Two Frugal Chicks

It’s a rainy day here in the northwest.  A perfect day to hang out and make some yummy things in the kitchen.  Hmmm, what to make, what to make? I only have about a thousand recipes I’ve been wanting to try and I could easily get sucked in to Pinterest for a few hours looking at recipes.  What kept coming to mind, were these individual sized Oreo cheesecakes. Yum! I had everything on hand but the Oreos. Off to Safeway I went, and look at this deal I found.  Not sure if it was one of those Friday only sales or what, but what a score!  The regular size packages of Oreos were on sale for $3.99 (which I think is still too much, regularly $4.79, I don’t think so!).

After looking around at all my options, I discovered these on the top shelf….

So that makes the family size package only $2.50! That’s $1.49 cheaper than the regular size package….but wait, there’s more…look what else I found….

That’s a peelie for $1.00 off of any two packages of Nabisco products.  So I grabbed a family size package of Chips Ahoy cookies, too. So in the end, I paid $4.00 for two family size packages of cookies. I love surprise deals like that.  It pays to look around!

So anyways, back to the Oreo cheesecakes…here’s what you will need:

24 Oreos
2 – 8oz packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 tsp. real vanilla
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 C. sour cream
pinch of salt
1/3 C. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.  Put a cupcake liner into each cup of a muffin pan.  Place one Oreo into each cup.

With a standing or handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese till smooth.  Add the sugar and beat till combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, then the sour cream and salt.  Fold in the chocolate chips.

Using an ice cream scoop divide the batter evenly into the 24 cups.

Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool completely (if you can wait that long!).  YUM!

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It’s spring and my hens are back into full swing. I’ve been getting a lot of eggs and looking for ways to use them up. I had some leftover roasted vegetables from dinner so I used them in a yummy quiche.I  also had some frozen pie shells that Shelley and I totally scored on. We found them on a clearance after the holidays and had a coupon to combine so they only costs $0.25

Asparagus Quiche with ham
4 Eggs
1 1/2 C evaporated milk or 1/2 & 1/2
1/4 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
Sliced swiss cheese
Ham or bacon
Roasted vegetables

Mix eggs, milk, nutmeg, salt & pepper. Add in your chopped asparagus, mushrooms, ham, bacon, (whatever you have on hand) If your asparagus is raw nuke it for a few minutes with a little water just to soften it up a bit.
Lay slices of cheese over the crust. Pour over the egg mixture and bake on 350 for 45 mins. Check after 30 to see if it’s looking set.

Once it’s set take it out to cool to room temperature and serve. I set mine outside on a plant rack for 1/2 hour.

The cheese keeps the crust from getting soggy from the eggs. Yummy breakfast, lunch or dinner.

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I just love refried beans. They are sooooo easy to make, cheaper and healthier. You can buy beans just about anywhere, but I get mine at Winco or Cash & Carry. My husband prefers whole beans so I don’t blend all of them I just add whole beans back to the blended beans for added texture.

In a crockpot I add:

4 C pinto beans, rinse and looked over
11 C water
2 T chicken stock paste (Costco)
1 & 1/2 tsp garlic
1 & 1/2 tsp cumin
1 & 1/2 T chili powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp pepper

I cook on high for 4 hours. I have had beans that needed to cook longer so I think it depends on how old your beans are. I would check after 4 and if they need longer, adjust. Once they’re done you scoop out most of the water and you blend them with an immersion blender or potato masher. Add the removed water back in till the beans are your desired consistency.

You can pour them into ziplocs, lay flat and freeze. They freeze well and are super convenient to have on hand..