Mini Cheesecake with Oreo Cookie Crust

So it's been a while since I've updated this blog. Things got more hectic (and really, I got more lazy) the closer we got to the wedding. But that was all done with in November and now I want to start updating this again! I do cook new recipes fairly regularly, so I'm hoping to have a new recipe to post at least once a week or so. Here's hoping I can stick to the plan! :)

I've posted a mini cheesecake recipe before, but that was more of an ultra-mini (bite-size) cheesecake! I've made mini cheesecakes that are 2-3 bites (or could still be one bite if you want), with both original Nilla wafer crust and Oreo cookie crust. I wanted to make a dessert in honor of the Deadpool movie, since I was seeing it with a group of friends, so I decided to go with Oreo cookie crust this time. This is based off a very simple recipe from Philadelphia (cream cheese company). These are pretty hefty calorie-wise, but I didn't make any modifications to try and cut calories this time.

Original recipe here

Servings: 12
Calories per serving: 229

Ingredients:
2 pkg (8 oz each) Philadephia cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar (white, granulated)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
12 Oreo cookies (whole, do not crush)
Red food coloring, optional*

Step 1: Heat oven to 350F.
Step 2: Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer until blended.
Step 3: Add eggs (and red food coloring); mix just until blended.
Step 4: Place 1 Oreo cookie in each of 12 paper-lined muffin cups.
Step 5: Top with cream cheese mixture.
Step 6: Bake 20 minutes or until centers are almost set.
Step 7: Cool completely, then refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.

Recipe time: 4 hours 10 minutes
My cooking time: 40 minutes for prep and cooking; I left my cheesecakes in the fridge overnight.

*Food coloring is optional. I made them red to go with the Deadpool theme (red and black). I added a lot of red food coloring, and it still turned out more pink than red. I don't usually dye my food, so have not perfected getting the right colors.

This recipe is super easy and has few ingredients. I still need to perfect getting the cheesecakes more flat after cooling (mine were inflated like muffins immediately after baking, then had a pretty sunken center after cooling and refridgerating). But they still taste delicious! They were a hit! And it's definitely hard to have just one...... <( ^^ )>

Ingredients

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Step 5

Jell-O Art

I love Jell-O. Who doesn't?! The fun colors, the fruity tastes, the delicious dessertness.... And easy to prepare! I actually found this recipe while looking for alcoholic jell-o recipes.... This one does NOT contain alcohol but still looked yummy! Can you guess why I chose those particular Jell-o flavors? *waves flag*

Original recipe here

Servings: 48
Calories per serving: 56

Ingredients:
4 to 6 three oz boxes of Jell-O in desired colors (use 4 boxes if you want the top to be mostly smooth)
One 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp of unflavored gelatin
Boiling water
Cold water

Step 1: Prepare Jell-O as per package instructions. Refrigerate for several hours (I left mine overnight).
....
Step 2: Cut Jell-o into cubes.
Step 3: Lightly oil a 9″ x 13″ glass baking dish. Place cubes into casserole dish, rotating colors so they are mixed up and pretty!
Step 4: In a bowl, sprinkle gelatin into 1/2 cup cold water. Let sit for 1-2 minutes.
Step 5: Add 1 1/2 cups boiling water to gelatin mix, stirring until disolved.
Step 6: Add condensed milk to gelatin mix. Stir and cool. (I set mine in the fridge for about 30 minutes; don't leave in fridge too long and make sure to check on it so it doesn't get too cold and solidfy. I also put my Jell-o cubes back in the fridge during this time.)
Step 7: Pour cooled mixture over Jell-o cubes. Refrigerate overnight.
....
Step 8: Once the new Jell-O/milk mixture is fully set, use a sharp knife dipped in HOT water to slice into desired portions (squares/cubes/rectangles). Keep dipping knife into hot water between cuts to have cleaner cut lines.

