The next four days will be occupied with our annual trip to St. Louis, two of which will be dedicated to driving (just under 11 hours each way...bleah). After that, I have complete freedom to do as I wish during the day. The downside to this is finding things to do. Here are a few things that I've accomplished so far in March:
-Thin Mint Cheesecake. I didn't take a single picture, but the recipe was so simple that you can make your own and don't need a stinkin' picture.
16oz softened cream cheese (I used fat free)
2 eggs
1.5 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 sleeve Thin Mint cookies (roughly)
Whip the cream cheese with mixer until smooth. Add sugar, egg and vanilla until well blended. Crush about 3/4 of the thin mints and gently fold them into the mix. Pour mixture into prepared pie crust*. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until firm. Chill in fridge for four hours. Top with remaining cookies. Devour.
*I say prepared pie crust because I bought a chocolate pie crust for this cheesecake. I considered doing a homemade crust from the thin mints, but I feared the chocolate covering from the cookies would make it to crumbly to use. An Oreo crust, store bought or hand made, may be a good option too. If anyone tries the Thin Mint crust, let me know how it goes!
-More wall art. I have so much of it now that a big portion of it is sitting against the wall of my spare bedroom while I find a place for it. This one was my version of the tutorial found here, with slightly different colors and smaller circles, because I love the look of the branches with what Kristen calls "baby flowers".
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-Loaded baked potato salad. Again, no picture, but oh my god it's amazing.
2.5 lbs red skinned potatoes
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 package bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup Greek yogurt
salt and pepper to taste
Boil potatoes until tender but firm. Chill in refrigerator for 1 hour. Cube potatoes and combine with yogurt. While potatoes are chilling, you can cook the bacon. I cooked mine on a wire rack on top of a cookie sheet at 325 for 25 minutes. The grease drips onto the cookie sheet and makes for perfectly crisp bacon. Add bacon, salt, pepper and cheese. You can top individual servings with onion, or leave it off for your pickier diners. I added it into the mix with the other ingredients, and the onion haters just picked them out without complaint. I served mine with crock pot BBQ chicken and baked beans. Best summer meal ever.
If anyone has ideas for new things I can do with my new found free time, feel free to comment!
