Strawberry Cheesecake Pancakes!

Dessert for breakfast?? Umm...Yes Please! I have two different recipes for cheesecake pancakes, so I combined them both. One was from www.Tablespoon.com and the other from my "Taste of Home" magazine. One called for frozen pieces of cream cheese, I didn't have time to do it and the other has a layer of cream cheese in between the pancakes. So I just mixed the best of both worlds and it came out PHENOMENAL!!! Try it, really...I demand it :)

Strawberry Cheesecake Pancakes

• 2  cups Original Bisquick® mix
• 1/2  cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4  cup sugar
• 1  cup milk
• 2  eggs
• Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese

1/8 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup sugar

Sliced strawberries

(whipped cream topping optional, but delicious)

1. Combine all ingredients and beat for about 2 minutes with wire whisk.

2. Use about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake. Cook about 2 minutes and flip.

3. In stand mixer beat softened cream cheese (just microwave it on 50% power for 40 seconds)

add 1/4 cup sugar and whipping cream. Beat until smooth.

4. Fold in strawberries.

5. Put one pancake on plate and add a spoonful of cream cheese filling. Smooth over pancake. Top with another, then cream cheese and add a few more strawberries. Top with whipped cream and VOILA!

I hope you are are trying this right now...stop reading this and go make it happen! MmmmMMMmmm

Seusstatical good times!

Helloooo! It's been awhile, I know. I am trying so hard to catch up right now! Work has been a crazy mess as well as home :). March 2nd we celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday at school. We had a cake decorating contest! My class did cupcakes for a few different stories.  Our school provided the cake mix for us...it was TERRIBLE! So I had to quickly make up a batch of mix at 10:30 pm...loooooong night! I also made a quick butter cream frosting to use rather than the can they gave us...Here is how they turned out! Oh, by the way...WE WON! yaaaaay!

Butter Cream Frosting

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream

Directions

In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if needed for spreading consistency.

Cupcake Mix

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.

 That's all for now! see ya lata!!

Chocolate chip Cheesecake cookies!

These cookies are FABULOUS! No really, I love cookies and this just made my top ten list!  I originally saw these on Pinterest which lead me to the Sister Wisdom site with the recipe. You should all Make these. But I must warn you, no matter how many you make, you will only have 1 left by the end of the night. Especially if you have a Cookie Monster for a husband. :)

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon baking soda

10 tablespoons butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

3 ounces cream cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla

12 ounces chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Combine dry ingredients (except sugar) in a bowl and set aside. 

3.In mixer, blend butter, sugar, egg, cream cheese, and vanilla. 

4.Slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing with each addition, until all are incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips.

5.  Place spoonful onto greased cookie sheet or ungreased stone baking sheet. Bake for 10-14 minutes. or until edges are slightly browned.

Voila! Delicious and creamy! I had my with a cup of coffee and it was the best breakfast (don't judge me) ever!! Hope you all enjoy this one! Aloha!

Brown Butter Tortellini with Chicken

Sometimes I wish I could sit in my kitchen all day and cook food and post it on my blog. Is anyone willing to pay me to do this?? Probably not...so here I am trying to catch up on the billions of things i have made! Yikes...Working full time and tending to children doesn't really leave much time for blogging. I am going to have to find a happy medium!! Anyways, this is a super easy and very delicious recipe from my Pampered Chef cookbook.

Ingredients

1 package refrigerated cheese tortellini

1 bag baby spinach from salad isle

1/2 stick butter

1/2 red bell pepper chopped

Grilled chicken strips

1. Boil your pasta as directed. Place raw spinach in colander and drain hot pasta and water over your spinach to wilt.

2. Cook your butter in a skillet over medium heat. Swirling occasionally to brown the butter. Then add chopped bell peppers and cook for 2 minutes.

3. Add in chicken, pasta and spinach and give a good toss. cook on medium for 3 more minutes.

4. serve it up and Enjoy!

See I told ya it was simple! And it is soooo good! No joke! Mmmmm....I want some more now :) See you all on the flip side!

Cheesy Shells with Smoked Sausage

Greetings all and Happy new Year! Wow, it has been awhile since I have blogged! But it is safe to say that I AM BACK BABY! We are finally settled in our new (very cold) state of Colorado. So far so good! I got a new teaching job, we have a lovely house, I got an amazing new car, a Prius! I freakin love that car! The holidays have been good to me. I finally got a Kitchenaid stand mixer! Ans some new pots an pans. So be prepared to see every baked good you can imagine coming this way. I'm beyond excited to be cooking in my own kitchen again!You have no idea how hard it was being away from all of my kitchen stuff. I felt like I lived in the stone age! Seriously. I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas or whatever holiday you may or may not celebrate! But now, it is time for FOOD! (insert applause here) This is a super cheesy, super simple dish I threw together last night. I would make it again and again. I love cheesy and I love smoked sausage. So basically its a double whammy for me! I found this recipe in an old Betty Crocker magazine. I wonder if Betty Crocker was overweight...she sure knew how to cook!

