Oreo Cheesecake Pudding Pie

Looking at it like this, you cannot even tell how badly I messed up.

Oh boy, this is going to be a doosey.  I so love to read other blogs, and find inspiration in them.  I always see things others make and pin it away and think, I will never make that.  Then I usually don't  because I always screw things up.  Until I saw this pie at Lil Luna.  I was all, I can make that.



And then I tried.

And this is why I should never make things from other blogs. I know they are never going to be as good.  But still I try, and fail, then eat all the evidence.

So if you check out the original post on Lil Luna you will see this amazing pie, that you will think looks so easy and yummy.  Which it is, if you are good at following simple directions, that is.

So I will show you what I did, and tell you how I made it differently.  Not on purpose of course.  Just so you know. Then you will want to make the original, and maybe mine if you like second best pie.  Who knows; you might right?

This is all I had to buy, I had the rest of the stuff at home.  Notice my cool laptop, I just had to include that, it makes me look like I know how to blog. Because no one would ever know someone with a laptop did not have any clue how to work computers right? Oh and side note, Hubby says the cupcake thing on my laptop is embarrassing, so he pretends it's not there.  I like it personally

Firstly, I was having a play date, not with the kid who must have a baking craft.  Oh no, this was going to be one where I could sit and chat with my friend while the boys ran around and tore the house apart.  It was going to be awesome!  So I thought,  I should make desert and impress my friend.  Now my friend is amazing, she acts impressed with everything I make, which is great.  I know it is all a front, but that is why I love her. Also I made home made pizza, Hubby made the pizza dough for me and I did the rest.

This is the cream cheese filling before I added the cool whip.  It tasted really good, but the cool whip made it even better.

 Let me know if you want to have Hubby make a post about how he makes Pizza.  It is so good, and he makes it really thin for me so I can eat lots and not get sick on the doughy crust.  But you can also make it thicker and it is still amazing.  Okay back to pie.


So I went to my local store to buy all the stuff to make this pie.  And this is where it all fell apart.  My store of course did not have Oreo pie crusts, what they did have was either graham cracker crust, which just seemed wrong.  Or they had this butter crust. I thought great, butter crust it is, because there is no way I was going to make a crust from scratch.  That was until I started checking the expiry date.  I dug and dug, and I think after 6 crusts with a date of "best before May 2011" I was getting upset.  I found one with a good date, put the expired ones in my cart also and kept shopping.

I only added about 1/3 of the tub of cool whip, but it seemed like a lot.

I needed white chocolate pudding, and if you guessed that they did not have that either, you get a prize.  So I opted for Oreo pudding, I mean it is supposed to be an Oreo pie, so that is what I went with. The other stuff I got, I turned in the out dated pie crusts and headed out.  And just so you know, the store people were really upset about the outdated crust and rushed to pull the rest off the shelf. Stuff happens, you know?  I am a stickler for dates, so I always check.  Not a big deal.

So the next night, the night of the play date, I set to work.

And when they say to fold things in your batter, you are supposed to lightly mix the stuff in with a sort of weird movement.  Not like me, where I stir it all crazy like.  Just so you know.

Oreo Cheesecake Pudding Pie
Adapted from Lil Luna found Here

-pie crust of your choice ( I used the butter crust, I loved it)
-1 row double stuffed Oreo cookies cut up*
-1 8oz block cream cheese
-1/2 cup butter
-3 squares semi sweet baking chocolate melted
-1 large tub of cool whip**
-1 cup icing sugar
-1 box Oreo pudding mix***
-1 1/2 cups milk****

This is the only non expired crust I could find, and I think it was either called butter or short bread.  You can use anything, as long as it is not expired.

*I tried crushing the Oreos once before, but because they are double stuffed they just sort of smooshed so I cut them
**I have no idea if the large tub is bigger here or what, but there was a lot, but I like lots of whipped topping so it worked out great for me
***You can use any flavor I think, well, not pistachio, lemon or butterscotch, that would be wrong I think.
****I actually used 2 cups, but my pudding was way too thin, so use 1 1/2 cups if you actually read recipes, which I obviously don't do, d'oh!

Now if you are not a wimp like me, you would have filled this all the way up.  I thought I would save the left over filling to eat with apples, or just with a spoon, but it got hard and gross when not in a pie, so it ended up in the garbage.

