Stuffing Stuffed Mushrooms

These stuffed mushrooms were a big hit at Thanksgiving. Super easy to make (especially if someone else makes the stuffing!)

20 large white mushrooms (about 2 pounds total),stems removed
1 cup stuffing
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. On a lightly greased baking sheet, bake the mushroom caps, stem sides down, for 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the stuffing and cheese. Flip the mushroom caps over and mound the stuffing into each one. Bake until the mushrooms are tender and the stuffing is golden, about 20 minutes.

3. Eat. mmmmmm...

I got this recipe from Rachael Ray Magazine....

Dump Cake

This is the easiest dessert recipe ever. i keep the three ingredients on hand most of the time in case there is a Dessert Emergency and i have to whip something up real quick.

1 Box White Cake Mix (generic brand is fine)
1 Stick butter, melted
1 or 2 cans of Pie Filling, any flavor. I prefer Cherry

Pour cake mix into a bowl. melt the butter. pour melted butter slowly over the cake mix and then combine until all cake mix is moistened. it will be very lumpy and somewhat crumbly.

in a pyrex dish, pour in the pie filling. Take the cake mixture and crumble it over the pie filling to make a 'crust' of sorts. fill in any gaps. this doesn't have to be pretty...it'll be lumpy and bumpy.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until browned.

Serve! yummo!

I also saw a variation of this online using devil's food cake mix and cherry filling. it looked delicious!

Pass the Butter

My friend Mariesa sent this to me today, and it really grossed me out. i think i'm switching to butter:

Pass The Butter
Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, those who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product. It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter.

DO YOU KNOW..the difference between margarine and butter?

*Both have the same amount of calories.
*Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5 grams.
*Margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.
*Butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.
*Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few ONLY because they are added!
*Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods.
*Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years. And it is all natural.

And now, for Margarine..
-Very high in trans fatty acids.
-Triple risk of coronary heart disease.
-Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol)
-Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold.
-Lowers quality of breast milk.
-Decreases immune response.
-Decreases insulin response.

And here's the most disturbing fact....
-Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC.
This fact alone is enough to avoid margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

You can try this yourself:
Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a couple of things:
* no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something)
* it does not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional value; nothing will grow on it even those teeny weeny microorganisms will not a find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic. Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?

Cream Cheese Hamburger

So, this is the verbal recipe i got from my neighbor Paul. You're gonna have to eyeball it bc i didnt get measurements, but we've all made hamburgers before, right? Here goes:

Ground Beef (he said to get the not-so-lean kind bc otherwise, they crumble too easily)
Block of cream cheese (dont get the kind in the tub)
Cilantro
Worschester Sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix the ground beef, salt, pepper, desired amount of cilantro and worschester sauce together in a bowl. divide into desired sizes for patties. Take one of those patties and tear it in half, and pat down to a patty shape. take about a 1" cube of cream cheese and mold it into a ball and place it atop the 1/2 patty. Take the rest of that patty and put it atop the cream cheese and mold it around until the cream cheese is surrounded by ground beef. don't flatten the patty. it should be in a ball shape.

put it on the grill, foreman, or frying pan. as it cooks, press down on it with a spatula as the cheese melts to make it a flatter patty shape. be careful tho as it will begin to try to break apart. Cook to desired doneness.

Place on bun, top with sliced avacado and bacon. Enjoy!!

for the corn on the cob, wrap ears in tin foil, top each with a pat of cream cheese sprinkled with cilantro. put in the oven on broil for about 15 minutes or until done. YUMMO!

Thanks Paul!!

Swedish Chef

My favorite muppet character... and he's in the kitchen, so it's appropriate for my blog :)

Happy Monday :)

Grocery List

Ever go to the store all organized with a list, just to find out as you're waiting in the checkout line that you forgot ONE thing bc it wasn't grouped in with the veggies or dairy foods? Well, those days are over. Check out this grocery list Martha sent me this morning. Organized into nice, neat little categories. Makes it easy for you to print out your list and get everything you need while you're in that section of the store.

Thanks Martha!!! You Rock!

Download the PDF here.

Thanksgiving for Lunch

My favorite meal of the day is lunch, and my favorite thing to make is a sandwich. Since i've given up potato chips, i have to get creative with my side dishes for my sandwiches, bc you know, you HAVE to have something with a sandwich. Them's the rules.

