Thanksgiving Desserts

I just love this time of year! I absolutely love spending all day in the kitchen! Below are two of the desserts I am making this year for Thanksgiving. One is an old favorite, Pumpkin Cream Cheese Roll, and the other a new recipe, Apple-of-Your-Eye Cheesecake (from the Taste of Home Most Requested Recipes Cookbook). I believe you need a little bit of pumpkin at Thanksgiving and since I don't care for pumpkin pie, I make this Pumpkin Cream Cheese Roll. I know some of you who have never made a rolled cake of any sort may be hesitant to make this, but it is really easy. The key is to not over bake your cake and to roll it up as soon as you get it out of the oven. If you do that, it will turn out perfect! I also believe there needs to be something apple at Thanksgiving. Just another one of those fall harvest fruits that needs to be represented. So this year I changed it up a little and instead of doing an apple pie I decided to try an apple cheesecake... the best of both worlds... 2 amazing desserts in one! Haven't tasted it yet, but it looks and smells amazing! Hope you have time to incorporate these 2 desserts into your Thanksgiving meal! Happy Thanksgiving!

This is only half of the roll. I cut it in half and froze the other half because with our small family of 4 I don't think we need that much dessert!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Roll

Cake:

Powdered sugar

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground cloves

¼ tsp. salt

3 Large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

 Filling:

1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

6 Tbsp. butter, softened

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 15x10 inch jelly roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour wax paper. Sprinkle towel with powdered sugar. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in a small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in large mixing bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Beat in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack. Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla in small mixing bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake; remove towel. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Re-roll cake. Wrap in foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. ( The roll can also be frozen and enjoyed later!) Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving!

Apple-of-Your-Eye Cheesecake

Crust:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 16 squares)

3 Tbsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. finely chopped pecans

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ cup butter, melted

Filling:

3 packages (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

¾ cup sugar

3 eggs, lightly beaten

¾ tsp. vanilla extract

Topping:

2 ½ cups chopped peeled apples

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

6 Tbsp. caramel ice cream topping, divided

Sweetened whipped cream

2 Tbsp. chopped pecans

In a bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, sugar, pecans and cinnamon; stir in butter. Press onto the bottom of a lightly greased 9 inch springform pan. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Place pan on a wire rack (leave oven on).

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed until combined. Stir in vanilla. Pour over crust. Toss apples with lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon; spoon over filling. Return pan to baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edges of pan to loosen. Drizzle with 4 tablespoons caramel topping. Cool for 1 hour. Chill overnight.

Remove sides of pan. Just before serving, garnish with whipped cream. Drizzle with remaining caramel; Sprinkle with pecans. Enjoy!

 

Southwestern Eggrolls

I found this recipe when I was looking for meals to freeze before baby Titan arrived. I made a large batch of them and we had a few for dinner that night while the rest were frozen for a future meal. (which I am looking forward to) I chose to bake them instead of deep fry them just to make them healthier. The ingredients in the eggrolls are fairly healthy, so I didn't want to ruin them by deep frying them, though I am sure they would have been good! They were a huge hit at our house! Matias devoured them in no time! I hope your family enjoys them as much as we do!

Southwestern Eggrolls

4 Tbsp Vegetable Oil

3 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts

6 Tbsp green onion, minced

6 Tbsp Red pepper, minced

1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

1 cup black beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

3 Tbsp jalapeno pepper, minced

2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

pinch of ground cayenne pepper

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

12 (6 inch) flour tortillas

If frying: Oil for deep frying (I baked them)

Sour cream & Salsa for dipping

Cook chicken breasts in 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, approximately 5 minutes per side or until meat is no longer pink and juices run clear. Remove from heat and set aside.

Add remaining 2 Tablespoons of oil to medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in green onion and red pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes or until tender.

Dice chicken and mix into the pan with onion and red pepper. Mix in corn, black beans, spinach, jalapeno, parsley, cumin, chili powder, salt and cayenne pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes until well blended and tender. Remove from heat and stir in Monterey Jack cheese so that it melts.

Spoon even amounts of the mixture into each tortilla. Fold ends of tortilla, then roll tightly around mixture. If you are going to deep fry them: Arrange in a medium dish, cover with plastic and place in the freezer for at least 4 hours. In a large deep skillet, heat oil for deep frying to 375 degrees. Deep fry frozen stuffed tortillas 10 minutes or until dark golden brown. Drain on a paper towel before serving.

If you are going to bake: Place stuffed tortillas onto a backing sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned on bottom and slightly crisp.

Lemony White Chocolate Cheeksecake

Peter's Birthday was September 13th so of course I had to make him a special dessert! Even though I am 8 1/2 months pregnant, I just couldn't resist making a new decadent dessert. My back, legs and feet were all hurting by the time I was done, but it was totally worth it! This dessert is amazing... a little heavy and very indulgent, but for a special occasion it is perfect! I saw this recipe in Taste of Home Magazine a long time ago but had never made it. I figured it was the perfect time to try it out!

Lemony White Chocolate Cheesecake

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

1 tsp. grated lemon peel

½ cup cold butter, cubed

Filling:

4 packages cream cheese, softened

1 ¼ cups sugar

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. heavy whipping cream

2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 eggs, lightly beaten

10 squares (1 oz. each) white baking chocolate, melted and cooled

2 tsp. grated lemon peel

Place a 9 inch springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil. Securely wrap foil around pan; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, powdered sugar and lemon peel; cut in butter until crumbly. Press onto the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, flour, lemon juice, cream and vanilla until well blended. Add eggs: beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in white chocolate and lemon peel. Pour into crust.

