Put a little Zest in your Blizzard

What is it about being snowed in that makes me want to cook non stop? Well, maybe it's because I'm not home often and I've decided to take full advantage of being snowed in. But that can't be it. It's got to be a woman thing. I've read a million different Facebook status updates from friends of the "female" gender, stating that they've been cooking and baking, and baking and cooking. I find it funny that I've heard very little about cleaning.....hum.

Maybe it's all the males fault. I've noticed my two boys eating the entire day. If they are in the house, they have some sort of food in their hand. In fact, my Yankee Kid just came thru the kitchen, opened the pantry, opened each cabinet that contains food, and opened the refrigerator and stated that he was hungry for something sweet.

Of course, all of this food in the house hasn't been the best on my beautiful love handles. After weighing myself this morning, I made an emergency date with the elliptical. Believe me, it's a love hate relationship.

After a hard work out, what could be better................than a lemon cheese bar! I made a batch last night and I will have to tell you that they are pretty delicious! My Cowboy and Yankee Kid both gave them 2 thumbs ups.

With northeastern Oklahoma under another winter storm warning and an additional 4-6 inches of snow, this was a great recipe because it included ingrediants that I already had in my pantry. I guess going to Walmart isn't as important to my Cowboy as it was to me. I didn't have any fresh lemons to get lemon zest, so I just added a little extra lemon juice. I hope you enjoy!


Lemon Cheese Bars

1 package of vanilla or white cake mix
2 eggs
5 tablespoons melted butter
8 oz. cream cheese
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 to 3 teaspoons of finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup sugar

Grease and flour a 13x9 inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat together the cake mix, 1 egg, and butter until well blended. The mixture will be crumbly. Reserve 1 cup of the crumb mixture for later. Pat the remaining crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan to make the crust. Bake the crust for 12 minutes and remove from oven.

In another bowl, beat the cream cheese with the lemon juice, zest, sugar, and the remaining egg. Spoon the cream cheese mixture evenly over the baked crust. Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture over the cream cheese layer. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until topping is lightly browned. Store the leftover bars in the refrigerator.

Until next time,

MW