I decided to make my cheesecake filling chocolate to counter the fact that my crust was vanilla.  I just added 3 squares of melted semi sweet bakers chocolate to the cheese mix.  It worked great, but either I screwed up or I was just wimpy, but it would have fully filled my pie crust.  I used about 3/4 of it.  I should have used it all, because it tasted amazing.  So next time, I will use it all, and just not be able to cover the pie with the lid.

See that cool cutting board, it is the most colourful thing in my kitchen.  Other than the wall o' sprinkles that is.

Then for the pudding layer I was supposed to use only 1 1/2 cups milk, but I didn't read that fully until it was too late.  I should have paid attention because my pudding was a bit too runny.  I still used it and it tasted great, but it didn't hold together too well.  Oh well, live and learn right?

I learned the hard way to never try to smash double stuff Oreo's, they just end up smooshing together, so cut them,.trust me.

Then I put on a bunch of cool whip, and my chopped up Oreos.  I used double stuffed since that is what I had.  Then I put it all in the fridge hoping it would set up.  It did , sort of.  I mean it was amazing, I would have eaten the whole thing.  The pudding was soft, so the top sort of slid off a bit, but people I could eat this every day!

  And I am so lucky to have such a great friend, because I sent it all home with her, except for a small piece.  I had to see if it tasted as good the next day.

This is my watery Oreo pudding layer, at least we get to cover it with cool whip to hide it.

And just in case you were wondering, it tasted just as great the next day.

So notes for next time.  I will use all the cheesecake filling, no wimpy thin layer for me.  Let that pie spill over the crust.  Read the whole darn recipe and use only 1 1/2 cups of milk for the pudding layer, making it thicker so it won't spill out of the crust.

I put on as much Cool whip as I dared, I still had some left over.  I may have eaten it with a spoon the next day, just to get the container out of my fridge.  

And maybe try making this in cups with just Oreo crumbs or crushed Oreos for the bottom and that way you can eat just a little and not feel so bad.  Or heck just make the pie and eat until you are sick.  I mean you don't even have to crack an egg, so you know it's going to be healthier than if you did right? No? Well, whatever you have to tell yourself, just make it, and try Lil Lunas way too, because I bet hers is even better.

It looked so nice, then I tried to put the lid on it and realized it was one huge pie.  Ha, I said huge pie!

I cut a piece and did the happy dance when it was not a total flop.

And this is the picture where you can actually see the layers.  People that know what they are doing can cut a piece and make it look nice.  I never said I know what I am doing, just so you know.

Brownie Balls, the better Cake Ball And winner announced

I cannot even tell you how good these are.  And don't judge by the picture, they are yummy.  Oh and those are my moms chocolate chip cookies, also really good.

Okay so today we are going to take a look at the brownie ball.  Way back when I first started making cake balls, I was looking for different things to make.  This was way before I really got into reading blogs.  One of the things I though up was brownie balls.  And yes I totally know that I am probably not the first, but I was the first of my friends, so that totally counts!

So the first time I tried and brought them to work I got a lot of compliments, they were amazing.  If I do say so myself.  People, and I, both agreed that they were richer, more sophisticated in taste and just perfect.  I know, that sounds stupid, but it's hard to describe how good they are.

So today, since I had to make a bunch for my moms annual party, I thought I would share with you how I make mine. 

To start, as always we are using a mix.  There are two reasons, one, making brownies from scratch to just crumble up and destroy seems wrong. And two, the box mixes are just way easier.  So there you go, scientific proof as to why box mix is better.

I used four boxes, if you could not tell.  I got just over 10 dozen.  And yes I ate some myself.

So the box mixes we have here make a 8x8 pan of brownies, which does not give you a lot of stuff to work with.  In the states I think they have a family size box or something, I so want that here!  Anyway, I usually remedy that by making two box mixes in one 9x13 pan.  That gets me about 4-5 dozen balls.  

So to start, when buying a mix, I always get the one with the frosting. This way I don't need to buy frosting alone and it just makes life easier.

So make your brownies according to the box, just use two boxes and use the 9x13 pan.  Bake  them until they are almost done, you know, putting a tooth pick in and having a bit of crumbs is good.  You don't want a dry brownie.  Once they are baked, cool them fully. I was once in a rush and did not fully cool them and they mixed up without any frosting as they were so moist.  Then once I left them over night, the next day the balls were hard as rocks.  I had to microwave them to soften them then mix them with frosting.  So trust me, cool them.  Put the whole darn pan in the fridge if you need to.

