Dark Chocolate Banana Cheesecake

I was jonesing for a cheesecake the other day.  So I started looking at what I had.  Here is what I came up with.

First I did not have the crust fixins.  So I took a pie crust rolled out and sprinkled it with sugar and cinnamon.  Rolled it back up and sliced it into pieces.

Then placing them in a oiled cake pan, I smushed them down flat.

This made my cinnamon roll pie crust bottom.

Next I mixed up what I had for fillings.  Came up with a pretty good one.  Here it is.

2 packages of Cream Cheese

1 tub of Philadelphia Dark Chocolate Indulgence

3 ripe bananas

3 eggs

1 cup sugar 

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mixed the tar out of it and poured it over my cinnamon roll pie crust.  Popped it in the oven at 350 and cooked til it was done.  Time?  About an hour.  Never have been good at these things.  Just watch for it to be pulled away from the sides and the top looks firm.  I tested it by placing a knife in to see if it came out clean.

The end piece was sliced, place on a fancy paper plate and drizzled with chocolate sauce.  Whew!  This sure did the trick for me.

As you can see I did not get it all mixed up really well, so make sure you do.  I did have some chunks of cream cheese that was not smushed up enough.

Me Oh My I Love Pie

The Pie song

Pie

Pie

Me oh my

Nothing tastes sweet, wet, salty and dry

all at once o well it's pie

Apple!

Pumpkin!

Minced

an' wet bottom.

Come to your place everyday if you've got em'

Pie

Me o my

I love pie

These are the lyrics to The Pie Song from the movie Michael.  I loved that song sung so easy by Addie Macdowell.  And I love pie.  Especially good pie crust.  This last week we visited our middle daughter in Waco when returning the grandbabes.  Now she has the in with pies.  And she sent us home with 1 apple pie, 1 cherry pie and 7 apricot pies.  WOW!  Add that to the 2 sweet potato pies that our youngest daughter's beau made.  We have an abundance of pies.  Oh wait!  There are two frozen cream pies in the freezer too!  Well those can wait for another day.

Image via Wikipedia
So what did we do with the 11 pies?  Well we had pie for breakfast one day.  Okay, not the best solution but we  loved it.  We sent pies with Granny M to the local hangout to share with the coffee drinkers.  They loved that.  One went to work with Dear Hubby for the guys to munch on.  Also one across the street to Nessa.  The Other Mother and Princess Emma and Poppi joined in on the eating of pie too!  We put 2 in the freezer also.  But there is still pie here to be eaten.  So since I am house sitting this weekend and will not be here.  Just use the back door to come in and help yourself.  Because I promise you, we like pie but me oh my....we have had enough!

Heat up the Kitchen

Well today I can finally breath without any pain.  It is amazing that by cooling off I am so much better.  My sinus headache is gone.  My earache is gone.  My toothache is gone.  But sadly my arthritis is still here.

I love my new room.  The window a/c has cooled things off so much.  We moved in the computer, TV and Wii for our entertainment.  I also made it a bit of lil hotel suite.  How?  Added in our coffee maker so I can make a nice cuppa while being cooled off.  I could not do that with the heat that we have been experiencing.  Lunch included iced coffee.

Now thinking of all that is in here I had to figure out what I wanted to do next.  Well that is not easy.  Being cooled off most of the time now, I am hoping I can start cooking again.  We have not been having any good meals here at home.  I need to get back to cooking and feeding my family properly.  And I can do that with a lil helpful shopping list.  Do you have a stocked kitchen?  One that has the same items in it all the time?  Well I know I tend to always purchase the same items over and over again.  But it can create a stale menu if your not careful.  Well I have found the perfect shopping list from The Stocked Kitchen. 

What is so great about this list?  Well it goes along with The Stocked Kitchen Cookbook.  From this one list you can make 300 different recipes.  Here is the first one I want to try.

