Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

If you are looking for an easy, flavorful dessert, look no further than Strawberry Cheesecake Bites.


Sunday afternoon our church hosted it's annual Ladies' Tea. I volunteered to bring something along before I knew I would gone the whole day prior. I went shopping with a few friends in the city; we left my house at 6:30 am and arrived back at my house at 2 am! To say I was exhausted would be an understatement.


When Sunday rolled around, I knew I couldn't make the cookies I had planned, and I was going to need something super easy with ingredients I had on hand. On the spot I came up with this dessert, and it ended up being a huge hit!

Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

Phyllo Shells (this isn't something I normally
have, but during a recent sale I picked some up for Christmas appetizers.)

8 oz cream cheese; softened

1 cup powdered sugar

Frozen Strawberries; thawed

In a mixer, cream together the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Spoon in the strawberries to the desired flavor. I didn't measure mine, but if I were to guess, I would say I used probably ¼ cup. Once mixed together completely, spoon or pipe into Phyllo Shells.

For an added touch, garnish with a sliced strawberry.

Makes 30.

This post is linked to:

• Ultimate Recipe Swap: Holiday Food Fest Edition
• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
• Tasty Tuesday

Packaging Ideas for Edible Gifts

**UPDATED** Winner is announced at the bottom.



Welcome to this weeks round of the Holiday Food Fest! This week we're covering Packaging Ideas for Edible Gifts. I absolutely adore packaging Christmas presents. My husband makes fun of me for all the time I spend on packaging up our gifts.

I usually try to give a fair amount of homemade gifts every year. Not only do I find it to be more personal, but it makes for a frugal Christmas. Over the last year I have become more comfortable and confident in the kitchen, so I purposed to make even more edible Christmas gifts this year.



For Thanksgiving this year, we are going to see my family in Iowa. What a great opportunity to drop off some Homemade Christmas Gifts!






I took a jar of Jalapeno Jelly and a jar of Corn Cob jelly and attached a festive ribbon around the jar band. For the tag, I used a piece of white cardstock and wrote the serving instructions inside. For this gift I also included Buttermilk Biscuit Mix with a cute snowflake cutter. The candy cane bag was purchased at Dollar General for $1. Total Cost=Under $4




{Please forgive the quality of the photos from here down. My 4yo knocked the camera off the counter..I have yet to find part of the lens that flew off. :( }



I'm so upset that you can't see this basket very well. This is a Breakfast Basket and includes:

• Cinnamon Pancake Mix
• Buttermilk Buscuit Mix with Snowflake Cutter
• Homemade Vanilla Chai Tea Mix with Snowman Mug
• Jalapeno and Corn Cob Jellies in Red Snowman Bag
• Plastic Condiment Bottle w/these instructions on a cute printable Christmas Label: Fill with favorite pancake batter and draw on hot griddle for fun, shaped pancakes! My children LOVE it when I pull mine out!
• Wooden Spoon for mixing
• Plastic Spatula for flipping pancakes
• Green Snowman Towel for cleaning up
• All of this is contained in a plastic green bowl, perfect for use later on.

Total Cost: Under $8

This is more of an All-In-One Basket, I used Jars for the mixes intead of bakery bags. It includes:

• Homemade Vanilla Chai Mix with Snowman Mug {Breakfast}
• Buttermilk Biscuit Mix {Breakfast}
• Jar of Homemade Apple Butter {Breakfast}
• Chili Mix in a Jar w/plastic serving spoon {Dinner}
• Brownie Mix w/wooden stirring spoon {Dessert}
• Snowflake Towel for cleaning up
• Also in a plastic green bowl.
  

Total Cost: Also right around $8

When making homemade mixes, be sure to attach a label with directions so the recipent knows what to do. I did a quick Swagbuck search for "Christmas Lables" and found a lot of really cute options. I use a fair amount of ribbon and Christmas Stationary because it adds a special touch. If you want more of "country" feel, you can use Raffia in place of the ribbon--or even together. Before passing these gifts along, I will wrap the baskets in cellophane and tie off with coordinating ribbon and another home printed tag.

