Grilled Cheese with Apples

This is more of an idea than a recipe.....

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I was making our favorite grilled cheese with apples sandwich for lunch today and got to wondering, does anybody else love these? It crossed my mind that maybe you all have never even heard of such a thing. So, I thought I would share. You should really try it!

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Make sure to slice your unpeeled apples super thin and place cheese on both sides of them. The sweet juiciness of the apples and the buttery bread and salty cheese.

DELICIOUS!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Did you all watch Studio 5 a week or so ago? They made this cheesecake and I just had to try it! I'm so glad I did. It's amazing and very rich. You should definitely serve it in small slices.
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1 1/2 cups crushed Oreo cookies
4 (8oz) pkgs cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups (12 ounces) chocolate chips, semi-sweet or milk chocolate, divided
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (I thought that couldn't possibly be enough so I made it 2/3 cup, delicious!)
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
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Preheat oven to 350.
Press Oreo's into the bottom of a 10-inch spring-form pan. Bake for 7 minutes. Cool on wire rack while preparing cake.
Reduce oven to 300 degrees.
Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Divide batter equally between two bowls.
Melt 1 cup chocolate chips; stir into 1/2 of the cheesecake batter and pour batter into prepared crust. Microwave peanut butter until soft, about 45-60 seconds, and add to remaining batter and pour/spread on top of your chocolate layer.
Bake for 60-65 minutes or until center is almost set.
Cool on wire rack for an hour or so. Carefully run a knife around the sides of the pan and remove from pan. Place remaining chocolate chips in a bowl; bring cream to a boil in the microwave and pour over chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 5 minutes. Stir chips until completely smooth. Let sit to thicken a little then pour over cake. Use the back of a spoon to help it drip over the edges. Refrigerate overnight.
Delicious!!!

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Well here is my first post! I hope it doesn't disappoint! My husband and I have been trying to do the whole diet thing, but I am a sugarholic & can't live without it! So when I found this low-fat, low calorie recipe, I had to try it!

3 cups sliced fresh strawberries

6 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese

2 cans (12 oz. each) fat-free evaporated milk

1 can (14 oz.) fat-free sweetended condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup reduced-fat whipped topping

1. Place the strawberries in a blender or food processor; cover and process until smooth. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add evaporated milk and condensed milk, vanilla and pureed strawberries; mix well. Fold in whipped topping.

2. The original recipe says to fill your ice cream maker two thirds full & refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze. But all of my mixture fit in my maker with a lot of room to spare so I just did it all at once. Freeze according to your ice cream maker's directions. Allow to ripen in ice cream freezer or firm up in your refrigerator freezer for 2-4 hours before serving.

I did not use fat-free sweetened condensed milk because I couldn't find any (does it really exist?). So my version has a few more calories than the original which was 234 calories for 3/4 cup. I poured my ice cream into a large tupperware container & freezed it in my freezer. I tried it before I stuck it in the freezer, it tasted like a really thick smoothie. It was really yummy, but it was even better frozen! It reminded me a little bit of frozen yogurt. My boys gobbled it up & begged for more. I didn't even feel guilty giving them an extra scoop, and I didn't feel too guilty taking one myself!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

2-3 lb pork roast (thawed)
Small bottle of BBQ Sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's or KC Masterpiece Original)
1/4-1/2 cup honey
1/4-1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp water
Slices of smoked provolone cheese
French bread or french rolls (tougher bread doesnt get soggy as fast)

Put the water in a crock pot. Put thawed roast in the crock pot. Pour BBQ Sauce all over the roast. Pour honey on the roast. Sprinkle brown sugar on the roast. Cook on low for 4 hours. Turn the roast over. Spoon some of the sauce on top. You can put some more honey and brown sugar on top if you want (I do). Cook on low for 4 more hours. Shred pork when done. Put on bread or a roll with 1-2 slices of cheese on the meat, it melts a little and is so yummy!!! This is just as good as or better than Cafe Rio's sweet pork!!!

Homemade Thin Mint Cookies

I just made these for our Girls Night tonight.

I can't wait to share them!!!

They're perfectly crisp in the middle just like the

REAL THING!

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Original recipe taken from Bakingbites.com

However, I did change it up a bit.

makes about 4 dozen

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Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

1/2 a block of chocolate almond bark

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In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, cocoa and salt. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add milk and extracts. Mixture will look curdled. Slowly add in the flour mixture until fully incorporated.

Shape dough into two logs about 2 inches in diameter, wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for 1-2 hours, until dough is firm.

Preheat oven to 375. Slice dough into 1/4 inch slices or less and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. You can place them pretty close together because they don't spread while baking.

Bake for 13 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack before dipping in chocolate.

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Chop up your almond bark and place it in a mug. Heat in the microwave for 60 seconds, stir and continue cooking for another 30 seconds. Stir it up again. Dip your cookies into the chocolate and use a fork to remove. Let excess chocolate drip off. Place on foil or parchment paper to cool and harden.

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Personally, I love to eat my thin mints frozen.

They are delicious!