Recipe time: not listed
My cooking time: Less than 15 minutes active time (but a lot of waiting/cooling time--2 days)

This dish looks so cool! And tastes even better! It was soooooo easy to put together, you just have to make sure you plan in advance if you want to make it for an event, because there is a lot of "fridge time". AND it's inexpensive to make! I picked up the Jell-O and condensed milk at Walmart for a total of ~$4. The gelatin I had on hand already, but I think it would add only another $1-2 if you bought envelopes of gelatin too. Will definitely make again!!

Ingredients (minus water :P)

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Green Chocolate-Vanilla Trifle

It's been a long time since I've posted... been slacking in trying out recipes! This one is one I actually made for St. Patty's Day, and realized I never posted. I found this one through Pinterest, like I do most of my recipes nowadays. This is from a blog called Kroma Design Studio. It sounded simple and delicious! I changed it a little bit for my tastes.

Original recipe

Ingredients:
2 boxes (4 serving size each) of JELLO vanilla flavor instant pudding
Green food coloring
3 1/2 cups cold milk
1 tub Cool Whip (8 oz.)
1-18oz pkg. Oreos, coarsely crushed*
A couple brownies, cut into small pieces (or crumbled)

Step 1: Pour milk into large bowl. Stir in food coloring to desired green-ness.
Step 2: Add pudding mixes and beat with a wire whisk until well blended. Let stand 5 minutes.
Step 3: Gently stir/fold in Cool Whip.
Step 4: In a trifle bowl, layer half of the crushed cookies and brownies in one layer. Then add pudding mixture layer. Repeat layers.
Step 5 (optional): Top with piped whipped cream if desired.
Step 6: Refrigerate for at least an hour or until ready to serve (mine sat overnight).

*Remove the Oreo filling before crushing the cookies. I mixed the Oreo filling into the pudding mix, before adding the Cool Whip.

Recipe time: Less than 30 minutes
My cooking time: 40 minutes (including cookie crushing)

This recipe turned out great! I was a little impatient with the Cool Whip thawing, so the consistency was a bit off. But still turned out very tasty (just the top piped whipped cream didn't hold well). Will definitely make this again. Could actually use any other food coloring to make it appropriate for whatever type of party you're holding.

Ingredients

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Step 4 continued

Step 4 repeated

Step 5 (optional whipped cream topping)

Wine Gummies

I've been a little lazy about posting my trials lately. Chalk it up to busy weekends filled with wedding arrangements (and just plain lazy days). Here's something I made a few weeks ago... I love gummies! Gummy worms and bears especially! So when I found this recipe for WINE GUMMIES, I thought "YAY ADULT GUMMIES!". These are actually super easy to make, it just takes a little while for the initial gelatin powder to start dissolving.

Original recipe here

I apparently forgot to take pictures of the finished cut little gummies.....I guess I was too busy eating them!

Servings: 256
About 3-4 calories per piece

Ingredients:
2 cups wine (16 fl oz)
8 tbsp gelatin (unflavored)*
4 tbsp maple syrup**

*I used the same gelatin as the recipe-creator used.
**I didn't want to make it too sweet, so I stuck to the low-end of the amount of syrup.

Step 1: In saucepan, warm wine on low heat. Keeping the temperature down is very important, so the alcohol does not burn off.
Step 2: Add gelatin 1 tbsp at a time, stirring well before adding more. Finish adding all gelatin and stir until fully dissolved. Froth is OK, it just make some bubbles in your gummies.
Step 3: Add syrup, to taste.
Step 4: Pour mixture into greased 8 x 8 pan (or candy molds).
Step 5: Let cool. You can put in them in the fridge to set (I did); I left them for a few hours and they were fully set.
Step 6: Flip pan upside down on cutting board. You may have to bang the pan down a little to get the gel to slide out.
Step 7: Cut as desired. Because I doubled the original recipe, my gel was pretty thick, so I cut it into smaller pieces (16 x 16).