Oh, I can't wait to give them out!

Additonal ideas: I packaged up hot cocoa, homemade marshmallows, and made baggies of Heaven on a Stick for teacher gifts.

Now it is your turn.

What Edible Gifts are you giving this year? What are your Packaging Ideas?

Last weeks giveaway winner is: Saveur at TasteSpace! This week if you link up you enter to win an EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Scale.

"The EatSmart Precision Pro Digital Kitchen Scale is a versatile multifunction home appliance. Designed to be highly accurate and aesthetically pleasing, the Precision Pro is manufactured to the highest quality specifications. Weigh items up to 11 lbs quickly and accurately, with results displayed in four different units: grams / ounces / pounds / kilograms. Weigh food items directly on the scale platform or utilize the scale's tare (zero) function, which eliminates the weight of a plate or bowl and makes cleanup a snap. The high resolution screen provides easy viewing angles on any kitchen counter and the five rubber feet eliminate sliding. Additionally the three minute auto-turnoff feature ensures that you will never again lose your measurement in the middle of your recipe prep!" ~Excerpt from Amazon.com

Digital scales are a great tool for any cook. They come in handy when having to measure ingredients for canning, or even bread making--as some recipes state the weight of an ingredient versus a measurement. This scale is pleasing to the eye, so it won't be gawky sitting out on your counter top. The Auto-Turnoff is especially handy for forgetful cooks like me--don't want to waste those batteries!

Link up or comment on this post to enter to win! Must be in the United States to win. Winner will be announced on Wendesday, November 25th.

Can't wait to see your ideas!

Linda from Gluten Free Homemaker--you were picked by Random.org!!

Decorating Cupcakes With Children

All of my children were out of school today due to deer season, so I was trying to come up with something to occupy them. It was chilly and rainy for the first day in weeks, giving me the urge to bake. I had the brilliant idea of making cupcakes, since we rarely make them. I envisioned the kids helping me measure and mix up the cupcake batter, scooping into the festive cupcake liners and decorating to their hearts content.





After listening to the children argue over this, that, and the color of the moon--I sent them to their rooms for a nap. They were told they had to get rid of their attitudes before we could proceed with the cupcake making process. When they woke from their naps they feared that I had already made the cupcakes..while it did cross my mind, I was really wanting them to be able to be creative and create their very own, unique cupcakes.





I mixed up a chocolate cake mix, substituting applesauce in for the oil and baked away. I gave each child a small plate with 2 cupcakes each, a dollop of icing, and set the decoration in the middle of the table for them to use.





Aren't these the prettiest cupcakes ever??

Apparently they were too worried about eating them, and forgot to decorate them! So much for festive cupcakes to share.

This post is linked to:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Tasty Tuesday
• Cupcake Tuesday

Guest Post: Using What We Have

I am out of town for the weekend, and Lynn has graciously offered to do a post in my absence. I love Lynn's recipes! Her Oatmeal Pancakes quickly become our favorite pancake, even my daughter, who hates oatmeal, gobbles them up!




I think that one of the biggest things we can do to save money on groceries and food is to use what we have and to not let things go to waste. This is an area I think most of us struggle with., and it is something that past generations were much better at than our generation.



Most of our grandmothers would not have even thought about throwing food out. But all too often I find myself throwing away the last little bit of something. I let produce go bad or something gets hidden in the back of the fridge or freezer, and by the time I find it, it is too late to use it. Does anyone else besides me have this problem? It is something I really am trying to get better at, but I have a long ways to go.



