Here is another great combination of chocolate and peanut butter, peanut butter cheesecake. This is a great recipe to make for the Holidays and is sure to please any peanut butter fans. The crust is crushed Oreo cookies and chopped roasted peanuts. The filling is your basic cheesecake filling with the addition of peanut butter and chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. This will make a fairly large cake; it uses a 10” spring form pan. It will require a little work to make but in the end, it’s well worth it! This cheesecake needs to be refrigerated for a minimum for 4 hours. If you are looking for a fantastic cheesecake recipe, give this one a try.

Ingredients:
Crust-
4 ½ cups oreo cookies (crushed)
1 cup roasted peanuts (chopped)
½ cup butter (melted)
Filling-
2lbs cream cheese (softened)
5 eggs (at room temperature)
1 ½ cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
½ cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Topping-
3 ounces sour cream
½ cup sugar

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Put Oreo cookies and peanuts in a food processor and grind. Mix ground Oreo cookies and peanuts with the melted butter. Press the mixture onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 10” spring form pan to make the crust.

Step 2: To make filling- In a large bowl beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs one at a time and beat after each egg is added. Add sugar, vanilla extract, peanut butter and whipping cream. Mix until smooth. Fold in pieces of Reese’s peanut butter cups with a rubber spatula. Pour filling into prepared crust.
Step 3: Place into the oven and bake at 275 degrees for 1 ½ hours or until firm and lightly browned.
Step 4: Combine sour cream and sugar and pour over the cheesecake. Return cheesecake to the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow cheesecake to cool for 1 hour. Place into the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

One of my new favorite salsas is Kiwi salsa. There are so many different types of salsas out there, and so many different possibilities. Before trying this recipe I was a little skeptical as to how kiwi fruit would taste in a salsa, to my surprise, it was fantastic. The flavors in this recipe blend almost perfectly, for a very light and refreshing snack. The jalapeño peppers add just the right amount of kick, and the salsa is seasoned well with cilantro, salt and pepper. If you cannot find the pomegranate seeds, just leave them out. This is very quick and easy and makes for a great snack. Serve with corn chips. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
3-4 ripe Kiwi fruits (peeled and chopped)
½ avocado (peeled and chopped)
¼ cup pomegranate seeds
1 tablespoon green onions (thinly sliced)
1 tablespoon fresh jalapeño pepper (chopped)
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro (chopped)
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt and pepper (to taste)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a medium bowl, add Kiwis, pomegranate seeds, avocado, green onions, and olive oil.
Step 2: Add jalapeño peppers and gently fold in to your taste. Add cilantro, salt and pepper to your taste as well.
(Makes about 1 ½ cups of salsa)

I know this is out of season right now but I just had to try this recipe for pink lemonade. This recipe was submitted by one of my readers, Jonathan Kent. I had never made pink lemonade before and when I saw the recipe I found it interesting and decided to try it. Mr. Kent had informed me that he had to do a lot of trial and error to get this recipe perfect. I pretty much followed his recipe completely, except I did not have a juicer so I hand squeezed the lemons. For the blueberries, they should be well rounded tablespoons as seen in the picture. The end result was good but I did find the lemonade to be a tad bit sweet, so if you are not a fan of sweet lemonade, I would recommend cutting down on the sugar a little bit. Even though it is out of season I would recommend trying this one, or stick it away for the warmer weather. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups fresh lemon juice (from 6-7 lemons)
8 cups water
1 2/3 cup sugar (or less, depending on how you like it)
3 strawberries (ends removed and cut in half)
2 rounded tablespoons blueberries

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a small sauce pan combine sugar and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Allow the mixture to cool until it has reached room temperature. Then refrigerate until chilled.

Step 2: Juice lemons (removing seeds but keeping the pulp). Set aside. In a blender combine the blueberries, strawberries, and 1 cup of water. Blend well.

Step 3:  In a pitcher, pour in the lemon juice. Place a mesh strainer over the pitcher and pour the blueberry/strawberry mixture into the strainer. Use a large spoon to squeeze most of the liquid into the pitcher and leave most of the pulp in the strainer. Remove the strainer and stir in chilled water/sugar mixture and 6 cups of water. Mix well and put into the refrigerator until chilled.

