Treat Day Wednesday–Lemon Curd Cheesecake Bars

This might be a day late in posting but these treats were definitely on the counter when the girls got home from school yesterday.  This is also another treat made with what I had on hand in the fridge and pantry.  My favourite kind.

We, as you may know, are selling our house.  So baking and cleaning as you go bites.  I feel like you just can’t get into baking without making a mess.  Have you sold a house?  If so, then you know what I’m going through.  I mean I’m not a dirty person, lazy maybe, dirty no.  But when you have two hundred pounds of dogs, two kids and a husband; it all makes for an unreasonable amount of cleaning when there could be a showing at any moment. It’s also very stressful and when I’m stressed I bake and there you see my dilemma.  Good times indeed :)

I may not be blogging or baking cookies regularly but I wanted to keep the Wednesday treat day going for the girls.  Plus I happen to have an hour to sit down and write the blog post.  Yay me!

Here it goes!  Lemon Curd Cheesecake Bars

Crust

• one package graham crackers
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 4 tbsp melted butter

Cheesecake

• one 8oz package softened cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• zest of one lemon
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Lemon Curd

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2 tsp lemon zest

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pulse graham crackers and sugar until finely ground.
3. Add melted butter until they graham crackers come together.
4. Press into 8” square pan. Set aside
5. In a medium bowl, cream together the cheesecake ingredients.
6. Pour on top of graham cracker crust.  Bake for 17-20 minutes until cream cheese is set. Let cool.
7. In medium saucepan.  Whisk together the eggs, sugar and lemon juice.  Add the zest and butter.  Turn onto medium heat and cook.
8. Continually whisk until the mixture thickens.  Pour mixture through a mesh sieve to remove any larger bits.  Cover with plastic wrap and store in fridge until cool. 30-40 minutes.
9. Pour curd over cheesecake and chill for at least an hour.
10. Remove from fridge and cut into bars.
11. Enjoy!

Now these are some tasty little treats.  Little bars of sunshine. 

Whilst I don’t recommend living through the sale of a house if you are a baker but I do recommend these bars!

Thanks for looking!

No Bean Crockpot Chili

Ok, so have you heard the term Paleo before?  I heard it for the first time about two years ago but just kind of shrugged and went about my way.  As the last two years have gone by the term has popped up more and more. 

So what is it?  As defined by thepaleodiet.com: The Paleo diet is based upon eating wholesome, contemporary foods from the food groups our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have thrived on during the Paleolithic era, the time period from about 2.6 million years ago to the beginning of the agricultural revolution, about 10,000 years ago. These foods include fresh meats (preferably grass-produced or free-ranging beef, pork, lamb, poultry, and game meat, if you can get it), fish, seafood, fresh fruits, vegetables, seeds, nuts, and healthful oils (olive, coconut, avocado, macadamia, walnut and flaxseed). Dairy products, cereal grains, legumes, refined sugars and processed foods were not part of our ancestral menu.

I like to describe it as the back to basics diet.  The “if you made it from scratch” you can eat it diet, provided you don’t use ready made items, dairy, white or brown sugar or legumes (beans).  Yes, I know that’s an over simplification but I’m overly simple when it comes to food.  Too many rules makes me want to walk away because, if anything, food should be easy.  Anyone should be able to eat healthy.

At the grocery store, the best way to stay in the “zone” of healthy eating is to stay to the outside aisle.  The moment I go down the other aisles, that’s where I get in trouble.  I do love a good processed food :) Crackers are my biggest downfall.

As we enter into 2014 with all the possibilities available, my only goal is to be pain free and to not have to have another surgery.  Sadly there is a possibility there, so I’ve hired a personal trainer who specializes in back trauma to help me strengthen pretty much every muscle I have and to eat healthy consistently.  I mean we all try to eat healthy but who doesn’t like to indulge now and again.

I have no plan to go completely paleo, but I am going to try limit my intake of all things processed.  Now saying this; the month of January is going to be gluten free-ish.  I’m a baker after all and therefore I taste all things I bake.  I just need to gain back control after the gluttony that was the holiday season.  I was so so bad.