Bananas seem to be the perfect example of something that goes bad before I use them all. I always end up buying more than we can eat before they turn brown, but I don’t want to throw any out. Yes, you can freeze them and use them in things like smoothies. You can also make banana bread, but my family gets tired of those things. So, when I found a recipe for a banana cookie, I knew I wanted to try it. Not only does it have bananas in it, it also has whole wheat flour and oatmeal in it. So, it is semi-healthy.



My family loves these cookies, and they have become one of our favorite ways to use up bananas. I hope you give these a try next time you have bananas that need used up.

Banana Chocolate Cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large)

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

about 2 cups chocolate chips

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together flours, salt, and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside. Put butter and sugars into the bowl mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Add egg and vanilla; mix until combined. Mix in banana. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in oats, chocolate chips.Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets spacing about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies until golden brown and just set, 12 to 13 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers up to 2 days.

Lynn is a stay at home, homeschooling mom to three. She loves to cook and try all kinds of recipes. If you want to follow her adventures in the kitchen on her blog lynnskitchenadventures.com.

I can't wait to try them! Thanks, Lynn!

This post is linked to :

• Frugal Friday
• Recipe Swap

Clearanced Fruit

Every once in awhile I get lucky and I stumble upon great clearance sales on fruit at the local grocery store.

I rarely pay full price for bananas since they go on clearance quite often. Although they are usually browning a bit, these bananas are great for freezing or using right away.

• Slice up and flash freeze individually and then place in a gallon bag. These are great for smoothies, to use in baked goods later on, or even for banana foster (a new favorite in my house!)
• Peel and freeze whole. I've frozen then in the peel before--some were easy to get the peel off, while others were not. Peeling them before hand eliminates this hassle.
• Use right away in banana bread/muffins, cakes, smoothies, banana foster :), oatmeal, etc.

A recent stop into my local grocery store yielded me a great score of clearanced bananas and apples! I was so excited at my find since it is rare that I find apples this cheap-- .29¢/pound!! I brought home all that they had, which was almost 4 pounds. I was dreaming of all the different things I could do with all those apples.

• Made lots of fresh apple juice with my new juicer. Boy, oh boy am I addicted to that thing! Fresh juiced juice does not even compare to commercial juice.
• Sliced, cored, and peeled a big batch for the freezer. I added some cinnamon and sugar and froze to use later on in apple pie.
• Ate fresh.
• Smoothies.
• If I had gotten more I would have loved to make some apple butter or apple sauce. Mmmmm!

Clearanced fruit saves money--as long as you use it up before it goes bad. Saving money with clearanced fruit definitely works for me!

Have you ever gotten any good deals on clearanced fruit? What is your favorite use for it?

Time to Bake!

It has been awhile since I have baked for an entire day, or atleast a good part of it. Earlier this week I decided that I was overdue, so I planned a Baking Day for today. Crystal, has been baking up a storm this week in preperation for baby #3 and blogged through it, so I decided to blog through mine as well.



As the day progresses I will update my post with my progress. Unfortunately, since I still cannot figure out why my computer won't recognize my camera--there won't be any pictures. You'll have to use your imagination!



Here is my "To-Accomplish" List

• Chocolate Chip Cookies for next weeks snacks. I'm going to try out this recipe instead of ol' trusty.
• Try not to eat all of the cookie batter! It's my weakness.
• French Bread Baguettes for DH's sandwiches. (same recipe, different method. I hope to share my "new" way later.) They are all shaped, and are working on their second rise. DONE!
• Oat Bran Bread. It's on it's second rise. This is a new one to me--and I just don't know about it.... **It's done--and it is not so good! Any ideas on how to salvage it?
• Granola Bars. Finished and bagged up!
• Chocolate Zuchinni Cake (Thanks for the reminder, Jessica!) In the oven, and I just remembered I forgot to add the butter! Hope it turns out! :) DONE! And delish! Since I've single handedly eaten almost half of it, I froze the rest of it in 2 seperate portions.
• Cheese Crackers. I was going to experiment and come up with a recipe, but Laura took out all the guess work for me. DONE!
• Clean up the kitchen.
• Freeze half of the Chocolate Chip Cookies.
• Let Noah help me. This is always a hard one for me, as I mentioned here. It was SO much fun having him in the kitchen!
• Have Fun! Of course!
• Find a snippet of time to do a load of laundry. Getting ready to start load #3!
• Start dinner by 4:30pm. Well, 4:45--close enough.