One of my favorite Mexican marinades is Carne Asada. Chances are you may have had these at a restaurant or made them before at home. Carne Asada steak makes a delicious meat for tacos or burritos. You can either marinade, then slice the steak into strips and cook. Or, you can leave the steak whole, grill it and then cut it into strips, which is what I did. I would recommend marinating for 8 hours to overnight for maximum flavor. The marinade uses simple ingredients such as soy sauce, vinegar, lime juice, garlic, and chili powder. If you are making tacos or burritos some condiments would be tomato, sliced red onion, pico de gallo, and cheese. If you are looking for a great Carna Asada marinade recipe, give this one a try. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
3 lbs flank steak
1/3 cup white vinegar
½ cup soy sauce
4 garlic cloves (minced)
2 limes (juiced)
½ cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Place flank steak in a large bowl. In a medium bowl whisk together vinegar, soy sauce, garlic cloves, lime juice, and olive oil. Season with salt, black pepper, white pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, oregano, cumin and paprika. Mix until well blended. Cover, place into the refigerator and marinate for at least 8 hours.
Step 2: When the meat in done marinating, slice the steak into strips and cook in a fry pan until the steak is cooked through. Use cooked steak meat for tacos or burritos.

Here is another fantastic recipe for the Holidays, green bean casserole. This is nothing but a classic right here. Chances are many of you already have your own recipe for this but this one is a little different. This recipe has whole mushrooms in the casserole and uses fresh green beans. I always prefer fresh green beans over the canned or frozen kind but if you cannot find fresh, frozen will work as well. The process of making this dish is fairly simple. The green beans are boiled in chicken broth until tender and then mixed into a cream of mushroom soup mixture, placed into a casserole dish and baked in the oven.  If you are looking for a delicious green bean casserole recipe for the holidays, give this one a try. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
¼ cup butter
3 garlic cloves (minced)
2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms
6 cups fresh green beans (ends removed and cut in half)
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 (10 ¾ ounce) cans low-sodium condensed cream of mushrooms soup
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 (2 7/8 ounce) cans French fried onion rings
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet melt butter and add mushrooms and garlic. Cook while stirring until mushrooms loose their moisture. Set aside.
Step 2: Add green beans to a large sauce pan and pour chicken broth over them. Bring to a boil and cook for 8-10 minutes or until green beans become fork tender. Drain green beans (but do not  rinse).

Step 3: In a large bowl combine cream of mushroom soup, cooked mushrooms, parmesan cheese, pepper and onions rings, mix well. Gently fold in green beans. Pour into a greased 3 quart casserole dish. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle cheddar cheese over the top return to oven and bake for 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
(Makes 6 Servings)

These Pumpkin brownies make a great treat for the Holidays. These brownies are like an actual brownie and not a pumpkin pie bar. They are basically a combination of pumpkin pie and chocolate brownies. They are made by creating two separate batters, layering the batters in a baking dish and then swirling with a knife. These brownies are extremely moist and will leave you coming back for more. If you feel the seasonings might be a little strong, you may want to cut back on them just a little. For the pumpkin puree, you can either use canned or homemade. Lining the baking dish the aluminum foil is optional but I find it is way easier to remove the brownies from the baking dish and cut them nicely into squares that way.

Ingredients:
¾ cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup butter (melted)
1 ½ cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup pumpkin puree
½ cup walnuts (chopped)
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon nutmeg

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and line an 8×8 inch baking dish with aluminum foil. Lightly grease the foil. In a bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.
Step 2: In a separate bowl mix together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in the eggs (one at a time). Add in the flour mixture, a little at a time and stir until the batter is evenly moistened. Divide the batter in half evenly into 2 separate bowls.
Step 3: In one of the bowls blend in the cocoa powder and chocolate chips. In the second bowl of batter stir in pumpkin puree, walnuts, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.
Step 4: Spread ½ of the chocolate batter mixture into the bottom of the baking dish. Pour ½ of the pumpkin batter mixture over that. Repeat the layers, ending with a pumpkin layer. Drag a kitchen knife or spatula through the layers in a swirling motion creating a marble appearance.  
Step 5: Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool and cut into squares.

