Casserole + Cake

Clearly I have been forsaking my house duties for cooking lately. While my list of household projects continues to grow and more and more people are seeing the house I find myself more in the mood to bake a pie then paint a dresser. I like making people happy with food... and I love eating! Monday night I had a pretty simple dinner topped with a pretty sweet cheesecake for dessert. The dinner was a basic sausage and rice casserole with steamed broccoli, my Mama passed this recipe down to my sister and I and while it isn't the most complex or fancy recipe it is quite simply one of the easiest meals to make and it always makes me think of my Mama in the kitchen (the rarity that it was...ha.)

Sausage & Rice Casserole

1lb sausage (I prefer Jimmy Dean HOT)

1 cup rice (take the better route and go for some whole grain or brown rice)

chicken broth

*additional items can include whatever spices you'd like to throw in there or green peppers, onion, corn, slivered almonds, etc.

Cook and drain the sausage. In the meantime, bring 3 1/3 cup liquid to a boil. (I usually use about 1 1/2 cups broth and the rest water. How you want to split that up is your call.)

Once the liquid is boiling add the rice and cook until tender and the liquid is gone. Add sausage in with the rice. That is it folks. Once you add the two together you may add any additional items (I threw in some red pepper flakes) and your meal is ready to go. We threw ours on a plate with some steamed broccoli and we were set.

I skipped adding any extras the other night because all I could think about was the upcoming cheesecake. I hadn't made cheesecake in quite some time and it always intimidates me. I often worry that it won't set right or that the consistency will be off. I LOVE cheese and always have high expectations of any recipe with a substantial amount of cheese in it so I was fretting. I found a super easy recipe and it didn't disappoint.

Cherry Cheesecake

Preheat oven to 375

crust:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs (or you could just buy the pre-made crust I suppose, I was just in the mood to clean the dust off my spring form)

1 tbsp melted butter

1 tbsp sugar

Mix all the ingredients together and press firmly onto the bottom of a 9" spring form pan. Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

3 (8oz) packages cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Beat cream cheese until it become light. Add eggs, sugar and vanilla and beat until well combined. Pour mix into crust and bake about 35-40min. Top with your favorite topping, our choice of the night was cherry pie filling. Simple and delicious.

For some reason my cheesecake took an ungodly amount of time to cook. I would say it took almost an hour! Just keep an eye on it, you will see when it's ready to come out. The top will become golden and your toothpick will come out clean. Let it cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge and adding toppings.

Hopefully I will post more about some house projects this week as I MUST get some projects done, especially hang some things on my blindingly white walls. I am also planning and preparing for my first big dinner at the new home.... I am SO excited! I love feeding people.