Chocolate chip cheesecake dip

I made this for my daughter's first birthday party this weekend. Yes it's really been a year already! Hard to believe! If you're a cheesecake lover, you must try this recipe. It's incredibly easy and delicious. Her party was the perfect excuse to whip it up.

Chocolate chip cheesecake dip (frome recipezaar)
Makes 12 servings
Ingredients:
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
1.5 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 cups semisweet mini chocolate chips

Directions:
Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in sugars and vanilla.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Cover and store in refrigerator. Serve with graham crackers, vanilla wafers or graham cracker sticks.

Pea Puree

Pea Puree
Makes 24 1 ounce servings

Ingredients:
1 lb. frozen sweet tender peas (I used frozen for convenience, but you could use fresh)
water

Directions:
Bring a cup of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add peas, cover and reduce heat to low. Steam until just tender/thawed, but not mushy. Drain peas and reserve some cooking water.

Place peas into your preferred pureeing mechanism. I used a food processor. Puree until smooth, slowly adding cooking water until you achieve your desired consistency. Serve immediately once cooled or pour into ice trays, cover and freeze. Once frozen, dump into freezer storage bags. Serve within 4 weeks. To thaw, place one or 2 cubes in covered container in fridge overnight or microwave until thawed (be sure to allow to cool before serving).

Apple Puree

Apple Puree
Makes 16 1 ounce servings

Ingredients:
5 ripe apples
water

Directions:
Peel apples, core and cut into cubes. Steam until tender (about 5 minutes). Reserve cooking water.

Place apples into your preferred pureeing mechanism. I used a mini-processor. Puree until smooth, slowly adding cooking water until you achieve your desired consistency. Serve immediately once cooled or pour into ice trays, cover and freeze. Once frozen, dump into freezer storage bags. Serve within 4 weeks. To thaw, place one or 2 cubes in covered container in fridge overnight or microwave until thawed (be sure to allow to cool before serving).

Butternut Squash Puree

Butternut Squash Puree
Makes 20 1 ounce servings

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash
water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Cut butternut squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place flat sides down in a deep dish (I used a 9x13 casserole). Pour about an inch of water into the dish and bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Reserve cooking water.

Scoop flesh from skins and place into your preferred pureeing mechanism. used a mini-processor. Puree until smooth, slowly adding reserved water until you achieve your desired consistency. Serve immediately once cooled or pour into ice trays, cover and freeze. Once frozen, dump into freezer storage bags. Serve within 4 weeks. To thaw, place one or 2 cubes in covered container in fridge overnight or microwave until thawed (be sure to allow to cool before serving).

Pear Puree

Pear Puree
Makes 10 1 ounce servings

Ingredients:
3 ripe pears
water

Directions:
Peel pears, core and cut into cubes. Steam until tender. Reserve cooking water.

Place pears into your preferred pureeing mechanism. I used a mini-processor. Puree until smooth, slowly adding water until you achieve your desired consistency. Serve immediately once cooled or pour into ice trays, cover and freeze. Once frozen, dump into freezer storage bags. Serve within 4 weeks. To thaw, place one or 2 cubes in covered container in fridge overnight or microwave until thawed (be sure to allow to cool before serving).

Sweet Potato Puree

Sweet Potato Puree
Makes 10 1 ounce servings

Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato/yam
water

Directions:
Peel sweet potato and cut into 1 inch cubes. Steam until tender. Reserve cooking water.

Place potatoes into your preferred pureeing mechanism. I used a mini-processor. Puree until smooth, slowly adding water until you achieve your desired consistency. Serve immediately once cooled or pour into ice trays, cover and freeze. Once frozen, dump into freezer storage bags. Serve within 4 weeks. To thaw, place one or 2 cubes in covered container in fridge overnight or microwave until thawed (be sure to allow to cool before serving).

Avocado puree

Avocado puree is probably pretty self-explanatory, but unless you plan on feeding baby the entire thing in one sitting, you'll want to freeze some for later. Avocado can be a little tricky with it's tendency to brown almost immediately. I figured I'd share the method I used.

Avocado Puree
Makes 6 1 ounce servings

Ingredients:
1 ripe avocado
breast milk, formula or water

Directions:
Slice the avocado in half and remove the seed. Running a tablespoon along the inside of the skin, gently scoop out flesh and place flat side down on the counter. Slice lengthwise into 1/2 inch slices. Keep 1-2 slices out and place the rest in a freezer bag or plastic container. Take the 2 slices and mash with a fork in a small feeding bowl until smooth. Add breast milk, formula or water until you achieve your desired consistency.

Now with those frozen slices, I just remove 2 and drop in a bowl and nuke for 15-20 seconds and mash and add liquid as described above. It works great for keeping the avocado from turning brown.

