Black & White Cookie Dough Cheesecake

I asked my husband a couple weeks ago what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday. After some thinking, he told he a cookie dough cheesecake. Okay, so I started googling and searching Pinterest for some recipes. Most of them I found were actually bars and not a real cheesecake. I decided I would actually make my own cookie dough cheesecake.

I used a general recipe for the measurements. I am not good enough to guess on eggs/sugar/cream cheese yet :/ ! However I think I rocked out this cheesecake!

You will need:
-1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
-1/3 cup butter, melted

-3, 8oz packages of cream cheese, softened
-3/4 cup brown sugar
-1/2 cup greek yogurt (or sour cream)
-3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
-1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
-3 eggs
-1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (extra 1/4 cup for drizzle)
-1 1/2 cups white chocolate

Egg-Less cookie dough

Crush your graham crackers into fine crumbs. While you are doing this melt the butter.

Mix well to make the crust for the cheesecake.  Grease your pan. I also placed a circle of parchment paper on the bottom to be extra sure it wouldn't stick. Press your crust on the bottom and up the side about an inch.

Combine the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy.  Add the sour cream and flour. Mix well.

Take a second to scrape the sides. Add the eggs and vanilla. Mix well!

Melt the chocolates on a double boiler (or in the microwave if you are very careful). Heat until almost completely melted, then take off the heat and stir until the rest is melted.

Now we are going to make the 'black' layer of the cheesecake. Scoop out a cup and a half of the cream cheese batter and add to the melted chocolate. Mix very well, scraping the sides.

Spoon the chocolate cream cheese mixture onto the crust. Spread it out as evenly as you can. This other layer will also help do this, so don't worry too much about it.

Stir your white chocolate and add it to the remaining cream cheese mixture.

Mix well. I also added some mini chocolate chips to this. Layer it on top the the chocolate and even the top. Bake @ 300 degrees for 1 hout and 10 minutes or until the center is almost set. 

Let cool on wire rack for ten minutes and then run a knife around the outside.

While the cheesecake is cooling, mix your cookie dough. Freeze and then chunk into small pieces. 

After the cheesecake has cooled for awhile, place the cookie dough chunks on top of the cheesecake. You may need to press them into the cake a little bit. Then to make it extra pretty, I drizzled melted chocolate on the top of the cookie dough.

Check out the delicious-ness! Hope you enjoy!

Top Seven Sundays

This week I am going to be featuring the Top Seven craft 'pins' or projects I want to try! I just recently started a different shift at work and I am hoping I will have more time to start getting crafty! (Not in any order)



1. Platform Bed: This bed is gorgeous and you can stain the wood however you like. The wood doesn't seem to be any more expensive than buying a bed either! Plus David says it would be pretty easy to make. Hoping we get on this soon because our bed is on the floor!

2. Painted Pinecones: I have actually started this one and can't wait to put them out in my hurricane vase!

3. Casserole Carrier: The way we have been having get-togethers and the way I bake, one of these would be great! Not sure if I can handle making it or not though.



4. Shower Curtain: Our Master showers here were ridiculousy built and a normal shower curtain just doesn't fit! This seems pretty easy using a sheet or a fabric pattern.










5. Rag Quilt: This is something that I think I can do, but would take a little bit of trial and error and maybe some youtube videos. Its probably not actual quilting, but I love the stripes!





6. Refashion Men's Shirt: I actually have two men's button-up shirts from GoodWill that I am going to play around with and try to make a dress or a cute women's shirt! Wish me luck!

7. Unpaper Towels: This would take some convincing with my husband, but I love the idea of getting rid of paper towels. I would have to make sure these got washed quickly to be reused, but fabric 'paper' towels would be fun!

To-Do List: California Style

A friend of mine has taken up blogging and recently posted her 'Bucket List' for their time in CA. I have a list in MS Word I made a while ago. My husband made fun of me. But I figured I would share it and having it online would be a better way to keep track of it. I hope!

• Disneyland
• Universal Studios
• Warner Bros Studios
• Dog Beach w/ Lilly
• Dinner or brunch cruise
• Coronado Island
• Sea World
• San Diego Zoo
• San Diego Safari Park
• Lego Land
• Knott's Soak City
• San Fransicso
• Big Bear
• Drive the Pacific Coast Highway
• Jet Ski
• Camp on the beach
• Have a party on the beach
• Catalina Island
• Channel Islands
• Laguna Beach/Hunington Beach
• Los Angeles/Hollywood
• San Diego County Fair
• Eat @ Kansas City BBQ

There may be more to come!

Top Seven Sunday (Late Edition)

I can't believe the hubby and I spent all Sunday inside the house laying around and I forgot to do my Sunday post! So here is the late edition of Top Seven Sundays brought to you today thanks to my stomach bug! :(

And since I am not feeling so good, today's post is going to be my Top Seven Comfort Foods!

1. Baked Mac & Cheese: Mac and cheese is one of my ultimate comfort foods, not too mention the food I could eat anytime and over and over! This recipe includes four different kinds of cheese, including cream cheese. I can only imagine how creamy and delicious it is! We love cheese in this house.  Will be trying this recipe soon! Watch out for a follow-up post!





2. Mashed Potatoes: This particular recipe sounds pretty simple in the crock pot. When I make my mashed potatoes I like to use butter, milk, sour cream, dill, and CHEESE!  Or if my mom is making mashed potatoes, I take them with her brown gravy! Mmm, gravy is amazing too! 
 
 





3. Broccoli Cheese Soup: This is creamy, cheesy, and warm! Perfect for a dinner pick-me-up. Just thinking about it is making my mouth water. Add some bread bowls and enjoy!

