Remember when you were little and you would spin a globe around and put your finger on it and exclaim that wherever it landed is where you were going to live when you grew up? Well I have decided to incorporate that mentality into my “what to bake next” routine.  You see, everyday, I Pin recipes, I save recipes to my inbox recipe folder, I tear out recipes from magazines and I mark pages in cookbooks that have recipes that I must make.  However, I have all of these real and virtual piles of recipes, but rarely do I actually make any of them!  And it’s so silly because these recipes are where I find a lot of my inspiration for things I actually am baking in my kitchen each week, so why oh why have I not actually made more of these recipes that have inspired me in the first place?  We are changing that today with these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Truffles.

In this spirit of the “spin the globe” game, I am going to select a recipe from either my Pinterest boards or my inbox from other bloggers who have inspired me and put my own twist on the recipe and share it with you each month.  I may do this once or twice a month and I hope that it will inspire you the way that these recipes inspire me to try new things and to create adorable and scrumptious treats to share.

Last weekend I shared this Pretzel Toffee Fudge with you and suggested that it would be a great addition to a homemade chocolate box to give on Valentine’s Day.

Well, we all like a little variety and so why not add these Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Truffles to that thoughtful gift of yours?

This recipe was adapted from Bakerella who is notorious as the cake pop lady but she also whips up some other sweets and treats that are worthy of recreating.

These Chocolate Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Truffles could not be easier to make and again, will fool your sweetie into thinking that you have slaved all day in the kitchen to make him/her something special.  I rolled my truffles in crushed salted peanuts, but you could roll them in cocoa powder or toss them in some sprinkles as well.

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Sometimes I get in a cooking rut where I seem to make the same things every week for dinner.  Salmon, asparagus and brown rice, chicken fajitas, some type of soup.  Those seem to be the staples and I get sick of them and want something new after awhile.  This week so far, I have made a new recipe each night and much to my (and my husband’s) delight, they have been keepers!

Sunday night I made Falafel with tzatziki sauce.  I make tzatziki sauce somewhat often as a dip or a sauce for salmon, but I had never made homemade falafel.  Just in case these items are new to you, let me tell you a bit about them.

 Falafel and tzatziki sauce are mediterranean in origin.  Falafel is a mixture of ground chickpeas (garbanzo beans), onion, garlic, cumin, coriander and parsley that is formed into patties and pan-seared or fried.  Tzatziki sauce is made from Greek yogurt combined with cucumber, dill and garlic.  I love the combination of flavors that you get when you eat the two together.

I served my falafel over a bed of baby spinach and kale, topped with tzatziki and slopped up with Indian Naan bread.  For the men at my dinner table, I baked chicken breasts to go along side the falafel and smothered the chicken in tzatziki as well.  If you feel like you are in a mealtime rut and want to try something new, I encourage you to sample one of my favorite mediterranean dishes.

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Today is National Peanut Day!  I think it is so hilarious that there are so many “national” food days!  But, since I love peanuts (mostly peanut butter) I thought it was a great reason to round up some of my favorite peanut butter recipes that I have shared with you!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream and Peanut Butter Cups

Peanut Butter, Pretzel and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Crunchy Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars

Chocolate Cookies with Peanut Butter Cups and Sea Salt

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Peanut Butter Fudge Oreo Torte

Peanut Butter Swirl Fudge Brownies

No-bake Choco-oat Peanut Butter Cereal Bars

Peanut Butter Crispy Bars

Deep-dish Peanut Butter Cookies with Peanut Butter M&Ms

Quinoa Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (gluten-free)

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When I think of chocolate pudding, I think of the icebox cake that my grandma used to make me as a child.  There was something magically delicious about that boxed-mix chocolate pudding layered between graham crackers and sprinkled with “jimmies” as my grandma used to call them.  I loved the way the pudding softened the graham crackers so that they became as soft as a freshly baked cake.  And the slight crunch from the sprinkles balanced out all of the soft “cake”.

My mother-in-law used to make homemade chocolate pudding for my husband and his brothers when they were growing up and they all rave about how satisfying the warm pudding was just after it was set and ready to eat.  When I found this recipe for homemade instant chocolate pudding mix, I first thought about what a fun gift it would make to give the mix in a jar with a cute ribbon and instructions attached for how to make the pudding.  This would be a great Christmas gift or an addition to a food basket you are giving.  I was also excited that this pudding recipe did not use egg yolks like most custards require and I was anxious to see what would happen if I made the pudding with skim milk and fat free half-and-half instead of heavy cream.

I am happy to report that the lighter pudding lacked nothing in flavor or consistency and was just as thick, luscious and chocolatey as I had hoped it would be.

I sprinkled mine with “jimmies” in honor of my grandma’s icebox cake.

combine all pudding mix ingredients

put pudding mix into saucepan

add milk mixture and whisk

heat and bring to a boil, whisking constantly then reduce heat and continue cooking 4 more minutes

pour through mesh sieve into serving dishes

cover with plastic wrap touching top of pudding

chill, then serve

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Here is what I shared with you this week:

Zucchini Coconut Muffins

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles (and a review of The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook by Lindsay Landis)

And here’s what I bookmarked this week.  It looks like I was craving pasta!  I cannot wait to make each of these recipes!

Roasted Vegetable Mac & Cheese from Gimme Some Oven

Peanut Butter-filled Brownie Cookie Sandwiches form Blue Eyed Bakers

Roasted Cherry Tomato Cappellini from Yummy Mummy

No-bake S’mores Bars from The Domestic Rebel

Have a lovely weekend!

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