Trade Strawberry Cheesecake for laundry

I think I made an amazing deal with my neighbor.  I don't have a washer and drier, so I always have to go to the on site laundry.  When I found out that my neighbor and good friend has them, the wheels in my head began to turn.  He's always been a sweet guy and we are constantly doing favors for each other.  We babysit each other's dogs, Albert and him are constantly trading video games, so I wasn't too weird about the laundry trade.

For the first load, I asked him what his favorite dessert was, and he replied Strawberry Cheesecake. YUM!  Cheesecake is one of the easiest things to make, and anything can be added to it for personal flair.

Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
3 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese
1 (10 ounce) package of frozen sweetened strawberries
1 1/4 cup of graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup of butter
1 tbsp corn starch
1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs
1/4 cup of lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Press onto the bottom of a pie pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2.  In a blender or food processor, blend the strawberries and cornstarch;let it really get smooth.
3.  Pour the strawberry mixture into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil and stir for 2 minutes on low. Make sure to really watch it, you don't want it to burn.  
4. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Really beat it into submission.
5. Gradually beat in the condensed milk. Add lemon juice; mix well. 
6. Add the eggs one at a time, and make sure everything is combined.
7. Pour half of the cream cheese mixture over crust. 
8. Drop half of the reserved strawberry mixture by 1/2 teaspoonfuls onto cream cheese layer. 
9. Carefully spoon remaining cream cheese mixture over sauce. Drop remaining strawberry sauce by 1/2 teaspoonfuls on top. 
10. With a knife, cut through top layer only to swirl strawberry sauce, unless you like having glops of strawberry :)
11. Bake at 300 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until center is almost set. 
12. Let it cool down for about 10 minutes... 
13. Stick it in the fridge and don't touch it!!! Let it sit in there for the night. 

Enjoy!!!!

Mission temporarily Impossible

So let me just say, alcohol and 100 degree heat do not mix.  With that in mind, I unfortunately admit that we did not finish drinking around the world at Epcot.  We didn't even make it to Germany! I know, we are a disgrace to college kids all over.  Not only did we almost die of heat stroke and dehydration, but most of us got tapped out by Japan.  Disney really up charges those drinks!

Our plan was to first do all the crazy rides early in the morning, then tackle the drinking, but by the time we even got to the park it was around 1 in the afternoon, so we were already slacking.  We decided to start in Canada and go Counter-clockwise, making Mexico our final destination and dinner spot.  Well, needless to say, we were quite toasty by midway.

CANADA

Oh, Canada.  It was so much fun finally beginning our journey around the world of 11 countries.  We started with good ole Canadian beer.  I had Moosehead, which is a normal light beer.  Like our neighbors to the North, we did enjoy some good beer.

ENGLAND

Oy, those English dudes were not only HOT, but they made one hell of an English Rose.  It was probably the tastiest drink, mostly because I couldn't even taste the liquor.  That definitely got some high marks in my book.  I even got a souvenir cup with my order, even though it cost me a good $10, it was worth it!  I thought of it as paying for the whole English experience.  The bartenders were BEAUTIFUL, the crowd was awesome, and the drinks were delicious.  While there, we bumped into other people attempting our same mission.


VIVE LE FRANCE!

Just across the bridge is France.  A quaint little section of Disney, but with some amazing characters.  We knew we were at home when we witnessed an acrobatic act using fake wine bottles.  We instantly knew we were at home.  Once in the store, we had a bit of difficulty choosing a wine.  As I was trying to figure out which glass I should get, Albert goes up to one of the "cast members" and asks for Pinot Grigio, when the guy replies "No, that's Italy, THIS is France!"  Beet red, Albert leaned over to me and said, "I'll just take some Chardonnay".  Well, while he got his not Pinot Grigio, I decided to have a try of the wine of the month.  Well, the bottle seemed nice, though I had no idea what I was in for.  It was all in french, and no one told me it was a dessert wine! I was not prepared for something soooo sweet!!  I was even informed that they gave me more than I paid for.

ARABIAN NIGHTS IN MOROCCO

After some very strong and sweet wine, we stumbled our way to Morocco.  There, we decided to take a little break and actually shop for a little bit.  We enjoyed some belly dancing and music, before we went for the alcohol.  They never actually had any Moroccan liquor or alcohol because it's a Muslim country, but they did have some from neighboring countries, such as Sangria and Mimosas.  I had a Mimosa, since I just could not pass up a little champagne. Next to the English Rose, this Mimosa really hit the spot, and after that, I was ready to stumble on to the next country!

