Fruity Pebbles Cheesecake!

We have our annual summer company picnic this week at work, and I usually participate in the bake-off.  Last year I made my beer bread, which ended up tasty, but this year I wanted to make something more like a dessert.  I decided I would try something new and make a cheesecake for the first time ever... and I thought it would be a good idea to try making a Fruity Pebbles cheesecake!

It came out really nicely, especially for this being my first attempt at a cheesecake!  It may not look quite as pretty as what you would expect at Cheesecake Factory, but it really tastes wonderful and has a nice texture.  The recipe I came up with is below!  It is basically a classic New York cheesecake with my own modifications.  It is not too heavy or dense... the texture is actually relatively light and the fruity pebbles give it a nice brightness!

For the topping, I made the last-minute decision to prepare a glaze with the fruity pebbles... a touch of butter, some water, and confectioner's sugar, all reduced to a syrup in a small skillet, then I tossed some fruity pebbles into it.  It sort of made a brittle/crumble kind of topping.

Fruity Pebbles Cheesecake

Prep               30 m

Cook              <1 h
Ready In        overnight

Yield               2 pie pans +extra

 

Ingredients

½ cup graham cracker crumbs, x2
¾ cup crushed fruity pebbles, x2
4 tablespoons butter melted, x2
1 heaping cup additional fruity pebbles
30oz cream cheese
1 1/3 cups white sugar
3/4 cup milk
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1.)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease two 9 inch pie pans.

2.)  In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs and crushed fruity pebbles with melted butter. Press onto bottom of pie pans.

3.)  In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla, flour, and ½ cup fruity pebbles until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crusts.  With the leftover, I poured the rest into a muffin tin prepped with cooking spray, and it was just enough to fill each portion of the pan.

4.)  Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 min (take out muffin tin about 15 minutes early).  Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed overnight; this prevents cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

My Google Local Guides food crawl in Indianapolis was a success!

For Google Local Guides Meet-Up Day on 18 June 2016, I organized a food crawl on the north side of the city.  The group had a great time... we all got to enjoy some awesome food and hospitality!

 

 

We got to Big Mike's Café and they already had plenty of space ready for us.  As always, Katie greeted us as if we were family and took great care of us as we waited on the others.


 



 

As we waited for others to arrive, we started off with an order of the garlic parmesan bread knots... these things are absolutely addictive.  Also, the other cool thing about them is that I got them for free!  The restaurant uses SpotOn, a rewards app where guests get a point each time they check in at the counter.  Only 5 points gets you a free order of the bread knots, so this was a great way to start!

 

Jesse and I decided that we wanted to share the Mom & Pop specialty pizza... it had a buttermilk ranch base, gouda, cheddar, mozzarella, provolone, and bacon all on top of their fresh house-made dough.  This pizza was unbelievable!  I also added green peppers to my side, and that made it even better.  It was perfect with a glass of sweet tea... another cool thing is that all beverages are served in mason jars!

Here is a picture of the whole group!  Katie and everyone else at Big Mike's did an amazing job... delicious food, friendly service, and an overall pleasant dining experience.  We had a great time with dinner, and most of us decided to continue hanging out at the next place.
















We all went to the The Quirky Feather Confectionery and were greeted very warmly.  They were excited to see us and were extremely helpful with the new faces we had brought in.  We all got our respective desserts (I got the peanut butter cup cheesecake... so good) and beverages, got a table together, and played the Mars Attacks dice game.

 

 

 

All-in-all, this was a delicious evening with some great company.  We would all like to thank both Big Mike's Café and The Quirky Feather Confectionery for helping make this food crawl a success!  We hope that, next year, we can get even more people involved!

 

#Google #LocalGuides #Indianapolis #Indiana #local #Indy

Quick and Easy Vegan Teriyaki Lettuce Wraps!

While browsing through the grocery department at Target recently, I found something in the freezer section that sounded pretty interesting... meatless teriyaki "chicken" strips (http://www.target.com/p/teriyaki-meatless-chicken-9-oz-simply-balanced/-/A-16379898).  They are essentially firm tofu strips that you can microwave in the bag, cooking them in the included teriyaki sauce.  I was not even aware that Target carried specialty items like that, so I thought I would give it a try.

We decided to try it in lettuce wraps, for a light dinner idea.  For the filling, I combined sweet corn and cherry tomatoes in a blend of sesame and sunflower oils with some minced garlic... I sautéed them all together in a cast-iron pan and then roasted the mixture in the oven for about 15 minutes to get a nice char on the corn.  To keep it quick and easy, I cooked the "chicken" strips in the microwave per the directions on the package.  When it was all together, we laid out some large leafs of romaine and filled them with both the corn mixture and the strips.

