artichoke & spinach dip

Ingredients:
- 8 oz cream cheese (softened)
- 9 oz. frozen chopped spinach
- 14 oz can (or 10-12 individual) artichoke hearts  (chopped)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 c grated parmesan
- 1/4 c shredded mozzarella
- 1/4 c provolone (or about 2 slices cubed)
- 2 t crushed red pepper flakes
- pinch of salt and pepper


> Simmer the spinach and chopped artichoke hearts in a 1 c of water over medium heat in a small saucepan. Heat until tender, just about 6-10 minutes. Drain.
> In a large bowl mix all the ingredients in with the still hot spinach and artichoke hearts. Combine well.
> Serve immediately with carrots, crackers, tortilla chips, etc. Or put into small oven-safe dishes to bake at a later time.
> Bake in  (toaster) oven (with a little extra parmesan on top if you'd like) at 375° until it's bubbly and starting to brown on top...


Notes:

- instead of using 1/4 c mozzarella and 1/4 c provolone you can substitute all mozzarella or a mozzarella/Italian cheese blend.
- eyeball the amount of artichoke hearts you use if you're like me and have a large jar of marinated artichoke hearts on hand instead of cans.
- if you're using a microwavable thing of spinach, heat it up per directions and then just saute the artichoke hearts in their own oil (or in a splash of olive oil if they came in water) until tender.  Mix everything together like usual.

stuffed mushrooms

My mother-in-law makes these delicious mushrooms stuffed with a sausage mixture, we had them one Christmas and I knew I needed to try my hand at them, and quick - they were SO good. She rattled off the ingredients when I asked for the recipe; she does it by memory and never has measurements. But I forgot what she said by the time I got around to making them. My husband said he'd eat them, but that he disliked how they get so slimy. So I set out to make them non-slimy, and I succeeded. Don't know what I did to be successful in that endeavor, but I'm glad he scarfed them down with a smile.


Ingredients:

> 1 package stuffing mushrooms (washed and patted dry) 14oz.
> 1 package ground pork sausage 16 oz.
> 1 cup of Cabot's Seriously Sharp shredded cheddar cheese
> (optional) 1/8 cup of any other cheese you'd like if you're a cheese lover (american cheese, provolone, parmesan...)
> 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
> 1 small onion finely diced
> 2 cloves of garlic finely diced
> 1/4 cup of quick oats (make sure to use the gluten-free variety if you are sensitive to gluten!)
> (optional) 1 tsp - 1 tbsp of crushed red pepper flakes (if you like things with some spice)

Remove the stems from the mushrooms and finely dice them.
Peel and finely dice your garlic and onion.
Cook up the ground sausage, drain and set aside.
In the same pan you just used for the sausage saute the onion, garlic, and mushroom pieces until the onions are translucent.
Mix the sausage back in along with the pepper and quick oats. Cook, stirring often for 2-5 more minutes.
Remove from heat and mix in cheese.
Stuff your mushroom caps and put in the oven at 350 for 15 mins.
Turn off the oven after 15 minutes and let the mushrooms sit for 5.
Take them out and let them sit for another 2-5 minutes to cool.
Serve and enjoy!

You will most likely have left over stuffing mixture... you'll be happy about it though.
It goes great mixed in with some cooked rice and then baked for a bit, or stuffed into peppers. ^__^