Bruschetta Pasta

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Course: main dish

Ingredients
1 T balsamic vinegar
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T olive oil
2 C fresh tomatoes, diced
1/2 C fresh basil chopped
1/2 lb pasta, cooked and drained

Directions
Mix together vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic. Whisk in oil well to emulsify.
Fold in tomatoes and basil.
Toss with cooked pasta and Parmesan cheese. If desired, top with cooked chicken or shrimp.

Sounds easy enough.  And with those same items I could also make Tomato Artichoke Pasta or Tomato Basil Egg White Omelette.  Of course we would add in an item or two.  But that is still 3 different meals from the same basic items.  I hate having to purchase something that I am only going to use once or twice in a year.  So The Stocked Kitchen would be a great help.  Using the hopping list to keep the same items up to date all the time would also make shopping much easier.  Just clip it to my fridge and mark items as I run low. 

What is some of your favorite dishes?  Do you like to keep the same items around or do you like to experiment often.  With 300 recipes I am sure we could have a wide variety of meals.  This was a nice book to review.  Thanks so for sending it to me. 

A Cooking We Will Go Giveaway

A cooking we will go, a cooking we will go....hi, ho, and derry oh.....a cooking we will go!  Who wants to join me?  Well I have 4 cookbooks here and one of them I am going to give away to you.  It is a signed copy by Chef Richard Chamberlain on The Healthy Beef Cookbook.  It was put together by him and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the American Dietetic Association.  Betsy Hornick also helped get it going too.  I love that the favorite recipes have been marked with tabs already too.  It also has Chef Chamberlain's famous steak rub that he uses at Chamberlain's Steak and Chop House.  Pretty cool, huh?  If you want to win this one then read on to the end of this post.  I will tell you how to enter!

Now on to some others to share with you.  As you know I am excited about the future grandbabe, The Turtle, who will arrive this summer.  I am putting "Best Food for Your Baby & Toddler" in the gift bag for the baby shower this month.  As a new mom, I am sure that she will be thrilled to have a few guidelines to help out.  I know it was something I read about when my own was a lil one.  I love that this is broken down by age range, types of food and has thousand of facts inside to help you understand your choices.  There is more than 150 recipes and snacks inside too.  That is enough to help any mom know what to fix for a meal.  Add in information on breastfeeding, organic foods, allergies and how to start early to prevent childhood obesity....just chalk full of great information.  

My other favorite is 'Simple Food for Busy Families'.  I have several food allergies and am always having to adapt recipes.  I love that this book has mix and match ideas that I can go to.  Taking out what I can not eat and adding in the flavors I love.   Makes cooking much more of an individual taste.  Add in the education that is here on types of food, nutrition available from different foods and how to make quick wholesome meals, you have a winner of a book here.  This is not a cookbook per say.  It is a kitchen text book that I feel most moms would be thankful for.  The whole life nutrition approach is not just for your children as it is for your complete family. 

Next, in keeping with family healthy food, is ever so sweet and sexy Mario Lopez with the 'Extra Lean Family' cookbook.  Here we have over 50 20 minute recipes that we can pop out for our family on a nightly basis.  If your stuck on what to cook, this book has a week by week menu available with the recipes right there.  Naturally lean and healthy meals that have lots of color and textures.  This helps make appealing meals.  Each week has a grocery list included and are easy to put together.  Not wanting to get stuck in a rut, there are double duty meal variations where you use the same ingredients and get two different dishes from them.  Add in the steps to control you weight and have metabolism-boosting ideas, it is a win-win cookbook.  For those super busy homes that need guidance for meal time, this is the cookbook you want to look at. 

Now for winning that wonderful cookbook at the top, The Healthy Beef Cookbook.  Here  you go!  I was thrilled to attend the Appetite for Inspiration event in Austin held at the Texas Beef Council.  It was FUN!  So if you will be so kind as to pop over for a visit at the Texas Beef Council.  Come back and tell me something you found there.  Then your entered.  Make sure I have your email too!  You can get an extra entry if you add Texas Beef Council to your twitter account with @TxBeef.  Give me the info where you added them and sent out a tweet shout out!  There you have two entries.  Need more?  Okay give me a hint, recipe or idea for cooking amazing beef and I will give you another entry.  Let's get out there and COOK, COOK, COOK!

