Outside The Box: Cream Cheesey Goodness

Month three, and all I can say is: It Just Keeps Gettin' Better!  More Girls, more food, and more bueno!  Cream cheese lent itself to ooey-gooey appetizers, divine main courses, and delectable desserts- and we got all of them!  It was no easy task to choose a winner, but when the votes were tallied, one dish stood out above the others!  The lovely Joanna made a delicious dessert that was irresistible!

Sopapilla Cheesecake Pie


Ingredients
·    2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
·    1 cup white sugar
·    1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla extract
·    2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls
·    3/4 cup white sugar
·    1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
·    1/2 cup butter, room temperature
·    1/4 cup honey
Directions
1.    Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2.    Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth.
3.    Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each piece into 9x13 inch rectangles. Press one piece into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough. Stir together 3/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Dot the mixture over the top of the cheesecake.
4.    Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and drizzle with honey. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 squares.

Easy and delicious- so, what are you waiting for?  Go ahead and try it!!

Outside The Box: Soup's On!

Yet another Outside the Box has come and gone!  And what a success it was!  So many tastey dishes came from the theme: soup!  We started with one can, package, or box of soup and created whatever our hearts desired.  There were appetizers, pies, meatballs, and, of course, SOUPS!  It was a close race to the finish, as the votes were pretty evenly spread, and the winner won by one point.  But, there must be one winner (because, it is in fact, "that kind of party") and none was more deserving than the delicious dish from Christine Coons!!  Without further ado, or blabber, here is the recipe: (picture pending)

*Ham or Chicken Amandine *
3/4 c. Butter
3/4 c. Slivered Almonds
2 Tbsp. Minced Onion
1/2 c. Flour
1 can Cheese & Broccoli Soup
3 c. milk
4 1/2 c. Cooked Rice
4 c. Cooked Ham or Chicken
3 Tbsp. Diced Pimento
2 Tbsp. Minced Parsley
2 c. Cheddar Cheese  (Topping)

Over medium heat, melt butter in a skillet; add almonds and
onion (almonds burn easily) and saute for 10 minutes. Stir in
flour, add soup and milk stirring until thick. Add remaining
ingredients. Pour into casserole, cover with cheese, and
bake at 350 F. for 30 minutes. Serves 10 to 12.

As the winner, Christine got to choose the theme for next month, and what a good choice she made!  Don't miss out on the tempting CREAM CHEESE creations of March!! :)

First Outside The Box!!!

We started off with a bang!!  SOO much fun and SOO delish!!!  Well, I know you are sitting on pins and needles, so without further ado, here is the winning recipe, by Jean McCauley:

Caramel Apple Crisp Cake

*1 yellow cake mix
*1 cup water
*1/2 cup applesauce
*1 teaspoon cinnamon
*3 eggs
*2 cups diced apples

Mix and pour into a 9x13 pan. 

Topping:
*1/2 cup flour
*1/2 cup oats
*1/2 cup brown sugar
*1/2 cup butter

Cut butter into dry ingredients and sprinkle over cake batter.  Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Caramel Sauce:
*1/4 cup butter
*1/2 cup brown sugar
*1/4 cup cream
*1 Tablespoon vanilla
Bring first 3 ingredients to boil in saucepan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add in vanilla and drizzle over cake. 
DEVOUR!  :) 

Thank you to everyone who attended and participated in our first night!  I can't wait for next month, which, as the winner chose, is SOUPS!  I will announce the date and rules as I come up with them.  For now, enjoy thinking outside the box!

Soup Du Jour

On this cold, rainy, September day, I opted for soup for dinner.  I have been dying to try my new idea, to take the enchiladas I sooo love but soo hate to make and turn them into a tasty soup.  Here goes!
Enchilada Soup
Ingredients:
1 large can enchilada sauce
1 can black beans
2 cans chicken broth
1 (costco size) can shredded chicken
8 oz velveeta
8 oz cream cheese
3 cups crushed chips
1 tablespoon chile powder
Directions:
Put enchilada sauce, broth, velveeta and cream cheese in a large pot and bring to a boil.  Simmer until cheese is melted.  Add the rest of the ingredients and cook on low for 30-60 minutes.  Serve hot with cheese, cilantro, sour cream and a warm tortilla- YUM! :)