It really turned out great!  Normally I am not huge on using "fake" meats like this, but I am glad we decided to give this a try.  The meatless strips really had a nice texture and flavor, despite being cooked in the microwave.  Serving everything in the lettuce leaves made it a really light meal... and it was vegan!  Quick and easy, vegan, light, and delicious... this was definitely a winning combination when trying to have a fast supper.

Lettuce wraps, served with a side of fresh cucumber spears.

Saturday 18 June - Google Local Guides Meet-Up Day - Indianapolis, IN

This Saturday (18 June) is Google Local Guides Meet-Up Day, and I am organizing short food crawl for the Indianapolis area!

We will start at Big Mike's Cafe at 96th & College for dinner, then move on to The Quirky Feather Confectionery at 116th & Guilford for desserts, coffee, and tabletop games.
 
The purpose of these events is to hopefully bring together different people that enjoy discovering local gems, reviewing places on Yelp an Google Maps, and simply enjoying awesome food. This is my first time organizing one of these, and I am hoping to really get some community involvement.

If you would like to join in, please go to the event page and RSVP ASAP so that I can let Big Mike's know how many to expect. Thank you all for your time, and hope to see you there!
https://www.facebook.com/events/970228369762025/

 

#google #LocalGuides #Indianapolis #Indiana

Homemade Meal-Replacement Protein Bars!

Typically I try not to eat a whole meal for lunch... it's part of my effort to watch what I eat.  My idea is that, if I eat normal portions for breakfast and dinner, and simply replace my lunch, I should improve... and I have.

I have been eating one of the peanut butter chocolate Clif Builder's bars to get me through the day.  They are pretty high in protein but they don't really satiate me, plus they are just too sweet.  There are no other protein bars available at the store that really satisfy me, so I decided to make one myself!

The recipe is pretty simple...

• 1 cup of Silk vanilla coffee creamer
• 5 scoops of Kroger whey/soy protein powder
• 1 heaping cup of peanut butter
• 4.5 cups of quick oats

You can use any other non-dairy milk or even regular milk if you want; I am partial to soymilk, and I used this creamer because it has an extra creamy texture (only trade-off is that it has very little protein in it, unlike normal soymilk).  I also wanted to use only soy protein powder, but there was no Kroger brand of only soy :(... this deserves further shopping around.  As for the peanut butter, I personally prefer reduced fat creamy peanut butter.

Pretty easy procedure:

1. Whisk the milk, to aerate a bit
2. Add the protein powder and whisk together until smooth
3. Add peanut butter and mix well (might want to use a spoon)
4. Add quick oats and combine with your hands (use gloves to prevent messy hands)
5. Place mixture in a small casserole dish lined with parchment paper, and flatten to be even all the way across
6. Chill overnight and cut into 8 pieces; wrap individually and freeze to enjoy later!

Here is some nutrition info... I actually calculated these myself:

• Serving size = 133g (1/8 of total mixture)
• 24g protein per serving
• 13g sugar per serving
• (unsure of calories or fat content)

By comparison... the Clif Builder's bars are 68g total mass each, with 20g protein and 21g sugar.  So these will be much more filling, with more protein and less sugar!

It did come out a little dense, but I think that will help it be filling.  It also came out pretty sticky... so make sure you have napkins, haha.  I plan to try it with half cereal (maybe puffed rice) and half oats next time for some texture.

This is a variation of a visual recipe found at darebee.com

Google Local Guides Meet-Up Day - Indianapolis

Next Saturday (18 June) is Google Local Guides Meet-Up Day, and I am organizing the only one so far for the Indianapolis area!

We will be doing a short food crawl. We will start at Big Mike's Cafe at 96th & College for dinner, then move on to The Quirky Feather Confectionery at 116th & Guilford for desserts, coffee, and tabletop games.
 
The purpose of these events is to hopefully bring together different people that enjoy discovering local gems, reviewing places on Yelp an Google Maps, and simply enjoying awesome food. This is my first time organizing one of these, and I am hoping to really get some community involvement.

If you would like to join in, please go to the event page and RSVP ASAP so that I can let Big Mike's know how many to expect. Thank you all for your time, and hope to see you there!
https://www.facebook.com/events/970228369762025/

#google #LocalGuides #Indianapolis #Indiana