Turtle Pumpkin Cheesecake

For all of you who asked me to post the recipe, here it is
in all it's quick and easy glory!?!
Wait! What?
YES!
You heard me right, I said "quick and easy glory!"

One of my favorite times of the year is when Fall starts.
Fall kicks off the cooler weather and the holiday season
for me and my family!
First comes Halloween, then Thanksgiving and Christmas!
What better way to enjoy the nice weather that fall brings or to kick
off the holiday season then a nice big slice of pie.
My Turtle Pumpkin Cheesecake is perfect for any time of the day.
Early in the morning, after you have taken the kids to school,
served with a cup of coffee or late night snuggled up with
your hubby and watching our favorite movie.
My Turtle Pumpkin Cheesecake is the SLICE of the ball
and warms your heart, even though it's served cold. CHEERS!




Turtle Pumpkin Cheesecake

1/2 cup pumpkin pie filling

1 Jell-O no bake cheese cake.....HA HA HA, this is the cheating part ;)

1 large graham cracker pie crust

1/3 cup of sugar

1 Tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

Backers Semi-Sweet backing chocolate

Crushed up Pecans for the topping

Preheat your oven to 350º

Open up your No-Bake Jell-O box and discard everything but the pie filling.
Take 3 squares of bakers chocolate and crush them up.
Follow instruction for mixing the Jell-O no bake pie filling.
Add the pumpkin pie filling, eggs, vanilla, sugar and crushed chocolate to the mix and beat until smooth.
Pour the mix into your pie crust.

Bake the pie for 40 minutes.
Cool on rack for 30 minutes.

While pie is cooling take 3 squares of the bakers chocolate and melt
with 2 Tbsp. butter in microwave.

Drizzle your pie with the chocolate, sprinkle pecans on top and let cool in refrigerator for at least 3 hours



EASY PEASY CHEERS!

Who says you have to wait for Thanksgiving to stuff a bird!?!

Well, it's Fall, the weather is starting to cool off here in Texas and it's also that lovely time of the year when EVERYONE comes down with some sort of yucky bug!

We here in the Davis house hold have a head cold and what sounds more comforting then an early Thanksgiving meal, well close enough to it that is ;)

Tonight I am making my daughter's favorite meal.A whole Roasted, Stuffed Chicken, homemade mashed potatoes, cheese and broccoli rice, baked beans, brown gravy and sweet dinner rolls.
Can you say " YUM YUM!"



I tried something a little different with the stuffing for the bird tonight.
I had a few Everything Bagels left over from the weekend so I decided to use them as my bread for the dressing. I add 1/2 a yellow onion, 3 stocks of chives, cut up, 1/3 cup of melted butter, 1/2 a cup of chicken stock and 2 and 1/2 of the bagels cut up and all mixed together then stuff a 5 bl. chicken with all of it.
I also mixed 1 stick of butter with garlic, salt and pepper and stuffed it under the skin of the chicken breast.



Cook the chicken for about 2 1/2 hours at 350º or until golden.

I can't think of a better way then this to comfort and relax a family with head colds.

YUM YUM and CHEERS!

Saturday Brunch

Today we are driving over to my in-laws house and I wanted to make something tasty for them.

What you need: makes two

10 eggs
1 Tbs. Salt
1 Tsp. pepper
1 tomato
2 deep dish pie shells
16 oz. bag of cut broccoli, thawed
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper diced
3 oz. of shredded Colby Jack cheese
4 oz. Philadelphia chive & onion cream cheese



In bowl beat eggs, salt and pepper.
In large bowl mix all other ingredients.
Poke the bottom of pie shells with a fork a few times and then brush with the egg mixture.
Pour veggie mix into both pie shells then top with egg mixture.

bake in the over at 375º for 45 or until top is golden brown and ENJOY!

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

I have always loved Hummus and Red Pepper hummus is my favorite so today I made some and let me just say WOW! YUM YUM you have to try my recipe if you love Red Pepper Hummus!


