Quick and Easy Desserts

I don't know about you, but sometimes I don't have a lot of time and energy to put into making something. Other times? I am just lazy. When this happens I have two default desserts: Peanut Butter Blossoms and Mini Cheesecakes.

My mom would always make peanut butter blossoms around the holidays, but I think that this delicious goodness should be enjoyed year round! When running short on time use shortcuts such as pre-made cookie dough.

Peanut Butter Blossoms 

package of pre-made peanut butter cookie dough

bag of Hershey Kisses

sugar

• Preheat oven to 350.
• Divide cookie dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar.
• Place on cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes (can vary depending on your oven).
• While cookies are baking, unwrap Hershey kisses.
• As soon as cookies are removed from the oven, place kisses in the middle. (The heat from the cookie will melt them a bit. yum!)
• Move cookies to cooling rack.
• Enjoy!

This next desert comes from my grandma. They are a crowd pleaser and are super cute! 

Mini Cheesecakes

2 eggs

3/4 c. Sugar

16 oz. cream cheese

2 tsp. vanilla

16 vanilla wafer cookies

1 can pie filling (I usually go with cherry)

Vanilla Wafers

cupcake liners

• Preheat oven to 375 and place liners in cupcake tin. Drop 1 vanilla wafer into bottom of each.
• Beat eggs with sugar.
• Break cream cheese into pieces, add to eggs and sugar and beat until smooth (10 min) then mix in vanilla.
• Fill liners 3/4 full with cream cheese mixtures and bake 10-12 minutes.
• They will look pale and sink in the middle after cooking.
• Top with Tbsp of pie filling and refrigerate.
• Remove paper before serving.

 It took me about 1.5 hours to make both of these. 

Let me know what you top your cheesecake with!

pshhhhhh. pshhhhh. Hairspray

Did you like my hairspray sound? Oh, you didn't know what that was supposed to be...awkward.

I ran out of my Big Sexy hairspray. In an attempt to be budget conscious I opted to go with Garnier Fructis. It was less than $4, claimed to be volumizing (emphasis on claimed), and is supposed to be Humidity resistant. Living in Houston with summer just around the corner, I figured the Humidity resistant feature would be great to have. Sounds good right? Here’s the deal, it doesn’t volumize to save its life!  Back when I still had my beloved Big Sexy, if my hair was every looking a little flat I could spray it under the top layers and it would provide instant lift. Oh how I miss those days! 

It also “Spring Hold.” I think that that translates to “you just spent $4 on something that doesn’t do anything except make your hair soft and smell good." I will be making a trip to the store to pledge my allegiance to Big Sexy Hair once again. How dare I ever leave it again! 

What’s your favorite hair spray?

Strawberry Cake Balls

his wasn't the original plan for this weekend. I had planned on stepping up my game by making cake from scratch instead of a box. It was a fun adventure...until the cake stuck to the pan because I used the "butter and flour" method as recommended on the recipe. I was uber frustrated when a chunk came out of the second layer. So mad that I karate chopped it. It was quite a site to see.

I decided to salvage this cake and turn it into cake balls. The grocery store was low on the icing selection, so I decided to use strawberry and complete the look with a pink vanilla coating. Daniel gave it a bite and approved. So my flop turned into a success!

**please excuse my picture quality. All I own is a Kodak; so easy a mom can use it...or so the best buy guy told me when i got it. haha.

I used Bakerella's recipe and just switched out the flavors.

**Tip: My hands were too hot when rolling the balls, so every few I would rub ice on my palms, blot dry with a clean paper towel, and continue rolling. 

Let me know what flavor combos you like best.

Lemon Garlic Pasta With Grilled Chicken

I cook a lot. I usually cook everyday M-F. I would ask Daniel to switch in some nights, but I don't really like what he makes. Sorry Daniel, but your food is too bachelor for my taste. (He does try, so I will give him some props). During the week I like to stick to meals that take under 30 min. The quicker the better!