Related articles

• Tales of a Reformed Beef Snob and Vegetable Hater (danceswithchaos.wordpress.com)
• Highlights of Texas Beef (theysayimnuts.blogspot.com)

In My Neck of the Woods

So here's what been happening In My Neck of the Woods...

Well first off, I went and visited over at the RHOK and joined up with today's linky.  Thought you might wanna join me for the ride.  Today was nice that it was a cool enough breeze to pull out my chenille robe that my mom made for me. It is bright red with bright colored flowers. I feel like an Easter egg sitting here. But the bright colors sure do cheer me up.

I finished off a couple of more novels.  I so love to read.  Had to make a detour from the murder mysteries that I love so very much.  I use to read romance novels when I was a teen.  Oh, that was so long ago.  But it was nice to escape into fantasy of unreal life for awhile.  It is not that romance is not real.  Just that it has it bumps, bruises and often fractures too.  I did like being 'on-the-air' in My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren.  Here Isadora is a talk radio host and the voices that ask for advice tug at her heart, especially Caleb's.  I know that voices have always been my undoing.  Hearing a man's deep rumble can make my knees weak.  In My Foolish Heart, Caleb has to figure out if he is deeply attracted to his neighbor or her alter ego on the radio.  Of course we all know that inside each lady is several alter egos.  The other book I finished was 'When Sparrows Fall' by Meg Moseley.  I did find the challenges that Miranda had to overcome quite interesting.  I am a head strong woman.  Never been one to let a man control me.  So I find it amazing to meet (or read) about women who truly let the man tell them every thing to do and they do it.  Now don't get me wrong.  I adore Dear Hubby and we discuss our decisions.  But the putting the foot down does not work for me.  He guides our family with love and caring not dictatorship.  It is even harder when these families are ruled by both the husband and feel they are following God's law too.  A woman does not want to break her bond with her Savior in any form.  Where is the middle ground?  I loved seeing Miranda finding that space where she is full and whole.  This book will unleash more discussion on the  Christian practice and questions surrounding “Quiverfull.” People who have abandoned “quiverfull” or patriarchal teachings now gather online at sites such as “No Longer Quivering,” “Quivering Daughters,” “That Mom,” “Razing Ruth” and several others.

Tonight I am making homemade Chicken Enchiladas.  I boiled the chicken yesterday and then just popped it and all the broth into the fridge.  Today I will scoop off the oil to toss.  Drain the broth to use for cooking.  De-bone the chicken and shred.  Then I will roll corn tortillas up with the seasoned chicken (use what you like to season with) and layer in a baking dish.  Cover with a mix of sour cream and salsa.  Then layer the top with cheese and chopped onions.  Bake till gooey and hot.  Wanna join us?  Also have beans here so will make them into refried beans and the rest of the rice I have in there will pop over into a spanish rice dish.

By the way....make sure you enter in my two giveaways.  They are listed over in the right hand column.  Just click on the image and go leave a comment!   Thanks so to Multnomah Books and Tyndale for sharing the books with me to review.  As always I am not paid for these reviews.  Just get lucky enough to read.

