No Bake Cherry Cheesecake

I've made many cheesecakes from scratch and had good luck and bad. I've also made many no bake versions with the same results. This time I decided to combine a few parts of both. The results were as close to a homemade cheesecake as possible! The hubby said, "It's perfect!" That is saying something, knowing his sweet tooth! 

Graham Cracker Crust
8 ounces Cream Cheese (softened)
1/4 cup Sugar

Jell-O No Bake Classic Cheesecake Dessert Kit

Cherry Pie Filling (1 can)


Place cream cheese in a large bowl and, using an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy. Add sugar and mix until combined and sugar is dissolved.

Set cream cheese mixture aside in another bowl. Mix the milk and no bake filling mix together following box directions. Add the cream cheese mixture and no bake mix together. Stir to combine.

Spread cheesecake mixture evenly over prepared graham cracker crust.

Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Slice and top with cherry pie filling.

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Simple and delicious! The most time it takes is cook time! 

Whole Boston Butt
1/4 Apple Cider Vinegar
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Pour about 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar over the pork, and then generously coat with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Bake the Boston Butt at 250 degrees for about 6-8 hours uncovered... until the bone slides out easily and clean. I picked the fat off, and it actually fell apart easily... no fork shredding necessary! Then I added Daddy's BBQ Sauce to it.

 

Remove the bones. They should slide out clean when the meat is done. Take two forks and "pull" the meat apart or shred it.

Add some Slaw and Baked Beans! 

Yeast Rolls and Honey Butter

Those that know me, know that I don't do a lot of baking, at least not breads and rolls. (Yeast doughs) My son and his fiancé gave me a Kitchen Aid stand mixer last Christmas, and I got brave enough to go for it. The right recipe helps! I tried my best foodie friend Mary's recipe. I did it! Her recipe is awesome! I do have to work on size consistency! LOL 

Cooking with Mary and Friends <- Click on this link for the recipe! 

 I made Honey Butter to go with them,

at the hubby's request! 

1 stick of Butter
3 Tablespoons Honey
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla

Mix together until smooth. Refrigerate, if there is any left! 

Cheese Steak Subs

 

Cheese Steak Subs

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound beef round steak, flank or sirloin, cut into thin strips
1 pkg fresh button mushrooms, sliced
2 green bell peppers, cut into 1/4 inch strips
2 onions, sliced into rings
salt and pepper to taste
4 hoagie rolls, split lengthwise and toasted
1 (8 ounce) package sliced provolone cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Lettuce and tomatoes

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. **Sauté beef until lightly browned. Stir in mushrooms, green pepper, onion, and season with salt and pepper. Sauté until vegetables are tender and remove from heat.

3. Spread each bun generously with garlic mayonnaise*. Divide beef mixture into the buns. Top with cheese, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano. Place sandwiches on a baking pan.

4. Heat sandwiches in preheated oven, until cheese is melted or slightly browned. 

5. Add lettuce and tomato. Serve while still warm!

Sometimes I drizzle a little Italian Dressing over the lettuce and tomato. (This is the sub shop's secret trick to give their subs a little extra kick.)

*Garlic mayonnaise
 
1 cup Mayo
2 cloves Garlic, ground into a paste with a little salt and the edge of a chef knife
1 teaspoon lemon juice
 
Combine in small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
 
**Note** If I know that the cut of beef will be tuff... a lot of times, I will cook the veggies while grilling the steak. After the steak has rested, I cut it into strips and then process it for a few seconds.

Asian Dumplings

 

I bought myself a dumpling press at Christmas this year, so yesterday I decided to try it out. It worked great! I did use eggroll wrappers that I had on hand, but I plan on making the dumpling dough in the future.

1 package Eggroll Wrappers or Wonton Wrappers

FILLING:
1/2 cup cabbage
1/4 cup green onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 lb ground pork sausage
1/4 cup mushrooms, diced
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

Chop shrimp into small pieces and combine with sausage. Mix cabbage, onion, mushrooms, soy sauce and garlic. Combine sausage and shrimp with cabbage mixture and mix until well incorporated. 