Recipe's time estimate: not listed
My total cooking time: 30 minutes (15 minute prep, 15 minutes cook) *this does not include cooling time

These turned out so good. And they're addictive. I sat there with a bowl in front of me and easily ate 30-40 pieces before I figured out I should stop. I made both red and white wine versions, and they both turned out well. I will DEFINITELY be making these again!

Ingredients (both red & white wine)

Step 2 (see frothing?)

Step 4 (white)

Step 4 (red)

Crispy Oven Roasted Chickpeas

I actually made this a couple weeks ago, but have been super busy wedding dress shopping and St. Patty's Day partying. :P I had a bunch of chickpeas (made from dry) that I needed to use fast, since they're only good a few days after you cook them. And I found a snack recipe for them! They turned out great. I actually took them on a Color "Run" 5k that my friend and I did, and these were a good pre-run snack while we were waiting for the run to start.

Original recipe here

Servings: 10
About 172 calories per serving  (~100g per serving)

Ingredients:
5 cups garbanzo beans/chick peas (canned or cooked from dry)
3 tbps olive oil
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp salt
2 tsp cayenne pepper

Step 1: Drain and rinse chickpeas, if not already done. Lay out on paper towel to dry.
Step 2: Preheat the oven 400°F.
Step 3: Combine olive oil, cayenne pepper, garam masala, and salt in a bowl.
Step 4: Place chickpeas in a medium to large bowl.  Pour the spice mixture over the chickpeas and toss until coated.
Step 5: Spread chickpeas on a baking sheet (I lined mine with aluminum foil). Make sure they're not too tightly packed.*
Step 6: Bake for 35 to 45 minutes.  Carefully shake the tray a couple times between cooking.**
Step 7: Remove from oven. Serve hot or room temperature.

*I had to use two baking sheets to have them spread out. If you have too many on one sheet, they take longer to get crispy.
**I shook tray at 15 minutes in and 30 minutes in.

Recipe's time estimate: not listed
My total cooking time: 50 minutes (5 minute prep, 45 minutes cook)

As you can see, this recipe is SUPER easy. And so yummy. I ate a whole serving right when they came out out the oven. Sooooooooooooo good. They're still good after they've cooled, and even after a couple days (stored in ziploc bags), but they're the best right out of the oven.

Ingredients

Step 3

Step 5 - This tray took a little longer to get the peas crispy

Baked Nian Gao with Coconut Milk

Chinese New Year just passed. And I was sad to miss my family party AND new year's cake! So I decided to make my own! A couple years ago I made a Baked Nian Gao cake, and although I liked it, it wasn't too popular. So I hunted down a different recipe. And this one turned out sooooooooooo GOOD! Rather addicting. One of my favorite recipes now!

Original recipe here

Servings: 24
About 181 calories per serving

Ingredients:
3 cups of glutinous rice flour
1 cup canned coconut milk
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
4 eggs
2 tsp salt

Step 1: Line a 8 x 8 inch square tin with parchment paper.
Step 2: Pre-heat oven to 350F.
Step 3: Mix butter, coconut milk, sugar, salt and water in large bowl, until sugar is dissolved.
Step 4: Add eggs. Mix well.
Step 5: Add glutinous rice flour. Stir until well combined.
Step 6: Strain mixture into baking tin (I used a mesh rinse/drain bowl, like that used for washing veggies or draining pasta).
Step 7: Bake in the oven 45-90 minutes or until the cake is set. Cool completely for at least one hour before transfer out for cutting into desired size.*

Recipe's time estimate: not listed
My total cooking time: 2 hours (30 minute prep, 1 hour 30 minutes cook)
Does not include cooling time or overnight setting.

*I waited at least two hours before cutting, the cake was still pretty warm despite being on a cooling rack. And the cake was still pretty gooey. It tasted good, but the consistency was off a little. However, after the leftovers sat overnight, the consistency was PERFECT (a little more solid). So it would be best to make this the day before OR at least several hours before serving.