Time to get cracking!

This post is linked to:

• Money Saving Mom: Baking Day Wrap Up
• Thursday Thirteen

What do you have planned today?

Recipe: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My husband's favorite cookies of all time are Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. As I've confessed before, I'm not a cookie maker, but I'm learning. Over the past few weeks, I've made my fair share of these since they are somewhat nutritious. Who knew that a kitchen timer would work wonders?! :)

A couple weeks ago when I was making up a batch, I was low on all-purpose flour, but I didn't realize it until I already started making them. The only solution I had was to use whole wheat flour. I had no idea how it was going to turn out, but I ran with it anyway.

To my delight--it worked perfectly! The only thing that needs to be adjusted is the bake time or oven temp. I would say that you could probably drop the temp to 325° and bake for about 5 to 8 minutes.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 c shortening

¾ c packed br. sugar

¼ c white sugar

1 (3.5 oz) pkg instant french vanilla pudding mix

2 eggs

1 ¼ c. all purpose flour (or whole wheat)

1 tsp baking soda

3 ½ c rolled oats

1 c raisins

Cream together shortening, br. sugar and white sugar until smooth. Blend in the dry pudding mix, then beat in eggs until the batter is light and fluffy. Combine the flour and baking soda, mix into the batter. Add in the oats and raisins. The mixture will be really stiff, and appear dry--but it's okay! Drop dough by spoonfuls onto baking sheets. I flatten my with a spoon a bit to make them flat. Bake 8-12 mins in a 350° oven. For whole wheat, adjust oven temp to about 325° and bake for 5-8 minutes.

This post is linked to:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Tasty Tuesday
• Kitchen Tip Tuesday
• Are you a cookie lover? Be sure to check out the Cookie Throwdown over at LifeasMom.
• Recipe Swap
  

Menu Plan Week of 4/12-4/18

Although my husband was very sick last week, our menu still went over pretty well. We didn't have the Buffalo Chicken Pizza, but everything else went as planned. Thankfully, Willie is much better, and finally went back to work this morning after being off since April 3rd! He was more than ready to go back! Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers last week--we really appreciated them! Bloggy friends are the best, and I'm so thankful for all of you--and thankful to be back this week.



Also, many of you asked how the Black Bean Browines turned out. They were okay. I'm a cake-y brownie lover, and these were more fudgey. I also revamped my homemade brownie recipe (used some agave nectar and turbinado) and then substituted in the black beans. My kids loved them, while my husband said "there is too much experimenting in those!". So, next time I will use a brownie mix, or maybe just not tweak my recipe so much!

Breakfast:

• ½ Bagel. Smoothie.
• Oatmeal. Egg White. Pear.
• Cheerios w/bananas.
• Granola Bars

Dinner:

• Sunday: Free For All
• Monday: Asian Vegetable Soup. Vegetable Dumplings. (recipes later this week)
• Tuesday: Spaghetti. Green Beans. HM French Bread. Salad.
• Wednesday: Lentil Brown Rice Casserole. Salad. Biscuits.
• Thursday: Tuna Casserole. Peas.
• Friday: Buffalo Chicken Pizza. Salad.
• Saturday: Roast Beef Burritos w/lettuce and sour cream. HM Spanish Rice. HM Refried Beans.

Snacks:

• Smoothies.
• Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.
• Carrots w/dip.

This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday.

Virtual Great American Bake Sale

It's that time! Time for the Great American Bake Sale! Be sure to head on over to Stolen Moments Cooking to check out all the participants. I submitted Blueberry Streusel and Frugal Delish Cake.

