mini cheescakes

I've been playing with cheesecakes and discovered how simple it is to make minis!

Here is the basic recipe for about 6 mini cheescakes.

1 brick cream cheese

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

dash vanilla or 1/2 tsp any flavoring

For one batch I added 1/2 cup melted chocolate chips and used only 1/4 cup sugar...so it was easy to play with.

Anyway, I ran some gluten free animal cookies through the food processor. Used one stick of butter to one box of cookies ( I used Envirokids). Press about 1-2 heaping Tbsp of crushed cookie mixture in bottom of silicon cupcake thingy......I used the silicone so it was easy to pop them out, if you use a regular tin then I would suggest using paper (or even better foil) liners.

Anyway, so press the crumbs into the bottom of the cupcake rounds. Add cheesecake mixture....sprinkle with whatever yummy you have on hand.....I used crushed Heath bits for one batch.......chocolate and peanut butter chips for another batch, butterscotch chips for yet another and then left the chocolate ones alone and made my raspberry sauce to serve with those.

So bake that in a 350 oven...I forgot to look at the time, but I think it was somewhere around 20 minutes or so. I just watched to see when they were set. and then let them cool overnight before popping them out of the silicone pan.

They are so yummy and actually pretty easy and quick. And it is EASY to double, triple, whatever you want.....this is my basic recipe that I've always used for big cakes, I just pared it down for smaller batches.

Sloppy Joe's

So a friend of mine was making sloppy joes a while back for her kids and I've been craving them ever since. I wanted to try making my own sauce and leave it in the crockpot so the boys can eat when they have a chance.....soccer season.....Anyway, here is the recipe I used.

1 lb ground sirloin
1 lb ground turkey breast

Saute that in a pan until cooked through and crumbly.

Meanwhile in a crockpot mix together the following:

1 1/2 cups ketchup
1/2 cup bbq sauce
3-4 tablespoons water
3 tablespoon brown sugar
3 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt

stir all that together and add cooked meat, leave on lowest setting with lid on crockpot to let the sauce get all yummy and enjoy!

BTW.....I called French's to inquire about their Worcestershire sauce and was told that the sauce and all their mustards are gluten free. Just so ya know!

Personally I would have liked to add onion and peppers to the meat while saute-ing BUT then certain boys wouldn't eat it if there were chunks in it....so plain it is. I think I will cook up some veggies on the side and stir it into mine and whichever boys decide they want some too.