New Blog Name & Recipes

So, I've decided to change up the name of my blog. Since my house is always crazy and my kids drive me nuts, I thought "The Mad House" is pretty much the right title for my life. Anyway, we just got back from our ward Harvest Party and everyone was raving over the cheesecake that I brought. So, I thought I'd share the recipe for that and the white chili I made.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

For The Crust:
4 1/2 cups crushed Oreo cookies
6 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

For The Filling:
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese , softened
5 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter (not natural-style)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1 bag bite sized Reese's Peanut Butter cups, cut in half

Preheat oven to 275° placing an oven proof dish with water in the bottom of your oven, this will help so the cheesecake doesn't crack.

To make the crust, crush the oreos, either in a zip loc bag (this is what I do) or in a food processor. Then add the butter to the cookie crumbs and mix well. Pat the crust mixture onto bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan. **Mine is only 8 inches, so I also put some in a muffin tin lined with papers. With this recipe I can get one 8 inch cheesecake and 9 muffin size cheesecakes.**

For the filling, make sure the cream cheese is nice and soft before mixing. Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth, add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add sugar, peanut butter and cream; mix until smooth. Stir in vanilla, then fold in peanut butter cup pieces with a rubber spatula. Pour filling into prepared crust. Place the filled springform pan on a cookie sheet (mine always leaks and then butter gets all on the bottom of my oven while I'm cooking it.) Bake at 275°F 1 hour 35 minutes, or until firm and lightly browned. **The muffin tin cheesecakes take 35 minutes** Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for one hour. Run a knife along the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan somewhat. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

White Chicken Chili

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon oil
2 cans (15 1/2 ounces each) Pinto Beans
1 can white hominy, drained (I use a big one, you can use a smaller one depending on how much you like hominy)
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth
2 cans (4 ounces each) chopped green chilies
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried cilantro (you can find this in the mexican food isle by all of the little packets of spices)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups sour cream

In a large saucepan, saute chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, hominy, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream. Garnish with fresh cilantro, if desired. Serve immediately. This is really good with tortilla chips or cornbread.