If you have never had a fajita pizza you are missing out. My first time making a fajita pizza was just a few days ago, and it turned out so good I just had to post this recipe. This is basically chicken fajitas on a pizza. Pizza crust topped with salsa, chicken, sliced bell peppers, cheese and onions. This will make a 12” pizza and for the crust, you can make your own, use a box mix, or a premade crust. I use the Pillsbury refrigerated pizza dough. All you need to do is unroll it and press onto your pizza pan. For the chicken, I actually rubbed the chicken with the spice mixture, grilled it and then cut into in to small pieces. Pre-baking the crust is important so it doesn’t get soggy. I always enjoy my pizza crust as least a little crispy. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into small strips, *leave whole if grilling)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 ½ teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup onion (sliced)
½ cup green bell pepper (sliced into strips)
½ cup red bell pepper (sliced into strips)
1 (12 inch) pizza crust (homemade, dough or box mix)
½ cup salsa
2 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. To pan fry chicken, add olive oil to a large skillet. Heat to medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until lightly browned. Stir in chili powder, salt and garlic powder. Add onions and bell peppers and cook for another minute or until the vegetables are crispy tender.
(or to grill chicken- season chicken breasts on both sides with chili powder, garlic, and salt. Lightly oil grill grates and grill on high until chicken is fully cooked. Slice cooked chicken breasts into strips. Cook vegetables in olive oil in a fry pan for about 1 minute).

Step 2: Lightly grease pizza pan and press dough into the pan. Place into the oven and pre-bake crust for about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and scatter chicken strips over the crust, spoon salsa over the chicken, then toss on sliced bell peppers and onions and top with cheese.
Step 3: Bake for another 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

This is by far the best chili I have ever had. This recipe for chili is great for football season and almost everyone is sure to enjoy it. As you can see from the ingredients, this chili can be a little expensive and time consuming but I can assure you, it’s worth it! I have tried a lot of different chili recipes that seemed a lot easier but none of them were as good as this. The ingredients blend perfectly for a spicy and delicious chili.  This chili is also great re-heated if you want to make it ahead of time and serve it the next day. It makes quite a bit and will serve about 12 people. Other than the prep work, the stove does the rest. The longer you let it simmer, the better it will taste. If you are looking for a good chili recipe, make a batch of this for game day. Serve with corn chips and shredded cheddar cheese. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
1 pound Italian sausage
3 (15) ounce cans chili beans (drained)
1 (15 ounce) can chili beans in spicy sauce
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes (with juice)
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large onion (chopped)
3 stalks celery (chopped)
2 green bell peppers (seeded and chopped)
2 green chili peppers (seeded and chopped)
1 tablespoon bacon bits
4 beef bouillon cubes
½ cup beer
¼ cup chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon garlic (minced)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (or any hot sauce)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon white sugar

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: In a large stock pot over medium-high heat add ground beef and Italian sausage. Break into small pieces with a spatula and cook until browned. Drain off any excess fat.
Step 2: Add spicy chili beans (with the sauce), chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Next, add in onion, celery, green peppers, green chili peppers, bacon bits, beef bouillon cubes and beer. Season the chili with chili powder, garlic, oregano, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, and sugar. Mix well. Cover and simmer for 2 hours stirring occasionally.
(Makes 12 Servings)

Looking to make your own Pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving this year? If so, you might want to consider giving this one a try. This is one of the best pumpkin pie recipes I have tried and it’s very easy to make. For this recipe we are using a pre-made pie crust or a box mix. I know this is cheating but it saves a lot of time. I prefer the Pillsbury pre-made pie crusts, all you need to do its press them into your pie dish. If you want you can substitute the cinnamon, ginger and cloves with 1 2/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice. The taste will be slightly different but still good.  This is the perfect recipe for busy Holiday cooking; you can have this in the oven within 15 minutes. Serve with whipped cream. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
¾ cup white sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
2 eggs
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 unbaked 9” deep pie crust (pre-made or box mix)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Press pie crust into a lightly greased 9” pie dish. Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl mix together sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and ground cloves.
Step 2: In a large bowl beat eggs. Stir in pumpkin puree and sugar/spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk until mixture is well combined and smooth. Pour mixture into pie shell.

Step 3: Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees. After 15 minutes reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 40-50 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Step 4: Cool for 2 hours.