Nilla Wafer Cheesecakes

I love these single serving little cheesecakes!  After you bake them, the Nilla Wafer gets so soft and....well, crust-like.  It's so tasty!

Nilla Wafer Cheesecakes

Ingredients:

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Nilla wafers

Directions:

With your stand mixer, beat the cream cheese with every ingredient except the wafers until smooth and cream.  

Lay out cupcake liners in a cupcake pan and put a Nilla Wafer in each liner.  Fill the liner half way with the cream cheese mixture. 

Bake at 350º for about 20 minutes. 

Let cool for one hour and top with your favorite fruit or even some whipped cream. 

Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. 

4th Of July Strawberries

I'm aware that Thanksgiving is next week and I'm posting a 4th of July treat.  Not backwards at all!  Somehow this post has been hiding at the bottom of my "drafts" and today, it surfaced!  So, here they are.... a sweet, cool, summer treat you can enjoy.... in 6-7 months from now!

4th of July Strawberries

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs of fresh strawberries, tops cut off

1 bag/box of melting white chocolate

blue sprinkles

Directions:

Melt the chocolate and dip the strawberries' tips in.

Pour the sprinkles into a shallow bowl and roll the chocolate tip of the strawberry in the sprinkles. 

Devour!

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

I could not believe how delicious these turned out.  You know you have a winner when you have a crowd of hungry people hovering around you as you are filling the strawberries offering to "taste".  I'm pretty sure my little brother squirted the filling straight into his mouth from the bag...

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

Ingredients:

1 lb large strawberries
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 - 1/2 cup powdered sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 – 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

Instructions:
1. Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry.

Remove the top and clean out with a paring knife, *I used a potato peeler and it worked awesomely! Slice off a tiny bit from the bottoms so the strawberries will stand up on their own. Prep all of the strawberries and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Add cream cheese mix to a piping bag or Ziploc with the corner snipped off. Fill the strawberries with cheesecake mixture.
3. Once strawberries are filled, sprinkle or dip the tops with graham cracker crumbs.

If not serving immediately, keep strawberries, filing and crumbs seperate until ready to serve.  Be sure to kee the strawberries and filling refrigerated until serving.

Homemade Baby Food

I'm not Mrs Organic or Whole Food Fanatic, but I have always made my own baby food.  I've done it for a few reasons.  First, I feel more comfortable if I'm the one preparing my child's first foods.  This way, I know exactly what is going in to their tiny tummies.  Secondly, I quickly discovered that store bought baby food is EXPENSIVE!!  I can make three times as much for the same price of a few of those little containers.  Typically, they are about .50 each.  Thirdly, I can portion it out.  I can choose to do one, two or even three cubes at a time.  Less waste. 

Gotta love that!

Homemade Baby Food

Ingredients:

Any fruit of veggie you plan to feed your little tot. 

Directions:

Steam your choice of food until very soft.  Place in a food processor with some of the water used to steam and puree until a smooth consistency. Depending on the food choice, you may decide to peel first.

Portion out in ice cube trays and freeze.  Once frozen, transfer to ziplock bags and store in freezer until needed. 

*Be aware, some foods are not suppossed to be fed to an infant.  Check with a trusted source or your pediatrician as to which foods are good to start with. 

*I try to get fresh foods when I can.  Occasionally, I'll buy frozen.  I try to check the ingredients to make sure there isn't added salt. 

*If you choose a food with skin, it may be harder to get a smoooooth texture.  Notice the pictures of the peas I made.  

*Some foods I regularly make are:

Sweet potatoes (without skins) (These I cook in the microwave)

Squash

Green Beans

Peas

Carronts

Corn

Pumpkin (this is the easiest!  I just buy it already pureed in the can NOT PUMPKIN PIE MIX!)

Broccoli

Apples

Pears

Bananas (Don't steam these, just mash up once they are good and ripe)

*I typically don't season these foods.  I like my babies to get just the basic foods so I can monitor an allergic reaction.  SOmetimes I'll add cinnamon to the bananas or sweet potatoes.  I almost ALWAYS serve with baby cereal. 

Fruit or Dessert Dip

"What should I take to the BBQ?"  That's the question!  Recently I attended a family BBQ and my mom had 90% of the meal already covered.  I wanted to contribute something so this is what I decided to take.  

It worked great becuase it's such a sweet topping.  Pefect for my older brother who doesn't eat fruit.  He created a brownie dessert topped with this dip and some Almond Joy drops.  

Yum!

Fruit or Dessert Dip

Tasty on fruit or brownies!

Ingredients:

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

7 ounces sweetened, condensed milk

8 ounces cool whip

Beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the milk and mix until there are no lumps.  Lastly, beat in the cool whip until well blended. 

Chill and serve with your favorite treat!

*You could easily add a few drops of red food coloring to make it pretty!