Channeling "The Golden Girls"

So, if you watch the tv show, "The Golden Girls," you will probably understand the meaning of the title of this post. The other day, my roommate Bryan and I were craving cheesecake. Well, we don't have a springform pan in which to bake a regular-sized cheesecake, so I thought of making little individual cheesecakes using a muffin pan. This idea worked. Well, you probably already figured this much because if it hadn't worked, I would not have published this post. These little babies came out delicious, and they were very easy to make. I also juiced a satsuma and put it in the batter because we have a ton of satsumas in our kitchen. With all that being said, here is the wonderful recipe. I hope y'all make this and enjoy it! These cheesecakes can be covered and  stored in the fridge for several days.
Makes 12 servings
For the crust:
1 cup of graham cracker crumbs
1 T granulated white sugar
4-5 T butter, melted (unsalted of course)

For the filling:
2  8 oz. packages  full fat cream cheese, room temperature (This makes it much easier to mix)
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
Juice of 1 or 2 satsumas, depending on how intense of a citrus flavor you like

Preheat your oven to 300 degrees and place the rack in the center of the oven. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. For the crust, mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Press a heaping tablespoon (T) of crumbs onto the bottom  of each muffin cup. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.
For the filling, beat the cream cheese with either an electric mixer or a hand mixer on low speed until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and the salt and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Next, add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until incorporated. Add the vanilla, the satsuma juice, and the sour cream and beat until well incorporated. Now, remove the crusts from the refrigerator  and evenly divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups.
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until firm but a little wobbly in the center of each cup. When you remove them from the oven, place on a wire rack to cool. Then cover and refrigerate for a few hours or even overnight.
Then eat it!!! If you want, you can serve with strawberry sauce.

Here's the recipe for the sauce. It's truly delicious. Easy to make, too!
1 - 20 ounce bag  of frozen unsweetened strawberries or 20 ounces of fresh strawberries
1/4 - 1/3 cup  granulated white sugar, or to taste
lemon juice to taste (optional)
Preparation time: 10 minutes
 Place the unsweetened strawberries in a bowl. Thaw if you buy them frozen. After thawing (if frozen at first), place them in either a food processor or a blender and process until pureed. Pour into a 2 cup measuring cup. This should measure to about 1 1/4 cups of puree. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves. Taste it, and add more if you want it sweeter. Now you can add the lemon juice if you so desire. This sauce can either be stored in the refrigerator, covered, for  a week, or it can be frozen.
Enjoy, my loves! Xoxo
-Caitlin

Stick to your ribs chicken stew

So, with the colder weather here and everything, I decided to make chicken stew for dinner tonight. It is so soothing and delicious and really sticks to your ribs. Easy to make, too! Total cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes-2 hours
 Here's the recipe:
Rub for the chicken:
3 huge bone-in chicken breasts
1T salt
1T pepper
2 tsp granulated garlic
2tsp garlic and herb seasoning
Feel free to adjust these measurements to your personal taste.
Mix well.
You will also need 2 large bay leaves, 4 large red-skinned potatoes, 3 large carrots (peeled), 1 med onion, and 4 cloves of garlic, minced.
For the thickening agent, 3 1/2 T flour with 1/3 C. water. Whisk this together and let sit until you need to use it.
Rice: For 3 people, I used 1.5 cups of rice and 3 cups of water (you cook rice in a ratio of 1 part rice to 2 parts water)
Mix rice with water and turn the burner on to high heat until it boils. When it comes to a full boil, add a pinch or two of salt and reduce the heat to low until there is no more water left in the pot of the rice. This is when it is done.

Rub each side of each chicken breast with this mixture.
Take some olive oil, which ever kind you have in your pantry. Put enough in a big pot to coat the bottom. Set the burner on med. heat. Brown the chicken on both sides. When browned, add just enough water to barely cover the chicken. Return to med-high heat and add 2 bay leaves and the root vegetables and the garlic. After 30-40 minutes, add in your flour/water mixture to the pot. Add a little bit more salt and pepper to the mixture so that the broth is not bland. Cover and let the stew boil so it can reduce and get thick. When it has reduced by 1/2, turn the burner down to almost low heat and just let it simmer. Make sure the chicken is fork tender and that the vegetables are tender. When stew is to your degree of preferred thickness, it is ready. Enjoy and keep warm!

Pumpkin seeds are a very good thing

So tonight, I and my roommates carved a pumpkin, and I roasted the seeds. Half of the batch was spiced with Tony Chachere's, Greek Seasoning, salt, pepper, a splash of canola oil, and granulated garlic. The other half of the batch was sweetened with 2 tsp brown sugar, 2 or 3 tsp cinnamon, a splash of canola oil, splash of rum extract, and a splash of vanilla extract. I put them on a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil and sprayed the foil with nonstick cooking spray. I roasted them at 375 for 10-15 minutes or until I could start to smell them cooking.

Hello my loves!

Hey y'all, I'm Caitlin.  I love cooking for myself and for my loved ones. I decided to start a food blog so that I could share my easy, delicious recipes with everyone; I believe a good meal or snack can make any day better. Also, feel free to send any feedback or suggestions. I love hearing from y'all.
Enjoy!