White Chocolate Cheesecake

1 cup shortbread cookie crumbs (or store bought crust)

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 Pkg. cream cheese (8oz), soften

1 Pkg. (6oz) white chocolate baking bar, (melted and cooled)

2/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

2/3 sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

In small mixing bowl, combine cookie crumbs and melted butter. Press onto bottom of 9 inch springform pan.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and cooled white chocolate baking bar until combined. Beat in sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, and sour cream; beat on low speed till just combined. Pour over prepared crust. Bake in a 350˙ oven for about 45 minutes or until center appears to be almost set. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen cake from sides of pan. Cool 30 more minutes; remove sides of pan. Cool completely. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. 

BLT Pasta

3 cups of any kind of pasta
1/2 package of cream cheese
1 cup milk
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Cooked Bacon
2 cups spinach leaves
tomato's
1 tsp Italian seasoning

Cook pasta. In a skillet, cook cream cheese, milk, Parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning until melted and well blended. Add remaining ingredients. Serve and enjoy!

Train Burgers

I think these are the BEST burgers I have ever had! We make these with homemade french fries and dip the fries in the leftover sauce. I know this is not a healthy meal but it is so GOOD!!!

Make the sauce first, so the flavors can blend


2 lbs. Hamburger

1 lb. Ham

8 Lrg. hamburger buns

8 slices Swiss cheese

8 slices American cheese

1 Recipe Train sauce (see below)

Lettuce

Sliced Tomatoes

Dill Pickle Slices

Divide hamburger into 8 patties. Divide ham into 8 servings. Cook hamburger on grill. When hamburger is almost 165 degrees, place ham onto grill. when ham is hot, place Swiss cheese on ham and American cheese on hamburger. Cook hamburger to 165 degrees, toast or heat buns. Serve with train sauce, lettuce, pickles and tomato. Serves 8


Train Sauce:

1 c. mayonnaise

1/4 c. ketchup

2 T. creamy french salad dressing

1 T. white vinegar

1 T. sugar

1 T. minced sweet pickle

1 T. minced white onion

1/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. white pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl; stir well. Cover and refrigerate for several hours so that flavors blend. Makes about 1 1/2 c. sauce.

Ice Cream For Fun!

Ice Cream in a Bag

What You'll Need:
1 Tbs sugar
1/2 cup half & half
1/4 tsp vanilla
6 tbs rock salt (I bought "ice cream salt" in the baking aisle at Smith's)
1 pint-size Ziploc plastic bag
1 gallon-sze Ziploc plastic bag
Ice cubes

How to make it:
Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.
Put half and half, vanilla, and sugar into small bag and seal it.
Place the small bag in the large one and seal again carefully.
Shake until mixture is ice cream, about 5-8 minutes.
Wipe off top of small bag (you don'g want to taste salt!) and then open and enjoy! It makes a 1/2 cup serving of vanilla ice cream.

I made this with my residents at work, and they loved it. It's a great thing to do with little kids too! You can also use chocolate milk to make chocolate ice cream.

*Tip: Wear oven mitts when you're shaking...it gets pretty cold! And try doubling the recipe to make a larger serving.

Yummy Potato Wedges

4 potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

olive oil or olive oil/butter cooking spray

(not actual picture of this recipe)

Cut your potatoes into wedges and lay them on a cookie sheet. Mix together all of the seasonings and sprinkle over the potatoes. Make sure seasonings cover both sides of the wedges by tossing them around. Generously drizzle or spray the olive oil/cooking spray over the top of the wedges (not enough might make it a little dry).

Cook in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes, depending on how thick your wedges are.

Dip in ketchup like french fries, and enjoy with your BBQ or summer grilling!

Fluffy French Toast

These are delicious! Once you try them you will be hooked!

2 Egg Whites

1 Tbsp Sugar

2 Egg yolks

1 c. Flour

2/3 c. Milk

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

Beat egg whites with sugar until stiff. Set aside. Make sure you save the yolks of the eggs. Beat egg yolks with remaining ingredients. Stir egg whites into mixture. Cut bread into triangles. Dip the bread triangles into batter; fry in about 3/4" of hot oil until they are golden brown. Sprinkle with sifted powdered sugar, or serve with syrup or jam. This recipe makes approx. 14 triangles.