Classic Cheesecake Recipe and Food Lion's Holiday Bake-Off Recipe Contest

It's my favorite time of year. The holiday baking season is here! Every year I bake my favorite cheesecake that the family loves. I found this recipe online many years ago and I promise, it is fool-proof. I have shared this recipe with a lot of family members and friends and they all love it and found that it was very easy to make. The thing I love about this recipe is you can totally make it your own. You could add cocoa powder to part of the cheesecake batter to swirl it in and make it fancy. Instead of vanilla extract you could use almond or lemon. You can serve it with fruit or plain (just the way I like it!).

Classic Cheesecake
Ingredients
2 packages (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened*
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 Keebler® Ready Crust® Graham 2 Extra Servings Pie Crust (you can use a store brand or make your own)
1 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions
1. In large mixing bowl beat cream cheese on medium speed of electric mixer until fluffy. Add 2/3 cup sugar, lemon juice and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined after each addition. 2. Place crust on baking sheet. Spread cream cheese mixture in crust. Bake on baking sheet at 350°F about 30 minutes or until center is almost set. 3. In small bowl combine sour cream, 3 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla. Carefully spread over cheesecake. Bake at 350°F for 5 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate at least 3 hours. 4. Garnish as desired. Store in refrigerator. *NOTE: Soften cream cheese in microwave at high for 15 to 20 seconds.

Right now, Food Lion is hosting a Holiday Bake-Off recipe contest on their Facebook page. You can enter the contest by sharing a recipe in any of the four categories: appetizer, entree  side dish or dessert. 12 grand prize winners will receive a $500 Food Lion gift card. The Food Lion Bake-Off contest kicks off 11/7 and will end 11/28. Hurry up and enter! You never know, your recipe can be a $500 winner!

What is your favorite recipe that you make for Thanksgiving?

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour for Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Food Lion. I received a promotional item to facilitate my shopping experience and review.

Make this Thanksgiving Mishap-free with Walmart {$50 GC Giveaway}

**CLOSED**

The winner is Thomas Murphy! Congratulations and thanks to everyone for entering and sharing your Thanksgiving tips! 

Now that we have the month of October behind us, we can now look forward to Thanksgiving. It is my favorite holiday and I almost always host a big dinner for family and friends. Along with the excitement of family time and good food, we sometimes run into mishaps here and there. It seems like no matter how much you plan, make lists or think you have it all together, something goes wrong! I decided to share some of my personal tips to help make your Thanksgiving a bit more Mishap-free.

• Plan ahead! Make a detailed list of your menu in advance so you can have a thorough grocery list made. This way, you can start shopping over the course of a few weeks and stock up on non-perishable items. 
• Don't be a hero. We all want to make the best meals made from scratch but sometimes shortcuts are your best friend! Pick up some cake mix and make it your own. Make your icing from scratch and use a piping bag to make it pretty. Semi-homemade is not bad! 
• Make sure to pick up some seasonal candles and room fragrance sprays. It makes the atmosphere more festive and relaxed.
• Practice a new dish or dessert a few weeks ahead in a smaller amount to see if you like it. I have made things before that failed miserably and there was no do-over.
• Every year I have cooked all my side dishes the day before and packed them up in the refrigerator for the next day. This makes the day of Thanksgiving so much more relaxed and all I have to do is roast my turkey and put my pies in the oven. 
• I love serving dinner on China plates but I have learned that you can buy "fancy" paper plates and disposable utensils and cups that you don't have to wash afterwards! Also be sure to have enough plastic storage bags and aluminum foil for leftovers. 
• Keep wine on hand! I don't think I have to explain that one!

Thanksgiving is all about time with the ones you love and should not be stressful.You can find some great tips and advice at the Thanksgiving Mishaps website to help get you through the holiday. Check out this video from Chef Richard:

 

I am so pleased that Walmart is providing a $50 gift card for one very lucky Momfiles reader to win. With Walmart's low prices and big selection, you can get a whole lot! Enter below...
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end on November 18, 2012. One winner will be chosen at random and will be contacted via email. Momfiles is not responsible for any lost or stolen prizes. Be sure to follow giveaway rules in Rafflecopter. Good luck!