My first recipe I’m sharing in the savory department is this crockpot chili.  I must confess, this wouldn’t be the way I would eat chili but when you have a husband who doesn’t do beans or onions, you kind of have to roll with it.  Without knowing it, this actually falls into the category of being paleo.  It’s also a set-it-and-forget-it kind of meal, which I do so love.

Crockpot Chili

• 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup homemade tomato sauce or favourite organic sauce
• 1 chopped red pepper
• 1 roasted pablano pepper chopped, seeds removed
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 2 tbsp parsley
• 1 tbsp ancho chili powder
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp pepper

1. Put all ingredients into crockpot, mix well and set on high for 6 hours.
2. Enjoy!

My mother, in all honesty, makes the best chili.  However, this is darn good.  Even Abby gave it a thumbs up and that, right there, speaks volumes!!!

So over the next month, why don’t you join me while I attempt to stay on the straight and narrow!  Don’t worry, lots of sweet treats will be shared as well. Fun cookies as well as taking some old favourites and giving them a new twist.  It’s also my birthday month followed closely behind by Rowan’s 6th birthday.  Lots to celebrate!

Thanks for looking!

Recipe Testing–Nectarines, Nilla Wafers and Vanilla Pudding

What to do, what to do?????

I’ve had a grande long weekend!  Rob and the girls went off to NYC for a family affair and I didn’t want to chance upsetting my back any further so I stayed behind.  They sent me this awesome picture!

So what did I do?  Well I caught up on Season 3 of Downton Abbey and then Season 1 and 2 of Sherlock.  I did the BBC proud :) They both pissed me off to be honest and now I must wait for the next seasons.  If you haven’t watched them do so now.  They are both on Amazon Prime, not sure about Netflix.

I also decided it was time to test some recipes but since I didn’t want to have to buy anything, I used what was on hand.  It’s amazing what one can find in a baker’s pantry; instant vanilla pudding, Nilla Wafers, and nectarines.

I made the crust using 3 cups of crushed Nila wafers, 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/3 cup melted butter.  Pressed into a 8” tart pan and baked at 350 for 25 minutes.  I had some left over so I did the same in a 6” tart pan.

I then made the instant vanilla pudding but then added a teaspoon of real vanilla bean paste to make it actually taste like vanilla pudding.  I was then going to make caramelized nectarines.  As I sliced into the first one I knew I was in trouble.  They had gone bad :(  I hate when that happens!  So with the smaller of the two tart shells, I melted some chocolate and covered the baked shell, then I covered with the vanilla pudding.  Dessert was made and it was delish, not pretty but delish!

Whilst I was out the next morning I bought some more nectarines and continued with my original plan and et voila!

 

Recipe: Caramelized Nectarine Pie

• 3 cups Nilla wafers
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 melted butter
• 1 package instant vanilla pudding
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 3 large nectarines sliced
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 apple juice

1. In the bowl of a food processor, blend wafers, sugar and butter together until it starts to come together.
2. Press into an 8” tart shell and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Take out and let cool completely.
3. Next up, make the pudding as per box directions and then add 1 tsp vanilla bean paste.
4. Finally the nectarines. Put butter and sugar into a cast iron pan and heat until sugar and butter melt.  Add nectarines and coat completely.  Cook for 2-3 minutes then add the apple juice.  Bring to a simmer and cook until the nectarines are fully cooked. (They will start to look translucent/clear).
5. Now lets pull it all together.
6. Spread the vanilla pudding over the cooled tart shell.
7. Then spiral the nectarines around the top of the pudding.
8. Chill and serve!
9. Enjoy!

So for a weekend to myself, I really enjoyed the silence!  I need to work on my spiraling technique however (it’s been a while, school actually).  But it’s still pretty :)

This beauty is off to friends and will get the 411 on the overall taste from them, however I did try one of the nectarines after they were caramelized and OH EM GEE.  The leftover syrup will be used on some vanilla ice cream soon soon!

I love testing recipes.  The inspiration hasn’t come around lately so I embraced it when it did. I hope you like it too!

Thanks for looking!