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Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Lemon Cheesecake Bars ~ By Victoria

Happy spring!!!
I love lemon bars and cheesecake,  so when I came across this recipe that included both... of course I had to try it. :) My whole family loves these and they are perfect for welcoming in spring!




Ingredients:
 
Crust:
  • ¾ cup butter, chilled
  • 2 cups flour
  • ½ cup packed light brown sugar
  • ¼ tsp. salt
Cheesecake:
  • 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 2 Tbsp. milk
  • 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
  • ½ tsp. vanilla
Lemon Layer:
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • ¾ cup lemon juice
  • ⅓ cup flour
Instructions:
 
Crust:
  1. Preheat oven to 325.
  2. Cut butter into pieces.
  3. In a food processor (or blender on low, pulse setting) Process all ingredients until mixture becomes tiny and fine pieces.
  4. Sprinkle mixture into a 9 x 13 baking pan and press evenly into bottom of pan.
  5. Bake for 12 minutes and remove from oven.
Cheesecake:
  1. In medium bowl, blend cream cheese until smooth.
  2. Add sugar and mix well.
  3. Cream together the rest of the ingredients until smooth.
  4. Pour cheesecake evenly over hot crust.
  5. Bake 15 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven and reduce oven temperature to 300.
Lemon layer:
  1. In a bowl whisk together eggs and sugar until combined well.
  2. Stir in lemon juice and flour.
  3. Pour gently and smoothly over semi-baked cheesecake.
  4. Bake at 300 for 25-30 minutes.
  5. Remove from oven and sprinkle powdered sugar over top if desired.
  6. Cool for an hour and then refrigerate.
  7. Can be served warm but better after it has chilled.
  8. I let it sit out of the fridge 20-30 minutes before I serve it.
  9. For families, it will probably be eaten as soon as they are out of the fridge.
  10. Makes 24 bars
Source: Your Homebased Mom Blog

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Delicious Spinach Tortillas ~ by Caroline

 
At first glance these may not look all that appetizing... but once you try them you'll be so glad you did! We have always loved the spinach tortilla's at our favorite Mexican restaurant, so I thought I would give a go at making some home-made ones last week. They were amazing and were gone within a week! I would totally go for one of these over plain tortillas now, and the whole family loves them! It's such a great way to get in a good serving of spinach!! ;-)
 
 
 
Ingredients:
  • 3 cups white whole wheat Flour or a combo of white whole wheat and unbleached if you prefer
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher or Sea Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1/3 cup oil {Canola, olive or melted coconut oil}
  • 1 cup very hot water (Boiling)
  • 2-3 cups loosely packed fresh spinach (Or as much as you want! Last time I made this, I probably put in about 8 cups of it (I was trying to get rid of some older stuff) and other than being more green, they tasted exactly the same as the normal ones. :-)  
Directions:
  1. Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder with a whisk.
  2. Add the canola oil and mix with your fingers until all the oil is incorporated and the mixture looks like fine crumbs.
  3. Blend 2 cups loosely packed spinach and hot water in a blender until spinach is well pureed in the water.
  4. Pour into flour mixture and mix well until there are no dry patches and a ball is formed.
  5. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes or more if needed.
  6. Mash into a large circle and divide the dough into equal 12 portions by cutting with a floured pizza wheel or bench cutter.
  7. Roll each portion, from the center outward into a circle on a floured surface.
  8. Cook on a hot, ungreased griddle over medium-high heat.
  9. Turn the tortilla when brown blisters form on the first side.
  10. Stack the totillas on a cooling rack and cool completely before freezing in a gallon size bag.
  11. Remove air and label bag. Thaw 4 hours prior to use and reheat in microwave or skillet. Serve room temperature.


Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Cafe' au Lait Muffins ~ By Victoria


 I recently re-discovered this recipe and we're all thrilled to have them again! We have had this recipe for many years but it had nearly been forgotten. These muffins are perfect for breakfast or for an afternoon pick-me-up!   Enjoy!

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 Tb baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups milk
1 cup butter
2 eggs, beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Ts instant coffee granules
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.

Wisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In a saucepan, scald milk and remove from heat. Add butter, eggs, vanilla and coffee granules.  Combine with the flour mixture just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips.  Grease and spoon fill cupcake pans 3/4 full with the batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes.   This recipe makes 2 dozen muffins.