The Other Mother Cooks

Today my knee is swollen up like a balloon.  So I am going to take it easy.  So easy that I have my feet up now while hanging on the front porch.  Nothing better than a cup of coffee, listening to the birds sing and relaxing.  I do have to say thanks so to the Other Mother...as she is also hosting my blog today.  See how she feels she is slowing down while battling her Lyme disease.  Seems to me she is running even harder.  Actually I should have Princess Emma this afternoon so she can rest.  Take it away......The Other Mother:

Well, I started my new medications for the Lyme disease yesterday. They are already making me feel awful.We ordered pizza for dinner, which we hardly ever do. I just did not feel like cooking. I was telling my good friend Lynette over @ Crazed Mind about my dilemma and I will be darned if she didn't have a solution. She had a new copy of Potluck Favorites by Hearst Magazines. It has 126 recipes for just about everything from appetizers to desserts. There are recipes for vegetarian and slimmed down favorites as well. I was looking through it and there are so many one pan recipes and casseroles that I can make all in one day and freeze for the days I feel awful. Now, I already have a copy of Slow Cookers plus Soup Stews and Casseroles from Hearst Magazines which we loved everything we cooked out of, so I am very excited to try the new recipes in Potluck Favorites. The one I am going to make tonight is ravioli and zucchini lasagna. It looks amazing! The even have some very yummy dessert recipes, which will make Papi happy. He has a mad sweet tooth:) The Poo saw the picture of the mozzarella and pesto grilled pizzas and asked if we could make those. They look very simple and only require a few ingredients, so I think she could make her own pizza and I will cook it for her. They even have grilling tips for the bar b que recipes that would work for anything you could possibly make on the grill. I am so happy to know that I can still feed my family well while I am on the mend. Thanks again to Lynette @ Crazed Mind for the new cookbook and help with a major dilemma. This is a review, I received no compensation. Lynette received a copy of the magazine for review purposes which she has graciously shared with me in my time of need.

It's Party Time

We had a blast with the Grandbabes here.  So much so that we were able to throw a birthday party.  It was really special.  It seems we happened to have the Grandbabes and Princess Emma here just when it was the birthday of The Stuffed Puppy and Dumbo.  We were surprised!  But hey we can roll with that.  It was a quick plan but the Other Mother and I whipped up a birthday tea party.  Here is how it went.

I made a white raspberry cake with cream cheese icing and coconut 

in the shape of a bone for the stuffed dogs part.

The Other Mother put out a lemon raspberry cake with 

strawberry icing topped in circus peanuts for Dumbo. 

Pretty good job so far!

 Next we brewed up some lemon ginger tea for the tea party part.  

Added in garlic cream cheese cucumber sandwiches and homemade pimento cheese with ham sandwiches.  Cut them into the points.  

Placed a plate of cut up apples and cucumbers to go with it.  

This laid out a lovely table with The Grandbabes and Princess Emma attending.    

What a spread!

Our Grandson really loved his tea....yummmm.....good to the last drop.

Did you want some cake too?

At the end Momma Doggie sang Happy Birthday to the special guest.  

What a wrap up!

We Have a New Cook

Once again Other Mother has taken over.  I have to say this was a wonderful week of food.  She cooked and we ate and ate and ate.  The coconut rice pudding was to DIE for.  Please go visit the Other Mother at Rants & Raves!  She is looking for friends!

 

You all know how I love to cook. I cook almost everything from scratch. Not only is it usually much cheaper, but you get better food and you know what is in it. Growing up in my family a good meal was another way to say" I love you enough to go to all this effort to make sure you are well cared for". The two things I don't like about cooking are the dishes after and the heat. I bake all winter long but when the weather warms up, I would rather chew on my shoe than heat up my house with the stove.

Lucky for me my dear friend Lynette @ Crazed Mind thought about how much I enjoy cooking and shared a wonderful cookbook with me! Yay! Slow Cooker plus Casseroles, Soups and Stews was her gift to me! It is put out by Hearst Magazines and is reasonably priced at $9.99. Now I can do more in the crock pot and less on the stove. As it turns out, she could not have given me this at a better time. It has been in the upper 80's for over a week and College Girl had tech weekend this weekend and has a play that runs all week long so she can not get home for dinner. I have been cooking up a storm to send food with her and still I am able to keep my home cool! We have cooked several recipes out of this cookbook and so far everyone has loved them all. Just to be fair we wrote down page numbers and pulled them out of a hat to decide what to make. We ended up cooking beef stew, coq au vin, roasted bell pepper cheese straws, Italian wedding pasta, coconut rice pudding and a great country loaf bread. All were fantastic and the only complaint I had was the cheese straws were a lot of work since I even roasted the peppers and by the time the second tray was done...the first one was GONE! Oh they were so good! I have done my baking in the evening when its cooler and used my crock pot during the day. For us, we had enough food to send to College Girl, eat dinner and have leftovers for lunch the next day. What a blessing from my dear friend. Naturally I thanked her with food :)