It is really hard to not eat spoon fulls of this while I scoop it out.

Once you have them cooled, use a spoon or your hands or whatever to scoop them into your mixing bowl.  Now brownies make a very thick dough when mixed with icing, so I beg of you, use a kitchen aid or food processor or something.  Trust me.

This is the left over crispy bits, but since I hate crispy brownies  I never eat it. I know, it's a waste.

So once you have scooped all the brownie out, leaving any really crispy bits of brownie in the pan, you are ready to go.  I find that one pouch of frosting works perfectly for each double batch of brownies.  I just dump it in and let the kitchen aid mix it all up.  Then I just scoop out the balls into a parchment paper lined cake pan and put them in the fridge.  I do not roll them, as they are sticky.  I leave them for at least 30 minutes, then pull them out of the fridge and roll them into nice ball shapes.  Then back into the fridge for a few hours, or the freezer for about 20 minutes.

And it looks gross when all mixed up, but man is it thick.  I have broken spatulas before, so use a super strong one.

I love the rich chocolate of these, and some people may like to dip them in white or dark chocolate.  But since I hate dark chocolate more then laundry, I won't use it. I also hate white chocolate and if these are for me, I use what I like.  So just melt you chocolate of choice, mine being candy coating, and dip all of the brownie balls and place them on wax paper to dry.  You can use sprinkles to decorate them, but I wanted the classic look, so I just drizzled white chocolate over them.  These freeze really well, the only issue is they get some condensation on them when they thaw out, but you know, it won't kill them.

Also I have no idea why I didn't take any progress pics, but you know, a scoop of filling, rolled and dipped is all the same right?  Well take my word for it, at least this time.

I hope you try them out, because of all the things I have made, these always get the most thumbs up.

I am famous for these, at least in my family.

Also I have a winner for my Sky Zone passes.  Cheri is the only person who is in Canada that commented so that was an easy win.  Yay for Cheri, I will send you an email today so you can get those as soon as possible.  Thanks all for reading

< imgalt="Our Delightful Home" src=" http://i1170.photobucket.com/albums/r525/ourdelightfulhome/odhbutton1.jpg>

I'm guest posting! Mini Whoopie Pies!

Hey I am doing my very first guest post ever over at Happy Hour Projects head on over and take a look:)

And yes, the pictures are just as stunning as always.

Fun New Place in Toronto to Play and a Giveaway! Sky Zone

  So this is going to be a picture heavy post, I so want you to see how fun this place is!  Firstly this is a place near Toronto Ontario.  So if you don't live near me, there are other locations all over the USA.  Just check out their website.  

 So basically I am going to tell you all about this place, the fun Pork Chop and I had there, then give away a few passes to the local blog readers I have.  Sound good?  Well if not, there are going to be lots of pictures of Pork Chop bouncing around, out of focus.  

If that doesn't keep you around, I don't know what else will.

If you cannot tell, that is a whole floor of trampolines.  And the walls?  Yep they are trampolines too!

So way back on March break when I was home with a sick little Pork Chop we saw this kids show and they were at this trampoline place.  Pork Chop was in awe, he was like "I want to go there!"  So of coarse being the super special mom that I am, I told him sure.  And like most things I thought he would forget.  

He did  talk about it again, so I knew it was a lost cause.  Now also because I am the worst mom, I didn't know what the place was called, so I googled for trampoline parks and what not.  All of the ones I found said you had to either take classes or have a birthday party.  I didn't want that, there is no way I am signing him up for another sport, hockey is it, and even that is only in the cold months.  I want my summers free to just have fun.  As in not making Hubby get up at 5:30 to go to practice.

So I actually found this site on a message board I read for weight loss patients.  I found the site and I was sold.

See that is Pork Chop bouncing off the walls, literally.  And it 's not in my house, total win - win!

  This place is called Sky Zone, it is a trampoline park and it is amazing!  The website has all their information, you can read it all there in the link I provided.  The best part?  They have drop in jumps, so any old person can show up, pay and jump until they pee their pants. 

 Which I almost did.

  Just saying.  

You can even buy time on line to ensure you get a spot, as they are super busy on weekends and such, I recommend that if you are going for the first time.  I did buy on line the first time, just half an hour each.  We showed up and the place was not too busy, we had the run of the place almost, then it started to fill up as parents and students came in.  As we were leaving they even had an aerobics class going on.  

