NatureBox of Snacks (August)

I have only participated for 2 months, and I already have discovered new snacks that I never would have bought before NatureBox.

My snacks for August were tastes from around the world:

Bombay Curried Cashews

Dried Fancy Figs

Far East Rice Crackers

Mexicana Mango

Maui Onion Crunch

I forgot to post my snacks for July. Ooopps!

July snacks:

Zesta Fiesta Mix

Sunny Trails mix

Lemon Pucker Pistachios

Garden Tomato Crunchies

Southern BBQ Sunflower Kernels

NatureBox delivers a monthly box of healthy snacks to you. Each box costs just 19.95 with free shipping. Sign up here

Heartland Turtle Bars

My summer break just ended, so back to the classroom I went. I almost forgot to make the  Baked Sunday morning tasty treat. The recipe this week was to make Heartland Turtle Bars from the cookbook: Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. I strongly encourage you to purchase the cookbook, but you may also find the recipe on Baked Sunday Mornings. 

This is my favorite recipes yet!!!!! I choose to leave the nuts out because I am not a fan of nuts in my sweets. The bars are best served chilled for a richer taste. I brought some of the bars to work to share with my fellow teacher friends on Friday because figured they all deserved a little chocolate after finishing up our second full week with students. Four of the teachers requested the recipe.  I told them that this was the only recipe I will hand out, and if they want another recipe from Baking Explorations, they will need to buy the book. 

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August Crazy Cooking Challenge: Cheesecake

I love Junior's New York Cheesecake recipe and have used the following recipe for a few years. You can find it here. My inspiration for a summer berry cheesecake came from The Flying Quiche blog. She created a recipe for a triple strawberry cheesecake with a strawberry puree added to the batter. I did not have time to make the puree in her recipe and also did not want to add anymore sugar to my cheesecake. So I took her idea and combined it with my Junior cheesecake recipe to create my summer berry cheesecake. 

At the end of the directions, you will see 2 delicious ways to eat this cheesecake.

Summer Berry Cheesecake With a Fork or on a Stick
(makes one 9 inch cheesecake)

Ingredients

(4) 8 ounce packages cream cheese (the regular variety, not light Neufchatel cream cheese) at room temperature 1 2/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2  large eggs
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions for the Cheesecake Filling:

Part 1

1. Preheat the oven to 350degrees Fahrenheit
2. generously butter a 9-inch springform pan and wrap the outside of the pan with foil, covering the bottom and extending up the sides.
3. Place an 8 ounce package of the cream cheese, 1/3 cup of the sugar, and the cornstarch in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low until creamy, about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally.
4. Beat in the remaining 3 packages of cream cheese.
5. Increase the mixer speed to high and beat in the remaining 1 1/3 cups of sugar, then beat in the vanilla.
6. Blend in the eggs, one at a time, beating the batter well after adding each one.
7. Blend in the heavy cream. At this point, mix the filling only until completely blended (just like they do at Junior's). Be careful not to overmix the batter.

Part 2

1. For the fruit filling portion of the cheesecake: you will need 3 small bowls
   

   

   bowl 1--smash 1/4 cup blueberries and mix in 1/2 cup cheesecake filling then pour into a plastic bag
    bowl 2--smash 1/8 cup raspberry and mix in 1/2 cup cheesecake filling then pour into a plastic bag
    bowl 3--smash 2 large strawberries and mix in 1/2 cup cheesecake filling then pour into a plastic bag
2. pour remaining cheesecake batter in buttered and foil wrapped springform pan 

Part 3

1. now you are ready to pipe fruit flavored cheesecake into batter in pan.  
2. Snip of the end off the raspberry batter, push the tip into the cheesecake batter and squeeze lightly. continue all the way around the pan. continue with each flavor. I choose to pipe in a circle so each slice of cheesecake has all three summer berry flavors.
3. Place the springform pan in a large shallow pan containing hot water that comes about 1 inch up the sides of the pan.
4. Bake the cheesecake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the center barely jiggles when you shake the pan, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Cool the cake on a wire rack for 1 hour. Then cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until it's completely cold, at least 4 hours or overnight

