Sopapilla Cheesecake

I saw this picture and started drooling over it. This was the perfect dessert following our Mexican dinner of chicken and black bean enchilada casserole. When I saw this recipe I thought "I hope this tastes as good as it looks." It was more than I could have expected. I was speechless when I took my first bite and my eyes rolled into the back of my head. In that moment I forgot about all other desserts I have ever tasted. Everyone that I have shared it with since have had a similar reaction. My sister was a taste tester the next morning and she said "OMIGOSH!" Then I said "I KNOW!" I love chilled cheesecake; I don't usually like it warm but this is the exception. It's even better warm, and that's saying a lot because it is divine chilled too. It has a sweet crunchy top and bottom. I thought after it chilled it would lose its crunchiness and it didn't all that much. This dessert is hard to not share but at the same time you want it all to yourself.

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2009/07/sopapilla-cheesecake.html

Ingredients:

2 cans Pillsbury crescent rolls

2-8oz cream cheese (softened, room temperature)

1 1/2 cups sugar (divided)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1 stick butter (1/2 cup real butter not margarine)

Directions:

SPRAY a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Unroll and press 1 can crescent rolls into the bottom of your baking dish press the seams together.

BLEND in a separate bowl the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla then spread over top of dough. Unroll the second can of crescent rolls and place on top of the cream cheese mixture pressing seams together again.

MELT butter and pour over top layer of crescents.

MIX the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar & cinnamon together. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture generously over the top.

BAKE at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until bubbly and bottom crust is slightly brown.

Gina's Tips: I only used ¼ cup butter to drizzle on the top and found that to be enough. I also used brown sugar instead of regular granulated sugar. "The Girl Who Ate Everything" suggests drizzling honey over it or strawberries and whipcream. I found it to be perfect by itself.

Chicken & Black Bean Enchilada Casserole

I found this recipe on the blog "The Girl Who Ate Everything". I wondered if it would be too spicy but it turned out just right. In fact, all three of my kids had 2nds and some had 3rds. Everyone loved it. I made small changes to the recipe. The best part is you can prepare the main chicken portion early so that at dinner time you just have to layer everything into the baking dish.

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2010/11/chicken-and-black-bean-enchilada.html

Ingredients:

3-4 chicken breasts, shredded

½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (4.5 oz) can diced green chili peppers, drained
1 (10 oz) can red enchilada sauce
8 (6 inch) corn tortillas
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese
1 (8 oz) container sour cream

Directions:

BOIL chicken in water for at least 15 minutes or longer depending on thickness of chicken breasts. Remove chicken from pot and shred. Boiling longer makes chicken more tender, making shredding easier.

HEAT a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon of butter. Sauté chicken with cumin, coriander, and garlic powder until well blended with chicken. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in the cilantro, black beans, and green chili peppers.

SPREAD half of the enchilada sauce over the bottom of an 11x7 inch baking dish that has been greased. Place 4 tortillas over the sauce, overlapping them. Layer half of the chicken mixture over the tortillas, and sprinkle with half of the cheese and half of the sour cream.

SPREAD the remaining enchilada sauce over the cheese, and make another layer of tortillas. Layer the remaining chicken mixture over the tortillas, and sprinkle with cheese and sour cream.

COVER dish with a lid or aluminum foil.

PREHEAT the oven to 375°f. Bake for 30 minutes.

REMOVE the cover, and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and dot with sour cream. Continue cooking, uncovered, for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until cheese melts.

Gina's Tips: I used a 9x13 baking dish so I used 4 chicken breasts. I used a bigger 28 oz can of enchilada sauce because I spread enchilada sauce, sour cream, and cheese over every layer including the top because it made it tastier throughout and juicier. I don't measure my cheese I just cover the chicken mixture until I can't see much of what is underneath. I had flour tortillas which were soft taco size so I used those and it tasted great. I skipped the sauté step and just stirred the chicken mixture in a bowl. The second time I made it I sautéd the chicken and I really didn't taste much of a difference. I didn't have coriander on hand so I sprinkled some fajita seasoning in. Yum.

The Girl Who Ate Everything

I have a new favorite blog site

http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/

I came across this blog when I was looking up twice-baked potatoes and I had to check it out based on the title alone. I love it. She's my kind of cook. Everything looks so good on it. It has so many recipes I want to try out. I have already begun.

Food Quote

We were eating Gordon Ramsay burgers one night for dinner and Logan said:

"The more burgers I eat, I get happy."

I told you they were tasty good.

Oreo Truffles

I have to say that I am not a big fan of the Oreo cookie as a cookie itself. I'm more of a chocolate chip cookie fan. When I tasted an Oreo truffle, however, it was a different story—a delicious one.

Prep Time: 30 mins

Total Time: 1 hr 30 min

Makes: 4 dozen

Ingredients:

1 pkg (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened

1 pkg (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed (about 4-1/4 cups), divided

2 pkg (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted

Directions:

MIX cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until well blended.

SHAPE into (1-inch) 48 balls.

CHILL in refrigerator 1 hour or until firm.

DIP in melted chocolate, letting excess chocolate drip back into bowl. Place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.

Gina's Tips: I used both the original Oreo cookie and the mint ones to have the mint flavor on the inside and milk chocolate on the outside. I melted milk chocolate chips for dipping the truffles. I made the mistake of dipping them before chilling them and they were saggy, yet still tasty after hardening. I put the cookies minus the cream filling into a ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to turn them into crumbs.

On the Kraft website they have several different versions of the Oreo truffle: original, cool mint, and toasted coconut.

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/easy-oreo-truffles-95085.aspx

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/cool-mint-oreo-cookie-121576.aspx

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/toasted-coconut-golden-oreo-cookie-121579.aspx

Ultimate Twice-Baked Potatoes

Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins

Ingredients:
4 large baking potatoes, cleaned and unpeeled
8 slices bacon, or real bacon bits
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
4 TBSP butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
8 green onions, sliced, divided
1 TBSP chives, chopped

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees F.

BAKE potatoes in oven for 1 hour.

COOK bacon in a skillet over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.

COOL potatoes for 10 minutes after done. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top each with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.

BAKE for another 15 minutes and serve.

Rotisserie Chicken

Saturday night I made rotisserie chicken and my good friend, Jaylee, brought twice-baked potatoes to go with it because she loves me. I also made homemade bread. Then for dessert I made Oreo truffles. It's so nice to have my passion for food back. This night tasted soooooo good.

I forgot to take a picture so I found one that closely resembled the look of mine.

This picture cracked me up because it looks like my dinner is going to walk away.

prep: 10 mins

cook time:1-1/2 hrs

Ingredients:

4 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 onions, quartered

2 (4 pound) whole chickens

Directions:

MIX in a small bowl: salt, paprika, onion powder, thyme, white pepper, black pepper, and garlic powder.

REMOVE and discard giblets from chicken. Rinse chicken cavity, and pat dry with paper towel. Rub each chicken inside and out with spice mixture. Place 1 onion into the cavity of each chicken. Place chickens in a resealable bag or double wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 4 to 6 hours.

PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees F.

PLACE chickens in oven browning bag in a roasting pan. Bake for about 1-1/2 hours, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F.

Gina's Tips: I used half of an onion and split it between the two chickens. I used a large size (up to 8 lbs) oven bag for quicker cooking and it keeps the juices better. If you don't have an oven bag you can bake the rotisserie chicken uncovered for about 5 hours at 250 degrees F. This recipe is low hassle because you can prepare the chicken in the morning with the spices and everything and keep it refrigerated until you're ready to bake it in the oven. That's exactly what I did so dinner time it was easy.