I had cooked sausage and shrimp filling for eggrolls 

earlier in the week and froze half 

of the mixture to use in the dumplings. 

That reduced the cook time for this batch. 

To assemble the dumplings, add roughly 1 teaspoon of filling to the center of a dumpling wrapper. With your finger, lightly coat the outside of the wrapper with water. Fold the wrapper over the filling and, using your fingers, pleat the edges to seal. (I used my press. It's much easier.) Repeat with the remaining fillings and wrappers.

Half of an eggroll wrapper worked in my press.
I just trimmed the edges after pressing them. 

The wrappers I had left over was enough to make

16 dumplings with leftover filling.

This recipe makes enough for 24 dumplings at least. 

Heat the oil over medium high in a large skillet and add a few dumplings, cooking them in batches. Once the bottoms of the dumplings start to brown, add a splash of water and cover with a lid. Steam for about 5 minutes, or until the dumplings are cooked and the water has evaporated. Transfer the cooked dumplings to a paper towel-lined plate to remove any excess moisture or grease.

My stepdaughter Kayleigh made this tray

for me for Christmas! It's perfect!

DIPPING SAUCE:

¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flake, optional

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and pepper flakes and stir to combine. Serve the dumplings immediately with the dipping sauce.

Carrot Cake Roll (AKA Kitchen Fail)

Quite frankly, with the cost of groceries these days, I just decided to get a box mix to make this cake, and I'm glad I did! Major fail! LOL, we discovered that our kitchen floor has sagged under the counter and stove, so the oven is not level. It doesn't make a big difference for the most part, but for a thin sheet cake to roll and not crack, the thickness has to be consistent. You can see the sliced roll is thick in spots and thin in others. BUT it tastes amazing! 

Carrot Cake mix (follow mix instructions)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook cake in a parchment lined sheet pan. Bake for about 15-20 minutes. 

Cream Cheese Icing:

8oz Cream Cheese, softened
16 oz Powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Mix cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Add vanilla and mix.

For roll: 

Damp kitchen towel
Parchment paper
Sugar

Place damp towel on counter. top with a sheet of parchment paper. Sprinkle with sugar so the warm cake doesn't stick. Invert cake onto parchment and towel. Remove top parchment paper. The take the end of the towel and start rolling the cake end to end. tuck the end of the towel in and set aside to cool to room temperature.

When the cake is at room temperature, unroll and ice the cake. Roll and sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

Chicken Caeser Pizza and Homemade Pizza Dough

 

Chicken Caesar Pizza

Pizza dough, *recipe below*
1 1/2 cups shredded chicken breast
1/4 cup Cardini's Caesar Dressing, more if desired
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried Basil
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Follow dough direction below. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spread dough out on a cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes to prebake the crust before topping.

Spoon dressing over dough. Top with chicken, cheese and seasonings. Bake at 425 degrees for about 12-15 minute.

Pizza Dough

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/4 teaspoon Instant Dry Yeast

1 1/3 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

Whisk together the flour, salt, and yeast in a work bowl of a stand mixer. Pour in the water and olive oil. Mix on low until a shaggy dough forms. Knead with floured hands or by stand mixer for 10 minutes on medium or until the dough is smooth and elastic.

After mixing.

After doubling.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for 1-2 hours., or until approximately doubled in size and puffy. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Use your hands to roll each piece of dough into a tight ball. Cover and allow it to rise for 20 more minutes before baking.

Two of the dough balls.

As you can see, it doesn't have to be perfect! 

Preheat oven to 425°F and bake for 10-15 minutes to prebake the crust before topping. Take out of the oven and top with pizza sauce and your favorite toppings and cheese.** Bake until the cheese us golden in spots and the crust edges are a light golden brown.

** Follow the instructions for my Chicken Caesar above. 

This dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 6 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months before using.

Mine didn't have as much basil 

and pepper as the hubby's did.
Make it yours like I did!