Walmart provided me with a gift card and the giveaway, but the thoughts and tips shared in this post are my own.

My favorite turkey recipe EVER

I wanted to share the recipe for the turkey I cooked last Thanksgiving that was the best we have ever had. I was a bit scared since I am big on a lot of seasoning but I guarantee there was plenty of flavor and the first time ever that we did not throw anything away! I think the beer might of had something to do with it ;) *This is the photo I posted last year.


BEER AND ROSEMARY ROASTED TURKEY

Prep Time: 25 minutes Start to Finish: 4 Hours Makes 12-14 Servings

Ingredients:
• 1 whole turkey (12 to 14 lb), thawed if frozen
• ¼ cup butter or margarine, melted
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 can or bottle (12 oz) dark beer (I recommend Guiness or AmberBock)
• ½ cup cold water
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour

1. Move oven rack to lowest position. Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove and discard neck and giblets from turkey. Rinse turkey inside and out with cold water; pat dry with paper towels. Fasten neck skin to back of turkey with skewer. Fold wings across back of turkey so tips are touching. In shallow roasting pan, place turkey, breast side up.
2. In medium microwaveable bowl, stir together butter, mustard, rosemary, salt, pepper, and beer. Microwave uncovered on High 1 to 1½ minutes, stirring after 30 seconds, until well mixed. Brush about 1/3 of mixture evenly over surface of turkey. Fasten drumsticks together with cotton string. Insert ovenproof meat thermometer so tip is in thickest part of inside thigh and does not touch bone.
3. Roast uncovered 2½ to 3 hours, brushing with addition beer mixture and pan juices every 30 minutes. Turkey is done when thermometer reads 165 degrees and drumsticks move easily when lifted or twisted. If necessary, cover turkey breast with heavy-duty foil during last 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours of baking to prevent excess browning.
4. Let turkey stand 15 to 20 minutes for easier carving. Remove skewers before slicing.
5. Meanwhile, measure drippings and enough water to make 2 cups. In 2-quart saucepan, heat drippings to boiling. In small cup, stir together cold water and flour until smooth. Stir flour mixture into boiling drippings. Continue stirring 2 to 3 minutes longer or until gravy is thickened and bubbly. You can add your favorite seasonings to taste.

Kraft Foods Delicious Desserts Pin & Win Sweepstakes #kraftrecipes

Attention all Pinterest and dessert fans:  I wanted to let you all know about the Kraft Foods Delicious Desserts Pin & Win Sweepstakes. There is a total of $2,500 in cash prizes up for grabs. Can you imagine winning a cash prize for pinning desserts? Um, I'm entering myself! The good thing is that you can get some great recipe ideas for the holiday season.

HERE'S HOW TO ENTER SWEEPSTAKES:

1. Go to pinterest.com/kraftrecipes and follow us.
2. In your Pinterest profile, create a new board called Kraft Delicious Desserts Recipes Pin and Win. The board name must include Kraft Dessert Recipes and be categorized under Food & Drink
3. Pin 10 or more of your favorite dessert recipes, from dessert.com OR kraftrecipes.com. Include #kraftrecipes in the description of each pin.
4. Email the URL link of your Kraft Delicious Dessert Recipes Pin and Win board to kraftrecipes-pinterest@kraftapps.com for a chance to win one of ten $200 VISA gift card first prizes OR the grand prize of a $500 VISA gift card.

What dessert would you bring to your holiday festivities? Get Pinning and let us know! All entries must be received between 11/1/12 and 11/21/12. NO Purchase Necessary. Open only to residents of the 50 United States and D.C., 18 years of age and older. Ends: 11/21/12. For complete details, see the Official Rules here.

I made up my own Pinterest board of desserts and here are a couple that I WILL be making this month:

Lemon-Blueberry Swirl Cake (I want this NOW!)

