Cheesecake Strawberries

As I browse around Pinterest I come across some great looking recipes! This one I first made for a friend's bridal shower & they went like hot cakes. These strawberries take some time and I've seen different versions of them, but this one came from The Sweets Life (http://www.thesweetslife.com/2011/08/cheesecake-stuffed-strawberries.html?m=1). You can make these ahead and refrigerate to save yourself some time. I didn't add the graham cracker this time because I have a friend that is gluten free and wanted her to be able to taste all the yummyness. <--I make up my own words. :) You can also make the stuffing as a fruit dip too. It's great with all sorts of fruits other than strawberries: pineapple, grapes, blueberries, blackberries, etc.

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs strawberries, hulled
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Graham cracker crumbs

Directions:

Rinse off the strawberries and cut the top off in a circle. By doing this you'll be able to get the inside to hollow them out. You'll also want to cut the bottom off to make them stand. I've also seen on Pinterest where people have cut the tops and cut X's in the bottom to fill the strawberries to make them stand. Strawberries can be expensive, so cutting the X's in the bottom may be more cost effective. After prepping all the strawberries you'll want to make your filling. {You can make the filling first, the softer the cream cheese, the easier it is to fill.}

In a mixing bowl, mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until well blended and smooth. I don't spend the money on piping/pastry bags, I just a sandwich size ziplock bag & cut a corner off. Fill up the strawberries and dip them into the graham cracker crumbs.

There you have a great, yummy, semi-healthy dessert.

Shrimp/Crawfish Boil

As I mentioned, I'm from Texas and in the South we love our spice & mud bugs and this recipe has both. :) We made a huge batch of this for New Year's Eve for our East Coast friends and they loved it! Sometimes I'll do a smaller batch for just the two of us because it's so yummy & I crave food from back home.

Ingredients: (This is for the smaller batch)
1 lb of shrimp (unpeeled) or crawfish
2 andouille sausage, cut in pieces
2-3 ears of corn (break in half)
1/2 lb of red potatoes quartered
Old Bay Seasoning
Beer, optional

Recipe:

Boil water in a stock pot. (If making for a lot of people buy a burner and a large stock pot) Add in Old Bay seasoning to your liking, the more you add, the more spice you'll have and if you want add any kind of beer you would like. Once the water boils add in the potatoes as they'll take the longest to cook. After the potatoes are almost done toss in the sausage & corn. About 5 min after adding the sausage & corn you'll add in the shrimp or crawfish for 2-5 minutes.

Drain out the water and plate up. If you are cooking for a lot people feel free to dump straight onto a table covered with a tablecloth or butcher paper. Make sure you have lots of paper towels around as this is a recipe to eat with your fingers!

Welcome!

So--I started this blogging thing a while ago & never kept up with it. Why start a new one then? Because I figure, I cook about 95% of the time, so why not share my findings with others. I am by no means a chef or what people call a "home cook" because I don't come up with my own recipes or create things with what I have on had. I love crock pot meals, I mean how great is that invention? You throw a whole bunch of stuff in one pot set a timer & when you come home your house smells great & you have a great meal that you didn't have to slave over.

I love to cook and my husband is my best critic. He'll let me know, next time add more salt or spice, or waaayyyy to much of this or that. Sometimes if he says it's too spicy, I'll tone it down, but I love spice...hey, I'm from Texas and grew up eating hot sauce & jalapenos on almost everything. My husband is also from Texas, but just can't handle the heat. :)

I have been getting a lot of recipes from Pinterest and I have heard many people say that they have had Pinterest recipes fail or weren't that good. There has been a few things that haven't turned out great, but for the most part I've been lucky.

I hope you enjoy this new adventure & hopefully I'll remember to post a lot more often on here than on my other site.  I just have to remember to take pictures before we devour the food. Also, if you want me to try any recipes from Pinterest, send them to me or comment below for ideas. I'm not a big fish eater, so if you post a recipe about salmon, haddock, tuna, etc. I'll probably substitute the fish with chicken.

**DISCLAIMER: If I use a recipe from Pinterest or another blog, I will reference back to the link I used. This may not be the original owner of the recipe, but I'm not doing that much research to trace back the owner. I know that many bloggers want the credit, and I'll give credit where it's due. I'm not a detective nor do I have time to do that much research.**