100% of the proceeds from the sale of these ebooks will go toward Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale program. Funds raised through Great American Bake Sale are donated to after-school and summer feeding programs--food programs that many kids depend on when school is not in session. Great American Bake Sale is a program of Share Our Strength, a national organization working to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry.

The ebooks are a compilation of recipes from submitters across the blogosphere and beyond. The ebooks are available for purchase based on any donation amount of the buyer's choosing.

The Complete VGABS E-Book

Features all 170 of the submitted recipes. Many of the recipes include pictures.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Because we know file size may be an issue for some, the below ebooks have split the 170 recipes into 4 categorized ebooks so that you can choose just 1 or 2 of your favorites, if you’d prefer. Just like for the Complete ebook, many of these recipes include pictures. And again, they are available for purchase based on any donation amount of the buyer’s choosing.

Muffins & Breads

Features 24 recipes.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Cookies, Candy, Cakes, Bars & Brownies

Features 50 Recipes

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Desserts

Features 49 Recipes.

On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Beyond Baked Goods (Appetizers, Breakfast, Main Dishes, etc.)

Features 47 recipes.
On the checkout page, manually change the amount (USD) field to your donation amount.

Calling All Bakers and Cooks!

I love to bake! To me, it is very rewarding to work up something for my family to enjoy.



A few years ago, I would have served up a cake made from a cake mix, today you will more than likely get Chocolate Infused Depression Cake, Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins, Strawberry Shortcake or some other from scratch dessert. I love sharing my recipes with others, and I like it when others share their favorites with me.



That is where you come in.



A friend of mine, Kate from Cooking During Stolen Moments, has partnered with Share Our Strength to create the Virtual Great American Bake Sale. Each year Share Our Strength asks people to host bake sales in their communities with all of the proceeds going to their ultimate mission - making sure no child goes hungry! The virtual bake sale is going to spread this movement to the blogosphere. We all know the power of the blogosphere!

For this backwards WFMW, I'm asking for recipes to be added to the Virtual Great American Bake Sale. Kate has all the details on the Cooking During Stolen Moments site, so head over there to see how you can participate. But, you better hurry--deadline for entries is April 5th.

I can't wait to get the e-book and try out all of the different recipes you have submitted. Sharing, and helping others, definitely works for me!

Recipe: Arctic Orange Pie

I'm on this never ending quest to try and regain control of my Recipe Binder. It is the bottomless pit of doom--or so it appears.



I was flipping through it trying to find some snacks/desserts to go with this week's menu, and I stumbled across an old favorite.



If I'm not mistaking this comes from the Quick Cooking Magazine (which is now known as Simple & Delicious). It is low in fat, simply easy, and incredibly delicious!

Arctic Orange Pie

1 pkg fat free cream cheese

1 (6oz) can of frozen orange juice

1 (8oz) carton reduced fat whipped topping-thawed

1 reduced fat graham cracker crust (or you can use homemade)

1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges

Combine cream cheese and orange juice concentrate until smooth. Fold in the whipped topping and pour mixture into graham cracker crust.

Cover and freeze for 4 hours or until solid. Garnish with mandarin oranges before serving.

This dessert is also very versatile. You can change up the juice and fruit combos to come up with many different versions.

• Frozen Pineapple Juice with chopped pineapple topping
• Frozen Fruit Punch with cherries on top
• What about Limeade? Mmmmm...
• White Grape peach juice with peaches on the top
• Or even Raspberry juice, with fresh raspberries for the topping

This post is linked to:

Tempt My Tummy Tuesday

Tasty Tuesday

What combinations can you come up with?

Recipe: Shortbread Cookies

If you've been around here very long, you know that I love to bake and make things from scratch. One thing you may not have figured out, though, is I really don't like making cookies. It seems that I just don't have the attention span for them. I'm a chewy cookie girl, so they don't take long. I get sidetracked, and low and behold, I've overcooked them.



