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.

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.

oatmeal butterscotch cookies

"these are the best cookies that you have ever made"-sean

disclaimer: i am not a huge fan of butterscotch so these are in fact not my most favorite cookies, but everyone else who has tried them loved them, so i figured it would be worth sharing!

 recipe adapted from the bag of hershey's butterscotch chips bag.

oatmeal butterscotch cookies 

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-3/4 cups butterscotch chips

1. preheat oven to 375.

2. beat butter, granulated and brown sugar in large bowl until well blended. add eggs and vanilla; beat well. combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. stir in oats and butterscotch chips; mix well.

3. roll approximately 1 inch balls between hands and place on cookie sheet. i usually fit 20 cookies on a sheet. bake for approximately 12 minutes, rotating cookie sheets after the first 5 minutes and then after each 3 to ensure even cookies. cool slightly on cookie sheets and then move to wire rack. cool completely. 

yields 4 to 5 dozen cookies, depending on cookie size.

image via

i hope you enjoy these cookies! i didn't get a chance to take any pictures of them because they didn't last long... note to self: take pictures of food before offering it to the bearded wonder.

just a thought. 

baked potato wedges.

the other night we decided to make some potatoes in the oven and they were certainly tasty... and incredibly easy to make! all you need to make the potatoes is in the picture below.

fill the ramekin 3/4 of the way, add about 2 tablespoons of cheese, a few shakes of garlic, and some salt and pepper.

cut up red potatoes and place in a baking dish lined with foil- make sure to spray the foil so that the potatoes won't stick after they are done baking. use a basting brush to cover all of the potatoes with the olive oil mixture in the white ramekin.

pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are golden brown.

serve with a cheeseburger and a tall glass of lemonade and enjoy!

just a thought.

perfect match.

while walking through the grocery store the other day i stumbled upon a cookbook that i simply have-to-have! i cannot wait to buy it... i am trying to find the best deal- at the store it was around $18... i have already found it for $12 online with free shipping if i purchase something else with it, so we shall see. at any rate, what is this fabulous find?
let me introduce you...

[photo credit]

perfect match? i think so! chicken is my favorite food [in the entire world] and i am dying to have this cookbook... also- the interesting part? it came out exactly a week before my birthday, meaning- that it was the perfect birthday present for me, it just so happens that no one else but me found it- which is alright, because i got some pretty amazing things [full post about birthday will come, pinky promise]. so, if you want to get your hands on this little baby you should first sign up for an ebates account by clicking here and then going to order it off of barnes and noble. 

why the ebates plug, you might ask? well, you can get a small percentage of what you buy at barnes and noble back with ebates- money in the bank. [quite literally!]

linking up with 6 inches of ribbon.

link up and share your "fabulousness" with the world!

just a thought.

top two tuesday.

linking up again this tuesday!

top two favorite summer recipes

[one] lemonade with berry ice cubes

as previously discussed on my blog, i love lemonade... however- my favorite is lemonade with any sort of "berry addition"... so this is perfect! i'm sure you can imagine how to make this tasty treat, however- you can find the recipe here.

[two] italian chicken salad

this looks de-li-cious... yum. i eat chicken probably everyday... i love it and all of the different ways that it can be prepared- i think that this looks scrumptious! this recipe can be found here.

[both recipes and pictures came from family fun- go check it out, they have lots of fun ideas!]

be sure to go visit taylor's blog and link up!

just a thought.

[good] eats.

oh man. i am aware that it has been a really long time since i have posted anything, i swear my life hasn't been super exciting, just pretty busy.

in approximately 2 weeks i will be back in mount pleasant (home sweet home) and i must say- i am pretty excited about it. love clemson so much, but love home (and the beach) a bit more. sorry clemson friends, don't love you less, just love home more! clemson friends plus home would be the ultimate combination, hopefully that will happen once or twice over the summer- that would just be top notch.

healthy(ish) food has now taken over the fridge. there are tons of glad-ware containers of all sorts of yummy fruits and veggies- hopefully that habit will last. a very important item is also in the fridge- wait for it- hummus. man oh man. hummus is such an enjoyable snack. and it isn't just any hummus- it is sabra, classic hummus- so worth the $5 to buy it. i am currently enjoying this snack plus some delicious wheat thins as i write this post. if you've never had this hummus go to the store right now and buy it, right now- close your laptop and hit the road, your taste buds will thank me later. i realize that it probably isn't that hard to made hummus, crush up some chick peas, add garlic, etc., etc. but i don't know if it will have the same appeal. i think not.

also- something so fun that happened last weekend is that my roommate for next year, carrie- got engaged. so thrilling. love that so much. love a good wedding. weddings might be my favorite thing ever... if not- they are pretty close. if i could one day own a children's bookstore/wedding planning business/speech-language pathology/ children/high school ministry head quarters business all tied into one, i would. i know that's a whole lot of titles, but that's ok- because i would be the head of it, so thus i get to decide what is included... it can also sound ridiculous because it isn't going to happen [or at least not in the foreseeable future]. in the meantime i think i'll just stick to being a student and helping my roomie plan her wedding- it sounds a little more reasonable.

once this school week is over there will be much rejoicing, just cannot wait for the weekend. one reason that the weekend will be lovely is that it will mean that i lived to see this week come to an end, so that is nice... it also means that i am either heading to cola to meet up with sean or that sean is heading up to clemson... we are hoping that it means that i am heading down to cola, still praying about that. in the meantime i think that i will just continue snacking on my hummus, wheat thins, and grapes [the new alternative to cookies... it seemed like a good idea in the grocery store].

just a thought.