Classic Stuffed Mushrooms

 

I’ve been feeling productive lately. Aside from keeping up this blog (never mind that this is only the second post), a lot of other things are getting done around our house, and I love it. I’ve organized and cleaned out my closet. It’s something I truly geek out about. Sorting by color, style, occasion…you catch my drift. Nathan sorted through his clothes too, and we now have a big ol’ box waiting to be taken to the local Goodwill. I have three huge tubs of baby/toddler clothes to take to the consignment store downtown tonight. And after sitting nearly untouched since our move—which was three months ago—the garage is finally looking good. The best part? It doesn’t cause me anxiety every time I get in the car. Seriously. It was that bad. It feels good to start the year with big items crossed off our ever-growing to-do list. 

Even though we’ve been cleaning like it’s our jobs (well, for me it kind of is as a stay-at-home mama), we’ve gotten some great quality time with boys lately, Tomaz the cat included. Our not-a-baby baby is big enough to participate in some “big kid” activities. He wants to be wherever his big brother is and do whatever he is doing. We’re having fun watching him grow, and I get a good laugh at his desire to be right in the mix during wrestling with daddy. We played a lot of cars, Transformers and Legos (Duplos) this past weekend. All of which, I can tell you from experience, kill a bare foot if stepped upon. 

  

Now for the ‘shrooms. This was my first time making stuffed mushrooms, and I am hooked. My sister-in-law Kate and I were talking meal ideas and food over the holidays (while stuffing our own faces, of course, that’s a holiday given!), and she shared that she makes stuffed mushrooms a lot and uses what she has on hand. That’s when I knew I needed to make them. I enjoy everything-but-the-kitchen-sink cooking, and I am a mushroom lover, so this was a done deal. There’s nothing fancy about these babies. The beauty of this recipe, an Ashley original, is that you can adjust the seasonings as you like. I decided to go very traditional, hence “classic” but there is a lot of potential here. May you be inspired by the mushroom! And the cream cheese. Definitely the cream cheese.

Classic Stuffed Mushrooms

Source: Ashley original

24-30 white mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed (save stems)

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

3 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 Tbsp. parsley flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom of a baking dish and place the mushroom caps upside down on the dish. In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, garlic and parsley flakes, and mix well. Finely chop half of the mushrooms stems (save the remainder for another use) and add them to the bowl and thoroughly incorporate. Transfer cream cheese mixture to a re-sealable plastic bag. Cut a small hole (but large enough for the mushroom pieces to pass) in one corner of the bag. Using the “piping” bag just created, fill the mushroom caps evenly with the cream cheese mixture. Bake mushrooms for 30 minutes or until they are soft in appearance and the cream cheese mixture is slightly browned on top.