One of my favorites is Lemon Garlic Pasta with Grilled Chicken. In college I worked in Curves, and this meal comes from their Fitness & Weight Management Plan. Don't let the healthiness turn you off, I promise this is delicious! Daniel loves it, my little brother loves it, and it was a success at recipe club.

Lemon Garlic Pasta with Grilled Chicken
svg for 1

2t Olive Oil
2 minced garlic cloves
1/4 t red pepper flakes
2/3 c cooked whole wheat penne pasta
juice from 1 lemon
2 T fresh Parmesan cheese (it tastes better fresh!)
5 oz chicken breast
1c steamed green beans

• Boil Penne Pasta about 10 min.
• Heat skillet over medium, PAM it,  add chopped chicken (season with salt and pepper), and cook.
• Put cooked chicken to the side. 
• Heat olive oil, add minced garlic and red pepper flakes. when fragrant, add penne pasta, cooked chicken, and lemon juice. Toss to combine.
• Garnish with Parmesan cheese and serve with steamed green beans and enjoy!

S-C-O-R-E

I made these a few weeks ago for the Superbowl. Daniel's two favorite teams were playing in the big game so he was psyched for it! Me? Not so much. My enthusiasm was based all around the opportunity to get to work on my cookie decorating skills (in progress). 

I will admit that I cheated. I used pre-made dough. oops! But the icing was all me and my mixer.

It had been a while since I had made royal icing so I forgot to tailor the recipe to the Houston area; i.e. I added the amount of water the recipe called for when in Houston you don't need that much. Lesson learned, again, and hopefully remembered this time. 

Overall, I would count it as a success. The icing was so delicious that I may have eaten some of it sans cookie. yum! 

Food Coloring: I have used Wilton food coloring in the past but have had trouble getting some colors to  come out right. I used AmeriColor with this batch and it worked like a dream! I am looking forward to using their red coloring and will update on the results soon

Duel Chocolate Bark

My grandma is the best cook and baker that I know. Everything is always delicious.always. One of the sweets that I remember (and love) is her chocolate bark.When I ran across this post on Bake at 350 where she had a layer of white chocolate in it, I knew I HAD to bake it! (Or make? There wasn't really any baking involved).

I did make a few slight  alterations. 

1. I used Hershey's White Chocolate chips and Toll House's Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips. (our Wal-Mart has slim picking)

2. Since those brands have a few more ounces in them, I ended up adding about 4 cups of krispies. 

I had trouble breaking it, so I used my HUGE butcher knife to cut it into little bars. Perfect!

What do you think?

I sent them to work with Daniel for Valentine's day. He was the most popular guy on the floor! They were such a success I can't wait to share them with my co-workers and friends!

Cherry on Top

Well...not exactly. I made these on the fly and didn't have much other than royal icing to work with. I think they turned out alright considering this is my second time at decorating sugar cookies (I forgot to document the first).

I had been using Wilton food coloring, but I can't get all of the colors to turn right. For example, the out line was supposed to be red. No matter how much I added, it just became more and more pink. ahhhh!

**excuse the picture quality, This was captured on my Droid X. 

I thought that they were super cute and delicious! I flavored the icing with Almond Extract. Yum!

The Roommate

Dear whoever is responsible for this movie,

Thanks for making it based on my college experience, now where's my cut? No, I didn't have a roommate literally try to kill me, but still, it.was.bad. I am unable to call any of my 'pot-luck' roommates of college years past a bestie. Nope, not one. No, they were not all terrible. But most kept things ineresting. But not in a good way. More of an Ican'tbelievethisjusthappened kind of way.

Here's a quick breakdown of crazy things that various roommates did:

• Slipped a "F*** You!" note under my door when she was drunk.
• Drink all of my liquor, refi lit with water, and slip it back in the freezer. p.s. water freezes, liquor doesn't.
• Come out drunk and naked when I had friends over. Yes, completely naked. 
• Get arrested in the living room. on a week night.

I am really supprised that Rebecca was never my roommate. It's probably because I was lucky enough to avoid the dorms.

Did any crazy things ever happen with your roommates? Or do I just attract the crazies?