Egg-free Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Bars

I think I may have mentioned here before, one of my babes has food allergies...it was really bad to begin with.  Wheat, soy, peanuts, almonds, rye, and egg were all no-no's for her {and for me because I was nursing!} from about 3 months to 1 year.  At her first birthday we had her tested again, and the skin prick test showed that she had outgrown all but soy, peanuts, and egg.  A few months later she had outgrown the soy, so now (she's almost 2) we're only dealing with egg and peanuts.  For the most part, it's not that bad, but baking is a challenge.

{I had to show a pic of them eating!}

  

I've found a couple great websites for recipes, and my favorite is one called Egg Free Bakery.  I've also learned how to adapt other recipes I find, by combining different techniques. 

When making special desserts, I strive to bake something that the entire family can eat, instead of making Elise and Meri {her twin sister whom I treat as if she has allergies as well...it makes my life easier!} eat something else.  

We had a neighborhood block party this weekend, and as part of it, they had a "Baked Goods Contest."  I love to make {and eat} desserts, so I was all over that.  After scanning my Pinterest boards and blog reader, I decided to make Cookies & Cream Cheesecake Bars, as created by Bakerella.

For the cheesecake, I used an egg-free recipe that I came across on a food allergy comment board. I wanted to rewrite both of the recipes here, so I could easily find them,  but still give credit to the people who created them!  {Hopefully all of my links above work!}

So...here's the recipe as I made it - and no step-by-step photos, because I'm not a food blogger and I forgot.

**Oven to 325 degrees**

Oreo Crust:
18 Oreos, crushed into crumbs
2 T sugar

5 T butter, melted

Mix cookie crumbs and sugar together in a medium bowl. 
Add melted butter and stir until completely combined.  

Firmly press mixture into the bottom of an 8x8 pan lined with parchment paper. 

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove from oven and let cool. 

Cheesecake Filling: {I halved the original for this recipe}

2 {8-oz} packages of cream cheese
1/2 + 1/3 cup of sugar

3 T cornstarch

1/2 T vanilla extract

3 oz heavy whipping cream

12 Oreos, broken into fourths

Beat cream cheese on low until creamy.  
Add in sugar, cornstarch and vanilla, mixing on low until creamy.  

Add in heavy cream, mixing only until blended.  

Stir in broken cookies and pour over prepared crust.  

Bake at 325 for 40 minutes.  Let cool completely. 

Chocolate Ganache.  Yes, this really happened.  And it is amazing.

{I could have easily cleaned out this bowl with a spoon!!}

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 T butter

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/8 cup powdered sugar

6 Oreos, broken into fourths

Combine cream and butter in a saucepan and heat, removing just before boiling.  
Place chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl, and pour cream mixture over it.  

Let it sit for a minute, then stir until completely combined.  

Whisk in powdered sugar until combined.  

Pour over cooled cheesecake, and top with cookie pieces.  

Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Cut chilled cheesecake into bars to serve.  

{And BTW, I won the contest!!  Kind of a no-brainer though...none of the other desserts were chocolate.}

To the new mom {and the Me of a year ago} .....

I was talking to a friend with a new baby the other day, and I wanted to send her a few encouraging words. As I was driving to an appointment and trying to decide what to text her when I got a chance, I just kept thinking of more and more things. Then I wanted to go back in time to myself a year ago and tell me these things!!  But time travel isn't a thing...and no way I'm going back to that anyway {sleeping through the night trumps 3 hour feedings any day!} ... so, I've come up with a few things that will hopefully encourage, or at least give a laugh to those new {and old} mamas I know. 

1.  You are awesome...you rock as a mama for birthing {or adopting} and loving that little booger/snot/spit-up/drool covered tiny lovable monster. 

2. Give yourself a break!! If the kid(s) & the rest of your family are fed and have semi-clean clothes to wear...that's  good enough. And sometimes, good enough just has to be enough. 

3. Never apologize for wearing sweats...you made it out of the house without forgetting anybody. You rock!

4.  If you manage to get a shower and put on makeup...MAKE SURE SOMEONE KNOWS!!  You need to be applauded for that accomplishment!

5. Don't be afraid to say no. It's ok to put yourself first sometimes. Because a tired stressed overloaded mama don't do NOBODY no good!!  {bad grammar intentional for emphasis}

6. Don't be afraid to say yes!! If someone offers to help, take them up on it. If they didn't really mean it then they won't ask again, but you still scored some help!! {I still struggle with this one & #5...ignoring my own advice, much??}

7. Stay home or go somewhere?? This can change with season/mood/age of kids.  When the twins were 3 weeks old I was out the door every week for Bible study. Not necessarily because I had a deep desire to learn. I just wanted to send my 3yo to childcare and pass off the babes to other mamas willing to hold them!! Not to mention adult conversation and COFFEE!!

8. Coffee. That is all. 

9. The old adage "Sleep when the baby sleeps" is totally doable with your first child, but maybe harder to manage with number 2,3,4.... Don't be afraid to park your toddler in front of the tv and doze off with your arm around her! 

10. Your baby will sleep through the night. One day. Probably. Just don't listen to people's stories. Especially the ones whose kids were sleeping through at 6 weeks. They lie. And those whose kids didn't sleep until they were 3. They're just trying to scare you. 

I could probably go on and on, but I've already been trying to get this written for 2 days!! I know it's hard to think about a year/month/week{!} from now, but it will get easier!  I'm looking at my 13-month old twins playing with toys on the floor..Sesame Street on the tv..while I'm relaxing on the couch! It may only last 10 minutes, but that's ok!

