Raspberry Cheesecake Pie Recipe

This is, hands down, my favorite dessert ever.  It is so delicious (and not so nutritious.. but who cares).

Ingredients
6 oz cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup cool whip or whipping cream
1 pie shell (9") with high edge
3 oz package of cherry gelatin
1 1/4 cups boiling water
10-12 oz raspberries (I've found that frozen raspberries work best)


Process
1. In mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and cool whip. 
2. Mix until fluffy.
3. Spread half into the bottom of the pie shell and set the other half aside.
4. Put pie with mixture into fridge and let cool for 30 minutes.
5. Boil water and add to gelatin mix.  Stir until dissolved.
6. Add raspberries to gelatin.
7. Once 30 minutes has passed for the first layer in fridge, add half of gelatin/raspberry mixture to pie and spread evenly.  Put in fridge until set.
8. Once set, add the rest of the cream mixture and spread around top carefully.
9. Immediately add rest of raspberry/gelatin mixture.
10. Chill until set.

Breadmaker Cinnamon Raisin Bread

This is seriously the most delicious cinnamon raisin bread I have ever eaten.  This is a current pregnancy favorite and I'm easily going through a loaf a week right now.  I especially enjoy it toasted.

Ingredients
1 cup tepid water
2 tablespoons of room temperature butter (margarine works fine too)
3 tablespoons brown sugar (do not use white sugar.. the taste is not the same)1 1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons of yeast
1 cup of raisins

Process
1. Add all ingredients into bread maker pan in the order shown other than raisins.
2. Place pan in bread maker.  Use the sweet bread setting for a 1.5 lb loaf.  I always have the crust be light, but feel free to do any darkness you prefer.
3. While bread is going through first mixing cycle, put raisins in a bowl and cover with water.  Soak 15-20 minutes.  Add raisins to the bread maker no later than the first beeping cycle (with my maker it is 30 minutes in to mixing).  Soaking the raisins makes them much softer when you eat them!
4. (OPTIONAL) remove mixing blade at the appropriate beep
5. Once bread is finished, take out of maker and put on a cooling rack.  I know you *technically* aren't supposed to cut into bread right away, but I always cut off the end piece immediately and butter it.  It's my favorite part!

Barbecue Meatloaf Recipe

This recipe is a definite favorite in our house.  I got the idea from my mom who used to make meatloaf with barbecue sauce in it, but I have (just like with many other things) tweaked it since.


Ingredients
1.5-2 lbs ground beef or venison
3/4 cup of barbecue sauce (or up to 1 cup if you prefer it to be more barbecue-y)
1 egg
1/2 cup of breadcrumbs


Process

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. While oven is preheating, put all ingredients in a bowl and mush together with your hands (this is the best part!)

3. Line a bread pan with aluminum foil (makes for a MUCH easier cleanup).

4. Put meat concoction into pan.

5. Once oven is preheated, bake for about 30 minutes.  I generally start checking in 5 minute intervals starting at 25 minutes to see when it's done, but 30 is usually my magic number.


This goes very well with mashed potatoes (I even like to mix my meatloaf with the potatoes and top with a bit of ranch. YUM!)  This yields 4-5 servings.

Honey Mustard Crusty Chicken

In my house, I am a fan of taking awesome recipes and simplifying them whenever possible with minimal change in taste.  Much easier to decide to eat it last minute if it only has 3 or 4 ingredients rather than 10 or 12.  The recipe below is a spinoff of this Weight Watchers recipe.  It's still fairly healthy as it's baked, and it's up to you to tweak it to make it healthier or not if you wish.  This is a great way to do "chicken tenders" with a healthy spin.  It's a family favorite in my house.

1. First, thaw as many chicken breasts as you would like (this is also great left over, so feel free to do more).

2. Once the chicken is thawed, preheat the oven to 425.  While the oven is preheating, you will be preparing the chicken.

3. First, cut the chicken so that the breasts are thin.  They cook a lot quicker and you'll find you have "more" chicken this way too (even if it just seems this way).

4. Then, pour honey mustard dressing into a bowl.  I generally do about 1 cup for every two large chicken breasts.  Better to start with too little, as you can always make more honey mustard mixture.  Into the honey mustard, sprinkle in some dill and mix it up.  I do it so that the dressing just gets "spotty".  Generally about a half tablespoon per cup of dressing.

5.  In a separate bowl, get some corn flakes (generic works fine too) and mush them into small pieces, but be careful not to let it get to powder fineness.

6.  Take a cookie sheet and put a layer of foil in the bottom (you will thank me for this later).  Then, if you have it, take a cookie cooling rack and put it in the bottom of the cookie sheet.  I've found the chicken gets MUCH crispier rather than mushy if you raise it from the flat bottom of the cookie sheet using the cooling rack.

7. Finally, you coat the chicken.  First, coat each piece in the honey mustard mixture so it has a thin layer coating it.  Then, dip each piece in the corn flake mixture so it has a layer of flakes.  Finally, place it on the cooling rack in the cookie sheet.  Do this with the rest of the chicken.  (This is the point where you can always make more cornflakes or honey mustard mixture in the event that you didn't make enough before...so not to worry on exact measurements as you are making it)

8. Once the oven is preheated, put the chicken in the oven.  I have found that 20-25 minutes at 425 works perfectly but it will obviously depend on how thick your chicken is.  Once the insides are no longer pink, you are good to go!

9. For additional taste, I always put a little more honey mustard on my plate with some dill to dip the chicken in.  But it's delicious either way!  This is guaranteed to be a family favorite and a great way to get picky eaters to enjoy something a little healthier.