4. Pot Roast and Veggies: This one doesn't really need a recipe. Chuck round roast, potatoes, carrots, onion, roast seasoning packet and golden onion soup. Low for 6-8 hours. And pure delicious-ness. Love carrots cooked this way. This meal also can make gravy! :)

5. No Machine Ice Cream: Of Course any ice cream pretty much fits this bill, but its even better if you can just make it yourself. I do not yet own an ice cream machine and this ice cream is easy and very rich and creamy! :)

6. Pizza: Be it delivery or homemade (I was never really a frozen pizza girl) this is a must! We used to make it 'homemade' with my family, but we really just used box crust mix and added our own toppings. Now, David and I make it all homemade. I have found an awesome crust recipe that is easy and delicious! We can add anything we want on top and have the classic comfort food...or not so classic. I am wanting to try mac and cheese pizza :)

7.Chicken Pot Pie (Chicken Dumplings): This is a recipe my mom and grandma make that is my all time favorite! It is more of a chicken dumplings, but we always called it chicken pot pie. Basically a chicken broth with dumplings, all warm and thick. I WILL be making this recipe soon! SOO GOOD!

Sausage Gravy & Biscuits

This is an excited recipe to master for me and it ended up being ridiculously easy and not really a recipe at all!


The other night I asked the Hubby to pick up sausage for the spaghetti sauce. He thought he was clever and brought me home 3 different kinds of sausage (he said he just didn't want to put them back ;] ). So anyways I had breakfast sausage hanging out in my fridge and decided to finally make Mom's sausage gravy! This wasn't even a planned dinner. And the homemade biscuits and gravy together took about 30 minutes! Move over Rachael Ray! :)

Here is the recipe I used for the Biscuits. They are normal biscuits, but perfect for this dinner.
For the gravy...
-Breakfast sausage
-Milk
-Flour

Start by browning the sausage. Break it up as it cooks. 

While the sausage cooks, mix up your biscuit dough. I used a Rubbermaid container to cut them out and I LOVE that they were rounded-squares! :)

After the meat cook, resist the urge to drain it. Add enough flour to soak up all the grease. It will be more than you think, so keep mixing until the drippings are gone. Then you need to add milk to the mixture. Again, you will be adding more than you think. Start slow and mix. Let it simmer on low and as it thickens, add more milk to your liking.

 

It will be a thick gravy consistency. I like to break up my biscuits and put the gravy on top. It is delicious and so easy folks! Not the healthiest, but a classic in my household!

Enjoy!

 

Top Seven Sundays!

So I am trying something new. On Sundays, I want to share various 'Top 7' lists with you. This will give you a chance to get to know me better and to be honest it will be fun for me to make!

Today I want to start with a Top Seven:Kitchen Wish-List! They aren't in order from 1-7, but these are the 7 things I really want in my kitchen!

1. Ice Cream Maker : Sure my recipe for ice cream without a machine is fabulous, but I have been finding so many awesome recipes for ice cream in a real ice cream maker! Plus, I always grew up with my grandparents and parents using an ice cream machine. Its a tradition!

2.   KitchenAid Pasta Attachment : This also goes back to family tradition. My grandma on my Dad's side is Italian and for as long as I can remember, we have made homemade pasta. I am sure there is a way to do it without the press, but I honestly don't have that much time on my hands. Plus this gives me another chance to use my fabulous Green KitchenAid Mixer!

3. Food Processor : I haven't gotten real into researching good food processors yet, but I am sure KitchenAid wouldn't steer me wrong. I have a Magic Bullet and it gets most of the jobs I want done, but a real food processor would be a must in the long run!

4. Wilton 101 Cookie Cutter Set : This is so awesome! Not only do you have multiple sizes of circles, stars, and hearts, but you have holiday cutters and the alphabet and numbers! Need I say more?

5. Mandoline: This is another one I have yet to do major research on, but this particular mandoline has high ratings on amazon. This goes along with the food processor. I could do the task by hand, but having a mandoline makes everything uniform and a whole lot easier!

6. Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat: This is one I could use all the time! From what I have heard it works wonders with anything you bake on a 'cookie' sheet! And non-stick, yes please!

7. 3-Tier Cooling Rack: This would be helpful with any baked goods. I always run out of room on my single layer cooling rack!

So there you have it! My Top Seven Sunday list! Hope you have a wonderful week!

Mexican Pizza

I apologize in advance because this recipes is accompanied by multitudes of photos like the last recipe was. However it was one we whipped together and had to share because it is so good! The dough recipe I use is really easy and makes some pretty tasty crust. This time when I made it, I doubled it and froze them in individual pizza balls.

What you need:

• Pizza Crust Dough
• Ground Beef
• 1/4-1/2 Onion (optional)
• Taco seasonings
• Refried Beans
• Shredded cheese
• Toppings: lettuce, tomato, diced jalepenos, diced green chilis, sour cream, salsa etc

Stretch your pizza dough onto the pan of your choice. For the crust I had, preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Start browning your ground beef. I cooked mine with diced onions and jalepenos and used various mexican seasonings. Whatever you prefer your taco meat to taste like is the idea.

While the meat is browning, spread a thin layer of beans on the crust. If you want salsa on it, do so now. Then I put a layer of shredded cheese and the cooked ground beef mixture. Cover with more cheese. (I used some velvetta cheese and it was 'nacho' like and cheesy how we enjoy everything!) Bake it until the crust is golden brown.

When it comes out of the oven you can top it with the cold toppings. I didn't use salsa, but we had some Taco Bell sauce in the fridge and that made it perfect!

**Just to give you an idea...I made one 9x13 (aprox) size pizza and we used about 1/2lb of ground beef for the topping and about 1/3 can of refried beans.)