Valentine's Day (with dessert recipe!)

Valentine's Day was awesome. It was low key and perfect. We got off work a little bit early so we could go to dinner before the rush of the dinner dates happened. We decided to hit up Texas Roadhouse and we got there about 4:30. It was absolutely packed! We got up to the counter and they told us it would be about a 75 minute wait. There was no way we were going to wait that long, even it meant going to cheap, quick food.

We went out to wait in our car instead of in the crowded restaurant, and I decided to call around to see if any other places had a shorter wait time. I called a place right across the parking lot called Firehouse Grill. We'd never eaten there before so I figured it was worth a shot. I called and asked if they had a waiting time and what do you know, they didn't! We immediately gave our little buzzer thing to someone else in line, and we were off. We got in immediately and got our food within 10 minutes. The food was great and just right for us: not too fancy but not fast food either.

After dinner, we ran to Walmart to get a few things for some desserts I was going to make. I decided on my mom's fantastic cheesecake recipe and an Oreo icebox dessert I found on Pinterest. They turned out fantastic (as you can see in the picture). Both of them are almost gone, but I'm pretty sure my dad and Ethan have a lot to do with that!

Apparently I can't give out the cheesecake recipe (it's not actually my mom's to give out), but here's the recipe for the Oreo ice box dessert...

Oreo Icebox Dessert (from here)

1 (15 oz.) package Oreos, crushed
6 T. butter, melted
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened (I used neufchatel cheese)
1 c. confectioners' sugar
1 large (5.1 oz.) box instant chocolate pudding + milk to prepare, as specified on the pudding package (I used sugar free which will make the ounces on the package less)
1 large (16 oz.) container Cool Whip whipped topping (I used 1 8 oz container of Lite Cool Whip)

Directions

1.  Set aside about 1/4 cup crushed Oreos.  Mix remaining crushed Oreos with the melted butter.  Press into the bottom of a 9x13" pan.
2.  Combine cream cheese and confectioners' sugar; mix well.  Fold in 1/2 of the Cool Whip until well combined.  Spread the cream cheese mixture over the crushed Oreo layer.  Chill for 20 minutes.
3.  Prepare chocolate pudding according to package directions.  Spread over cream cheese layer.  Chill for 20 minutes.
4.  Spread remaining Cool Whip over the pudding layer.  Sprinkle reserved crushed Oreos on top.  Chill for 8 hours or overnight before serving.