Apple Chimi Cheesecake

Approximate Time: 2 hrs (with freezing time)

Servings: recipe says 4, I was able to make 10

Ingredients:
Cheesecake filling (favorite home-made recipe or instant package mix)
Apple pie filling
Pressed 10" flour tortillas
Cinnamon sugar
caramel topping
Vanilla ice cream

Directions:

Prep cheesecake filling. Fold in desired amount of apple pie filling (recommend no more then equal to one-quarter of cheese cake mix). Warm tortilla slightly in microwave. Spatula mix onto tortilla in rectangle form, offset from the middle. Fold sides in first, bottom second, and roll to top. Ensure that it is sealed all the way around. Roll in wax paper and freeze.

When ready to prepare/serve, remove fully frozen chimi and fry immediately in 350 degree oil for approximately three to four-minutes. Remove from oil allow to drain. Roll in cinnamon sugar. Cut in half on an angle. Serve in a puddle of caramel and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

*This is a dessert that I used to get at Applebee's until they stopped making it. It doesn't taste quite the same, but it is still a good dessert. I made these for my whole family on Sunday so I was able to prepare this early in the day and just leave it in the freezer. I think I used a cheesecake pie filling which isn't as thick as a normal cheesecake, so I would probably make sure that you get the real cheesecake stuff. Also, I think the tortillas I got were smaller than 10" but I think they were the perfect size (soft taco size).

Szechuan Steak

Approximate Time: 30 minutes
servings: 4

Ingredients
1 lb steak (any kind) sliced thin, 1-2" long pieces
8 oz fresh sugar snap peas (2 cups)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 C soy sauce
1/4 C water
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1/3 C cilantro chopped
2 T dry roasted peanuts (chopped)

Directions
Heat oil in wok or skillet. Add peas and stir fry 2 minutes. Remove to plate and add beef, garlic, and pepper. Stir fry until meat is brown. Combine soy sauce, water, sugar, and starch in a bowl. Return peas to pan and toss with meat. Add soy mixture and stir fry until thick. Remove from heat and serve over steamed rice. Top with cilantro and peanuts.

*This was a quick simple meal and quite good. It doesn't make as much sauce as I would like though so I think that I would double the recipe so that you could have sauce to pour onto the rice instead of it just being on the steak and peas.

Grilled Corn Salad

Ingredients

6 ears fresh corn, husked with silks removed 2 tablespoons canola oil Salt and pepper 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes 1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped 4 scallions, finely chopped 2 cups packed arugala

Lemon Dressing:

1 lemon, juiced
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Neelys Barbeque Seasoning, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat grill or broiler to medium heat.

Rub corn with 2 tablespoons of canola oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill or broil corn for 7 minutes or until ears are lightly browned. Remove from grill and allow to cool. Remove the kernels form the cob and place in a large mixing bowl along with the cherry tomatoes, red pepper, scallions, and arugula.

In a small bowl, prepare dressing by whisking together lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and Neelys Barbeque Seasoning, to taste.

Toss the salad with the dressing and serve at room temperature.

Neelys BBQ Seasoning:

1 1/2 cups paprika
3/4 cup sugar
3 3/4 tablespoons onion powder

Add all ingredients to a bowl and stir until combined. Keep in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

*I didn't have all of the ingredients for this so I had to improvise, but I still thought it was a good salad. I bet it would even be better if I had the right ingredients. Instead of grilling corn, I put frozen corn on a baking sheet and baked it for 15 minutes or so and that was simple and I thought it was good.

Homemade baby food

This post is for my sister-in-law Julie and any other moms out there that are interested in making there own Homemade baby food. The major pros of making your own baby food is for Health (knowing exactly what is going into your baby) and cost (it is much cheaper to make your own food). I have used the book Super Baby Food as a guide on knowing what foods to make at what age and learning about the ice cube tray freezing technique, but I felt like it was missing a way to prepare the food after it was frozen that wasn't using a microwave. I have come up with a way that I feel is a great way to make food and get it prepared to eat after it is frozen.

The supplies that you will more than likely need to go out and purchase that you may not already have is about 6 ice cube trays, small serving strainers, and ramekins (used normally for creme brulee). I have found that ramekins is the best thing to use because it distributes heat evenly while warming up food and when they are refrigerated and immediately put into boiling water, they don't crack like glass.
These strainers were purchased in this 3 set at Walmart for about $8-$9 and I love that you have an individual size.

After preparing which ever food of your choice, pour them into the ice cube trays, cover, and freeze.

After food is frozen, run hot water over the back side of the ice cube tray for about 10 seconds to loosen the cubes, then pop out or use a spoon to get it out. Store in labeled freezer bag until ready to serve.

My baby right now is almost 8 months and she is eating: Spinach, Pears, Peas, Carrots, Prunes, Mangoes, Rice Cereal (I do make my own homemade rice cereal), Sweet Potatoes, and Avocados.

My doctor told me to feed her Spinach and Prunes because she has struggled with constipation and it has worked GREAT at keeping her regular!

If anyone has any questions about how to make certain foods or about the process I use (shown further down), please feel free to ask!

Preparing food for baby after being frozen

First thing every morning when I get up, I decide what Brooklyn is going to eat for all 3 of her meals that day. I take out 3 ramekins and place 1 cube in each.
The 2 that are for lunch and dinner, I place in a plastic bag and store it in the refrigerator until that meal.

I boil water (I do not use a microwave to thaw or warm up the food, for more info on it, check out this website http://www.mercola.com/article/microwave/hazards.htm) and pour into a bowl. For anyone who has never seen one of these water boilers, this is a must have for every household! This is an electric boiler that you plug in and the water is boiled in a few short minutes. This makes warming up food much quicker that a teapot on the stove but you can most definitely use that instead. Breakfast always takes longer to thaw because the cube is still completely frozen, but lunch and dinner have thawed in the refrigerator that they basically just need to warm up.

Place the ramekin in the boiling water in the bowl and add anything else you would like to add to it (breast milk, formula, water). At this time I add banana to her rice cereal to sweeten it, so I use the little strainer to push a small amount through and make it very fine to mix with the cereal.

Stir everything in until you have the consistency that you would like and let sit for a few minutes to warm up. When is all warmed up, take the ramekin out of the bowl, wipe off the ramekin, grab a baby spoon, and it is ready to serve.

Here are some prunes pictured when they are ready to serve!

Marshmallow Flake Treats

Approximate Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
1/3 c. butter
1 (10 oz.) pkg. Marshmallows
4 c. Corn Flakes
1 ½ tbsp. Butter
½ c. almonds, sliced
1 c. coconut

Directions
Brown (toast) lightly in frying pan the following ingredients: 1 ½ tbsp butter, almonds, coconut. Be careful not to burn coconut: it burns fast. Melt 1/3 cup butter and marshmallows over low heat. When melted remove from heat. Add toasted mixture and Corn Flakes to melted marshmallow mixture. Press into a buttered 13 x 9 inch pan. Frost with 1 cup melted chocolate chips.

* These are probably my favorite bars. I think they are the grown up version of a Rice Krispie Treat. I actually do prefer these without the chocolate. I love chocolate, but I think it over powers on these, try it both ways and decided for yourself.