You will need

3 Tbsp. of minced garlic
2 15 oz. cans of garbanzo beans, drained
the juice from 3 lemons
3 red bell peppers
1 Tsp. chili powder
1 Tsp. paprika
2 Tbsp. of salt or just salt to taste
2 Tsp. black pepper or to taste
Olive oil....about 3 Tbsp. for the hummus
1 Tbsp. butter to cook the peppers with



First cut up your bell peppers and cook them on the stove top with 1 Tbsp. butter and a drizzle of olive oil until the peppers are soft.
Them combine all your ingredients in your food processor and process until smooth.
Transfer Hummus to bowl, cover and chill until you are ready to serve.

ENJOY!

New Kitchen

So, we have now been in our new home, here in the DFW area for a week now and I am LOVING my new kitchen!
I have been cooking my heart out and every morning I wake up with more and more recipes I want to try!

Today we are having Tim's family over, for the first time in the new house and I am cooking up a feast of new foods I have never tried cooking before.

First up,

Easy Baked Cheese & Vegetable Twist


What You Need

2 Eggs
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Italian* Three Cheese Blend
3 cups Frozen broccoli cuts, thawed, drained
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, cut into quarters
1/2 cup Cherry tomatoes, cut in half
4 Green onions, sliced
2 cans (8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
Make It

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

MIX first 3 ingredients in large bowl until well blended. Stir in next 4 ingredients.

UNROLL crescent dough; separate into 16 triangles. Arrange in 11-inch circle on foil-lined baking sheet, with short sides of triangles overlapping in center and points of triangles toward outside. You should have 3 or 4 extra, use them to fill in the middle so the hole is covered. Spoon cheese mixture onto dough near center of circle. Bring outside points of triangles up over filling, then tuck under dough in center of ring to cover filling.

BAKE 35 to 40 min. or until crust is golden brown and filling is heated through.


Same concept just with PIZZA!

Pizza Twist


What You Need

2 cans (8 oz. each) refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 14oz. jar of pizza sauce
2 1/2 cups of Finely shredded Monterey Jack & Cheddar cheese
1 pkg. pepperonis

HEAT oven to 375ºF.

UNROLL crescent dough; separate into 16 triangles. Arrange in 11-inch circle on foil-lined baking sheet, with short sides of triangles overlapping in center and points of triangles toward outside. You should have 3 or 4 extra, use them to fill in the middle so the hole is covered.
Now spoon pizza sauce onto crescent dough then layer cheese and pepperonis as high as you want then bring outside points of triangles up over filling.

BAKE 35 to 40 min. or until crust is golden brown and filling is heated through.



I am also cooking Salmon patties with lemon/pepper rice but I will post that up at a later date CHEERS!
Special thanks to Amber for the idea of filling in the middle with more crescent rolls!

No Meat Tex-Mex Tortilla Bake

We found out last Thursday that we are moving from the city I have lived in for the past 25 years,to Dallas TX and I have been one BIG ball of stress every day!
I haven't really done much grocery shopping lately so my kitchen has been kinda dry. Today I decided to rummage through the kitchen and find whatever I have and cook something. Cooking is such an excellent stress reliever, I don't know why I have waited so long before getting back in the kitchen again!

You will need;

1/2 cup of salsa
Olive oil
4 small potatos
1 cup of rice
chili powder
salt & pepper
2 small green bell peppers
half a yellow oinon
3 cups of shredded cheese
1 10oz. cane of Mild Old El Paso Enchilada Sauce
1/2 pkg. of Toca seasoning mix
4 Tortillas

Preheat your over to 350º Dice up your onion.
Clean and cut up your potatoes into bite size pieces. Dice up your bell peppers.
Spray cooking sheet with cooking spray. In lager bowl mix cut potatoes, 2 Tbsp of olive oil, diced bell peppers, 2 Tbsp of chili powder and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Spread out on cooking sheet and cook for about 35 minutes in oven.
While the potatoes are cooking, start cooking your cup of rice as directed on pkg.


