Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes

So a while ago I pinned this recipe for Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes. I'm a sucker for all things Oreo... and cheesecake. I wrote out all the ingredients I would need to buy on Saturday, following the Pinterest link.

Source: theoneyoufeed.tumblr.com via craftyashley on Pinterest

The very next day I go back to start making them? Tumblr is down or the blog is gone. Or whatever. Kicking myself in the pants for not writing it down. Usually I don't put them on this blog until I've tried them. I did not want to end up with three unused packages of cream cheese, so I scoured the internet for something similar. This was the closest I could find, although I think it calls for less cream cheese.

But I am going to transcribe it here anyway, because HOLY CATS- I don't want this to happen again!

Oreos, whole only 6 coarsely chopped
2 8-oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature (Neufchatel is fine)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 275 F.
Line muffin tins (I used 18) with paper liners.
Place 1 whole Oreo in the bottom of each lined cup.
Beat the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium. Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla.
Pour in the beaten eggs, a little at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
Beat in the sour cream and salt.
Stir in chopped cookies by hand.
Pour the batter into the prepared tins, filling each almost to the top.
Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, 22-25 minutes.
Cool in the pans for about 15 minutes, on a wire rack, then transfer to a plate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Homemade Pita Chips

Once upon a time, Sam's Club sold a pita chip- in a huge bag, of course. I could not get enough of those chips. They were crispy, salty, and just a hint of garlic. Sadly, I have not seen the same chips on sale for about two years, and it has made me all sad and mopey.

Luckily, I ran across this recipe in an old issue of Family Fun in my doctor's office. I scribbled down the instructions and just cooked up a batch today. They are quite similar to the chips of yore, and pair really well with my favorite Cool Cucumber Dip.

You'll need:

6 pitas

1/3 c. olive oil

garlic salt

pepper

dried herbs (oregano or basil)

Preheat the oven to 400. Slice the pitas in half, and peel the sides off each other, so you'll have four half-circles. Cut into chip-sized pieces and arrange on a baking tray. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle garlic salt, pepper, and oregano on top. Bake for about 6-7 minutes until golden brown. Rotate the pan in the middle if you can remember it. 

Cool in pan on wire rack. Store in a Ziploc for a couple weeks. 

Easy Calzone Rolls

Made these for dinner on a whim. I needed something relatively quick, but less than boring. And whoo boy, it was delicious! I substituted the sliced hard salami for regular old pepperoni because I was wary the little ones would balk at salami. Worked just fine. Though I would use pizza sauce for the dip instead of marinara to give it more kick.

Source: family.go.com via craftyashley on Pinterest

Ingredients: 

2 loaves thawed frozen bread- like Rhodes.

1/2 lb. sliced ham

1/2 lb. sliced hard salami (or pepperoni)

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1 c. jarred marinara sauce (or pizza sauce)

Roll each loaf into a rectangle about 8 x12. 

Layer ham, then pepperoni and cheese on top.

Tuck the short sides in and roll from the long side in. Pinch the ends well and place on a baking sheet seam side down. 

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, or until browned. 

Move to a slicing block and slice- serve with dipping sauce. 

Make Yer Own Pita Bread

I am staring down the bread aisle. Three bucks plus for six pitas. Having a growing family, we are needing more pita loaves. (loaves? circles? slices?) We need more like eight for our favorite recipes; pita pizzas, pita tostadas, Moroccan garbanzo pitas! But six dollars? Sheesh!

That is what prompted me to look up just how hard it might be to make pitas? Turns out the answer is: well, kinda hard. But kinda worth it.

1 pkg. yeast
1/2 c. warm water
3 c. flour (I used 2c. white and 1 c. wheat- mostly because I ran out of white flour)
1 1/4 tea. salt
1 tea. sugar
1 c. lukewarm water

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 c. warm water. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Let sit 10-15 mins. until frothy.

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a depression in the center and pour yeast water in.

Slowly add 1 c. lukewarm water, stir until elastic. Place on a floured surface and knead for 10-15 mins, until the dough is no longer sticky.

Coat a large bowl with vegetable oil, toss in the dough ball, then turn it over so the whole ball is coated. Leave to rise in a warm place for about 3 hours, until doubled in size.

Once doubled, roll out to be a rope, and pinch off small pieces- about 10-12. Place the balls on a floured surface and let sit covered for 10 mins.

Preheat oven to 500 and make sure the rack is on the bottom. Put the baking sheet in there as the oven preheats.

Roll out each dough ball into circles about 5-6 inches and 1/4 in. thick.

Bake for 4 minutes, until it puffs up. Then turn flip them over and cook for another 2 mins. Remove each pita with a spatula and press the extra air from the bubble out. Immediately place in storage bags.

Can store in the pantry for up to a week or freeze in freezer bags for up to a month.

His Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

On random nights, The Husband gets a serious hankering for chocolate chip cookies. Most of the time I just google "chocolate chip cookie recipe" and use whatever comes up. I don't have time to catalog and bother with cookie recipes- I can never tell a difference anyway. Well, after making this particular batch, The Husband exclaimed that I must bookmark this recipe ASAP. So I am. They were pretty yummy. They tasted a little vanilla-y to me, but The Husband loved it. So here you go.

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I usually half this) 
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons hot water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional) 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F 
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
3. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned

I thought it was odd to dissolve the baking soda, but it worked just fine! I also didn't have all the chocolate chips I needed- being last minute on the cookies, I only used 1 c. mini chips and it worked just fine. 

Frozen Fruit & Yogurt Roll Ups

These are delicious! The kids were none too happy with them, but I scarfed them down. I would let them thaw a bit from frozen.

Source: tidymom.net via craftyashley on Pinterest

10 flour tortillas
1-1/2 cups Vanilla yogurt
frozen berries
1/2 cup sugar
1 T. cinnamon
spray butter

Directions:

Mix cinnamon & sugar on a large plate. Spray one side of a flour tortilla with butter, covering the entire surface, then place butter side down on plate with cinnamon and sugar. Press down and move around, coating one side of tortilla in cinnamon and sugar.

Next, place tortilla, sugar side down on another plate. Spread about 1/8 cup of yogurt (I just eyeball this, I don’t measure) in a strip a little left of the center. Add some frozen berries (I bought a bag of mixed, strawberries, black berries, raspberries and blue berries- I cut the strawberries up). Roll the tortilla tight and place on a large cookie sheet.

Continue the process with the rest of the tortillas.

Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer, cut each tortilla in half and place them in a large zip lock bag and put them back in the freezer for storage.

To Serve:
Take out of bag and eat immediately. You can let them thaw a little bit, but if you let them thaw too long, they’re mushy, but can be eaten that way too.

Variations: you can try this with different flavors of yogurt and different fruits. Strawberries and bananas would be good…..just be sure to cut the strawberries up, a whole strawberry is hard to eat when frozen.

Costa Vida Chicken

Hands down, love this. Especially as a taco salad. And it's super easy to make!

Source: realmomkitchen.com via craftyashley on Pinterest

• 1 (16 oz.) bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing (I used Kroger brand)
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp cumin
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 skinless, boneless chicken breast

Cook all together in a crock pot on high for 4 hours, shred meat and cook 1 additional hour. (This recipe makes a lot so you can do have or freeze the leftovers for another meal)