Just to let you know, this is a review and I recieved no compensation for this. Lynette recieved a copy of this for review purposes which she kindly shared. My opinions are my own and the food was fantastic!

On My Own

This morning I am having a wonderful 'On My Own' bit of time.  Why do I say that?  Well lately I have felt like I am going from here to yon every day.  Waking early to do a bit of chores before the house gets up.  Fixing Dear Hubby's lunch, warming up the car, picking up my mom's friend, carry all to work or the coffee shop.  Pick up exercise buddy and work out at Curves.  Drop her off, pick up mom and her friend, drop off her friend then take mom to cardiac rehab.  Finally done there and back to the house to do chores or run around town to do errands.  By the time I get to stop driving it is almost noon.  At home with my mom for a few hours and then she is ready to go again.  The rounds start all over but in reverse til hubby is off work and were home around 5:30 pm.  By then I do not want to make dinner, hug hubby or even smile.  I just want to hide, decompress and go to sleep.

So today I am on my own.  I did the first part of the rounds and then gave the car up to my mom's friend.  She can carry them to the coffee shop, go to rehab and keep the car til they are ready for afternoon tea.  Even can pick up Dear Hubby.  I am home and free to be me til dinner time.  And yes, I am planning dinner already!  But first some me time.  And that is starting with a good breakfast.  I have so wanted a good bowl of oatmeal.  Not something the cafe tried to microwave and carried out looking like wall paste.  But slow cooked with all the lil extras in it.

 Today I am having oatmeal with some fresh chopped apples, grated coconut, brown sugar and butter in it.  I am thrilled to finally have a decent breakfast.  It feels like forever since I sat down to a bowl of oatmeal.  My preferred breakfast, truth be told.  What do you like to put in  yours?  I can add most anything.  But lean toward nuts, fruit (dried and fresh), bacon or sausage at times, always brown sugar and butter.  Been dreaming of some with dried cherries, walnuts and drizzled with honey.

 Well here is my breakfast with the ever present cuppa coffee.  Time to eat.  I will be back soon to talk again.  But until then, I am ON MY OWN!

Top 10 Tuesday (Things to Make for Dinner)

Today I am joining the RHOK as they pop over to OhAmanda  for the Top Ten Tuesday.  This week is the top 10 things to make for dinner.  I love doing home cooking for my family so this is an easy peasy one for me.  I polled the family to see what that choose as their favorites.  And here is our list.

1.  Last night was a favorite and a quick easy meal.  We have waffle sandwiches.  Simple....waffle iron and a ham (or turkey or roast beef or...you get the idea) and cheese sandwich placed inside.  Close the hot iron and in just minutes you have a yummy grilled sandwich.  College Girl swears that it is the lil squares that make them so yummy.

2.  My all time quick and easy dinner is actually a breakfast thing.  And that is simple breakfast rice.  I know may not be that nutritious but we love it.  Cooked white rice drained.  Add in butter, sugar and cinnamon to taste. 

3.  Another favorite here is Crock Pot Bar-B-Que.  Again...simple.  Crock pot, rump roast, bottle of bar-b-que sauce.  Combine and cook on low all day.  That is it.  End of day at dinner time.  Remove lid and you have the juiciest beef bar-b-que ever.  And you did not have to sweat one iota for it.