And White Chocolate Cheesecake (**drool**)

I can't wait to try out these recipes and encourage you to enter the sweepstakes yourself! Good luck! :)

{Giveaway} A New Spin on the Cookie Exchange: Host a Chex Party Mix-Change!

**Contest Closed** Winner is #56 paschadudley~ Congratulations!

The holiday season is upon us and this means we are attending parties and indulging in goodies and treats. Some of you might be attending a cookie-exchange party. They are a lot of fun and you end up with so many wonderful homemade cookies. The downside of cookies is the whole baking part. Chex Party Mix is changing the way we look at traditional baking with the Chex Party Mix-Change. You can skip the whole baking process and whip up yummy batches Chex Mix snacks in 15 minutes! I received a gift pack from MyBlogSpark that contained 2 boxes of Chex cereal, 5 recipe cards, 10 take-out containers and a $20 gift card to purchase items to make some yummy Chex Party Mix.

We made 2 varieties. We love sweets in my house so we went with the Muddy Buddies and Lemon Buddies. They were so easy to make and required very few ingredients. Lemon Buddies have become my new favorite and I highly recommend you try it for yourself. I will give you fair warning that they are addicting! Here is the recipe:

Lemon Buddies
9 cups Rice Chex® cereal
1 1/4 cups white vanilla baking chips
1/4 cup butter or margarine
4 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 cups powdered sugar

1. Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.
2. In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chips, butter, lemon peel and juice uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.
3. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; gently shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper or foil to cool. Store in airtight container.

We decided that we will send in these Chex treats to the girls' teachers to get them through mid-terms before the Christmas break. I know they will love it! There are so many recipes that range from salty to sweet and even gluten-free. You can even tweak recipes and make them your very own!

We are giving away one Chex Party Mix-Change gift pack to one lucky Momfiles reader. The gift pack includes (pictured below): 2 boxes of Chex cereal to create Chex Party Mix recipes, 5 featured Chex Party Mix recipes, 10 takeout containers and a $20 gift card to purchase recipe ingredients and decorating supplies.

To enter- *Mandatory: What Chex Party Mix recipe do you want to try? Have you ever made Chex Party Mix before?

For additional entries you can do all or any of the following. Be sure to leave a separate comment per entry method.

~ "like" Chex and Momfiles on Facebook (please do not write on the Chex Mix wall but you can write on the Momfiles wall to let us know you entered)

~ Follow Momfiles on Twitter

~ Tweet this giveaway (once daily) and leave your tweet link:

Win a #ChexPartyMixChange gift pack @momfiles http://tinyurl.com/d8l87xn #MyBlogSpark

Giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end at 9:00 pm EST on December 10, 2011. One winner will be chosen at random and contacted via email. Be sure to leave your email address if you do not have a Blogger profile. Momfiles is not responsible for any lost or stolen prizes.

Disclosure: The Chex Party Mix-Change product, information, and giveaway have been provided by Chex through MyBlogSpark

Holidays 2011 with Shutterfly {Giveaway}

**Contest Closed** 

Winners are #12 #35 and #30~ Congratulations!

It is hard to believe that the Winter Holidays are not too far away. I have already been thinking about having a family photo taken for cards to send out to family and friends. Hey, you can never be too early! I browsed the 2011 Holiday card collection from Shutterfly and just love all of the beautiful designs!  There is everything from traditional as well as many fun, contemporary styles to choose from. That is going to be the hard part-- choosing! Look at how cute these are!

I have to figure out of I want to go with a folded type Christmas card or what we have been doing for the past few years-- the flat Christmas photo cards. I am going to pick my top 3 favorites and let the family vote. I think I might choose something that we are able to add several photos in more of a collage instead of a single photo.Now all I have to do is get the whole family together at one time to take some photos. Quite honestly, that might be the even harder part!

The generous folks from Shutterfly have provided me with 3 codes (3 winners) good for 25 Shutterfly cards (5x7 Holiday & Christmas Greeting/Stationery Cards) ~ just in time for the holidays!

*Entering is easy, just let us know what you plan to do with the cards if you win. Are you already a Shutterfly user?