JAPAN

After four drinks in such a short amount of time, we decided to eat lunch in Japan.  This meant we were going to indulge in Sake!  Because it was about 100 degrees outside, anyone who got hot or warm sake was just retarded.  Well, we also found out that any sake is probably one of the worst drinks in the whole park.  It was disgusting!  I guess it was really cheap sake because any other time I've had sake, I can't recall it ever being as bad as Disney sake.


ITALY
Unfortunately, this was our last stop.  We were exhausted, drunk and dehydrated.  We tried looking for wine, but there was some construction going on and the restaurant had about an hour wait.  We were also not going to sit and wait for alcohol.  Who does that? We were on a mission that seemed impossible at this point!  Our wallets were also running dry, so we decided to get some awful Italian beer.  Now, please heed my warning: DO NOT BUY ITALIAN BEER... EVER!!!! It is disgusting, and it tastes like tar.  It's not even a dark lager.  Do yourself a favor, and just don't do it... Wait in line for the wine, which is what Italians are good at making.


After our failed attempt, we decided to do the stupid thing and ride the rough rides.  WHAT WERE WE THINKING?! Well, we weren't.  We were groggy, some of us had trouble walking, and there was no way we could even make it to the rides.  Well, we did! And, hey, we had a blast.  TAKE THAT, MICKEY!  We rode test track first.  I'm glad there was an hour wait in line, which gave our heads enough time to clear and actually enjoy the ride.  After that, we hit Mission Space, which put our heads back into the drunken state, then went for a scenic flight over California on Soarin'.

After that, our day at Epcot was officially over.  We may not have successfully had a drink around the world, but we now know what we have to do in order to tackle the feat, first, we need to do this in the fall or winter, we need to start as soon as the park opens, and we need lots more MULLAH!!!

Mission: Epcot, Drinking Around the World

As part of Albert's bday, we have decided to go to Disney.  We haven't been there in a long time, and now that we're both over 21, why not drink around the world at Epcot!  I didn't quite know how we would tackle this, and now that we're about to leave, I've decided to do a bit of research.

As of now, everyone says that this College kid's dream is a lot harder than it seems.  Some people have it down to a science.  According to an article on ehow.com, entitled, How to Drink Around the World (And Survive!), I was advised to start in Canada and work my way around the world showcase counter-clockwise.  This works out for me because that leaves Mexico last, and I won't have to tackle my body's hate for tequila until the very end.  While researching, I also found a website dedicated to drinking around the world, called drinkaroundtheworld.net.

I went ahead and posted a list of all the drink served at the 11 countries.

I found out that the park opens at 9AM, but the world showcase only opens at 11AM, which only gives us about 10 hours to complete our drinking venture.  The way I figure, we could take advantage of the 2 hour gap, eat a BIG breakfast (I'm thinking Mickey waffles) and get all the educational rides out of the way.

Once the world showcase actually opens, it's only a matter of time before my liver and the rest of my body can handle more drinking.  Oh, and after the drinking venture comes to an end, we could end the day watching the fireworks, which should seem even more spectacular from our intoxicated point of view.

Chicken stuffed with Spinach and Ricotta

Hello again!

Well, I managed to snag some chicken breast for $5 at Publix, and found a recipe that I was sure to enjoy.  I love the idea of stuffing poultry because it tends to scream for help from other ingredients.  I love chicken, mostly because you can add so many flavors to it.  It's like a canvas for food.  Today, I decided to stuff it.  I made a very Italian chicken breast stuffed with spinach and ricotta.  I thought of it as a lasagna without the pasta. I decided to serve rolls with it on the side, though Albert thought a salad would be nice instead.  I am not a fan of salads, so I chose not to pay attention to him.  What else is new? haha

In the end, my dish came out delicious! I hope you enjoy it!

INGREDIENTS
3-4 chicken breasts
1 container of ricotta cheese (15 oz)
1 bag of mozzarella (8 oz)
1 box of frozen spinach- thawed and drained: squeeze out all the juice from the spinach
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese-grated
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
1 jar of red pasta sauce, I used vodka sauce (it was on sale!)

DIRECTIONS!
1. pre heat the oven to 350degrees.
2.  Cut a pocket into each breast and season them inside and out with salt and pepper
3.  Put the chicken aside.
4.  In a bowl, mix the spinach, ricotta, eggs, 3/4 of the mozzarella and Parmesan together to create the filling
5.  Fill each chicken breast with the filling and put them in a lightly greased baking dish.
6.  Glop the rest of the filling right over the chicken.
7.  Pour the red sauce over the chicken and top it with the remaining mozzarella cheese
8.  Bake for about 50-60 minutes, and let it cool for about 10 minutes.

ENJOY!!