Tag Archives: parmesan

Community Cheesecake

When I first spotted this scrumptious cheesecake, I knew it had to go on {the list}. Um, it has Keebler Fudge Striped cookies. As. The. Crust. Enough said…

Would’ve probably made it sooner, but I didn’t have a spring form pan.

But, I do NOW….and I DID make this cheesecake for our Valentine’s Day dessert.

This was my first cheesecake, so I was a little nervous.

{before the whipped cream goodness}

{and after!}

I knew I could not have this cheesecake staring at me all week {AKA eating it for breakfast with my coffee!!} so I cut it in quarters and shared with our neighbor friends. However, when I cut into it the center collapsed….maybe I didn’t chill it long enough?

Despite the oozing mess, I did receive all sorts of positive feedback. Check out this sweet comment:

“I just wanted to thank you once again for the DELICIOUS cheesecake!  When I came home from work this afternoon, my mom (who was watching the boys) said, “Where did you get that to-die-for cheesecake that’s in your fridge?  I helped myself to some, and I don’t think I’ve ever tried anything so divine in my whole life.”  No joke, she literally talked about the cheesecake for 20 minutes!  My mom is a dessert fanatic, yet over the last three decades of my life, I don’t ever remember her praising any dessert quite like your cheesecake 🙂  So, thank you again!!  We all REALLY enjoyed it.  Still can’t believe it was your first attempt!  You must consider opening up your own catering/party business!”

Awww, thanks Alina and THANK YOU Meg @ Whatever for sharing and THANK YOU Pam for your endless hours in the kitchen perfecting this extraordinary dessert!

I’m going to call it the {traveling cheesecake} because whenever I make it, three quarters of it will find another home. It is very rich, but smooooooth and creamy.

*****

One of Jay’s favorite meals is Chicken Marsala. We use Ty Flo’s recipe and every time we make it, I wonder “Why don’t we make this more often?”

Tyler Florence’s Chicken Marsala

I served with roasted asparagus with parmesan:

{just take a bunch of asparagus, cut about 2 inches off the ends, cut in thirds on an angle, drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper & parmesan, toss, place on a baking sheet lined with foil for about 20 minutes @400*}

Easy peasy, right?

*****

That was our Valentine’s dinner…complete with crooked table cloth adorned with spilled smoothie spots and colored Crayola markers! We skipped the {Wilson Creek} Almond Champagne and will enjoy that this weekend.

And, as I mentioned, Miss Elliott lost her first tooth Valentine’s evening.

It’s so true that when you have children you start to see things differently and enjoy them so much more. V-day has never been one of my favorite holidays, but this year I really enjoyed watching them address their little valentines to their friends and see their joy when showing off all their cards. Next year my goal is to come up with a homemade valentine ~ there are loads of darling ideas out there!

And next year, even though I loved our dinner at home, {you and I} are GOING OUT to dinner, babe!

Love you.

*****

Happy Wednesday!

*****

Get Your Vitamin C & Sulforaphane!

I feel like I need to post a nice, healthy, full-of-antioxidants recipe once in awhile, so here you have it…..

Roasted Cauliflower With Parmesan

D-lish!

If you don’t think you like cauliflower, don’t worry, you’re not alone…personally, I can’t eat it raw, but I discovered roasting it ~ whooda thunk?

If you really want to read up on all the wonderful health benefits and some weird and not so interesting cauliflower characteristics, check out the Wikipedia entry here.

Or, if you just want to trust me and see this easy side dish, then c’mon…let’s go!

All you need are these things:

A head of cauliflower, olive oil, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese and an oven preheated to 400*F.

Rinse your head of cauliflower and cut into florets, like this:

Then, in a bowl, drizzle the florets with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper & parmesan cheese. Toss to coat evenly.

Pop into the oven on an aluminum foil lined pan for 20-25 minutes.

I like mine a little more on the tender side, so I lean towards the 25 minute mark.

This is what the final healthiness looks like:

They’re kinda like a Lay’s potato chip ~ you can’t eat just one. Really. Try it.

Any leftovers are great the next day on a salad.

Another great roasted veggie is broccoli, believe it or not. I have made this one a million times and it’s also a keeper…

Garlic-Chili Roasted Broccoli

Hopefully these two recipes will make it easier to get your 5 servings of veggies a day.

So, go on…go out there and get your antioxidants on!

Everything’s Better With Ketchup

Tonight it was “low carb” night in the Aspiras household.

Salmon cakes on greens and parmesan roasted asparagus.

Super easy and kinda fancy for a Wednesday evening.

I picked up some gorgeous asparagus on sale for 97¢/pound which is über cheap…

I just chopped off the bottoms (about 2 inches), cut into thirds on the diagonal, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Toss them around, pour onto a baking sheet and roast @ 400 for about 20 minutes.

Salmon Cakes with Lemon Dill Sour Cream

2 – 5oz. cans boneless, skinless salmon

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup plain bread crumbs (or cracker crumbs)

2 Tbsp. red onion, minced

2 Tbsp. frozen sweet white corn, thawed

1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning

Salt & Pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and form into small patties ~ the above recipe made 7 cakes.

Drizzle a grill pan or skillet with olive oil and cook on medium for about 5 minutes each side.

I had a little bit of leftover sour cream so I added a squeeze of lemon and a few shakes of dill weed. I just placed the patties on some spring mix and …

Super easy AND Elliott loved it! I’m thrilled that she is branching out and trying new things. She ate 1.5 patties and several pieces of asparagus right before she stated, “Asparagus is better when you dip it in ketchup!”

So, I will let YOU decide if you want to break out the Heinz on this one…but I think it’s perfectly delish without it!

Enjoy!

{Oh my….I just had an evil carb thought ~ these would be heavenly on a little bun with the lemon dill sour cream and a few greens as sliders…hmmm, going to have to try that when I’m down a few pounds!}