So, today was Thanksgiving lunch day. Here's what i made:

Turkey and cheese sandwich with Cranberry and Spinach and a side of sweet potatoes.

Sandwich:
Two pieces of wheat bread
Turkey lunch meat
White cheese (i use Monterrey Jack)
Whole Cranberry cranberry sauce
Baby spinach

Sweet Potatoes:
Sweet Potato
Brown sugar
Butter

Sweet Potatoes - wash, peel and cube sweet potato. Put into a bowl and nuke until soft. Take out fo the microwave and add butter and light brown sugar to taste (about 2 Tbsp of each).

Put the turkey and cheese on the sandwich, 1/2 of each on each slice. Toast open faced. After toasted, spread on desired amount of cranberry on one slice, top with a handful of spinach, top with the other slice of bread.

MMMMM...Fajitas!

Quick and easy. i make this a lot after i get home from the gym bc it's easy to do and full of protein.


Ingredients
• Tortillas (big ones...I used wheat and they cracked a lot. might want to use flour)
• Fajita Meat (my grocery store, HEB, sells it preseasoned/prepackaged, so i just cut it open and grill)
• Avacado
• Onion
• Green Pepper
• Can of Black Beans
• Can of diced tomatoes
• Bag of Uncle Ben's Santa Fe 90 second rice
• Sour Cream, Shredded Cheese and Salsa if desired


Put the Fajita meat on your George Foreman grill (or an outdoor grill if you're feeling adventurous) and cook it up. i like it about medium, so check it for pinkness. While that's cookin, open the beans and warm in a saucepan. Open the rice and stick it in the microwave (but don't cook it yet). Start slicing up onions and peppers and set aside.

Slice up avacado and put into a bowl. Open tomatoes and put into a bowl.

Once the fajita meat is almost to your desired doneness, throw the onions and green peppers on top of it and grill them up. This works great with a George Foreman/Clamshell type grill. Not sure the best way to do it if you're using an outdoor grill.... might need to put them on earlier. Once you do that, turn on the rice for 90 seconds.

When it's all done (i like my veggies a little charred, so i leave them on till they're striped) plate it up. Tortilla, spread on sour cream, meat, peppers/onions, tomatoes, avacado, sprinkle with cheese. My BF likes the beans and rice right on the fajita, i prefer it to the side. Your choice.

Put chips and salsa on the table, and Voila, you have dinner.

This takes me right at 30 min to do. Eat your heart out Rachael Ray! :)

BLT Tomatoes

Or would that just be "BL Tomatoes??" either way, they're awesome. i've made them as an appetizer and with a meal as a side dish. easy to do and yummy too.

Ingredients:
Cherry Tomatoes (i tend to buy the ones on the vine as they're larger than the ones in the container)
Bacon (i use turkey bacon)
Romain lettuce
Mayo
Dijon Mustard

Cut the stem tops off the tomatoes leaving a hole large enough to stuff the stuff into.

Hollow out the tomato with a paring knife, discarding the innards.

While you're doing this, either fry up or nuke the bacon til crispy. make sure it's crispy bc it's just not the same when it's limp.

Cut up the romaine lettuce (the amount depends on how many tomatoes you're making, but it's really just kind of a garnish anyway. See photo for an idea of how much to use).

In a zipper bag, combine a couple tbsps of mayo and about 1/2 that amount of the mustard (you could also use something spicier or just use chiptole mayo or something...it's up to your taste). When mixed, cut a corner off the bag so you can squeeze the contents out into the tomato.

Start by shoving some lettuce into the tomato (push it down with your finger or a butter knife). Squirt in some mayo. Top with bacon crumbled into little pieces. i use a lot of bacon, but again, it's up to your tastes.

And Voila! You're done. and it's oh so fancy.

[and i can't take all the credit. i got this out of Rachael Ray's Fall magazine]

Brownie Bites

So, i bought some 'cookies' at the store on the 30th in anticipation of having to bring something with me to a halloween party. Well, all the parties fell thru, so i was left with 24 break and bake cookies in the fridge. Well, today i got a craving, so i opened em up (ah, the joys of working from home...cookies at any time!). But, when i opened them, i realized they were a bit mushier and chocolatier than normal. and super brown chocolaty. so i reread the label, and my oh my.... they're BROWNIE BITES!!! oh wow. so, they bake up and look like cookies, but they taste like brownies. YUMMO!

Go buy some. NOW!