He looks so cute airborne, and the fact he is moving so fast means my crappy pictures are even better.  Sigh.

So I filled out the online wavers for us and when we showed up they signed us in, gave us our special shoes and time stickers and we went out to jump.  Now I thought, I am the cool mom, I am going to be bouncing all over, the other parents are going to be all "wow! Look at her, I sure wish I was that cool."

 And then I got on the trampoline, and fell on my butt.  Seriously, second step in and I was down.  But I haven't been on a trampoline in my adult life, so you know, at least there were not too many people watching.  Also, be sure to go potty first, not sure if it is a woman or mom thing, if you know what I mean, but I nearly peed my pants.  Can you imagine, me falling on my butt, peeing my pants and goodness knows what else.  Pork Chop would be scared more than he already is.

And down he goes, he is like this in everything, loves to fall.  Hockey, he is on the ice more than on his skates.

See each one of those mats, you get your own when it is busy, when it isn't you can sort of move around, but never share a trampoline for safety.

And face first into the wall.  I didn't even try to bounce off the walls, that could have ended badly.

Okay so now that you know I need depends when doing activity.  Lets move on.

They have this large main jump area, that they net off so the larger kids won't hurt the littler ones, and as a parent you may be on one side and your kid on the other.  Not a big deal.  Also they let you toss dodge balls around, so fun, I got Pork Chop in the wee wee last week and he told me I hit him in "the grapes of wrath"  I have no clue where this kid gets it.  The same day he also told me he wanted disco hair when I told him he needed a hair cut.  Must be from Hubbies side.

He just had so much fun and boy did he work up a sweat.  So did I but there are no pictures of that.  I have a reputation to uphold you know.

And down again.  Obviously.

  So I have a system where I jump for half an hour ( okay I pay for half an hour, jump time may vary, it's hard!) Then Pork Chop gets an hour, so we play then he goes for the extra half hour while I drink water and take blurry pictures.

The day I took these pictures I met the owner, she was really nice and I asked if I could blog about the place.  She said of coarse yes.  I mean if I was going to say mean things I wouldn't have told her, or asked.  I am tough that way, say mean things and hope no one ever finds out.

So she said she opened the place to try to get kids off the couch and getting active.  I agree, even though I let Pork Chop play way too many X Box games, but hey I try.

So she gave me all these great flyer s to scan, and then my stupid computer broke, and you all know I am useless with these things right?  So I will just say, check out the site.  So much stuff.  They have special toddler time, toddler aerobics, adult aerobics, teen nights, younger kid night, and all of it is drop in, so no signing up.  They also have dodge ball, which I will never do.  I mean Pork Chop alone can pick me off, so I wouldn't last long at all. Oh and birthdays, which Pork Chop now wants to have here.

So fun!

So they also have a foam pit, which sounds as fun as a pit of something can sound.  I tried it a few times, Pork Chop of coarse loved it.  Me, well trying to drag my huge butt out of a pit of foam blocks with a tiny little rope to pull on, not my favorite thing.  But you should try it for sure.  The people there were so nice, they came over and taught us how to do flips into the foam.  Try to guess which one of us didn't try it.  Go on, bet you can't.

This is the foam pit,

So the foam pit is two trampolines, you are supposed to jump and then fall into the pit.  Some kids were doing these amazing things, me, I was lucky I didn't trip.

Boing!

He loved this! I couldn't get a good picture of him going in, but trust me he loved it.

And then he wanted to dance.

And pose.

And just do what it is that little Pork Chops do when they are on a trampoline.

So now on to the give away.  When I was leaving the super nice owner gave me two free half hour jump passes.  And I was all, score!  Then I thought, that is cool, but someone else really needs to try this place out, so I will give them away.  So I hope even if you don't win you check it out.

Contest rules!!!

I would like to thank everyone for commenting, but if you are not able to actually use the prize or pass it on to someone that can, please just let me know you are not interested in the passes.  Because I love reading your comments:)

-only open to Canadian citizens, and preferable ones who live near Toronto, or know someone that does.

(excluding Quebec, it's a far drive anyway)

-you must answer a skill testing question. 8x3=?

-I will not need the answer until I pick you as the winner, that should be easier that way

-the value of the prize is about $16, and I will mail them out as soon as a winner is announced and they contact me

-the winner will be chosen by random.org from all entries.  they have 48 hours to respond, if they do not I will pick another winner with random.org

-contest closed on April 11 at 12 noon Toronto time.