After rice is fully cooked, mix 1/2 a pkg of taco seasoning mix into rice and stir well.
Then mix the potato mix, rice mix, salsa, diced onion and 2 cups of cheese in large bowl.

Line bottom of 13X9 casserole dish with four tortillas. Pour all the mix on top of tortillas then lay four more tortillas to top it. Pour cane of Old El Paso Sauce over casserole and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.
Bake in 350º oven for 40 minutes.

Like Mother Like Daughter

So, one of the ways I have tried to get the kids to eat things that they normally might turn their noses up at, is by having Sky get excited about cooking the meal herself!
Sky loves cooking and any chance she gets to be in the kitchen with me, she jumps at!
This week, Sky cooked her first casserole!

Fancy Mac & Cheese

1 Jar of Cheese sauce ( I use Ragú )
1 bl. of elbow noodles
1 8oz. bag of Colby/Jack cheese
4 slices of bacon fully cooked
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 1/2 cups of crushed up seasoned croutons
3 tbsp. melted butter

Cook the noodles according to package. Cut your bacon into bacon bits. Crush up your croutons.


Once the noodles are cooked and drained, mix your noodles, the whole jar of cheese, half the bag of Colby/Jack cheese, minced garlic, 1 1/2 cups of your crushed up croutons and bacon all together in large bowl. Salt and pepper to taste.

Pour mix into casserole dish, then spread the remaining croutons and sprinkle some cheese on top evenly.
Cook for about 35 min. at 350º

I forgot to take a picture after the dish was done but trust me it was delicious, CHEERS!

Let Them Eat Cake

Today I made a Mermaid/Ocean themed cake for a little girls 5th birthday!
This was such a fun cake to make, I can't wait to do something like this again!

Fettuccine With a Creamy Mushroom, Garlic & Baby Spinach Alfredo Sauce

Fettuccine With a Creamy Mushroom, Garlic & Baby Spinach Alfredo Sauce

This dish is Heaven on a plate!

1 cup of sliced mushrooms
6 oz. baby spinach
2 Tbsp. freshly minced garlic
2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
fettuccine noodles
1 jar of Cheesy Ragú Parmesan Alfredo sauce
salt & pepper to taste

Cook noodles as directed on package. Place Alfredo sauce and 1 Tbsp of minced garlic in pot and cook slowly on low heat.
Places 1 Tbsp. of garlic, the butter, olive oil, mushrooms and baby spinach in pan and cook until baby spinach is wilted.

Top your noodle with the Alfredo sauce and then the mushroom/baby spinach mix.
Top off with a dash of Parmesan, salt & pepper and ENJOY!

Pickled Veggies

My good friend and neighbor, found a recipe from Alton Brown for pickled veggies and it was so good that I decided to give it a try and add my own touch to it.

Here it is, enjoy!

This recipe makes enough to fill two 16 oz. jars of veggies.

2 16 oz. jars
Zucchini
Fresh cauliflower
Baby carrots
1 cup water
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. mustard seed
2 tsp. dill weed
2 tsp. red pepper flakes

In sauce pan mix and bring to a boil; vinegar, sugar and water.
Slice up your zucchini and place all veggies in jars.
When mixture is boiling hot, pour over veggies in jars. Add 1 tsp. of each ingredient to both jars.
Place lids on tightly and give a little shake.
Let set it the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours.

Roasted Garlic & Parmesan Bake

This is a simple, easy and quick casserole but DELICIOUS!

1 16oz jar of Roasted Garlic & Parmesan sauce ( I use Ragú )
1 16oz box of Rotini pasta
1 14.5 oz can of Italian diced tomatoes
Texas Toast seasoned croutons
1 stick of butter
1 Tbsp minced garlic

Cook your pasta as directed on the box. When the pasta is cooked, mix your pasta, sauce, tomatoes and minced garlic in bowl. Add a dash of salt & pepper then pour into a 9x13 baking dish. Take a hand full of your croutons, place in baggy and crush them up into bread crumbs.

