Red Velvet & Strawberry Cookies

300 Recipes in 1 Year

Recipe # 28 & 29

A few weeks ago we celebrated my friend Kevin's  25th birthday. Just for the record, this was his SECOND surprise party that I've been forced to attend! I wouldn't say he is the easiest person to surprise either. So, props to his wife and my very good friend Ashley for putting together an awesome 25 themed shindig! 

One of the really cute ideas she came up with was at every time the clock was on the "25" we would play a different game. Some that we played were.... Guess how many quarters were in a jar. A "Kevin-themed" mad libs. Guess what the #1 song was on every year of his birthday. And finally, Kevin had to guess who had told different memories or stories of him. It was a lot of fun and Ash made it very personable and entertaining! I hadn't laughed that hard in awhile! Plus he was surprised....so that was a huge bonus! 

As guests she asked us to bring 25 of our favorite treat to share with everyone. I've had the ingredients for these cookies stashed away for awhile just waiting for the perfect opportunity to use them, and Kevin's party was perfect!!

Strawberry Cookies

The delightful recipe can be found {HERE}.

I doubled the recipe, I just don't see the point of only using half the box. I did forgo to icing...just wasn't feeling it that day. Weird, I know!

Of the two cookies these were my faves. Which I was surprised, I really like white chocolate chips. But this recipe was amazing!! 

Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies were a little different story. I had high expectations for these guys...I really LOVE white chocolate chips!! I'm going to stand firm and say that I did something wrong. I just don't know what....They were a little bitter/salty :( Not horrible, but with the strawberry sitting just right there it was pretty easy to choose. The batter was dry and not what I was expecting. I'll try them again sometime and may alter how I do things. 

You can find the recipe {HERE}. In some of the comments people posted about them being dry also. But then some didn't. So maybe half of us out there need to add less flour :) haha....I WILL try these again and I'll for sure let you know what I changed and if it worked for me! 

No-Bake Cheesecake Cups with Concord Grapes

300 Recipes in 1 Year

Recipe #27

Mom always knows one of the perfect gifts to give me are cookbooks. Christmas is no different! She got me "Sweet & Skinny" by Marisa Churchill.

There are a lot of fun & skinny recipes that I will be trying a lot of! :) I was one happy girl when I unwrapped this!

These cups have 240 calories & 12 grams of fat

Here are the goods you'll need:

• 6 oz of Kraft reduced-fat cream cheese {neufchatel}
• 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
• 2/3 cup frozen lite Cool Whip
• 1 cup grapes, halved
• 1/3 cup finely ground honey graham cracker crumbs

Serves 4

Preparation/Freeze time: 35 minutes

Mix cream cheese and powdered sugar on medium speed for 30 seconds, just until combined. Add the frozen whipped topping and beat for 1 minute longer, until the mixture is smooth and free of lumps.

Spoon about 1/4 cup of the cheesecake mixture into four serving glasses. Freeze for 25 minutes to firm the cheesecakes. Place the bowl with the remaining cheesecake mixture in the freezer as well. 

To Serve: Divide the grapes among the chilled cheesecakes, holding back 8 grapes for garnish. Divide all of the graham cracker crumbs among the cups, sprinkling it over the tops. Spoon the remaining cheesecake mixture from the cowl over the cups, dividing it evenly among them. Top each cup with  grape halves, and serve immediately. 

This was a super easy dessert to whip up quickly! 

A few notes: 

*The recipe serves 4, a small 4. It was a good dessert, but it left me wanting more :( BUT that was due to it being so delish!!!

*Our group was half and half on the grapes. Personally you can't go wrong with grapes with anything and thought it was PERFECT! Like I can't believe I would have never thought to pair grapes and cheesecake before. The other half wasn't too fond of it. My suggestion is that if you read the title and think that grapes sound good, you'll love it. If you read the title and are hesitant, then go with another fruit. 

You will love these petite cheesecake and I'm now officially obsessed with grapes and cheesecake together!

Crock Pot Ribs

300 Recipes in 1 Year

Recipe # 26 

OK. Let me warn you about the pictures you are about to see. They contain poor photographic skills and bad lighting. AND IT IS BUGGING ME!! I REALLY need to learn to start taking my time with these pics and stop dropping my phone in BBQ sauce!!! 

I made these for Super Bowl Sunday! The day was filled with me putting Ribs in the crock pot and working on Zoe Lane stuff for market and not much paying attention to the football game :/ OOPS! Oh well, I got things done and a few recipes knocked out! 

The recipe can be found {HERE}.

I love ribs. My friend and co worker Justin just made my favorite ribs a couple weeks ago. He is quite the "meatress". haha :) Its a new term. Coined just for this blog and just for Justin. I plan on making his mighty delish ribs sometime in the future {with his help of course!} year, probably this summer. Be on the look out! 

I knew these ribs would not match up. I'm OK with that, just because I know its hard to go wrong with a rib. There are two different kinds of ribs....the ooey gooey kind and the dry rub goodness kind. I realize that half of those words don't make sense, but when you are referring a good slab of meat you sometimes get tongue tied. 

These ribs LITERALLY fell off the bone. Like I lifted a bone from the pot and nothing was on it. Wow. With this recipe you have to broil the ribs for a bit. I snapped a pic during the process and you will think to yourself what road kill did Mal pick up and try and feed her family for SBS!?! I know that's slightly grotesque...sorry about that :/

See all those bones? Crazy. Crazy good anyways. Easy meal with a little effort after the crock pot. Perfect for our calm and quiet Super Bowl Sunday night! 

Chicken & Veggie Hand Pies

300 Recipes in 1 Year

Recipe #25

This pic SO does not do this little pocket justice! I found this through a pop up add on my computer! How it knew that I keep Pillsbury pizza crust stocked 24/7 in the fridge I'll never know! But it found me. I was a little skeptical whether or not Mo would like this or not. But I catered as much as possible {didn't put any peppers in, extra chicken, etc} and she loved it! The recipe makes 4, and I was expecting to have 2 leftovers...that DID NOT happen. Oops! 

This super easy recipe can be found {HERE}. This is such an easy last minute meal that you need to try soon!

Frenchy French Toast

300 Recipes in 1 Year

Recipe #24

I love me some breakfast food! Especially when I don't have to wake up early in the morning to make it...aka breakfast for dinner!

During our Trip a la Northeast this summer we ventured to an awesome breakfast joint called Buddy's. Where the following pic was taken looking out onto The Naval Academy and some Annapolis scenery. Anyways, while at Buddy's I had some pretty stinkin good french toast. It was made from french bread. Who would of thought....

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago watching Pioneer Woman and Ree was making some of the very same french toast! It just had to make it ASAP! 

You can find the recipe {HERE}. I did not do the berry butter, I'll save that for when I make the other half of the loaf in the freezer! 

In her tutorial she used sourdough, but I went with french bread! Also, a little tip: *Make sure you cook these on low for awhile {instead of higher heat}. Since it is thicker it takes awhile to cook through as oppose to sandwich bread. We had a  few "raw" pieces in our bunch. 

Here is the final product! Can't wait to make this again with the berry butter!!