Strawberry PIIIIIEEEE

I know, random time of year to make this, but hey, it sounded yummy and I had some strawberries I needed to use, so there you have it: strawberry pie on a rainy day!  Now, I will disclose that this is not my baked delicious strawberry pie- that one will have to wait until I have more time on my hands- but the freshly-glazed-more-time-friendly-strawberry-pie!  So, here it is:
Crust
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening
5-8 tablespoons water
Directions:
Mix flour and salt together.  Cut in shortening a little at a time with a pastry cutter.  Continue mixing with the pastry cutter until mixture starts to ball up- sit tight, this may take a while if you're weak like me!  Slowly add water ONE TABLESPOON at a time.  (I know, lame, but because of the moisture in the air, it really differs each time, and this could make or break your crust!)  Mix until a ball forms.. you want it to be nice and soft- not too sticky, but able to stay together.  Chill for one hour.  Roll out and fit in pie pan.  Prick with fork and bake at 350 for 10-30 minutes.. you pretty much just have to check it every 10 minutes.  You want it browned, since you will not be baking it again.
Strawberry Filling
Ingredients:
3-5 cups hulled strawberries (not cut up and depending on how deep your dish is)
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3/4 water
85g pouch of strawberry jello
Place strawberries in cooked pie crust. 
Boil together sugar, cornstarch and water.  Add the Jell-O powder.  Cook until thick and pour gently over sliced peaches.  Chill at least 2 hours, serve with whipped cream.
VOILA!  Enjoy!  Oh, and this is also good with peaches.. just use 5 cups sliced peaches and peach jello instead of strawberries!  Also, very yummy!

Fall Into Fall

Fall is finally here: I have officially baked my first PUMPKIN DUMPCAKE of the season!  If you're anything like me, you have spent year after year making, perfecting, and slaving over pumpkin pies.  Okay, maybe that is just me, I LOVE those things.  Well, the time has come and me, the queen of all that is not only decidant and delicious, but easy and effortless, have found the replacement!  I know, to true pumpkin pie lovers it sounds blasphemous, but, I assure you that you will agree.  Here were are to the oh-so-easy recipe:
Pumpkin Dump Cake
*1 Large Can Pumpkin
*1 1/2 cups Sugar
* 1 teaspoon Salt
*2 teaspoons Cinnamon
*1 teaspoon Ginger
*1/2 teaspoon Allspice
*4 Eggs
*1 can Evaporated Milk
*1 French Vanilla Cake Box
*1 cup Melted Butter

Directions:
Mix ingredients pumkin-evaporated milk in large bowl until well mixed.  Pour into 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle cake box on top of pumpkin, and drizzle with butter.  Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes until lightly browned on top.  DEVOUR!  Then go take a nap and still have more time on your hands than if you had just made a pie crust! :)

CASA RIO

Last night, I did what any non-Utah-living Mormon would do and recreated a Rio fav!  If you are not familiar with Cafe Rio, you haven't lived in Utah, apparently!  It's a little Mexican chain with some amazing food, such as: chicken salad.  Now, in true Cindy form, I had to put my own twist on this dish.  So, instead of a lime chicken, I made a bbq chicken, while still staying true to the rice and dressing (let's be honest, it's the dressing that makes the salad, anyway!)  This is the EASIEST meal I have made in a while, and the combo of sweet/sour/spicy was D-lish!  So, here you have it:
Chicken:
*2-3 pounds of Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breast
*12 oz Root Beer
*1 (18 oz) bottle of your fav BBQ sauce- I used sweet baby rays (is there really any other?!)

Place chicken in Crock Pot and pour Root Beer over.  Cook on Low for 6-7 hours, or until tender. Drain and shred chicken. (I did this part the day before, pouring 1 cup of juices over the chicken and refrigerating)  Put shredded chicken back in Crock Pot and pour bottle of bbq sauce over, then cook again on low for another hour.  Serve.  (also would be good for pulled chicken sandwich, and totally works with pork, just use a 2-3 lb pork tenderloin instead of chicken)

Rice:
*4 cups water
*4 tsp chicken bouillon
*4 tsp garlic, minced
*1/2 bunch of cilantro
*1 can green chilis
*3/4 tsp salt
*1 T butter
*1/2 onion
*2 cups rice

Put water and bouillon in pot and bring to boil.  Blend the rest of the ingredients, except butter and rice in  food processor. Add with rice and butter to boiling water, cover. Simmer 30 mins, or until rice is tender.  Let sit a couple minutes to thicken.

Dressing:
*1 buttermilk ranch dressing pkt (prepared)
*2 tomatillos
*1/2 bunch cilantro
*1 clove garlic
*juice of 1 lime
*1 jalapeno

Blend with food processor. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes prior to serving.

ASSEMBLY:
Tortilla (I used the cook-yourself ones from Costco), lettuce, chicken, black beans, rice, tomatoes, alvacado, cheese, and dressing.  Eat and enjoy! :)