Layer the croutons on top of pasta. Place 4 slices of butter, randomly on top. Bake at 350º for 15 to 20 min.

Thanks to my good friend, you know who you are, for the crouton idea!

Homemade Pizza

About 2 years ago I started making homemade pizza because ordering out just got to be to expensive for us.
My husband fell in love with my pizza so much that we never order out pizza anymore.
Here is the recipe for pizza dough that I use.

Side note, I use a Kitchen Aid, so if you don't have one be prepared to mix for a long time and work your hand into the dough.

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1 cup warm water ( 105ºF to 115ºF )
2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
cornmeal
minced garlic
butter

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed mixer bowl. Add salt, olive oil and 2 tsp of minced garlic. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour.
Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. Turn to speed 2 and mix about 2 min.

Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 3 min.
Knead on speed 2 about 2 min. longer.

Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover. Let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk.
Punch dough down.

spray your pizza pan with grease and sprinkle with cornmeal.
Press dough across bottom of pan, forming a collar around edge to hold toppings.

Melt about 3 Tbsp. butter with 1 tsp. minced garlic. Brush dough with melted garlic-butter.

Add toppings as desired. Bake at 450º for 15 to 20 min.

For my tomato and bell pepper pizza, layer cheese, sliced bell peppers and sliced tomatoes on top of each other then sprinkle with salt and pepper.


Enjoy!

Zesty Warm Salad

One of my favorite things to top off a salad with is cooked onions and bell peppers!
Add just a bit of mild salsa and YUM YUM!

To make this salad you will need

Your choice of lettuce ( I like to use iceberg because of the crunch)
2 Tbsp. Olive oil
2 Tbsp. butter
Salt & pepper
2 Tbsp. of mild Taco Bell salsa ( or whatever you have laying around)
1 whole bell pepper ( or you could use a red one )
half a yellow onion

Slice up your onions and peppers. Heat up your pan and add the butter, olive oil, onion and peppers. Add a dash of salt and pepper, while they are cooking and let them cook until wilted.
Cut up your lettuce and drizzle the salsa on top. when the onion/pepper mixture is done pour on top of salad and enjoy!

Zucchini Bread

One of my favorite snacks as a child was my mother's homemade zucchini bread.
Fresh out of the oven, I loved that first warm slice with butter on top, yum!

I am going to share with you the recipe my mother used but with just a little bit of a twist, Rachel style!

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 egg
1 lemon ( use the zest and juice from 1 large lemon)
2 Tbsp. of orange juice


Preheat your oven to 350º
Mix all of your ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
pour into greased bread pan and bake for 55 min.

COOKIES!

Whenever I make a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies, I always have more cookies then the family knows what to do with.
After the second day of snacking on chocolate chip cookies straight, the cookies becoming this forgotten snack that seems to just sit there on the table lonely.
SO, my genius of a husband came up with an idea ( yes it's been done before but don't tell him that)

To switch things up and not let the cookies go to waist, we took some room tempter chocolate chip ice cream and smeared it in between two cookies. Wrap them up in foil or whatever you have to keep them freezer safe, let the cookie treats freeze and TADA!


Yum Yum!

So there you have it. If you are ever stuck in a leftover cookie dilemma or need to switch things up a bit, give it a try!

Acorn Squash Casserole

This casserole will take you some time, just because of how hard the Acorn Squash is but it is SO worth it!

You will need

2 Acorn Squash
1 16oz. pkg of baby carrots
1 pkg of cherry tomatoes
5 Tbsp.Olive oil ( or just eye it, give it all a good coat)
Fresh Basil
2 Tbsp. Salt
1 Tbsp. pepper

Peel and cut your uncooked acorn squash ( see I told you this would take FOREVER!) into bite size pieces.
After you have done this, without killing the person next to you, mix the acorn squash, baby carrots and cherry tomatoes in a bowl with the olive oil, salt & pepper.
Mix in cut up fresh Basil then pour into a backing dish and bake in the oven at 350º for 45 min. or untill veggies are soft!
After its done baking, toss one more time and serve worm.

