Valentine's Day Red Velvet Cheesecake

I have been so busy lately that I still haven't told you all what I made for Valentine's Day!

I spent Valentine's Day in an amazing way with my best girl friends.  We got together, ate heart shaped pizza, had my heart shaped dessert, and watched Grey's Anatomy.  Afterwards, we got some half priced sangria at Icon and it was awesome.  Overall, it was a truly amazing night!

With all my craziness at school, it is so nice to be able to spend nights like that with amazing people.  School has been going really well!  Today I gave my first Team Test in geometry and I worked on a fun game for Friday where students will have to sort shapes based on their special properties.  I am trying really hard to make math interactive so that students are motivated while constantly reinforcing important concepts and ensuring that students are meeting standards.  Math should be fun and so I am doing as much as I can to make it that way!

Now it's time to tell you what I brought to girls night: Heart Shaped Red Velvet Cheesecakes with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting...yep!

Red Velvet Cheesecake (adapted from Baked By Rachel)

Ingredients:
10 oreos
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
12 oz light cream cheese
1 tbsp light sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
4 tsp red food coloring
1 egg

Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 cup heavy cream
4 oz light cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease 3 4 inch cheesecake pans (I had heart shaped ones).
2. In a food processor, crush oreos until they are crumbs.  Mix in the melted butter.  Divide into the three pans and press into the bottoms and a little up the sides. Place in oven for 5 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to 325.
4. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with sugar and sour cream until well combined.  Beat in the egg, cocoa powder, and food coloring until well combined.  Divide among the three pans.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the middles are not longer wobbly. Let cool for 1 hour.  Then, wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
5.  To make the whipped cream cheese frosting: in a large bowl beat the cream cheese with the sugar.  Beat in the whipping cream and vanilla and beat on high until stiff peaks form.  Top cheesecakes with frosting.

Enjoy :)

Baked Crispy Chicken Fingers

Another Snow Day!

This is getting ridiculous.  And today was especially strange.

I woke up at 5:30 since I had to be at school early for a department meeting.  Following breakfast, I got a text from my cooperating teacher.  The text was about how there was going to be a late start to school because of the icy road conditions and that we should get there around 9.  Since it was not yet 6:30, I decided to get in my 3 mile run for the day.  I slipped and slid my way to the work out center and, after successfully not falling, I got in a nice run.  I returned home, showered, and then got dressed in an adorable dress with tights.  Then, I saw my phone.  I proceeded to freak out because my phone had a text about the department meeting being at 8:15...it was 8:20!!! I grabbed my coat and called my cooperating teacher. I apologized and told her I was on my way. She then said: Wait, don't leave, they just cancelled school.

I was out of my tights and dress within seconds and into my leggings and oversized sweater.  Then, I got my baking supplies and headed to the kitchen to make some cookies! I was so excited!

Now, it is finally the afternoon and I have already baked not one, but TWO treats, gone over lesson plans for tomorrow and next week, cleaned my room, worked out, and finished laundry! I love that I have had so much time to get everything done and now I get to tell you about a yummy meal I made for the superbowl this past weekend!

For the superbowl, I watched with the only two people who get me remotely excited about sports: Tamara and Courtney.  We all got together and had my Light Baked Spinach and Artichoke Dip, Veggies, other snacks, Cookie Dough Dip, and for our main course, Baked Crispy Chicken Fingers.  We wanted to have "sporty food" but also "healthy food."  Baked Chicken Fingers were a great idea and super yummy.  And, those dips use non-fat greek yogurt in place of sour cream or butter!  It only took a few ingredients and very little time.  This was a really yummy dinner that I will definitely be making again.

Skillet Baked Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Strawberry Dipped in Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Baked Crispy Chicken Fingers (adapted from Fitness Magazine)

Ingredients:
24 oz chicken strips
4 cups corn flakes, crushed
2 eggs
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp mustard

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. In small bowl, mix the eggs, honey and mustard.
3. Place corn flakes in a separate bowl.
4. Dip chicken strips in the egg mixture and then roll in teh corn flakes until coated.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 12-18 minutes depending on how thick your chicken strips are.
5. Serve with various dipping sauces! We had BBQ sauce...mmm!

Enjoy :)

Lightened-Up Baked Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Today is a big cooking day for me.  I am going back to school where I typically get lunch and dinner at my house.  However, since school is not in session for the University for another two weeks.  I have two weeks without lunch or dinner.  So, I am cooking up a storm so that I can take back some delicious items to eat!  I'm working on some of my Mommy's favorite recipes: Maple Glazed Salmon and Cranberry Chicken.  This way, I will have two lovely entrees that I can eat on their own, or in a sandwich or salad!  These dishes are versatile and delicious.  Next, I am making a no-mayo chicken salad so that I have a nice protein-rich snack or sandwich item.  Then, I am making a brown butter balsamic and sage sauce to use as something to top off pastas.  This way, I will have a ton of options for the next few weeks.  Between these things and eating out with friends, I am sure I will survive.

But first, I want to share a recipe with you that I made over winter break in Charleston.  We had a lovely little football party for the Rosebowl and I made a ton of snack-foods for it.  This was my personal favorite.  Bri was also a huge fan as it was one of the vegetarian options.  This is a Lightened-Up Baked Spinach and Artichoke Dip.  I was inspired by the Alton Brown recipe on the Food Network.  I hope you like it! It was so good!  Also, spinach is a crazy good-for-you super food! Well-Being Secrets even posted an article with a million reasons why you should eat all the spinach you can get! Check it out: 34 Science-Backed Health Benefits of Spinach.

Lightened-Up Baked Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Ingredients:
1 cup thawed frozen spinach
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
6 oz low-fat cream cheese
1/4 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup non-fat plain Greek Yogurt (I used Chobani)
1/3 cup fresh parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
1/2-3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
Optional: Round Rye Loaf

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.  If you are using the bread, cut a circle in the top and scoop out the insides so that you have a bread bowl.  If you are not using the bread, take out an oven-proof dish.
2. Sautee the spinach in a small pan over medium heat until cooked.  Drain and set aside.
3.  In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, sour cream, and yogurt.  Stir in the spinach, chopped artichokes, parmesan, red pepper, salt, and garlic powder.  Place the mixture in the bread bowl or other dish, sprinkle with parmesan cheese, and bake for 30-45 minutes or until the cheese has lightly browned on top.
4. Serve with crackers, bread, veggies, or other dipping items!

Enjoy :)

Baked Wonton Appetizers

This is officially one of my favorite go-to appetizers!  My mom had a ton of extra wonton wrappers from my brother's graduation party.  We bought WAY too many.  So she froze a bunch of them and then I found some great ideas over at Ashlee's blog. I absolutely love Ashlee's blog, ABPetite!  She always has great ideas and this post gave me some great ideas for what to do with wontons! My mom didn't want to fry anything and we needed a good appetizer for a little weeknight get-together with some friends.  These were perfect!

I made guacamole, salsa with sour cream, and applesauce with cinnamon wontons and they were a big hit! All you have to do is drop about a teaspoon (maybe heaping) in the middle of the wonton, brush some water around the sides of the wonton, and then pinch all the corners together to create a little delicious bundle.  Then, just bake at 350 for 20 minutes!

Head over to ABpetite for some other fantastic flavor combinations and ideas!