4.  College Girl makes a vegetarian version of matzo ball soup that we are all in love with.  She uses Vegetable Broth instead of Chicken.  Makes the matzo balls and cooks them in the veggie broth.  a

MATZO BALLS:

1 c. matzo meal (unsalted)
4 eggs
1/2 c. water
1/3 c. melted butter
1 tsp. salt
Dash of pepper

Mix eggs, water, salt, pepper and butter in medium sized mixing bowl. Place matzo meal in separate bowl. When liquid batter is thoroughly mixed, add gradually into matzo meal, constantly stirring. Stir matzo dough until all lumps are removed. (Batter will be the consistency of cake batter just slightly thicker.) Set aside in refrigerator for 1 hour for batter to thicken.When batter has been chilled, boil 1 1/2 quarts of vegetable soup. Add 1 tablespoon salt. Roll matzo dough into small balls and drop into boiling broth, one at a time. Cook for 20 minutes.

5.  Dear Hubby surprised me with a wonderful meal of Crab Stuffed Chicken breast.  Now it is in my top 10 of I wanna eat that.  It is worth the time and effort to make for a special meal.

6.  College Girl does up our Salmon Patties.  She is the queen there.  Simple and easy.  Patties from canned salmon mixed with salt, pepper, crackers and eggs.  Her secret is that she fries them up in a 1/2 veggie oil and 1/2 butter mixture.

7.  We all love Chicken n' Dumplings.  The best is by Poppa (CG's birth dad).  So we beg him to come over and cook this one for our combined families.  Of course that means dinner with Princess Emma so we are all for that too.  Time with the two families is something that makes us very happy.


8.  I do a winter stew called Left Over Stew.  What that is.....a big bowl with a lid stays in the freezer.  All of the meat, veggie and starch left overs then get placed in the bowl.  Once it is full we defrost and add to broth and heat.  Simple and dinner is served.  Since we save our broth from boiling chicken for meals, this is a pretty easy meal.

9.  Every one here says that my steaks are the best.  I don't know why?  I choose the cheapest steaks I can find.  (Budget)  Then I place them in a container with a lid.  Pour CHEAP red wine on them.  Place it in the fridge for the day to marinate.  That evening I heat a pan nice n hot.  Place in a couple pats of butter.  Salt n' Pepper the pan (yes the hot pan) and then lay in the steaks.  Let them cook on one side and turn them over.  Only turn them once.  A hot pan sears in the juices.  And by not turning them over time and time again, I do not lose any extra juice too.

10.  Our last choice is my Bar-B-Que Meat Loaf.  My ex would put bar-b-que sauce on everything.  So I decided to add it to my meat loaf.  It was a hit and is now the only version we make here.  Again easy.  Ground beef, eggs, crackers, chopped onion, chopped bell pepper and bar-b-que sauce.  Mix and bake. 

Indulgences

the true meaning of Christmas is right here!  Total Christmas cookie indulgence.  Right?  Okay your right that is not the true meaning....but gosh how I love to give in to indulgences.  By the way, this is just the cookies we made last night.  By Dear Hubby's count it was 20 dozen.

Breakfast of Christmas cookie champions.  Starting on the left and going around clockwise we have. 

1. Chocolate Gingerbread
2. Date Oatmeal Bar
3. Grandma's Favorite cookie according to Aunt Pearl (a chocolate chip fluffy cookie)
4. Mocha Cocoa Spritz
5. Old Fashion Oatmeal Rasin
6. Fresh Apple Bar
7. (Center Stage) Vanilla Spritz

And we top this off with a nice fresh cup of Folgers coffee!  I am in heaven this morning. 

Getting to the Root of it All

We are getting down to the good stuff now. What do I mean? Lunch!

Image via Wikipedia

Today is a focus on root veggies. We chopped up onions, sweet potatoes, turnips and potatoes. Fried them up with some pepper and bacon salt. (Yes, thanks to J & D turning us into bacon salt addicts.) 

Then at the end added fresh tomatoes. I mean fresh. We have a bowl of green ones waiting on us now.

Add in smoked sausage and lunch is served.