You can enjoy this cheesecake 2 different yet very tasty ways:

First way: slice it and serve with a dollop of whipped cream

Second way: slice it, stick a popsicle stick it it, freeze for a few hours, then cover it with white chocolate and freeze

 I also want to thank Hugs & CookiesXOXO for posting a "how to" for cheesecake on a stick. She too is a fan of Junior's Cheesecake recipe :)

also shared on:
Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen manic-monday-party-9

July Foodie Penpal Package

The anticipation is over to see what my foodie penpal, Gloria Evans, sent me.

Gloria has fallen in love with her new neighborhood store, Trader Joe's. She sent a wonderful Italian package with items all from Trader Joe's. The items were: polenta,white balsamic vinegar, three cheese tomato pasta sauce, spaghetti, balsamic vinaigrette, and ginger snap cookies. 


I had all the best intention to use most of the ingredients to make a dinner but just ran out of time. I hope to make it really soon!!!!


If you would like to see the package I sent to Jillian please take a peak at her blog, Bites of Balance


I just want to say how appreciative I am for Lindsay, The Lean Green Bean, for organizing the monthly foodie penpal exchange!!! If you would like to join in the monthly foodie penpal, you may sign up on The Lean Green Bean blog site. 

Chimichurri Steak and Garbanzo Bean Skillet Cakes

My sister has been talking about garbanzo bean (chickpeas) flour for the last year. I was very hesitant to try it but sometimes would look for it in the store if I remembered. Well a year later, and I finally found it. I text her asking her how to cook with it. And she replied' " you season it, mix with water and make little pancakes  that you top with shredded meat for a little open faced tacos." So that is what I set out to do :) They were amazing!!!! 


Chimichurri Steak and Garbanzo Bean Skillet Cakes
Serving for 2 people (6 skillet cakes)


Ingredients:
1/2 lb of meat (I used steak) cut into strips
1 hand full of sliced green and red peppers
1 hand full of sliced onion
Olive Oil
Your choice of sauce (I used a store bought chimichurri sauce)
2 cups of Garbanzo Bean Flour
1 1/2 cups of water (may need to add a little more to thin batter)
salt and pepper to season flour


Directions


1. In a skillet, saute the onions and peppers with a little olive oil. When cooked through, set aside in a bowl.

2. In the same skillet used for the veggies, saute the strips of meat with 2-3 spoonfuls of sauce. 

When cooked through, add to the bowl of veggies.

3. Mix 2 cups of garbanzo bean flour with 1.5 cups of water. Season with salt and pepper. If you feel the batter is to think, add a little more water.


4. In the same skillet used to cook the veggies and meat,  add a little olive oil to coat the pan. Place 1/3 cup scoop of batter on skillet. When to edges appear dry (not wet) then its time to flip your skillet cake. They do not take long nor form bubbles like pancake batter. 


5. To assemble your skillet cakes: place some meat, veggies and a little sauce on the skillet cake, then fold up and eat.

If you would like information on a few of my ingredients, continue reading and check out the links.





 Bob's Red Mill makes a variety of "flours"  to be used in sweet to savory dishes. For this recipe, I used Garbanzo Bean Flour which is ground chickpeas. Garbanzo flour is high in protein and especially good in gluten free baking. I found this particular flour at a local gluten free store. Regular grocery stores also carry Bob's Red Mill products too.

Wildly Delicious  makes a great sauce for any type of meat. I used the  Cilantro, Garlic & Chilli Chimichurri Sauce in my recipe. Chimichurri is a blend of fresh cilantro, parsley, garlic, chilli, oil, and vinegar. It is a staple in South America.














Shared on the following blogs:
Bobbis Kozy Kitchen: manic-monday-party-6