Summer Treat - Sorbet Pie

Someone at work recently made this delicious sorbet pie. They found the recipe in a Cooking Light magazine but when I searched online, I couldn't find it on their website.
Here are some reasons I love this treat -
It's only 3 ingredients
You can make it ahead of time and freeze it
It's easy
It's relatively healthy

This dessert is great for summer because it's so refreshing and fruity. You can also vary it with different flavors of sorbet or even add fresh fruit to the top. I could not even get a picture of this full made because it was half gone immediately when I put it out at a recent get together!

Sorbet Pie
from Cooking Light Magazine
Ingredients

Oreo pre-made pie crust (you can make your own but if you are short on time like me, the pre-made crust is the way to go!)
Your choice of sorbet (I used strawberry for one layer and mango for another)
Cool whip

Instructions
Let sorbet sit out on the counter for about 10-20 minutes or until it's softened
Spread sorbet into pie crust - you can do one flavor or layers of different flavors
Cover with tin foil and freeze until ready to serve
Just before serving, add top layer of cool whip - or if some people don't like cool whip, allow the ones who do to add it to their own slice
Enjoy!

Smashed Potatoes.. easiest side dish ever!

My favorite vegetable is potatoes. I love any and all types. I know there are healthier veggies out there but I don't care, I love me some potatoes.
For my dinner party I needed something kind of easy that I could make at the same time as the marbella chicken. I chose smashed potatoes. I basically just googled this name and found a variety of websites giving directions for making these, and I adapted it into my own.

Smashed Potatoes
Ingredients

1 bag of red potatoes
1/4 cup milk
A few slices of butter
salt and pepper

Directions
Wash potatoes and put in pot filled with water
Boil potatoes on a low boil for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are soft when poked with fork
Drain potatoes from bowl and put into a large bowl
Add 1/4 cup of milk and a few spoonfulls or slices of butter
Using a potato masher (I didn't have one so I used an egg beater... no joke), smush potatoes in bowl, making sure to leave some small lumps.
Add salt and pepper and serve.

Chicken Marbella

We got a new dining set recently from Rooms to Go, and I absolutely love it. It seats 6 and it's very modern and contemporary. I was very excited to host a dinner party with my new table, so we invited a few friends over and I decided to cook a dinner from my friend Lani's blog because she is an amazing cook and I had this meal at her house recently and loved it.

It was easy to make and everyone liked it. I used chicken quarters but you can basically use any type of bone-in chicken I think. The dried fruit gives the chicken a sweetness in every bite. I served this with smashed potatoes (see my next post).

Chicken Marbella
from Lani's blog

Several pieces of chicken, I used 1/4 chickens (this dish really needs skin-on chicken to keep the meat moist)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup Italian seasoning
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dried apricots
1 cup dried apples
1/2 cup craisins
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white wine
1 bag carrots, peeled and julienned (I used pre-cut carrots)

Combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning, garlic and dried fruit in a bowl. Place the chicken in a large bowl with lid. Pour olive oil mixture on top of the chicken, and let marinate in fridge overnight.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 375. Arrange carrots on the bottom of a large roasting pan. Place chicken and marinade with fruit on top. Sprinkle with brown sugar, and pour wine around chicken. Cover with foil. Bake for 50 minutes, occasionally basting with juices. Remove foil and cook for 10 more minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

It has been SO long since I've posted a new recipe. I've made quite a few new things lately so I'm going to do a few posts in a row.
First up, cheesecake stuffed strawberries!

I first saw these on the Novice Chef's blog and new that I had to make them someday. I love cheesecake, I love strawberries, I love chocolate. I knew it was the recipe for me. So I made this recipe when I was headed to a get together at a friend's home. They went over SO well, everyone raved about this treat. I felt a little guilty taking so much credit for them because it seriously is one of the easiest recipes ever.
One tip, I suggest making them a few hours before you serve them and refridgerating them. After you first assemble them, the cheesecake filling is a little soft and tends to ooze out, so it's best to cool them in the fridge and let it harden a bit.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

Ingredients

2 large crates of fresh strawberries
1 box of Jello no-bake cheesecake
1 potato peeler

Directions
Wash strawberries and cut tops off. Using potato peeler (this was Novice Chef's recommendation and it worked so well!) carve out inside of strawberry from top.
Mix Jello no bake ingredients according to package instructions. This usually is just the powder and milk.
Put cheesecake mixture into a plastic ziploc bag and cut corner to create a squirter. Squirt cheesecake into hollow strawberries, overfilling strawberry slightly.
Dip tops of strawberries with overflowing cheesecake mixture into graham cracker crumbs.
Refridgerate for appx. one hour so cheesecake slightly harden.
*optional* Melt chocolate chips and drizzle over tops of strawberries