When I was making up a basket for my husband to take to work for Christmas, I came across a spectacular cookie. They almost didn't make it in the basket. It does take a little bit of time to prepare, but they are definitely worth it.



And, believe it or not---it has only 3 ingredients.

Shortbread Cookies

1 cup butter

1 ½ cups flour

½ cup powdered sugar

Combine all of the ingredients and mix in your stand mixer for 10 minutes. It takes a full 10 minutes to get the batter to look like batter--so be patient.

Take a Ziploc bag and fill it with the batter. Snip a small piece off of the corner, making a piping bag. Pipe onto a cookie sheet. (These are small-ish cookies, about 3 inches).

Bake at 350° for about 15 minutes. You want the bottoms to brown a bit, but don't let the tops brown.

If you feel so inclined, you can decorate with sprinkles, Hershey's Kisses, cherries, frosting..anything your heart desires. I personally prefer them as is.

These things will melt in your mouth--and it will tough to share!

This post is linked to:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
• Tasty Tuesday

Frugal Delish Cake Recipe

Last night I looked at my menu plan wrong and ended up making Tuesday's meal instead of Monday. No big deal, I'll just make Monday's tonight.



Tuesday's meal called for a dessert, and in true frugal fashion I didn't want it to break the bank. I've been eating all things chocolate the last few days, so I knew I wanted something chocolately--but I wanted lots of it!



This occassion called for Depression Cake. But not the regular run of the mill Depression Cake. My revamped, chocolate infused Depression Cake.



I stumbled upon this recipe a while back over at Grocery Cart Challenge, and it is yummy as is and costs a mere .35 for 9 servings!



Here is my revamped version (I only made slight changes this time).

Chocolate Infused Depression Cake

1 1/2 c flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

1tsp vinegar
6 Tbsp cocoa
6 Tbsp oil

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix all the ingredients together making sure that they are fully incorporated. Pour batter in a 9x9 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

After I made this cake my wheels started turning and I started playing with it. I made a second version where I replaced the cocoa with a box of pudding (all I had was white chocolate) and I threw in a handful of peanut butter chips that I found in my cabinet. It turned out okay--I think the chips were past their prime, but the pudding gave it a good flavor.

I say all this to show you the versatility of this cake. The cake baked up beautifully with the addition of the pudding mix--so your possibilities are endless.

Here are some combinations to think of:

• French Vanilla Pudding Mix
• White Chocolate Pudding Mix with white chocolate chips (maybe even a small addition of macadamia nuts)
• Coconut Pudding Mix and a handful of shredded coconut.
• Banana Cream Pudding Mix with 1/2 smashed banana
• Oreo Pudding Mix with 1/2 cup crushed oreos

Of course different additions with affect the pricing of the cake--but, either way you look at it it is still a frugal, delish cake!

If you try any of these variations, or have any other ideas, please let us know!

This post is linked to Kitchen Tip Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, and Tasty Tuesday.

Whole Wheat Honey Pumpkin Muffins

Okay...these things are AWESOME!



I was getting ready to fix dinner, and I remembered that I had some pumpkin in the fridge that HAD to be used up. So, I went on a hunt for a dessert that used pumpkin. Thank heavens for internet.



I came across this one one on AllRecipes and adapted it to my family's taste and to things I had on hand. Oh so good.



1 1/2 c Whole Wheat Flour (.26)
1/2 c brown sugar (.10)
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
extra dash of cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree (.25)
1/2 c oil (.25)
1/2 c honey (.25)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl mix flour, brown sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center and add eggs, pumpkin, oil and honey. Mix ingredients until moistened. Fill greased muffin cups (or lined) 2/3 full.

Bake for 18 minutes or until muffins spring back.

Estimated Cost: Approximately $1.15 for about 14 muffins