Also, the original recipe cook time was 30-45 minutes. When I checked the cake at 45 minutes, it was still pretty liquidy and not set. I kept adding 10-15 minutes to the cooking time. I probably left it in longer than I had to, but I wanted to be sure it was fully cooked, and the top wasn't burning so I felt it was safe to leave in longer. I ended up leaving it in for almost 1.5 hours.

I took the leftovers to work the next day, and everyone loved it. Many asked for seconds!! And it took all my will power to hand it all away so I wouldn't sit there and snack on it. So I will definitely be making this again. But I might use a larger baking tin or maybe try a higher cooking temp, to try and speed up the cook time.

Ingredients

Step 1

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Step 7 - completed cake before cutting

Slow-Cooker Barley and Chickpea Risotto

I've been eating pretty badly after I get home from work...either because I snack on random stuff, or each too much pizza during MTG night...or because I don't feel like cooking. So I wanted to pick something easy that was healthy....AND I wanted to use barley, because I'd just read an article saying barley was a good add-in for healthy eating. So I found the this recipe on Pinterest and it sounded pretty simple. That's what I based my attempt on (I changed some things slightly and doubled it up since I have a large slow-cooker).

My mistake....trying to start with dried chickpeas...without looking up/remembering that not only do they need to be soaked overnight (which I did), they need to be cooked in a pot of water for an hour and a half (which I didn't). So that was stressful, there I was in the middle of preparing all this stuff to toss into the slow-cooker and....I had no chickpeas.....Go me.

BUT...I ran to the store and grabbed some canned chickpeas really quickly, and finished setting up the slow-cooker. The rest of the prep was pretty easy. AND IT WAS GOOD.

Servings: 10
About 291 calories per serving

Ingredients:
3 tbsp olive oil
30 baby carrots, chopped
3 tsp garlic powder
1 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 yellow onion, minced/chopped
3 tsp dried thyme
2 1/2 cups pearl barley, rinsed
2 cans (15.5 ounces) garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained
5 cups beef broth (prepared from beef Bouillon)*
2 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
3 tbsp lemon juice
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

*can opt for vegetable or chicken broth, per original recipe

Step 1: Heat oil in large skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat. Add carrots, garlic, cauliflower and onion. Cook until veggies begin to soften (about 5-8 minutes), stirring occasionally.
Step 2: Stir in thyme and barley; cook 2-4 minutes, stirring frequently.
Step 3: Transfer mixture to slow-cooker. Stir in garbanzo beans (chickpeas), broth, water, salt and pepper. Cook on high about 2-1/2 hours or until barley is tender and most liquid is absorbed.
Step 4: Stir in lemon juice.
Step 5: Serve; top with parmesan, if desired.

Recipe's time estimate: not listed
My total cooking time: 3.5 hours (45 minute prep*, 2 hour 45 minutes cook)

*My prep time is exceedingly long because I kept running around trying to figure out the garbanzo beans/chick peas. My estimation is that regular prep should take no longer than 20-30 minutes. And most of the cook time is just letting it sit in the slow cooker!

I'll definitely be making this again. I had a ton of left overs, and it reheats REALLY well. I even mixed in some crushed red pepper to give it a little kick, and that worked out great! Super easy (minus the chickpea fiasco) and some down time do work out or clean or whatever floats your boat! This recipe actually work perfectly for me, since I usually get home from work around 3-4, so even if I need to prep everything right then, dinner would still be done around 6-7. And since this is a one-pot meal (it's got veggies, protein, and carbs), you really don't HAVE to serve it with anything else....just eat more of it. ^^

Ingredients

Prepped carrots & onions (used Pampered Chef food chopper)

Rinsed Barley

Step 3 (Everything mixed in the CrockPot!)

Step 5 (already topped with Parmesan)