Sesame Noodles with Cucumber and Carrots

What You'll Need:

1 package thin spaghetti (or another stringy noodle, if you prefer)

1 cup orange juice (I prefer Simply Orange, which you can buy in small bottles if you're like me and don't drink OJ on a regular basis)

1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp grated, peeled fresh ginger

2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 10 oz bag shredded carrots

3 Kirby (or pickling) cucumbers, unpeeled and sliced into matchstick strips

2 green onions, thinly sliced

2 tbsp sesame seeds

How To Make It:

In a large pot, cook the spaghetti as the package directs. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the orange juice, vinegar, soy sauce, peanut butter, oil, ginger, sugar, and red pepper until blended as best you can (an immersion blender would work really well for this, but a whisk will work just fine.) Set the sauce aside. Place the carrots in a colander, and drain the spaghetti over the carrots. Place the pasta and carrots in a large serving bowl and add the cucumbers, green onions, and sauce. Toss everything to combine well. Sprinkle the pasta with sesame seeds, and serve!

Fail-Proof Chicken

You literally cannot screw up this chicken. Seriously. It's that easy.

What You'll Need:

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 packet dry Italian dressing mix

1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened

2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup

How To Make It:

Place the chicken in your slow cooker, and sprinkle it with the dressing mix. In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese and soup. Pour the soup mixture over the chicken. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Shred the chicken with a fork (it'll be really tender!) and serve over rice or noodles. Or, do what I did: I served mine over leftover breakfast biscuits. So yummy!

Pumpkin Cheesecake

What You'll Need:

1 store-bought graham cracker crust, extra large, or 2 regular-sized graham cracker crusts*

3 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin

3 eggs

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

Homemade whipped cream and extra cinnamon for dusting, if you fancy

How To Make It:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add the pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice, and beat until everything is combined and there are no lumps of pumpkin in the batter. Pour the filling into the crust(s), and bake for 60-70 minutes until done. A cheesecake is done when the center still shimmers a bit when you wiggle the pan. The edges puff up a bit as well. If it starts to crack, it's a little overdone, but still edible! You're going to slice it up anyway, right? Once the cheesecake cools to room temperature, stick it in the fridge until it's cooled all the way and you're ready to eat it.

*This recipe makes quite a bit of cheesecake batter- I still had a healthy amount left over, even when I used the extra-large pie crust. If you use 2 regular sized crusts, your cheesecakes will be a bit more shallow than normal, but delicious nonetheless. You may want to lessen the cooking time by 10 minutes or so.