Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

The fall and holiday seasons really get me in the mood for home baked goods and cooking (don't ask why)! The crisp air and and comfy hoodie just get me motivated.

One thing I really like doing this time of year is bring in treats for my co-workers. I work mainly with men so it's pretty easy to please them and they're always wanting more. Since I just LOVE cheesecake I decided on making a pumpkin cheesecake. The problem is that cheesecake isn't grab and go food like a cookie, so that's where the "mini" came in. I was hesitant to try this recipe and adapt it to individual size because in the past I've had bad luck with mini cheesecakes. Usually they sink in the middle and don't look very cute, but I really lucked out on this one.

Adapted from: Gulf Coast Gram (who got the recipe from Paula Deen, I invented the mini)

Ingredients
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Crust:
1-3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick melted butter

In a medium bowl, combine crumbs, sugar, and cinnamon. Add melted butter. Press into large cupcake pan compartments that have been sprayed with Pam. Set aside.


Filling:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese at room temperature
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin (not the pie filling)
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
(I just used 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice)
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, sugar, and the spice. Add flour and vanilla. Beat together until well combined. Pour into crust and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes (depending on your cupcake pan and oven). Remove from oven when slight cracks develop and let sit for 15 minutes. Slide a knife around the edges and remove from pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

Garlic Basil Aioli

(**sorry for the pic, it's not ranch dressing, I swear**)
About two years ago, I became a big fan of sweet potato fries and garlic basil aioli. I already had a love for regular fries but the flavor of the sweet potato fries brought on a whole new meaning. I first tried these at a cafe but I thought I could make them on my own for a lot less. Well one day at the grocery store, I fould frozen sweet potato fries ready to go, just pop them in the oven, but I was still yearning for that yummy dip for my fries. That's when I came up with this yummy mixture. It takes hardly no time at all and is just yummy.

Garlic Basil Aioli
serves 1

2 tbsp Mayo
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp fresh minced basil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together with a mini spatula and voila--done.

Healthy Tostadas!!

In case you haven't learned, I just love Mexican food. I have a high tolerance for it as well as high expectations of what it should taste like. The bad side to Mexican food is that it's usually pretty high in fat and calories and here in the Midwest, good Mexican food is very hard to come by so I often resort to making it from scratch...well almost scratch.

Tostadas are one of my favorite Mexican dishes and since DH doesn't like Mexican food, I thought I'd make tostadas for dinner since he's out of town on business!

FYI: I make my own beans that are very good, very simple and you don't miss the 'refried' part at all. I'll share in detail on another post next time I make them.

2 corn tortillas
1/2 cup homemade unmashed pinto beans (or good canned ones if you don't make your own)
green leaf lettuce, shredded
lowfat mexican cheese, shredded
1/2 avocado, sliced
hot sauce or salsa (not chunky kind)
salt
2 tablespoons light sour cream (optional)

Keep in mind this recipe is very open to add whatever you like on your tostadas. I just grew up eating bean tostadas so that's what I like.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place corn tortillas on a cookie sheet and spritz with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Just as the tortillas are starting to crisp, flip halfway through and spritz with olive oil again and sprinkling with salt. Bake until tortillas are crisp.

Heat beans and spoon a thin even layer on each tostada shell. Top with lettuce, avocado, sour cream, cheese, and hot sauce.

Just say yes to yummy, and no to booty!

Beauty Bombshell

I just love trying new things but I hate the cosequence of having to either throw it away or return it if I don't like it. Somehow yesterday I was doing some beauty product homework and stumbled across this great website, www.totalbeauty.com. This website has reviews from real customers on their likes and dislikes of almost any product on the market. I'm so excited to use this website!

Yummy Chicken Chili

My husband is a Midwestern boy and he likes things PLAIN!! As plain as plain gets too--no veggies, nothing green(i.e. no salads, no peas, no spinach, no Chile, no tomato, no lettuce!!) only corn, potatoes, meat, cheese and bread. I on the other hand am the girl from the Southwest who loves spice and flavor. I also try to eat healthy most of the time (except on my mexican food splurges).

One of my favorite blogs is Katie's. She's always making some wonderfully yummy dish. So when she posted a chicken chili recipe a few weeks back, I decided to try it. So please check out the recipe. You won't be disappointed. It's got just enough flavor for me...as for the husband, he's picky Pete and says it's weird but okay. (don't listen to him, try it.) Who doesn't love chili that's easy on the booty?

Prada Me!

Okay, I know I am not the most diligent blogger but hopefully I'll never put up a crazy dumb post. This one is definitely not crazy dumb, well maybe crazy...

In order to hold true to my blog title, I feel I need to share some of my diva ways. So lets start from the beginning. Before I moved to the Midwest, I had some shops in the Phoenix area I grew quite fond of--actually they're stores I can't live without, so whenever I'm home I just HAVE to visit these places. While I was visiting the family, my mom and I took a venture to one of these shops and I found not one but two great pairs of shoes!!

Yes I found these oh so cute signature Coach slides...

and these super cute Prada mary jane, wingtip, heels!

So what's so special about these? Well I contribute their "specialness" to many different things:

1. They're gorgeous
2. They're brand name
3. I got them for WAY less than retail.
4. THEY WERE BOTH IN MY SIZE!!!!

So let this post kickoff the Fashion tag

Cheddar Ale Fondue

With the help from Katie, I made a menu for Saturday's gathering for the UFC fight. Katie suggested I do some sort of Cheddar Ale Dip with pretzels etc. Well since I have a deep love for soft pretzels, I decided on soft versus the hard. So here I was scurring around Costco Saturday morning, on the phone with my mom who was searching for a great Cheddar Ale dip recipe, and looking for soft pretzels and any other yummy goods to serve to my friends coming over who don't like anything crazy different. My mom kept coming across cold dips but I was on the hunt for a warm cheese for the soft pretzels. She finally came aross this super easy one that was very yummy and was a big hit!!


8 oz. neufatchel cheese (or any low fat cream cheese)
8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
8 oz. mozarella cheese, shredded
3/4 c. beer
1 tsp garlic salt (or to taste)
freshly ground black pepper

Add all ingredients into a rice cooker (or crock pot if you have enough time) until melted, stirring occassionally. After mixture is melted or nearly melted, turn the rice cooker to "keep warm". Serve with soft pretzels.

Oh so German!!