Cheesecake Tarts

16 oz. cream cheese

¾ C. sugar

1 Tbs Lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

2 dozen cupcake liners

1 can pie filling of your choice

1 can spray whip

Preheat oven to 350. Place 1 whole wafer in each muffin liner in muffin pan. Beat cream cheese, sugar, lemon, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Fill each cup ½ full with cream cheese mixture. Bake 20-30 min. (until tops barely brown). Cool completely. Right before serving, top with pie filling and spray whip. Makes 2 dozen.

Cheese blob

Cheese Ball
• 8 oz cream cheese (slightly softened)
• ¼ C. grated mild cheddar cheese
• ¼ C flaked coconut
• 1/3 C. finely diced green onion-divided
• ¼ - ½ C. Pineapple apricot marmalade
• ¼ C. Craisins (softened…boil in microwave 1 min. drain)
• ¼ C. Chopped pecans
*Mix cream cheese, cheddar cheese, coconut and all but 2 T. green onions until well blended. Shape into a ball/log/blob/cat/dog/whatever☺
Top with marmalade, craisins, pecans, and 2 T. green onions. Refrigerate until serving. Dip with Flip Side pretzel crackers, Ritz, wheat thins, etc…

Pumpkin Roll

This is a family recipe and one of my Dad's favorite desserts so I made it for him for his Birthday last week. This is the only picture I got while we were eating it...



Pumpkin Roll:
• 3 eggs
• 2/3 C. canned pumpkin
• 1 C. sugar
• 2tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1tsp lemon juice
• ¾ C. flour
• 1 1/2 C. chopped pecans

Center Frosting:
• 4 oz. cream cheese
• 1 C. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon sugar
• 4 TBS butter softened
• 2 tsp real vanilla

Measure dry ingredients into a bowl. Mix pumpkin and lemon juice together in another bowl. Beat eggs on high 6 min. gradually beat in sugar. Fold in dry ingredients then fold in pumpkin mixture. Try not to over mix. Pour on to a large WELL GREASED cookie sheet. Sprinkle evenly with nuts. Bake at 375 for 30 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. While baking, lay out a large CLEAN dish towel and sprinkle with a generous amount of powdered sugar. Invert pumpkin roll on the towel immediately from the oven. Let it sit on there inverted for 5 min. tap bottom of cookie sheet with a knife or spoon to loosen. Pull off the cookie sheet. Your pumpkin roll should now be laying on the towel, in one piece, nut side down. Roll up the cake and towel and let cool COMPLETELY. When almost cool, beat all frosting ingredients on high 3 min. Once cool, unroll and frost (still nut side down) leaving a ½ inch boarder around entire cake. Roll up the cake again without the towel. Cover and refrigerate.

Coconut Shrimp and Pina Colada dipping sauce (like red lobster!)

One of my husbands favorite foods is coconut shrimp. Ive combined different recipes found online and changed/added a few things to make delicious coconut shrimp that tastes similar to his favorite coconut shrimp found at Red Lobster...

Coconut Shrimp:

• 6-8 cups frying oil (as required by fryer)

• 12 large shrimp or 24 small shrimp, cooked, peeled and deveined (about 1/2 pound)

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup milk

• 3 tablespoons captain morgan Parrot Bay coconut rum

• 1 cup panko Japanese-style bread crumbs

• 1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

Pina Colada Dipping Sauce:

• 1 container Yoplait original vanilla yogurt

• ½ 12oz can crushed pineapple, drained

• 1/3 Cup Polo Loco cream of coconut (best price at Wal-Mart)

Prepare Pina Colada sauce by combining yogurt, cream of coconut, and pineapple. Cover and let chill in the fridge while you make the shrimp.

Butterfly cut each shrimp before you start the battering: Use a sharp knife to slice through the top of the shrimp (where the vein was) so that you can spread the shrimp open.


Leave the tail intact.

Heat oil to 350 degrees.

Measure 3/4 cup of flour into a medium bowl.

