All You Need is a SPOON ~ No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake

Have you the recent Women's Day magazine?  This is the recipe featured on the cover of April's issue and when I saw it I thought what a perfect Easter dessert for the kiddies. Women's Day used raspberries, but they were almost 5 dollars per container  at my local Thriftway, so I used strawberries instead. This dessert is so easy and no mess...all the kiddies need is to open the jar, grab a spoon and enjoy!

To make the cheesecake batter all you need is...

1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese at room temp.

3 T. sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1 T fresh lemon juice

Other ingredients includes...

1 cup of crushed graham crackers

10 oz. of fresh strawberries, pieces and slices 

1/2 c strawberry jam

5-6 8 oz jelly jars

In a large beat the cream cheese with the sugar. Gradually add the cream, the whole mixture sure begin to thicken after about two minutes of high speed beating.

In the empty jars add 2 T. of the crushed graham crackers. Next add a full T of the cream cheese mixture and top it off with some of the fresh strawberries and a tablespoon of the jam. Repeat and ed with a smearing of the cream cheese mixture on top. Place a few strawberry slices on to and then refrigerate with the jar lid screwed on for at least 2 hours before serving.

XO

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The Best Blog Recipes

Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Savvy Southern Style

Creamy Carrot Ginger Soup

Just in time for spring is this delicious carrot soup which is low on the glycemic index for all those of you who are counting carbs. This soup only has 13 carbohydrates and is under 300 calories per serving. Also remember to use fresh ginger root for this recipe. Just try to keep this soup away from the Easter Bunny!

Ingredients:

1/4 c. olive oil (or you can use a small amount of chicken broth to cut

back on calories)

1 onion chopped

2 stalks of celery chopped

1 inch fresh ginger root peeled and chopped

4 large carrots. peeled and chopped

1 granny smith apple peeled and chopped

4 c. chicken broth

salt and white pepper

1/2 c. heavy cream (or low fat half-n-half to again reduce calories)

Method:

In a large pot, heat olive oil or broth and saute the onion, celery, apple and the ginger for about 5 minutes. Then add the both and carrots and cook until carrots are tender about 20 minutes.

Let mixture cool slightly then go ahead and puree in the blender in batches. Return all of the mixture to the pot after it is pureed, heat through and swirl a little cream or H-n-H before serving.

XO

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This Chick Cooks

Being Featured Today!!!

I'm so excited today as my mini Rice Krispy cupcakes are a host favorite over at the Daily Dish Magazine!!! Woohoo...my first feature here at the BGFB. Thank you so much to the hosts of this week's party for the shout out.

If you want to check out all of the super recipes being featured today...

...just click on the link below.

Foodie Friends Friday

 And have a great day!!!

XO

Brussels Sprouts with a Dijon and Balsamic Glaze

My kids actually ask for these Brussels sprouts! They are so yummy, most specially the burnt leaves, Grace tells me the burn it all! But really this is an incredible simple way of preparing these sprouts and it is all done stove top.

What you will need...

Brussels Sprouts, trimmed

olive oil for sauteing

garlic, chopped

Dijon mustard

balsamic vinegar

Parmesan cheese

salt an pepper to taste

Preferably in a seasoned cast iron skillet or in any good sized skillet, heat olive oil and garlic for about 2 minutes. Toss in your Brussels sprouts and saute another 5 minutes. Whisk together equal parts of Dijon mustard and balsamic vinegar and toss into the pan coating the sprouts. Continue to saute for another 7-10 minutes adding a little more olive oil if the mixture begins to dry. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese cook one more minute and serve. Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!
XO

Easter Bunny Bait

Trying to catch the Easter bunny this year? Maybe this fun Easter treat I found over at the cute little blog Sing for Your Supper will be the right bait.  It is a take on one of my favorite treats known as White Trash, only this version uses the Easter M&Ms.

