Thanksgiving Food (part 1): Pumpkin Cheesecake & Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

I cooked a lot this holiday and I really enjoyed it. I'm not a huge baker (because I will completely eat what I make and don't need the calories), but I love to make cheesecake since it is my husband's favorite dessert!

Paula Deen’s Pumpkin Cheesecake:
• 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 (15-ounce) can pureed pumpkin
• 3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar and the spices. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined.

Pour into crust. Spread out evenly and place oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

She also has a recipe for the crust, but I was short on time so I just bought the kind already made in the store. Shhhhh!!! I knew I would have leftover pumpkin so I looked online to find another delicious treat and VOILA - chocolate chip pumpkin cookies. I received numerous compliments on both treats. I will definitely use both recipes again.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies:
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla paste (extract will work just fine)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips


Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg.


In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt.


Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in.


Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.


Add vanilla and chocolate chips.


Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 12 -14 minutes until light and firm.

Tortilla Rolls & A Baby Shower

A horrible picture, but the invitation once again from Jessica at Empress Stationery.

As you can gather from the picture above, I helped throw a baby shower this weekend! I love throwing any kind of parties, showers, etc. I cannot wait to have kids and get all detail crazy (think Tori Spelling on a BUDGET) for their parties. And I absolutely LOVE shower food!

 

Our display: spiced cupcakes, a fruit tray, spinach dip, ham & turkey pinwheels, a veggie tray, BLT rolls, tortilla rolls and a meat and cheese tray. We served cran-apple juice, cranberry margaritas and water for the mommy to be!

This is the heavenly dip I blogged earlier about. It recieved lovely reviews. You can get the recipe here. I served it with Wheat Thins and the Wheat Thin (honey harvest?) sticks.

Tortilla Rolls:
1 package of large tortillas
16 oz. cream cheese
1 small can of chopped olives

Drain and mix the olives with the softened cream cheese. Evenly spread the mixture on the tortillas. Roll the tortilla into a log shape and cut the log evenly.

*I cannot stand the taste of olives. I don't know why, but this recipe does not taste too olivey for my liking. Very yummy!

Hostesses and mommy to be: Marlena, Becca, Veronica & myself.

Crock Pot Lasagna

Crock Pot Lasagna:

This is such a great meal because it hardly takes any time, it is delicious and will feed a small group. Great idea if you are pressed for time and having company over!

 1 lb ground beef (as low fat as possible)

Onion

Garlic
¼ C parmesan cheese (low fat)
1.5 cups ricotta cheese (low fat)
2 cups mozzarella cheese (low fat)
1 large jar of tomato sauce
1 small can of tomato paste
About 10 – 12 lasagna noodles
Oregano
S & P

First, brown the beef in garlic and onion. I like to season the beef with a s & p. Mix the cheeses together in a separate bowl. In another bowl, mix the tomato sauce, paste and season the sauce with a few pinches of oregano and s & p. Once the beef is cooked, mix it in with the cheeses.

In a crock pot, place a layer of the cheese/beef mixture. Next, place a layer of noodles (uncooked). You will probably need to break the noodles in half in order to fit. Next, layer the noodles with the sauce. Repeat until you run out of ingredients! You can layer whichever way you desire. Cook on low for 6-8 hours and serve!