He sees you. I know this can be hard to believe. I have wished so many times that Jesus could just physically, in flesh sit next to me or hold me for a minute…just so I could really know. But then, there is faith (1 Timothy 6:12). We read in scripture of the miraculous physical signs that God gave His people and yet they still struggled to believe. Have faith sister that He sees you, just like He saw Hagar in the desert (Genesis 16:13) and countless other times that he saw His people in their pain (Psalm 56:8, Genesis 31:42, Exodus 3:7-9, Isaiah 38:5). He sees you lying on your closet floor, door closed, just weeping. He sees the tears that are falling on your pillow as you cry yourself to sleep. He sees the tears behind those sunglasses. He sees you collapse in those moments when no one else is around. He sees you. (Psalm 56:8, Genesis 31:42, Exodus 3:7-9, Isaiah 38:5, Exodus 2:24) He hears you (Exodus 2:24, Psalm 40:1). Believe that. Trust in that. Have faith in that.
Cheesecake…I wonder who ever thought of this. Let’s put cheese in a cake! Whoever it was, I’m so glad they did! Yum! It is a delicate cake and it takes a lot of time. So plan to make the cake a day before you actually want to serve it. One of my husband’s favorite cakes is cheesecake. For his birthday, I wanted to make it fancy so I thought, I’ll make turtle cheesecake! When I was a kid, my mom use to buy a turtle cheesecake from Sam’s occasionally. Each slice was separated by a little piece of parchment-type paper. It was heavenly! The most frustrating thing was to open the box only to find no more cheesecake but the pieces of paper left behind by my brothers! Ugh! Anyway, I wanted to recreate this cake. I found a recipe for a turtle cheesecake from Sally’s Baking Addiction (one of my favorite places to go for recipes). It seemed a little to rich for me so I used a combination of her plain cheesecake recipe and her turtle cheesecake recipe. As one of my son’s ate it, he said, “I think I found the cake that I want for my birthday!” Here it is:
Ingredients:
Crust :
22 regular (not double-stuffed) Oreos
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
½ cup mini chocolate chips
¼-1/2 cup caramel sauce (homemade or store-bought) *A bit is used for the crust and a bit is used for topping
Cheesecake Filling
32 ounces full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup full-fat sour cream, at room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsps fresh lemon juice
3 large eggs
Topping
Caramel sauce (same used in crust – don’t need a ton)
6 ounces (half bag) mini chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit (177 Celsius). Wrap aluminum foil tightly around the bottom and the sides of an ungreased 9-inch springform pan (we want to ensure water won’t leak in..you’ll see).
- Make the crust : Pulse the Oreos into a fine crumb…it should be about 2 cups (packed) crumbs. Mix the melted butter with the Oreo crumbs in a separate bowl and then put the mixture in the springform pan. Pat the crumbs down into the bottom and partly up the sides. Blind bake (pre-bake) the crust for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and place inside a large roasting pan. Sprinkle ½ cup mini chocolate chips on top of the warm crust and set aside.
- Make the filling : Using the paddle attachment on your mixer beat the cream cheese and sugar together until it is smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the sour cream, vanilla extract and lemon juice and then beat until its fully combined. At the eggs one at a time and beat until just blended and then stop mixing. Overmixing here will incorporate too much air into the batter. After it is baked, the air bubbles will burst causing the cake to sink and crack.
- Pour about 1/3 of the batter into the prepared crust. Then drizzle (make sure and warm the caramel sauce slightly so that you can actually drizzle) about 3-4 Tablespoons…kind of up to you..caramel sauce is very sweet and rich. Don’t mix it, just pour the remaining batter on top.
- Prepare the water bath (I know that sounds weird). Boil a pot of water. Place the roasting pan (with the foil wrapped springform cheesecake pan inside it) in the oven. Then pour about an 1 -1.5 inches of the boiling water into the roasting pan. This will keep the environment inside the oven nice and moist, preventing the cheesecake from cracking.
- Bake the cheesecake for 55-70 minutes or until the center I almost set. If you notice the top starting to brown too quickly, place aluminum foil over top. I placed the foil on top after about 30 minutes of baking. When it’s done, the center of the cheesecake will wobble just slightly if you bump the pan.
- Once you see that slight wobble, turn the oven off and open the oven door slightly. Let the cheesecake sit in the oven as it cools for 1 hour. This slow change in temperature also prevents the cheesecake from cracking. After 1 hour, remove the cheesecake from the oven and let it cool to room temperature. Once completely cooled, place it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Use a knife to gently loosen the chilled cheesecake from the sides and then remove the springform pan.
- For the topping : drizzle with caramel sauce (however much you would like..within reason of course) and then sprinkle with mini chocolate chips. If you want to add nuts such as chopped pecans here, you can…we have a few nut allergies! The topping is up to you really…you can also melt chocolate and drizzle on top! It will be a rich cake so start with a little and then add more if you like!
I forgot to take a picture of the cake…oops! Hence the picture of a turtle! I’ll snap a picture next time!
This is one of those comfort foods and both of my girls’ favorite! For the sauce, I use my basic cream sauce method and then add the necessary herbs and parmesan! That’s it! It’s really not as intimidating as you may think. I have a nonstick dutch oven pot that I basically do everything in, except cook the pasta. So here we go!
Ingredients
1lb package of Fettucine
2lbs chicken breast
½ cup butter
½ cup flour
3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
2-3 cups of chicken broth (depending on the consistency)
½ cup – 1 cup whole milk or half and half
1-1.2 cups grated/shredded parmesan
Oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions :
- Cook your pasta aldente and set aside in a colander and rinse with cold water (so it stops cooking and doesn’t get mushy).
- Season your chicken with garlic salt, pepper, oregano and basil. Then cut your chicken into bite-sized chunks.
- Put a little butter and olive oil in the pot and heat to a medium-high heat. Add your chicken and saute. Stir the chicken often and cook until just slightly underdone…maybe 5ish minutes? Then transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.
- Add just a tablespoon of the ½ cup butter to the pot and the garlic. Saute the garlic for a few minutes, letting it softened a little and release it’s aroma.
- Add the remaining butter, melt and then add the ½ cup butter. Cook, while stirring constantly, for about one minute. It will look like a clump, paste.
- Next add your chicken broth, slowly. Stir allowing it to combine fully and come to a simmer. Start with a little chicken broth at a time until it reaches a creamy consistency…2-3 cups.
- Add the milk or half and half and bring to a simmer. Again, add the milk or cream slowly. You may not use all of it, you may use a bit more. We are looking for that thick (but not too thick), creamy, alfredo-like consistency.
- Once you have the consistency you like, add 1-1.5 cups of parmesan. Add it slowly, allow it to melt and taste it along the way. Parmesan can be really strong so you won’t need much here.
- Add your dried oregano and basil and salt and pepper to taste.
- Finally, add your chicken and pasta. Let simmer on low for a few minutes and you are done! I like to serve it with fresh bread and some roasted or steamed broccoli!
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