All you need is... 

one bag of popped corn

one 12.60 oz bag of Easter M&Ms

pretzel sticks broken into thirds

one 12 oz bag of white chocolate

and 

some colored sprinkles

Toss your popcorn, M&Ms and pretzel sticks in a large bowl. (Make sure you remove any un-popped kernels.) Heat the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second increments, stirring the chocolate in between. Continue until chocolate is melted and then with a rubber scraper, mix the chocolate into the popcorn mixture. Toss until well coated and then spread onto a jelly roll pan covered with wax paper, sprinkle on the sprinkles and let cool. Break it up into smaller pieces and enjoy.

But you better watch out because you just may end up catching something else other than the Easter bunny!

XO

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Alderberry Hill

BeColorful

Blessed with Grace

Mini Cupcake Rice Krispy Treats

I found this recipe in some magazine awhile back...not sure which one because I only ripped out the one page, so I hung onto this until I had the chance to make these cute treats.

Not much is needed to whip these up...

2 T butter

1/2 of a 10 bag of marshmallows, about 20

3 1/2 cups of Rice Krispies or any other brand of toasted rice

2 T dry cherry flavored gelatin mix

vanilla frosting

drop of red food coloring

12 maraschino cherries

Generously coat a pan of 12 mini-muffin cups with non-stick cooking spray. In a large pot over medium low heat, melt together the butter and marshmallows. Stir occasionally until the mixture is smooth. Add the gelatin mix and the toasted rice. Evenly divide the mixture and press it into the 12 muffin cups leaving a little extra to overlap the edges. let cool.

Tip: Before handling the rice marshmallow mixture, coat your hands with a little cooking spray, this will prevent the mixture from sticking to your fingers.

Whip together a drop or two of the food coloring with the frosting and then place in a pastry bag. Pipe the frosting onto the tops of the cooled mini cupcakes and top each one with a maraschino cherry.

The kiddies and adults alike with love this little twist on these classic rice cereal treats!

XO

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Walking on Sunshine

PJH Designs
Gooseberry Patch

Leprechaun's Hat Centerpiece

Here we are now at the beginning of March and of course since Mr. Rosemary Lane is 100% Irish, St Paddy's Day is a big deal around here. This year March 17th falls on a Sunday so we are planning a big Irish blowout! In celebration I decided to be a wee bit more prepared this year by creating a centerpiece for the party. This was believe it or not, very easy to make.

All you need is...

 a clay pot and base
 a little crafting paint in green and black
 floral foam
 small silver picture frame
 hot glue gun
 and some silk flowers
and a wee bit of green spanish moss

 I was lucky because Michael's craft store has all their floral on sale this week at 40% off!

Paint the base with green paint and the body of the pot to the raised rim, that will be painted black.

Next take the floral foam, which I bought in a shape and size to fit the bottom of the clay pot, and hot glue it onto the pot.

The silk flowers were then cut and poked into the floral foam. I kept the arrangement simple but full.

Finally, in order to hide any of the foam, I went ahead and hot glued some green Spanish moss to the foam...and that was it! It was actually much easier than I originally thought and I love the way it looks!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!!!



Shrimp and Penne in a Creamy Tomato Vodka Sauce

Last evening we had my sister Kim and my Aunt Ann up for a combined birthday celebration dinner. I know my aunt loves shrimp and it actually worked out perfect for me since I gave up meat for Lent. This recipe has been one of my favorites for 20 years now, and its never failed me.

Relatively simple, all you need for this scrumptious meal is...

3 cloves of garlic minced

3 T. olive oil for sauteing

2 28 oz cans of whole tomatoes

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup grated cheese

1/2 cup vodka

Large (31-40 count) shrimp peeled and deveined (It's OK to leave the tails on)

1/4 cup fresh basil coarsely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

About 20 -22 ounces of cooked pasta

Tomato paste is optional if you prefer a thicker sauce.

Saute the garlic in the olive oil over medium high heat for about 4 minutes, stirring to make sure the garlic doesn't burn. Add the tomatoes, whipping cream and cheese...blend and heat through, about 10 minutes. (If you want to thicken your sauce, add the paste in at this point) Add the vodka, shrimp and basil then season with salt and pepper, heat through, about 2 minutes. Toss with cooked pasta and serve 

This should yield enough to serve 8 healthy sized portions.