*I was not asked to right this post or compensated in any way.  If you pee your pants while attempting to jump on a trampoline, you are obligated to let me know in the comment section so I won't feel so bad about myself.*

Carrot Cake Cup Cakes with Cream Cheese Icing

This is the best picture, and no set up because I was in a rush, as usual.  But those eggs on top are smaller than a dime.  So cute!

  So this is going to be a super fast Easter post.  I have been working like crazy, gotten a little run down and not been on my blog for a few days.  So trying to get back on track I have this super simple Easter treat.  Of coarse it involves a cake mix.  But you all know the rule right?  "If you crack an egg, it is home made."  And I totally cracked 3 so that makes it three times home made right?  

  Well it does, so just go with it.

  So to start I chose carrot cake, because carrots are totally what bunnies eat.  And bunnies are all Easter, so you know, it works.  And I had some left over cream cheese icing and that always works with carrot cake.  So here is my super amazing, half hour cupcakes. *time will vary obviously if you don't have the icing already made, but you can solve that with canned icing, I won't tell!

So this is it, those are the cute eggs I decorated with.

  So this is what I started with.  The cute jar was an idea I got from Tidy Mom  she obviously had a really nice jar.  I on the other hand had a few used mason jars.  My mom gets these with soup in them for my dad, and well, she now hands them over to me.  I love mason jars, they are great to use as cookie jars for gifts or to store things in.  I even used a great idea I saw on another blog and made chore jars out of them for Pork Chop.

  Totally off topic Pork Chop story about the chore jars.  The idea is that you have two jars, one with chores to be done written on papers and the amount they are worth.  Then a "done" jar, where you put the chores you have done and at the end of the week you tally them all up and pay out the extra money.  Pork Chop was so excited, we worked out some chores and he told me how much he wanted to be paid.  I felt bad and changed them a bit, he figured 8 cents was lots to get paid for dusting the main floor of the house.  I was stupid and talked him up to 25 cents.  I know, I should know better.  But whatever, I don't want to take advantage.

  Just so you know, we made these jars about 3 weeks ago.

  Not one chore has moved to the "done" jar yet.  I  know, I should be surprised right?  Well I point them out and mention them when he asks to buy things, he will catch on right?  Until then, I will leave all the dust and such for him.  Not like I was taking care of it before right?  I know, I may be a horrible house keeper, but as a parent, I am awesome!

  So back to the totally home made cupcakes.

  I used a cake mix, only because I don't think I want to spend the time to shred veggies when I have other things I could be doing.  Like eating raw cake box batter.   So I made 24 minis and 6 regular cupcakes.  I took all the minis to work and ate two large ones over the next day.  I still have 4 in my fridge, they will probably have to be tossed.  Obviously Hubby won't touch anything with cream cheese, and Pork Chop will  not look at them if they are not chocolate.  So there you go, I tried.

These are the drug store knock off of Cadbury mini eggs.  The ones on the right are mini-mini eggs as they call them.  Too cute!

  Anyway,  after all that egg cracking and baking I took my left over cream cheese icing, a large round tip and a disposable icing bag and piped on a nice big swirl.  Which looks more like a blob, but who am to judge right?  Then I took these super cute mini eggs I got at the drug store and put one on each.  The large cupcakes got the regular sized eggs.

These are the large ones, and there are still 4 left. I know, but I can only eat so many!

So I just used my left over cream cheese icing, I usually make extra and then either freeze it or put it in the fridge if I am going to use it again.  And I find sometimes, especially when I freeze and then thaw it, I need to mix it up again, and add a little icing sugar.  Then it is good as fresh.

These are my minis, so cute, and if you try to think about it, the icing looks like a nest.  Okay fine, but at least you could humor me you know.

And just so you don't have to ask, here is my super amazing cream cheese icing recipe, which I totally love.

Sue's Super Amazing Cream Cheese Icing

Based on me just putting stuff in a bowl and mixing

-1/2 cup butter

-1 8oz block of cream cheese

-1 TBPS vanilla bean paste (or regular vanilla)

-icing sugar and milk to make as much as you need

So just cream your butter, cream cheese and vanilla.  Then slowly add some milk, and then sugar and alternate between the two until you have it as thick as you want and as much as you like.  And there you go.