For extra entries (leave a separate comment per entry method):
~ "like" Shutterfly and Momfiles on Facebook
~  Follow Shutterfly and Momfiles on Twitter
~ Write on the Momfiles FB wall letting us know you entered
~ Tweet this giveaway (once daily) and leave a link to your Tweet:

Enter to win 25 @Shutterfly #Holiday cards from @momfiles http://tinyurl.com/4xcq23w #giveaway {3 winners} 

~ Follow Momfiles via Google Friend Connect

Giveaway is open to US Residents only and will end on November 9, 2011 at 9:00 PM EST. Be sure to leave your email address if you do not have a Blogger Profile. 3 winners will be chosen at random. Winner must pay shipping costs. Momfiles is not responsible for any lost or stolen prizes.

I received a code for a set of cards from Shutterly. All opinions are completely my own. 

Flashback Friday

It's just not Christmas without this foolery. Classic!

Renuzit Adjustables Giveaway {closed}

Winners are #22 Steph and #60 Shelley~ Congratulations!

The holiday season is in full swing and if you are like me then you like to keep a nice festive scent in the air all over your home. With Renuzit Adjustables you can do so for a great price! They sell for no more than a dollar at most retail stores and they come in some really nice scents. I love the holiday line~ Winter Berry, Festive Snow, Apples & Cinnamon and Holiday Cookie. I received the Apples & Cinnamon Adjustables right in time for the holidays. I am keeping it in the hallway bathroom since this is the one my guests will use. I currently have one in Simply Vanilla in my office and I really like the sweet, subtle smell. I think these would make simple teacher gifts for the holidays if you put them in a decorative cellophane bag with some coordinating shredded stuffing paper or gift tissue.Not a bad frugal gift especially if you have a lot of teachers to buy for!

The Renuzit Team has sent me some coupons for FREE Renuzit Adjustable Air Fresheners to share with friends and family! Two (2) readers will receive three (3) coupons each.

To enter please let us know what your favorite Renuzit scent is or which one you would like to try.

For additional entries (please leave an individual comment per entry method):
~"like" Renuzit and Momfiles on Facebook
~Follow Momfiles on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway (once per day):

Enter to win 3 coupons for FREE Renuzit Adjustables @momfiles just in time for the #holidays http://tinyurl.com/24x3kpd #giveaway

~Follow Momfiles via GFC

Giveaway open to US Residents only and ends December 6, 2010 at 9:00 pm EST. Two winners will be chosen at random and will be emailed. Winners have 48 hours to respond or alternate winner will be chosen. Please leave a visible email address if you do not have a Blogger profile. Good luck!

Disclosure: I received a product sample and coupons for review and giveaway. As always all opinions are my own.

Happy Thanksgiving

I wanted to wish all my favorite people in the blogworld a very Happy Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for everyone who takes time to read and comment on my blog. If you are traveling please be safe and enjoy your time with loved ones. We are staying home and I am going to prepare a big feast with the girls. We are doing the same traditional meal like we do every year since I always get outvoted. Don't be surprised if I post photos!
I am also preparing for Black Friday with Dwayne. We have our list made out of what we need from each store. I plan to pack snacks and bottled water just in case. We are keeping things simple and are mostly buying necessities although I do have Keurig on my mind (hint hint)...I'll even take the cheaper model. We were lucky last year that it was not as crowded as we thought it would be so let's hope it works out that way this year. I can't wait!

Are you brave enough to hit the streets on Black Friday?

Candy is good for your health

I was at the store this morning and decided to cruise down the Valentine's candy aisle to see what might make it into my cart. I know Brie mentioned she wanted to give some candy to a few friends so I decided to grab a big bag of Skittles and Starburst. They are favorites in my house so I figured there would not be any left over for long. I also got a bag of chocolate hearts for the house.


I was unpacking the bags from the grocery store when something on the bag caught my eye.

I had to do a double take when I saw that it said that the candy was an "excellent source of Vitamin C". Huh??? So then the girls got home from school and immediately asked if they can have some. I said no. They had the audacity to say "But it's healthy and we can never get enough Vitamin C!" All I could do was laugh. Darn kids.