Acorn squash puree – baby's first vegetable puree

I'm making my own baby food, surprise of all surprises. So far baby has had avocado, rice cereal (not homemade) and oatmeal(not homemade). Earlier this week I prepared her first vegetable, acorn squash. It was super easy. I can't wait until she's old enough for me to begin adding spices to things. The squash was a hit!
Acorn Squash Puree
Makes 12 1 ounce servings

Ingredients:
1 acorn squash
water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Cut acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place flat sides down in a deep dish (I used a 9x13 casserole). Pour about an inch of water into the dish and bake uncovered for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Reserve cooking water.

Scoop flesh from skins and place into your preferred pureeing mechanism. I dropped mine in a bowl and used an immersion blender. In retrospect, this was messy and splattered me and my kitchen! I'll be using a mini-processor from now on. Puree until smooth, slowly adding water until you achieve your desired consistency. Serve immediately once cooled or pour into ice trays, cover and freeze. Once frozen, dump into freezer storage bags. Serve within 4 weeks. To thaw, place one or 2 cubes in covered container in fridge overnight or microwave until thawed (be sure to allow to cool before serving).

Chicken tamale casserole - future cooking

I know what you're thinking, hasn't she already done one of these? The answer is NO. I made a chicken enchilada casserole and a chicken enchilada soup. Both of which were nothing like this.
I was turned on to this recipe by a fellow pregnant lady from my birth board and I just have to pass it on. As I was making it (almost exactly as specified), I was thinking to myself, this is going to be weird and bland. I was WRONG. You can find the recipe over at Cooking Light. The only changes I made are as follows:
I used 1 egg instead of the egg substitute
I added 1/2 tsp garlic powder
I used canned regular sweet corn
I didn't drain my chiles (to make up for the moisture missing from not using creamed corn)

The modifications I made were due to what I had on hand (and my love of garlic) and it was still really good. I was shocked that it tasted so much like chicken tamales and without the work! Oh and it's only 350 calories per serving. This was so easy. I threw a pound of partially frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot this morning with 4 bouillion cubes and 4 cups of water. When I came home, I shredded the chicken. EASY. This would be fantasic for a potluck too. My hubby wasn't thrilled by the sweetness the cornbread mixture lent to this dish, but I really liked it alot.

White bean and kale soup - future cooking

Last night I made a white bean and kale soup to freeze. I've had good experiences with freezing and reheating soups so I figured I would try a new one. I think soup is underrated in its potential to be a perfectly rounded meal alone.

I actually had enough of this for both of us to bring for lunch today too. I modified it quite a bit from the Better Homes and Gardens Big Book of Italian Recipes, but their recipe was a good base for mine. This is easily made vegetarian by substituting veggie bouillion for the chicken.White Bean and Kale Soup
Makes 6 entree servings
Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
pinch of crushed red pepper
6 cubes chicken bouillion
4 cups water
2 cans cannellini beans (aka great northern beans), rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes, with liquid
4 cups raw kale, chopped

Directions:
In a 4 qt or larger pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion until translucent. Add garlic, dried herbs and pepper, and saute one minute more. Add bouillion, water, and tomatoes and bring to a boil over high heat. Add beans and reduce to low. Simmer 5 minutes. Add kale and simmer 5 minutes more. You can salt to taste, but honestly, I didn't add any. The bouillion provided plenty.
I had a burst of energy last night so I also made enchilada style burritos for dinner and to freeze. That recipe follows tomorrow!

No brainer taco salad

Last night I set out to make my guacamole and discovered, upon slicing open my first avocado, that I'm going to need to wait a few more days. I saved this avocado by cubing it, tossing it with some lime and salt and throwing it onto a taco salad.

Sometimes dinners like this are just comforting in that they are non-events. Clean up is minimal. Effort is minimal and flavor is not compromised. I don't think I've ever made two quite the same, but here's how it went down last night.No Brainer Taco Salad
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey browned and cooked with taco seasoning (served warm)
1 can refried beans doctored with some chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and salt (served warm)
1 head romaine lettuce chopped
1 can of sweet corn, drained and tossed with a little salt
1/2 can of small black olives
12 grape tomatoes sliced in half
4 thin slices of red onion
1/2 cucumber
1 firm avocado, cubed and tossed with lime juice and salt
about 30 chips
shredded cheese, salsa and sour cream to individual liking

Directions:
Assemble on plate. Wow that was tough!

I put all my cold ingredients around the perimeter. Then I fanned out my chips and covered with beans, then meat and a tiny bit of shredded cheese. This worked out well and kept the cold ingredients from getting wilted by the warm ones.