Snowman Cheeseball

I made this awesome snowman cheeseball (actually two of them) for Christmas this year!  I adapted the recipe I found via Pinterest on Babble.

Here is the recipe:


Ingredients

3 – 8 oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
4 cups Italian blend shredded cheese
3 teaspoons almond basil pesto, recipe follows (or a couple tbsp of pesto - that's what I did)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Almond Basil Pesto

A handful of fresh basil
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 clove garlic
2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

Decoration

nose – carrot
eyes and buttons – raisins
crown – rosemary, or you could do a hat with stacked crackers
arms – asparagus, green onions or pretzels
on crown – cranberries
scarf – green onion (I used 2 pieces attached in the back with toothpicks and held on with a cocktail toothpick in the front), carrot or radish shaving
mouth – red pepper or currants
optional – add a corn pipe, a chunk of baby corn on the end of a toothpick

Method

1. Make pesto first in the food processor by adding basil, almonds, garlic, salt and pepper to processor. Pulse until chopped. Turn processor on and stream in olive oil until pesto is movable.

2. Add cream cheese and pesto to a large bowl. Use a hand mixer to blend the pesto through the cream cheese. Add shredded cheese and use hands to incorporate. Divide the cheese into 1/3 for the head and 2/3 for the body. Make into a ball in your hands. Roll in grated Parmesan and place on platter. Refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours.

2. Decorate snowman with carrot, asparagus, raisins, cranberries, green onion, red pepper, and rosemary.

I also did a Mexican version with mexi blend cheese and chipotle salsa instead of pesto (you could use smoked chipotle peppers but I couldn't find any).

I received a lot of compliments on these!

Stuffed Mushrooms

I had to try this stuffed mushroom recipe.  It was easy and didn't involve too many ingredients that weren't on hand already. 

I did quite a bit of adjusting to the amounts here, I only needed enough for me.  I used six large "stuffing" mushrooms, 2 cloves garlic (which I promptly burnt and had to pick the dark pieces out!), 1 green onion, and guessed on everything else.

I don't have a food processor, so I had to mince everything by hand. Otherwise, everything was made per the recipe.  Oh yeah, I forgot to hold out the parsley for garnish as well and only had dried thyme.  With all of these changes, these were still pretty good!  So please try these:)



Recipe from Baked Bree

24 mushrooms
2 shallots
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup white wine
8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley chopped

Wipe the mushrooms off with a damp paper towel. Remove the stems and save them. Put the mushroom stems, shallots, and garlic in the food processor.
Pulse until it is finely chopped.
Saute the mushroom and shallot mixture in a large saute pan over medium high heat with 1 Tablespoon olive oil. Cook until the shallots are transparent and the mushroom begin to caramelize, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Add the white wine and let the wine cook out. Set aside and let cool slightly.
In a bowl, add the cream cheese, parsley (save a bit for garnish), and thyme.
Add the mushroom mixture to the cream cheese and mix until combined. Season with salt and pepper.
Put the mushroom caps on a baking sheet lined with tin foil. Fill the mushroom with the filling and sprinkle the top with the breadcrumbs.
Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. When the mushrooms are done, they will start to leak water and be hot all the way through.
Garnish the the remaining parsley.

Ham & Cheese Sliders

These were a perfect Sunday treat while we watched football.  So good! I didn't have any poppy seeds, so we omitted those but they were still delicious! I also omitted the mayo on the rolls, and it was perfect.

Courtesy of Annie's Eats

For the sandwiches:
24 slider rolls (I used Hawaiian rolls)
24 slices honey ham
24 small slices Swiss cheese
Mayonnaise

For the sauce:
1½ tbsp. yellow mustard
8 tbsp. butter, melted
1 tbsp. finely minced onion (or 2 tsp. dried minced onion)
½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Poppy seeds, for sprinkling

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Split the slider rolls and spread the insides lightly with mayonnaise. Fold a slice of ham to fit on each slider bun, and top with a slice of Swiss cheese. Replace the top bun to assemble the sandwiches. Place the sandwiches on a baking sheet.