Hang in there, Mama...you got this!!

I'm The Lunch Lady

Preschool starts tomorrow!! YAY!! 

Peyton loves school and she's excited about going  to 4 year preschool. She's going 4 days a week this year. 

I'm also putting the twins in a "Mom's Morning Out" program 2 days a week.

{Yes...they eat off the floor. The food did start out in a bowl. We're working on that!}

Anyway I was stressing about getting out the door on time on school days ...especially the days the twins go..so I decided to make things a little less crazy in the mornings by preparing lunches for the whole week all at once. 

I bought lunch containers on Amazon { http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004UIRUJ2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1376858592&sr=8-1&pi=SL75} and handy dandy lunch boxes for them to fit in. Also silicone muffin cups to hold food.

Then I scoured Pinterest and spent a few days creating my menus. I did 3, and I plan to rotate them throughout the year. As the twins add more variety of food {and hopefully leave some food allergies behind} I'll probably modify theirs. And if Peyton decides she all of a sudden hates carrots, I might change hers up. Maybe. Or maybe I'll just make her eat carrots. 

 I'm an excel geek. And I laminated them. Which is good cause I splattered this week's menu all up prepping lunches this afternoon.  

The food. I made a special trip to the store for this stuff, and what I didn't use for lunches will carry over to this week's dinner menu.

A couple of Peyton's lunches .. {yes, the child will eat cold Mac-n-cheese.} The little containers are ranch to dip in the raw veggies. 

Meri & Elise's lunches for school. I also went ahead and made their lunches for the days they're home with me..figured it would save me some time. Their veggies are cooked of course. But they don't mind eating them cold. 

In the fridge all ready to go!!

Ready to toss in the extras. 

Lunch boxes all ready to be packed with "reminder cards" of what goes in. Also I made pretty name tags. I didn't think my machine could sew through the insulation. And who likes writing on stuff with sharpie, really. 

And this isn't lunch related, but hopefully will help with morning sanity. Peyton's checklist for the things she needs to get done each morning. We went to her preschool meet & greet without her brushing her hair or teeth. {mom fail}

I love to plan and be organized {doesn't happen often these days} so this lunch thing just makes me so excited!! 

Oh and it took my about an hour and a half to cook, cut, and package everything today. Hopefully I can streamline that as the weeks progress. 

10 months!

Warning...huge cliche ahead:

I cannot believe my babies are 10 months old! 

It seems like just yesterday they were teeny tiny, 8 pounds combined  in the Emory nicu. 

Then they were 3 weeks old and we were doing their newborn photo shoot in our empty basement. 

(Photo cred: AGW Photography ~ agw photography.net ~... She is truly amazing!!)

Then they were a month old and I dressed them as zombies for halloween. They didn't actually go out to "candy-treat" as Peyton calls it, but they had to have a costume!

Fast-forward to today: (well, technically yesterday, since I didn't get around to posting on their actual date)

Elise has hair...Meri, not so much. 

Meri crawls all over the place, so it's not very easy to get a picture of her anymore!! Elise is a little behind in the traveling department, but she making progress. Currently she scoots on her butt and leans waaaay over to get to where she wants to go. 

Then there's this...they are already messing with each other. Meri is a big fan of stealing toys, so I kind of laugh a little when Elise starts to get her back. 

"Time flies when you're having fun!" 

It really has been a crazy journey. There are days when I think "I've got this" and I have it handled, and there are days when I feel like I'm not going to make it to bedtime!! But we do, they go to sleep, and my wonderful hubby and I hit the reset button!!

This is him with Peyton...I mostly just take pics of the kids or I would have chosen a pic with his clothes on. :-/

Garlic Parmesan Potatoes

It's been a very long time since I blogged.  I've been busy with these cuties ...

And this one...

BUT I still cook supper just about every night, and I created something super delish tonight! I'm sure someone has done this, but I hadn't ever, so therefore I created it. So there. 

Melt some butter in an oven-proof skillet and throw in 2 garlic cloves, minced. 

Cut in half lengthwise some little potatoes...I think they're Yukon Gold..and sprinkle on some salt and pepper. 

Throw them into the skillet with a little more butter, and let them cool in the buttery, garlicky goodness for 5-10 minutes. I lost track of how long I cooked them cause I had to go change diapers. 

Wash your hands from changing those diapers, then stick the pan in a 350 degree oven.  Let them cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender. They will be getting all golden-looking and delicious from the butter. 

Put a nice thick coating of Parmesan cheese...I had grated, but shredded would be good too..and pop under the broiler for about 5 minutes.....

Until they look like this!! 

Sooooo good!!

I served them with some leftover pork butt my hubby made on July 4th (freezer stash!) and some home-canned green beans my Mama gave me. 

And yes...I cleaned my plate, plus ate another bite or 2 of potatoes. Nursing twins, baby!!

I didn't measure anything, so no printable, concise recipe...just have fun and remember the butter!

Stationery card

Square Noir Collage Birth Announcement

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Quadruple Birthday Celebration

The same lady who ordered the rock-n-roll cake last weekend called me this week with an original (at least to me) idea.  Her family is having a group celebration this weekend for 4 different birthdays.  So, she ordered 4 cakes, each personalized for the respective birthday person.  I did 6-inch cakes.  Two are chocolate, and the other 2 are white.  All have a buttercream base, with fondant embellishments.

--May 2012