks.
Preheat the oven to 475 F.
It will be ready when the liquid is gone. Remove the cover and stir in 3/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the pepper, and the chicken. Put the mixture into a 9X13 pan and sprinkle the top evenly with the mozzarella cheese and some parmesan cheese on top. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and bubbles around the edges. Garnish with the fresh parsley or basil, then serve.

Recipe Adapted from: Tracey's Culinary Adventures

the best part of eating is who you share it with

this is how we always are ;)