To make the sauce, combine all ingredients except the poppy seeds in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Drizzle the sauce over the tops of the slider buns. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Cover with foil and bake 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted. Remove the foil and bake 2 minutes longer. Serve warm.

Turkey & Swiss Crescent Rolls

I put these together tonight for a very quick dinner when we wanted something light. 

Ingredients
Crescent Rolls (large can)
Deli Sliced Turkey
Swiss Cheese

Prepare crescent rolls as per package directions, but lay turkey and swiss slices on the crescent dough before rolling the crescent rolls.  Bake as directed and enjoy!

Veggie Pizza

This is one of my staples for holidays, parties, etc.  Modified from allrecipes.com

The link calls for dried dill, but I do not like that flavor so I omitted it. 

Ingredients
2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent rolls
1 cup sour cream
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1 (1 ounce) package ranch dressing mix
Veggies as needed (I use tomatoes, broccoli, shredded carrots, but you can add anything you want here)
Cheddar cheese

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a jellyroll pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2.Pat crescent roll dough into a jellyroll pan. Let stand 5 minutes. Pierce with fork.
3.Bake for 10 minutes, let cool.
4.In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine sour cream, cream cheese, dill weed, garlic salt and ranch dip mix. Spread this mixture on top of the cooled crust. Arrange the onion, carrot, celery, broccoli, radish, bell pepper and broccoli on top of the creamed mixture. Cover and let chill. Once chilled, cut it into squares and serve.

Cocktail Meatballs

From Allrecipes.com

I made these for my son's birthday party and received lots of compliments on them.  I also triped the recipe and it fit in my big crockpot. 

Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons minced onion

1 (8 ounce) can jellied cranberry sauce
3/4 cup chili sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, egg, water, bread crumbs, and minced onion. Roll into small meatballs.
3.Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, turning once.
4.In a slow cooker or large saucepan over low heat, blend the cranberry sauce, chili sauce, brown sugar, and lemon juice. Add meatballs, and simmer for 1 hour before serving.

Chicken Enchiladas Roll-Ups

I got this recipe from Annie's Eats and made them for Superbowl tomorrow. They are fantastic (of course I had to try a couple to test them).  I used Mission sun dried tomato basil tortillas, and I put leg quarters in the slow cooker for the meat. 

Edit - eat these the day you make them. I threw them in the fridge, and tried them the next day - WAY too mushy!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup shredded cheese (cheddar, Mexican blend, pepper jack, etc.)
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
2 tsp. chili powder
½ tsp. cumin
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
Salt, to taste
Handful of cilantro, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles, drained well
4-6 8-inch tortillas

Directions:
Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Cook in a skillet over medium-high heat until lightly browned and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and let cool.
In the meantime, combine all of the remaining ingredients except tortillas in a large mixing bowl. Mix until well blended. Once the chicken is cool, transfer to a cutting board and chop or shred into small pieces. Add the chicken to the filling mixture and stir well to incorporate.
Spread a thin layer of the filling mixture over a tortilla, leaving a small border clear around the edge. Roll the tortilla up tightly into a spiral. Place the rolled up tortilla on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to cut into 1- to 1½-inch thick segments. Transfer to a serving platter and serve chilled or at room temperature.

Garlicky Cheese Bites

Delicious. From Joy of Cooking.

1 can (8 oz.) Pillsbury refrigerated garlic-flavored breadsticks (or you can use regular breadsticks and sprinkle them with garlic powder)
4 sticks mozzarella string cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups marinara sauce, heated

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24 mini muffin cups with cooking spray. Unroll breadstick dough. Cut dough crosswise into thirds; separate into 24 strips. Cut each cheese stick into 6 equal pieces (24 pieces total).
Place 1 cheese piece on short end of each dough strip; roll up cheese piece in dough. Pinch and seal dough to completely cover cheese. Place rolls, seam side down, in muffin cups. Turn rolls in cups to coat all sides with cooking spray. Lightly sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Remove from pans to serving platter. Serve warm with marinara sauce for dipping.