toffee crunch cheesecake

i love making anything that includes cream cheese.... i am probably an addict. i had originally planned to make a toffee cheesecake for sean's birthday but we had some left over birthday cake from his surprise (success!) party that we decided to hold off on the cheesecake for a bit. we had a few friends over for chicken tortilla soup so i made some cheesecake for dessert. i cheated with this one and used a pre-made pie shell... worth it when you don't have a ton of time. 

toffe crunch cheesecake

ingredients:

2 packages of cream cheese, softened (total 16 ounces)

1/2 cup light brown sugar firmly packed

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped Heath bar (can substitute for Heath bits)

2 eggs

1 graham pie shell (6 ounces)

1. preheat oven to 350.

2. combine sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla. beat on medium speed until all combined.

3. add eggs one at a time and scrape bowl in between.

4. stir in 3/4 cup of chopped Heath bars and pour into pie shell.

5. sprinkle remaining bits on top and put in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes. cool in refrigerator for 3 hours or overnight. keep leftover cheesecake in fridge after serving.

i hope you enjoy!

just a thought.

crock pot chicken tortilla soup

we recently had friends over for supper and i made a variation of this recipe and it was delicious!

what you need: 

2 cans mild rotel

2 cups chicken broth

1 can mexicorn (regular corn would work just fine)

1 package mild taco seasoning (or chicken taco seasoning)

2 chicken breasts

1 can kidney beans

1 can black beans 

tortilla chips

sour cream

shredded cheese

1. trim fat pieces off of chicken breast, rinse chicken, and place in crock pot.

2. add 2 cans rotel, chicken broth, beans and mexicorn to your crock pot.

3. turn crock pot on high for ~6 hours or on low for ~8 hours. before serving take chicken breasts out of crock pot and pull them using two forks. by this time your chicken should be very tender and easy to pull; if you are having trouble pulling the chicken it is because it is not cooked enough and needs to be returned to the crock pot. i always use my meat thermometer to make sure my meat is fully cooked through- chicken should be 180 degrees.

4. set crock pot to warm or low depending on when you are serving. to serve crunch up a few tortilla chips in the bowl before adding your soup. top with sour cream and cheese and enjoy!

there are definitely ways to change this up, but i just used what i had!

just a thought.

miscellany monday.

life lately has been busy and fun! this is a total random hodge podge of life as of late.

i recently graduated from clemson- such a sweet time with friends! for the ceremony i decided to decorate my hat so that my family would be able to find me! there were some crazy hats there!

we have lots and lots of babies coming in our cp group, we recently had a diaper shower for baby kayleigh and my friend ashley and i made the diaper cake for it... it was lots of fun! we had four tiers of diapers with baby shoes, bows, and a hooded towel wrapped around one of the tiers. ashley was the mastermind behind all of the decorations and i helped put it together! we were so pleased with our first attempt.

kayleigh's mommy, erin, also made an incredible diaper cake for joel and allison's twins- jackson and luke. isn't it awesome!? i am so impressed by her talent... i have never seen a motorcycle cake done in person!

i also switched over to the iPhone and made my own DIY covers, check them out here.

i hope that life is treating everyone well! i am trying to be more intentional about blogging in 2012... it is seeming to go well thus far!

link up and join the random!

just a thought.

DIY iPhone cover

i caved... after all kinds of trouble with my droid and needing to pay a deductible of $100 to get a new phone because my screen was cracked i decided against paying for another droid and using the $100 to get an iPhone. wow, what a world of difference! i love it. the only issue that i had with my phone was that i could not find a cover that i liked enough to spend $30+ for. i found this post and decided that i could make my own cover, too! 

i traced my phone on a piece of scrapbook paper and fit it to my case, then traced the paper while it was inserted inside the case so that i could cut out the portion for the camera. 

i made a few more since i already had a template created... i am so excited to be able to switch it up and not be locked into one case for a long time.

how appropriate to use photos from my phone for this post? :) 

i have really enjoyed my phone thus far!

linking with

it's a hodgepodge friday

just a thought.

crock pot pulled pork bbq.

there are few things i enjoy more than a good bbq sandwich served with mac&cheese and green beans. 

this is a recipe that my mom told me via her own experiments, so the measurements might be a tad off. i love being able to cook in my crock pot so that i can leave it all day and essentially forget about it!

what you need:

boston butt (these cooking times based off of a 3lb. butt)

1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar 

1 beef bouillon tablet

light brown sugar

garlic powder (or 1 clove of garlic)

onion powder (or fresh onion)

2 cups of water

bottle of bbq sauce of your choice... my choice, however, will always be mustard base :)

1. add 2 cups of water, beef bouillon tablet, and meat to crock pot. add apple cider vinegar, pouring on top of meat.

2. sprinkle brown sugar, garlic, and onion on top of meat to coat the top completely.

3. drizzle bbq sauce over meat and let sit in crock pot for 4-6 hours on high or 8-10 on low. make sure to test your meat with a meat thermometer before pulling.

please note that this picture is not watermarked... not that you would want to steal this anyways!

4. when meat has been fully cooked remove from crock pot, cut off any visible fat, drain crock pot into a large jar and pull meat using two forks.

5. return pulled meat to crock pot and pour remaining sauce over meat, tossing until desired consistency. turn crock pot to low or warm, depending on when you are eating.

image via

serve with desired sides and enjoy!

linking with

somewhat simple
feed my family friday

just a thought.