I paired this past dish with a light Pinot Grigio and after dinner I served a citrusy carrot cake with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting...needless to say the birthday girls were very happy!

Wishing you a wonderful start to the week.

Avocado Crab Bites

Happy new year to you all. I hope you had a wonderful send off to 2012 and are enjoying a super start to 2013. To begin the new year here at TheBigGiantFoodBasket, I am sharing with you my first recipe of 2013...Avocado Crab Bites. 

A little later this afternoon we will be heading to my aunt's house in Pennsylvania for a traditional pork and sauerkraut New Years Day dinner. My sister Kim and myself are in charge of bringing appetizers so I made these delicious little crab bites. The crab meat is mixed with cilantro and avocado along with a few other ingredients and then dropped into some mini fillo shells I purchased at the supermarket. They are garnished with a few tiny shrimp and voila...I have some impressive looking hors d'oeuvres to take with me.

This is so super easy to make...my favorite kind of recipe! Here is what you will need to make 30 bites...

1 1/2 avocado mashed

8 ounces of canned crab meat

chopped cilantro (use enough for your taste)

4-5 scallions, chopped

1-2 T. lime juice

1-2 T mayonnaise

salt to taste

2 packages of ATHENS brand mini fillo shells, 15/package

one can of tiny shrimp

Mix first seven ingredients together and then refrigerate for one hour. Once cold just fill each of the shells with about one teaspoon of the crab mixture, top with a few tiny shrimp and plate 'em up!

XO

 

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Daily Dish Magazine

Martha Stewart's Rasberry and Hazelnut Jelly Roll

This jelly roll recipe is one of Martha Stewart's and it can be found in the August 2012 issue of her magazine, Martha Stewart Living. I did my best to recreate this fabulous looking dessert! ( Martha's is in the photograph below,) The kids and Chris said it's a home run! One of the keys to making this is in the rolling up of the cake and just as importantly the brand of fruit preserves you use!

What you will need...

1/2 cup plus1 T. of all purpose flour

1/2 c. skinned whole roasted hazelnuts. (I bought them whole, cracked and roasted them myself)

1/4 tsp. salt

3 large eggs plus 2 large egg yolks

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted but not hot

1/4 c. of confectioner's sugar

clean kitchen towel

For the Filling you will need...

1 c. plus 3 T of high quality raspberry preserves (I used St. Dalfour.)

1 c. of very cold whipping cream

2 T hazelnut liquor

What you will need to do...

For the cake: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a large jelly roll pan or baking sheet with cooking spray. Lay a piece of parchment paper over the pan to cover. Trim the edges and spray parchment with cooking spray...set aside.

Bring a pot of water to a simmer. In the meantime pulse the nuts, flour and salt in food processor or blender until nuts are finely chopped...about 1 minute. Pour 1/3 of the flour into a sifter.

Whisk together the eggs and sugar in a heat proof bowl and then place bowl over the pot of water and continue to stir until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Then using a mixer, whip egg mixture until it begins to lose some color and becomes fluffy. Sift the first third of the flour into the egg mixture and fold with rubber scraper. Then drizzle 1/3 of the butter into the mixture and blend. Repeat 2 more times and then spread batter onto the prepared jelly roll pain. Bake in the oven until golden brown...about 8 minutes.

Spread clean kitchen towel out on the counter and dust with confectioner's sugar. Remove cake from oven and flip it onto the clean towel, peel off the parchment paper and starting at one of the short endes, roll the cake up in the towel as tight as you can. Let the cake sit until completely cooled, about 1 1/2 hours.

For the Filling: Unroll the cake and spread the jam over the top of the cake leaving a one inch margin around the entire cake. Then whip the heavy cream with the liquor until medium peaks form. Spread whipped cream over top of the jam, again leaving the 1 inch margin around the perimeter of the cake. Starting from one of the short sides, roll the cake up at tight as possible and then lay it on a serving platter with the seem side down. refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours. Dust with confectioner's sugar using a sifter, slice and serve!

Enjoy!!!