Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake

CRUST

1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup crispy crushed gingersnaps
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon


FILLING

1 cup whipping cream, unwhipped
24 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ginger powder
1/2 teaspoon clove
1/3 cup pecan halves

Directions:

1
Set oven to 350 degrees (300 degrees for convection-bake oven).
2
Prepare a 10-inch springform pan.
3
To make the crust; in a bowl place the melted butter with graham cracker crumbs, crushed gingersnaps, brown sugar and cinnamon; mix with a fork until combined.
4
Line bottom and side with parchment paper or wax paper, then spray with nonstick spray.
5
Press the mixture into the bottom of the pan.
6
For the filling; pour the whipping cream into a medium bowl and beat just until soft peaks form; refrigerate until ready to use.
7
In a bowl beat the cream cheese with electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add in sugar, beating well until combined.
8
Add in eggs one at a time and beat the mixture until fluffy.
9
Stir in pumpkin puree, ginger, cinnamon and cloves.
10
Remove the whipped cream from the refrigerator and lightly whisk to reblend.
11
Using a spatula or a flat spoon fold in the whipped cream into the cream cheese-pumpkin mixture.
12
Pour the mixture into preapred crust.
13
Wrap one continuous sheet of heavy foil around the springform pan then press firmly against the pan.
14
Place the wrapped pan in a baking pan and fill with hot water to halfway up the spring form pan.
15
Bake for 60-70 minutes.
16
Cool the cheesecake to room temperature, the chill for at least 5 hours or until the cake is thoroughly chilled.
17
Remove the sides of the springform pan.
18
Just before serving place the pecan halves on top of the cheescake in a ring around the edges.

Print This Recipe

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/the-cheesecake-factorys-pumpkin-ginger-cheesecake-197011#ixzz1e0E0elj0

Poppy Seed Chicken

OK so this recipe is not like an amazing healthy meal. It is just the “normal busy day cant think of what to make for dinner but I have chicken and Ritz crackers” meal…Not to mention it really is not healthy at all...So it is what it is. This is the second recipe I have tried for this meal and I like this one a lot better! The little man loved it so that’s always a plus. We had it over rice with a salad and some peas. Its just a nice easy meal.

recipe from: The Girl Who Ate Everything

5 cups chicken breasts, cooked and cubed(I did about 5 Breasts but the were kind of small and I only got like 3 1/2 cups so I didn't use all of my sauce just because I didn't want it to feel like we were just eating a bowl of sauce with a few chicken pieces here and there. So next time I will just make sure to do more chicken.

1 cup sour cream(I only had like 3/4 c sour cream but had plain Greek yogurt so I topped off the cup with that)

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup

2 cups crushed Ritz crackers (about 1 1/2 rolls of crackers)

1/2 cup melted butter

1 T poppy seeds

1 tsp Worchestire sauce

1 tsp celery salt

1 tsp minced garlic

1 T lemon juice

1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil raw chicken breasts with salt and pepper until done. I like to boil it with half an onion cut into large chunks to give it more flavor. Let chicken cool slightly and cut into one inch cubes. Place cubed chicken in a 9X13 casserole dish.

Stir together the condensed soup and sour cream. Stir in the worchestire, celery salt, garlic, lemon juice, and pepper to the soup and sour cream mixture. Pour over the chicken.

In a separate bowl, stir together the crushed crackers, poppy seeds and melted butter. Sprinkle over the chicken and sauce.

Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top of the casserole is browned and the sauce is bubbly.

"Thai" peanut noodle salad

Loved this!! my girls even loved it, didn't complain once! (which is a rarity)
*Dressing From Our Best Bites

1/2 pkg Linguini noodles

Veggies:you could do any. this is what I had in my fridge that needed to be used
thinly sliced cabbage (lots!)
shredded carrot
diced red bell pepper
2 green onions
1/2 head broccoli

1 Chicken breast: marinated for 15 or so min in dressing (below) and grilled and chopped

Dressing:
1/3 C peanut butter
1 lime, juiced and zested
2 1/2 t sesame oil
1 T seasoned rice wine vinegar
2 T soy sauce
3 T honey
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 T minced ginger
1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro (stems and all)
1/2 C vegetable oil
1/4 t kosher salt
2-3 t sriracha chili sauce
2-4 T water

Toss and serve. we had ours warm but you could do this cold too I'm sure!

Apple Muffins

Adapted from "The Girl who ate everything"

just under 1 cup of sugar (I would do 3/4 next time. the original called for 2 cups)
2 eggs
1/2 c. apple sauce
1/2 c. canola oil
1 T. vanilla

1 1/2 c. unbleached flour
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour(slightly sifted)
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon

3 apples shredded
Brown sugar for top

whisk wet ingredients and add the dry. (the batter will be really thick) then stir in apples. sprinkle brown sugar on top.

Bake at 350 for 20 min.

pumpkin muffins

*from the cilantropist who adapted from smitten kitchen

1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1 cup granulated sugar ( I did 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice ( I don't own pumpkin pie spice so I just added a dash of nutmeg and cloves and allspice)
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and grease the cups of a mini muffin tin very well.


In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, eggs, all spices, baking soda and salt. Then whisk in the flour until the batter is just smooth.


Divide the batter among the greased muffin cups, filling each one just a bit more than 3/4 full. Sprinkle the top of each mini muffin with a bit of turbinado sugar and bake in a preheated oven for about 10-14 minutes, or until they are golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Watch them and check them often, because they go from still wet in the inside to fully baked in just a matter of minutes. Mine were the most moist at about 12 minutes.


Cool the mini muffins on a rack until cool enough to handle, and then remove them to cool fully. Eat immediately or store muffins in an airtight container and keep refrigerated if storing longer.

Pumpkin Chocolate Shake

1 cup plain soymilk
1/3 c. pure pumpkin puree
1/2 t. cinnamon
dash nutmeg
1/2 scoop chocolate protein powder
1 1/2 t. coco powder
a small handfull of frozen banana pieces
4-5 ice cubes

blend up!

Canning Salsa

PS on Feb 26, 2012. I do not like this recipe for canning. it got to lemony tasting. but it was so so good as fresh, so use it as fresh and I will continue on my hunt for a good canning recipe


14 c. diced roma tomatoes
2 c. diced long green peppers (I did anahime and yellow wax)
1 jalapeno finely diced
2 1/2 c. chopped onions
5 cloves garlic
1 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 T. salt
pepper
dash dried oregano
dash dried parsley
1/4 c. cilantro

Dice tomatoes and try to drain off as much liquid as you can. as it sits you may want to keep pouring off the liquid. put drained tomatoes in a large pot with all ingredients except oregano, parsley and cilantro.

Bring mixture to boil then turn down to simmer for 10 min. then add the other spices and simmer another 10 - 20 min depending on your preference for how thick/how cooked you want it.

Pour into pint jars and boil in a water bath for 25 min.

This makes 9 pints of Salsa!