Enjoy!

Tex-Mex Casserole

You will need:

1 lb. of Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage
1 lb. of Turkey meat
4 Med. sized potatoes
Rice
1 pk. of Taco Bell taco seasoning
1 8oz. jar of Mild Taco Bell salsa
3 Tbsp. of chunky salsa
3 Tbsp. of Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Chili powder

Cook 1 cup of rice. Cook both of your meats in the same pan until done.
While your rice and meats are cooking, cut up ( into med. size pieces) your potatoes with the skins on.
Mix the cut potatoes in a bowl with the Olive oil, a dash of salt and pepper and about a tsp. of chili powder.
Lay potatoes out on cooking pan and then bake for about 20 min.

Once the rice, meat and potatoes are done mix them all together with both salsas and taco seasoning.
Pour into a casserole dish and top with cheese. Bake for about 40 min.

Serve with a bit of sour cream and chives on top or just wrap some up in a tortilla and top of with lettuce and tomatoes.

ENJOY!

Chicken Fried Steak Night

One of my husbands favorite nights is chicken fried steak night!
For those of you who have never attempted to cook it or would just like to try a new recipe, here is my recipe for Chicken fried steak.

I use 4 cube steaks
2 1/2 cups of flour
2 Tbsp of brown sugar ( this adds just a bit was sweetness to the mix)
2 Tbsp of salt
1 Tbsp of pepper
cooking oil
4 eggs
2 Tbsp of milk

Mix; flour, salt, pepper and sugar in bowl.
Mix all 4 eggs in bowl with the milk
Pour cooking oil into a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet until it's about 1 1/2 to 2 inches high in pan.
Heat the cooking oil in skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes.

Dip cube steak in flour cover on both sides, then egg and then flour again.

Place in hot cooking oil.
Place 3 or all 4 of your steaks in at the same time. The more your have in the pan, the steaks will cook evenly. Let steaks fry for about a min. or 2 before flipping and repeat until golden brown. Remove steaks from pan and place on a plate with a paper towel to soak up any extra grease.

ENJOY!

Cakes, Cakes and More Cakes

One of my favorite things is cake making. Every time a birthday comes around I am the first one to jump up and say " I'll do it!"
From kids birthdays, bachelorette party's to baby showers, I love it all!
So for my very first post I decided to post pictures of some cakes I have done.
Enjoy!

The Nemo Cake
This was one of my first cakes. It was for my daughters 2 birthday. Thanks to my good friend for staying up and helping me dot the cake!


Strawberry Angle Food cake
This is an angle food cakes topped with strawberry flavored whipped cream, a chocolate drizzle and chocolate cover strawberries.


Phil-Eagles Cake, I loved making this cake because it was the first time I drew with chocolate. The eagle is made out of chocolate.


Pineapple Express Cake
This cake was made for my Step Mothers birthday.
It is a two layered, pineapple cake, with a cream cheese,pineapple flavored icing, with pineapple chucks on top.
Thanks to my husband for the AWESOME name!


Barbie Island Princess Cake
This cake was made for my daughters 4th birthday.


Happy Halloween Cake
Made for our Halloween block party we have every year.


Ahsoka, Star Wars The Clone Wars Cake
Made for my daughters 5th birthday. This cake was one of the first times I played with fondant.


Chocolate Mousse Cake With Strawberries
Yum Yum! I made this cake for my sisters bridal shower. It is a double chocolate, two layered cake, with a chocolate mousse in the middle, on top and layered with strawberry's and a dust of powder sugar.


Hello Kitty Cake
Made for my daughters 6th birthday. Thanks again to my good friend for staying up and helping me dot the cake!


Lady Torso Cake
This cake was made for one of my sisters, friends, Batchelorette party's


Beach Party Cake
This was made for a double birthday party for my son and father who share a birthday. It was so much fun making all the little fondant pieces for the cake.