Oreo Cheescakes

6 Oreo Cookies

4 ounces cream cheese at room temperature (half a pack)

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 tablespoon flour

1 egg yolk (if you double the recipe just use the whole egg)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

chocolate chips or Oreo pieces for toppings

If you want to cheat to bring your cream cheese to room temperature, just remove it from the wrapper and microwave it for about 30 seconds at 20% power.

Preheat the oven to 350. Line 6 muffin tins with cupcake liners and put an Oreo in each.

Beat the cream cheese, sugar and flour until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and stir until well combined. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter onto each Oreo.  Bake at 350 for about 14-17 minutes, or until the cheesecake looks set and not browned.  Remove cheesecakes from muffin tins and  top with 5 or 6 chocolate chips or  Oreo pieces while they're still warm.

Once the cheesecakes are completely cooled, store in the refrigerator.

Source: loosely inspired by Swirled Cheesecake Nibbles at verybestbaking.com

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pudding Recipe {like a pb cup you can eat with a spoon}

1/8 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 cup cocoa powder 

3 large egg yolks

1 3/4 cups half-and-half or whole milk  (I used whole milk)

3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup (heaped) dark chocolate chips  (you could use semisweet if you're not a fan of dark chocolate)

Whipped cream and sprinkles for topping 

Sift together the cornstarch, sugar, salt, and cocoa powder and put it into a medium pan. Slowly whisk in the milk, until the mixture is combined and smooth. Whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time, until smooth. If you don't have a whisk, just use a fork. That's what I did.

Cook the pudding over medium heat, whisking continuously, until the pudding starts to thicken and large bubbles form and plop on the surface of the pudding. Reduce the heat to low, and continue cooking, stirring continuously for 1 minute. Your pudding is done when you can run your finger across the back of the stirring spoon and it leaves a trail that does not immediately fill in.

Remove from the heat and stir the vanilla, peanut butter, and chocolate chips into the hot pudding until thoroughly melted and combined.

 Pour the pudding into a bowl and cover the surface of the pudding with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate the pudding until very cold, at least 4 hours and up to overnight.

This recipe came from This Chick Cooks

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

These smoothies mix peanut butter, frozen banana, milk and oats. Don't worry. The oats get ground up before you start so you'll hardly even realize they're in there. My 6 year old said that this smoothie is so good that I should open an ice cream store :) After giving up refined sugar (excluding my weekly dessert) it seems like nature's "sweets" have grown to have a whole new level of flavor and depth that I never quite appreciated before. You could add a little bit of honey to these if you want to, but I recommend that you try it without the honey first. In my opinion it is just perfect without any extra sweetness added.  It feels like you're indulging in a treat, but they're actually chock full of good for you stuff. 

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie Recipe
serves 2

2 bananas sliced and frozen
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup peanut butter
3/4 cup milk

Put oats in blender and blend until they're powdery. Add remaining ingredients and blend until there are no more chunks of frozen banana. Garnish with fresh banana slices if desired.

Captain Crunch Peanut Butter Bars

3 T. butter
3 T. creamy peanut butter
30 large marshmallows
6 c. Cap'n Crunch Cereal
1 1/2 c. M&M's

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray, set aside.

In a large pot on the stove melt butter, peanut butter and marshmallows on medium low heat, stirring occasionally. Once mixture is melted and all combined, remove from heat. Add cereal and M&M's quickly and stir quickly to well coat. As the marshmallow mixture cools it will become harder to mix.

Pour into prepared pan. Coat your hands with a little extra butter and press down the mixture into the pan to get it as even as possible. Allow to cool completely and cut into squares.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches for the Crockpot

4 skinless and boneless chicken breasts 
1 (17.5 oz) bottle buffalo wing sauce (I used Buffalo Wild Wing Sauce)
1 oz. pkg of dry ranch salad dressing mix
6 sandwich or hoagie rolls

Put the chicken in the crockpot. Pour 3/4 of the bottle of the hot sauce over the top of the chicken and then sprinkle the salad dressing mix over that. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours.

Once the chicken has cooked, shred it right in the crockpot and let it continue to cook for a few minutes to soak up the sauce.

Pile chicken onto rolls and splash with some of the remaining wing sauce if desired. Cover with provolone cheese and stick under the broiler until the cheese melts.

Cheerio Treats

Cheerio Treats

• 1 c. sugar
• 1 c. corn syrup
• 1 c. creamy peanut butter
• 1 t. vanilla
• 5 c. Cheerios (I used Honey Nut Cheerios)

In a large sauce pan, combine sugar and corn syrup. Bring to boil over medium heat.

Allow mixture to boil for one minute and remove from heat.

Add peanut butter and vanilla to mixture and mix until smooth.

Add Cheerios and mix until all coated.

Drop mixture by spoonful onto waxed paper and allow to cool. 

Makes approximately 2 dozen.