Cheesy shells with Smoked Sausage

Prep time: 25 mins 

Servings:4

3 cups chicken broth

2 cups uncooked small pasta shells

1 1/2 cups frozen baby peas

1/2 lb smoked sausage, cut in half lengthwise, then cut into 1/2 in pieces

2 cups shredded American-Cheddar cheese blend ***

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. in 3 qt. saucepan, heat broth to boiling over medium-high heat. Add pasta; heat to boiling. Boil 6 minutes; do not drain. Reduce heat. Stir in peas and sausage. Cover and simmer 3-5 minutes or until pasta is tender. (there will be broth remaining)

2. Add American-Cheddar cheese blend. Toss gently until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

*** I couldn't find the American-cheddar blend so I got this and chopped up a few slices of American cheese and mixed it all together.

Eat up! Let me know what you think! Until next time...Adios!

My Crazy, so called life!

Well it is finally here. The time has come for us to say "A hui ho" to this beautiful island of Hawai'i. I will miss this place tremendously. Besides that fact that it's gorgeous, this is where my daughter grew up and where my son was born. But all good things must come to an end right? I'm trying my hardest to be optimistic about this drastic move to Colorado. Yes, Colorado, as in snow...burrrr! Talk about polar opposites! In case you were wondering, I hate cold. So needless to say, this will be interesting...I will try and update how things are going during our little adventure. Oh, did I mention that we are driving from California to Colorado, with 2 small children, one of which hates the car? Oh goody! Please pray for my sanity. On the positive side, we are stopping at the Grand Canyon for a little while. I'll be sure to take a ton of pictures. So don't mind the lack of recipes for awhile. I have like 3 pots and one spatula in my house. So I am not concocting anything spectacular in the next few weeks. Bummer for my tummy. Well, that should be it for now. I'll keep ya posted on my sanity and what not. Please Pray for me :) A hui ho!

Asian Persuasion

Before I got pregnant with my first baby I hated Chinese food. Or any type of Asian food for that matter. My mom would always want Chinese food buffets for dinner. I would eat salad and rice. How bland lol. But when I got pregnant with my princess, I ate it quite frequently. And I still do to this day. My daughters favorite thing is "Kung Fu Panda Chicken" (orange chicken from Panda express). I found an awesome restaurant out here in Hawai'i that I could eat at everyday. But since I'm not a millionaire, I opt to make my own take out (as Rachael Ray would say). So this dish is a bit of Asian Persuasion. It is Sesame Tilapia with Shiitake Broth. This was soooo good! I cheated a bit and got some fresh and some dried shiitake mushrooms. The fresh were $9.60 a lb!! The dried were like 2 bucks. I added extra mushrooms because this house loves them. To rehydrate the mushrooms, just soak them in warm water for about 30 minutes. The water actually turns into a good broth, but you don't have to keep it. OK, enough chat, on to the food!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup panko crumbs

1 Tbsp sesame seeds

1 egg

2 boneless, skinless tilapia fillets (4 oz. each)

3 Tbsp Asian seasoning mix*

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Broth and rice:

1 small carrot

1 green onion with top

1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms (I used more)

1 3-in piece fresh gingerroot, divided

2 cups chicken broth

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 cup hot cooked rice (I used Jasmine)

1. For tilapia, combine panko crumbs and sesame seeds in a small mixing bowl. Lightly beat egg in second bowl. Cut each fillet into 3 even pieces. Coat with seasoning mix. Dip into egg and then into panko mixture. Set aside.

2. For broth, peel carrot; cut into julienne strips. Thinly slice green onion on a bias. Slice mushrooms. Peel gingerroot; grate 1 tsp of the gingerroot. Cut remaining gingerroot into 1/4 in slices. Combine carrot, green onion, mushroom, grated and sliced gingerroot, broth and soy sauce in saucepan; bring to a boil.

3. As broth comes to a boil, add oil to skillet; heat over medium heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Carefully arrange tilapia in skillet and cook 2-3 minutes or until browned. Turn tilapia over; cook 2-3 minutes or until it flakes easily with a fork.

4. For each serving, pack rice in a small prep bowl and invert into bottom of serving bowl. Ladle broth and vegetables around rice; place tilapia over rice.

* Homemade Asian seasoning:

Makes about 1 cup

• 1/4 cup onion powder
• 1/4 cup garlic powder
• 1/4 cup ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp ground ginger
• 2 Tbsp red pepper flakes

This is another 29 minute meal! eat up! Adios!