In another medium bowl mix together the remaining 3/4 cup flour, sugar, and salt.

Stir milk and rum into flour mixture.

Let batter stand for five minutes.

While the batter rests, combine panko breadcrumbs and shredded coconut into a third medium bowl.

To batter the shrimp: dip each one in the flour, then the wet batter, then coat each shrimp with the panko/coconut mixture.

Arrange the shrimp on a plate until all of them are battered.


Fry the shrimp by dropping six at a time into the hot oil for 2 to 3 minutes or until the shrimp are golden brown.


Remove shrimp to a rack or paper towels to drain.


Serve shrimp with pina colada dipping sauce.

A few tips:

*Your oil only needs to be deep enough to cover ½ way up the shrimp. Just fry one side then flip and fry the other.

*Winco Foods (my new favorite grocery store) sells panko bread crumbs in bulk. So, you can buy just the cup this recipe calls for.

*You can also make your own bread crumbs by blending 2 or 3 pieces of bread in a food processor and baking them on a cookie sheet in a 250 degree oven until dry.

Battering the shrimp. Flour, wet batter, panko/coconut
Battered shrimp; ready to be fried

Fried and drained
Ready to serve with dipping sauce. Yum!
I decided to make a coconut shrimp sushi roll while I was at it. SOOO

Delicious!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

We used to go door to door when we were kids selling cookies to make money. We would take a sheet around and people would sign up for homemade cookies. Then we would deliver them. We were called the "cookie kids" haha This is the recipe for the cookies we would sell. There were other variations but Ive always loved these most...

‘Cookie Kid’ Cookies

· 1 C. butter softened

· 1 tsp vanilla

· 2 eggs

· 1 C. sugar

· 1 C. brown sugar

· 1 tsp baking soda

· 1 tsp baking powder

· ½ tsp salt

· 2 ½ C. flour

· 1 ½ C. instant oatmeal

· 1 bag milk chocolate chips (Guittard are my favorite)

Preheat oven to 350. Beat butter & sugar 2 minutes on medium speed, scraping sides a few times. Add eggs & vanilla. Beat another 2 minutes. Add salt, soda and powder. Beat 30 seconds. Add flour about ½ C. at a time, mixing well between each addition. Stir in oatmeal and chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoons onto an un-greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 min.

*Substitute white chocolate chips for the milk chocolate and add chopped macadamia nuts for a "Hawaiian" cookie!

First up-BBQ Chicken

In our family, on your Birthday, you get to choose a Sunday dinner of all our favorite foods. For years I have picked my Mom's BBQ chicken. Well, as Iv'e been trying new recipes, I found one I like even better! I changed it a bit to fit my families taste...

‘Better Homes’ Favorite Barbequed Chicken

· 2-2 ½ Lb. Chicken thighs (for me, thighs are the key. Moist, flavor-full, yummy!)

· 2 T. Cooking oil

· 2 medium sized sweet onions, cut into ¼ inch slices.

· ½ C. chopped celery

· 1 C. catsup

· 2 T. brown sugar

· 2 T. lemon juice

· 2 T. Worcestershire sauce

· 2 T. Mustard

Skin chicken. Rinse and pat dry. Heat oil in a large skillet. Cook chicken over medium heat for about 10 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Transfer chicken into a 2 qt. baking dish. Set aside. Add celery & onions to skillet & cook until tender (about 5 minutes). Meanwhile mix remaining (5) ingredients in a bowl. Add to celery & onions. Bring to boil & remove from heat. Pour sauce over chicken. Cover & bake 40 minutes. Uncover & baste with sauce. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes. You’ll want to bring the extra sauce to the table, it’s the best part!

* I like to serve this dish with mashed potato’s, and a green vegetable or salad.

Let the cooking begin!

So here I go! I have been in Heaven cooking yummy meals for my family since we finally got our own place. I figured it was time to start recording which ones we love the most so we can easily find and make our favorite recipes for the rest of our lives! What an easy way to keep my own personal cookbook!