White Chocolate Strawberry Pie

I had seen this on another blog site and decided to make it for a party I went to this evening. Not only was it easy, but was a huge hit too.

Ingredients:

1 pie crust

4 oz bar white chocolate (I used Bakers white chocolate and used 6 blocks for the filling and 2 to drizzle)

2 Tbsp milk (I actually forgot to put this in, but it turned out perfectly fine without it)

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp grated orange peel

1 cup whipped cream (I just used Cool Whip)

About 2 cups sliced strawberries

Directions:

Prepare and bake pie crust according to package directions, or own recipe. Cool.

Microwave 6 blocks of white chocolate with or without the milk until completely melted, about 1 minute. Cool to room temperature.

Beat cream cheese, orange peel, and powdered sugar in small bowl until well mixed. Stir in chocolate mixture. Stir in whipped cream.

Spread mixture onto bottom of pie crust. Arrange strawberries on top of filling. Melt remaining white chocolate and drizzle over strawberries.

Refrigerate for at least an hour or until ready to serve.

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Decided to make more muffins since the last batch was gone in less than 48 hours! Super easy and very tasty.

Ingredients:

1-2/3 cups quick-cooking oats

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1-1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/4 cup canola oil

2 tsp grated lemon rind

2 large eggs

2 cups frozen blueberries

2 Tbsp all purpose flour

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Cooking Spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place oats in a food processor; pulse 5-6 times until oats resemble coarse meal. Place in a large bowl. Combine oats, flours, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir well with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture.

Combine buttermilk, canola oil, grated lemon rind and eggs in a small bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Toss berries with 2 Tbsp flour and gently fold into batter.

Spoon batter into muffin cups coated with cooking spray; sprinkle 2 Tbsp granulated sugar evenly over batter.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove from pans immediately; and cool.

Makes about 16 muffins, or 32 mini muffins.

Mini Whole Wheat Apricot Muffins

I just finished baking these and there are very yummy! I had recently bought a cookbook for toddlers and found this recipe and decided to bake them for my one year old for snack time today. It's Cooking Light First Foods and am loving this book so far! Another great recipe for freezing and defrosting as needed.

*To ensure that the apricots are soft enough for baby, soak them in hot water for 10 minutes; drain them well before chopping them.

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup All-Purpose Flour

1/3 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/4 Cup Sugar

3/4 tsp Grated Orange Rind

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/8 tsp Salt

1/2 Cup Buttermilk

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Large Egg White

1/2 cup Finely Chopped Dried Apricots (I used canned apricots)

Cooking Spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine flours, sugar, orange rind, baking soda and salt in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, butter, vanilla extract and egg white in a bowl; stir with a whisk. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture; stir until just moist. Fold in apricots. Spoon batter into 24 mini muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool.

Lasagna

This is my mom's recipe and is always a good one. Makes a ton too. I usually make two batches with the amount of ingredients that are used. And this recipe is great if you want to add vegetables.

Ingredients:

1 Box Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles

1 Large Jar Spaghetti Sauce (about 4 lbs)

1/2 lb Sweet Italian Sausage

1 lb Ground Beef

1, 32 oz Tub Ricotta Cheese

3-4 Bags Shredded Italian Cheese

1 Cup Burgundy Wine

Cooking Spray

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In medium pot, brown ground beef and sausage together. Drain. Add spaghetti sauce and wine. Heat on low. Spray bottom of baking dishes with cooking spray and place a layer of lasagna noodles down. Spread ricotta cheese over noodles. Pour some spaghetti sauce/meat mixture over ricotta and sprinkle Italian cheese over sauce. Repeat until dishes are full, starting with lasagna noodles and ending with Italian cheese. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Can freeze left overs.