Pioneer Woman's Cheesecake

I've always wanted to make a cheesecake but have never had a springform pan, which is a necessity.  My grandma gave me one & so I finally got to try it out.  I'd say it was a success!  It was super easy to make & I made a raspberry topping.  My brother said it was maybe the best cheesecake he'd ever had - yessssss!!!!!  I can't wait to try new variations of this Pioneer Woman recipe.

Try THIS ONE today!

I love making new recipes.

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

I have been wanting to try this recipe for a long time now & thought Christmas was a good time to try it because my family always has cinnamon rolls on Christmas day (from the frozen foods aisle; still delicious).  These are time consuming, but not as difficult as I had thought they would be.

These are delicious!!!  The recipe makes a TON of rolls so I have about three pie tins full in my freezer to be heated in the oven as I so desire.  I highly recommend making these - they are very rewarding to make.

HERE IS THE RECIPE.

YUMMMMMM!!!!!

P.S.  These use a whole lotta butter.

Oreo Truffles

It's become a tradition of mine to make Oreo Truffles every year around Christmas.  People love them!  It's fun to have so many people ask for the recipe and tell them that it's 3 ingredients total!  I used to tell everyone they are easy to make - which is sort of true - but yesterday when I made a triple batch and was using my Magic Bullet to turn the Oreos into crumbs (3 cookies at a time) and was melting a ton of chocolate and rolling each one I realized it's kind of time consuming and not the absolute easiest thing to make.  At least for me.  It's not bad though... mine just look kind of ugly.

HERE'S the recipe!

Everyone will love you for making these!!

Pioneer Woman's Best Chocolate Sheet Cake

This weekend was my mom's birthday & I made her Pioneer Woman's Chocolate Sheet Cake.  It was simple to make & didn't take much time at all.  The first night we ate it I thought it was "good" but not "great".  My sister told me it was better the next day & so I tried it & she was right.  It was "great" the next day - more chocolaty and rich.  If you're looking for an easy way to get a rich chocolate cake - this is the way to go.

I did one half with pecans and one without just in case someone didn't want pecans.  I like it better without, but most everyone else wanted the pecans in.  Yum!

Pioneer Woman's "Pasta alla Marlboro Man"

Last night I made this very meaty dish from the Pioneer Woman.  It's definitely not for someone who isn't big into meat.  I liked it... it is very tasty... but it's not my favorite PW recipe ever.  Definitely give it a try sometime though, if you love meat sauce!  It's really simple to make.  HERE IT IS!

Pioneer Woman's Mashed Potatoes

For Thanksgiving I was in charge of making mashed potatoes - which happen to be my favorite Thanksgiving dish.  The pressure was on because as much as I love them, I've NEVER made them!  I knew I wanted to use the Pioneer Woman's recipe because her stuff is always to die for.  I doubled her recipe & so there was quite a load of butter and cream cheese in them - YUM!  They were really delicious and my family seemed to enjoy them a lot.  I highly recommend using this recipe next time you make mashed potatoes - you won't be sorry!

HERE is the recipe on her blog.

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Muffins

THESE are really chocolate-y.  I like chocolate but it has to be either in cake form or in small amounts. So these aren't my absolute fave but if you love chocolate chips - you will love them.  You could also put less than it calls for in, which I will do next time probably.  They are good though - and super easy.

Whole Chicken - Two Ways

Each year we have a Thanksgiving with just friends.  Therefore I'm unable to rely on my mom making the turkey/meat dish.  Yikes!  Instead of turkey, I decided I'd try cooking two whole chickens - two different ways.

Chicken #1
Baked Slow Cooker Chicken
From AllRecipes

This was easy as pie to make.  The only "hard" part was having to stick my hand inside the bird and pull out the "giblets".  That was gross.  After washing the bird you just have to pat it dry and season it how you'd like.  I threw it in the crock pot and left for work and come home to a wonderful-smelling house and a fully-cooked, fall-off-the-bone chicken.  I definitely recommend this for when you're strapped for time and want dinner done when you walk in the door.

Chicken #2
Roasted Herb Chicken
Based on a Better Homes and Gardens recipe

1 Whole chicken (3 pounds or so)
Butter (melted)

Seasonings I used:

Salt
Lemon-Pepper
Oregano
Thyme
Basil

Wash the bird with cold water and take out the giblets.  Dry the bird with paper towels.  Tie the neck and legs together with baking string.  Brush chicken with melted butter.  Season as desired.  Use as much or as little of each seasoning as you wish.  Place on a roasting pan (I used a one-time use pan).  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake uncovered for 1 1/2 hours, until a thermometer stuck in the bird reads 180 degrees.

Easy, pretty fast & delicious.

Chicken #2 wins for the better texture and flavor, while Chicken #1 wins for easiness.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Snickers Popcorn

Last night I made Snickers Caramel Popcorn from cookiesandcups.  It was pretty easy to make & it is DELICIOUS!!! I will definitely make this again.  I didn't use a ton of Snickers because I thought it would be too much, but I think I will add more next time.  I only used 4 normal sized candy bars chopped up.  Next time I think I'll go for 6 or more.  I opted out of using nuts and I did include the chocolate drizzle on top.  SUCH a delightful treat.  You might want to plan to give some away though or else you'll find yourself eating a HUGE amount of this.  Like a whole king size bowl full.  Yummmmmmm!!!

Easy Salsa Chicken

This recipe is pretty much as easy as it gets.  I found it HERE.  It takes about 5 minutes to prepare & throw in the oven.

I served mine with sour cream, black beans and corn.  It is tasty... especially for how easy and how few ingredients.

If you want a fast and easy dinner idea, I definitely recommend this one.