Christmas cookie craziness!

The girls and I decided to make Christmas cookies this year. At first we were going to make the cookies from scratch but changed our minds since we had a dozen cakes to bake as well. I found some pre-cut sugar cookie dough at the store that was ready to bake. We also got a bunch of cookie icing and decorations. We sat for hours decorating some of the stupidest looking cookies ever but had such a blast doing it! We ate at least 6-8 as we decorated. We shared a lot of laughs and made a lot of mess. It was so much fun! I think we will make it a yearly tradition (not only during the holidays).

They look so pitiful!! hahaha!!!

Holiday teacher gifts

My last post was about baking mini pound cakes for the girls' teachers and here they are! I did not go with the lemon ones because I did not like how they turned out. I went with the one I made last year and whenever the name Paula Deen is mentioned you know it's going to be perfect!

They look a little rough but trust me they are so moist and rich. Dwayne was drooling over the little taste he got.

We wrapped them up in plastic wrap and then in decorative tissue paper along with a copy of the recipe inside.

I think they came out cute :) Here is the recipe I used....

Grandmother Paula's Sour Cream Pound Cake *Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen

Ingredients:

1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
3 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
6 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the sour cream and mix until incorporated. Sift the baking soda and flour together. Add to the creamed mixture alternating with eggs, beating each egg 1 at a time. Add the vanilla and pour the mixture into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake for 1 hour 20 minutes.

*NOTE: I used 7 mini loaf pans and baked for an hour instead.

Ismail Family Tree

Here is our tree! I honestly think it looks a lot better in person. We went with blue, gold and chocolate.

I even made little gift packages as decorations.

We put together a very simple garland for the fireplace.

If you celebrate the holiday season have you put your tree up yet?

Traditional or Different?

Well it is that time of year, Thanksgiving. Time for family, friends and feasts. I am a big planner so I have been compiling menu ideas for a few weeks now. I was all set to do some different dishes this year (a little more gourmet). I decided to get some input from the husband and kids and everything they came up with is what we have year after year. They got all worked up because they felt I was going against tradition. They said I did not need to mess up a good thing that is always perfect each year. So there went my fancy gourmet ideas...

Something else I have done for many years is to use actual real dishes and eating utensils. Most of my friends and family would laugh at me and ask if I loved washing dishes. So this has lead me to become a fan of good quality paper plates and flatware. I never thought I would do it but hell, once you eat who really wants to wash a million dishes? I guess I have changed a lot with a growing family and I try to make things a little easier on myself when I can. Having a toddler running around this year really makes me want to go the easy route!

What about you... what are your plans for the holiday? Are you traditional or do you dare to be different? Do you use real dishes or paper plates? Sorry for being so nosey!

Is it Monday already??

Oh man, it has been one long and fantastic holiday weekend! I have abandoned my blog apparently. I guess it's time to get back in the swing of things. We had a house full of family the past few days. It has been non-stop fun and it felt good to do pretty much nothing. Dwayne took over 100 photos and I think I have to fire him. He has this theory that it is better to take photos of people when they are not looking at the camera. That's great if you actually did not take them while the subject's eyes were closed, they were blowing their noses, their mouth was full of food, etc... Here are a couple shots I was able to salvage. I hope everyone had a blast over the holiday weekend. Now it's time to get back to reality :(

Cranberry sauce

Ahh it's that time of year again... Thanksgiving. Of course you will have your turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes and all the classic things that make Thanksgiving so special. We can't forget the cranberry sauce. There is nothing like those sweet-tart berries that go so perfectly with our meal. I don't know about your family but here at the Ismail house we absolutely have to have it. Usually the kids "make it". When I say make it I mean cracking open the can and slicing it up! We absolutely LOVE the jellied cranberry sauce over the whole berry or homemade varieties. Jellied sauce has been a tradition in our family for as long as we have been together. I personally love the homemade type as well but my family would feel like I ruined Thanksgiving if I put anything other than what they are used to. How about your family...what type of cranberry sauce do you prefer? Do you have any special traditions for Thanksgiving?