Place pan in a large baking pan; add 1 inch of hot water to larger pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 65-85 minutes or until center is just set and top appears dull,

Remove pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate over night. Remove sides of pan before slicing.

4 Cheese Chicken & Broccoli Fettuccine

As I have mentioned before, we aren't big on pasta in our family. However, we do like pasta with white sauce... or pretty much any other sauce but red sauce. We do not like red sauce! So this dish is perfect for us! It is so easy! And I just love one dish meals! Just serve it with a salad and garlic bread and you have a meal! Hope you try making this for your family! They will love it!

4 Cheese Chicken & Broccoli Fettuccine

8 oz. fettuccine

1 cup frozen broccoli

1 can cream of mushroom soup

8 oz. cream cheese cubed

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese

2 1/2 cups cooked cubed chicken

Topping:

1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs

2 Tbsp butter or margarine

2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for about 5 minutes. Then add the broccoli to the boiling water and cook until pasta is tender. Meanwhile, combine soup, cream cheese, cream, butter and garlic powder in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add all of the cheese to the cream mixture; cook and stir until melted. Add cooked chicken and heat through. Drain fettuccine and broccoli, add to sauce. Transfer to  a greased 2 1/2 quart baking dish. Combine topping ingredients, sprinkle over chicken mixture. Cove and bade at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes or until top is golden brown. Enjoy!

Chicken Nacho Bake

I had to clean out all of the cabinets before we could start our kitchen remodel. So before I put everything back into the cabinets I wanted to go through and get rid of things I didn't really need anymore. I had a ton of recipe magazines! So I went through all of them and pulled out recipes I thought I might like to try sometime and then threw out the rest. All that said... this is where I got the idea for this recipe. I have modified the original recipe so much that it's really not even the same thing. So I renamed it and am calling it my own!

This is before I baked it and topped it with the melted cheese.

Chicken Nacho Bake

2-3 cups cooked shredded chicken

3/4 cup barbecue sauce

6 oz. tortilla chips

1 cup frozen corn

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped

1 small red onion, chopped

1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped

1 tsp. lime juice

8 oz. velveeta cheese, cubed

1 Tbsp. milk

Stir barbecue sauce into shredded chicken. Place tortilla chips into a greased 9x13 baking dish; top with chicken mixture. Combine corn, black beans, tomato, onion, cilantro, jalapeno and lime juice; spoon over chicken mixture.

Bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until heated through. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, melt cheese with milk. Drizzle cheese over nachos.

Serve with taco sauce or salsa. Enjoy!

Garlic Asparagus and Squash in Lemon Cream Sauce

So as all of you saw last week, I have a lot of pasta to use over the next few months. As I have mentioned before, we do not really care for you typical pasta recipes... mostly recipes with red sauce. So I was searching for some recipes that we would like and came across this one. I made a few changes to it (as usual) and it turned out great!

Garlic Asparagus and Squash in Lemon Cream Sauce

12 oz. Ronzoni Garden Delight Rotini Pasta

1 lb. asparagus spears trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces

2 small yellow squash

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 Tbsp butter

1 cup whipping cream

3 tsp grated lemon peel

Salt to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Return pasta to saucepan. Meanwhile, in a large skillet cook asparagus, squash and garlic in hot butter for 5-6 minutes or until vegetables are crisp tender, stirring frequently. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to pasta. Combine whipping cream and lemon peel in the same skillet you cooked the vegetables in. Bring to a boil. Boil for 2-3 minutes or until slightly reduced. Pour cream mixture over pasta. Add salt to taste.

Chicken & Asparagus Kabobs

My Mom recently gave me a new cookbook titled Taste of Home Most Requested Recipes. I really had not taken the time to dive into this book and try new recipes... but now I am hooked! I have made 4 recipes out of this book this week and all of them have been equally AMAZING! Around here, we love asparagus! And thankfully Matias does too! This recipe only calls for 1 pound of asparagus. But I actually bought 2 pounds. I used one pound on the skewers and then blanched and chilled the other pound and served it along with the dipping sauce. Matias ate 8 pieces of the blanched asparagus dipped in the sauce! He would have ate more if I would have let him! I also only made half the amount of dip it called for and we still have some left even though all of the asparagus is gone. So I will give you the halved recipe for the dip! This is a great easy healthy recipe! Let me know what you think!

Ok, so this is before we cooked them. I forgot to take a picture after they were cooked and we devoured them all so there are no leftovers!

Chicken & Asparagus Kabobs

Dipping Sauce: (this is the halved recipe. If you like lots of dip, double it!)

1 cup mayonnaise

1/8 cup sugar

1/8 cup soy sauce

1 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

1-1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/4 tsp white pepper

Kabobs:

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp water

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp minced fresh gingerroot

1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces

2 pounds fresh asparagus, divided (1 pound cut in 2-inch pieces: 1 pound trimmed, blanched and placed in an ice bath, served cold)

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1/2 tsp salt

In a small bowl combine the dipping sauce ingredients. Cover the sauce and refrigerate for 2-4 hours. 

Bring water to boil in a medium sauce pan. Once boiling add the uncut asparagus. Return to boil and boil for only 2 minutes. You do not want to over cook them! Place asparagus directly into ice bath when finished cooking. Chill in fridge until ready to serve.

In a large resealable plastic bag, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, water, sesame oil, pepper flakes and ginger. Add the chicken; seal the bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 2 hours, turning occasionally.

Drain and discard marinade. In a large bowl, toss the 2-inch pieces of asparagus with olive oil and salt. On six metal or soaked wooden skewers, alternately thread one chicken piece and two asparagus pieces.

Grill over medium heat for 4-5 minutes on each side or until chicken is not longer pink and asparagus is crisp-tender. Serve with dipping sauce.