Stuffed Mushrooms

I usually make this appetizer to use up the rest of the mushrooms before they go bad. It doesn't look very appetizing, but --YUM-- it is.


8-10 medium mushrooms, firm, closed caps
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp minced onion or green onion (I just dash onion powder)
1/4 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c soft bread crumbs*
1/4 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp water
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Wash mushroom quickly under running water; drain on paper towels. Pull stems and chop finely. Melt butter in skillet over med/low heat; add chopped stems and onion. Saute till tender. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, bread crumbs, cheese, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle salt over mushroom caps and fill with sauteed mixture, mounding over the top. At this point, you may cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Before serving, put 2 Tbsp water in shallow dish and arrange mushrooms in dish. Bake for about 20 min. Serve hot.

*To make soft bread crumbs: Use fork to tear apart bread on cutting board. 1 slice = 1/2 c crumbs.

Chicken Pillows

Ingredients:
2 pkg. Crescent Rolls
2 C. Cooked Chicken (If David is home to start the grill then I grill it. If not, then I just boil it. I usually use about 3 chicken breasts. I also just cut the cooked chicken into small pieces but you could shred it too. )
1 (8 oz) pkg. Cream Cheese (easier if it is at room temp)
1 T. Chopped Onion
1/4 C. Melted Butter
Bread Crumbs (I use Italian but any works)

Instructions:
1. Mix: Cooked chicken, cream cheese, and onion in a bowl. (I usually wash my hands and mix it)
2. Place one rounded spoonful of meat mixture on wide end of crescent roll wedge. Pull dough around mixture toward the point while pulling the small end wider. Tuck ends and pinch dough together to make sure that the mixture is covered.
3. Dip the "pillow" in melted butter and roll in bread crumbs.
4. Bake 20-25 min @ 400

Sauce:
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 C. sour cream (or milk)
1/2 C. shredded cheese

Heat mixture together and serve over pillows

***for re-heating it tastes better if you can warm them up again in the oven....but the microwave works too!

Filo Onion Rolls

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

•8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
•2 cups grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese
•2 onions, chopped
•3 cloves garlic, minced
•1/4 cup butter
•1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
•1/8 tsp. pepper
•18 (9" x 14") sheets filo dough, thawed
•More melted butter (I use about 1/3 cup)


Directions:

In medium bowl, mix cream cheese and Gruyere. Set aside. In heavy skillet, sauté onions in 1/4 cup butter until very soft and beginning to brown, 10-15 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook another 1 minute. Cool 20 minutes. Mix together onion mixture and cheese mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Place one sheet filo dough on work surface. Brush with melted butter. Lay another sheet on top, brush with butter, and put one more sheet on top.

Take the onion mixture, divide it into six parts, and form a roll about 1 inch in diameter down one short edge of the stacked filo. Roll up carefully and place on cookie sheet. Brush thoroughly with more butter. Repeat with remaining filo and filling, making six rolls total. I place three rolls on each cookie sheet. Cover well with plastic wrap and chill overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F and remove the rolls from the refrigerator. Bake for 10-17 minutes or until rolls begin to brown and cheese filling melts. Let stand 5 minutes, then, using a very sharp knife, cut rolls into 1" pieces. Let cool for 5-10 minutes, then serve. The onion filling right out of the oven is super-hot. Serves 8-10. (Mine got too flat when they cooked as a roll and were cut after. I think in the past I have cut the rolls and then stood them up to bake, they held a rounder shape that way.)

You can also freeze these rolls. Wrap well in freezer wrap, label, and freeze up to 3 months. To bake frozen rolls, place rolls on cookie sheets and bake at 375 degrees F for 15-23 minutes or until the rolls are beginning to brown and crisp and cheese melts. Proceed as directed above.

AMAZING Bacon wrapped Smokies!

Bacon Wrapped Smokies

1 package lil smokies ( I use all beef)
1 package bacon
brown sugar

Cut bacon into thirds, and roll smokies in one piece of bacon. Then roll in brown sugar. Put a tooth pick through the center. Place all the smokies in a 9x13 and sprinkle with more brown sugar (heavily). Bake at 350 for about 40 min. Serve warm!
* A whole pack of bacon should equal a whole pack of smokies!

Stuffed Jalapenos

30 jalepenos
2 blocks cream cheese (I used fat free but you can use which ever kind you want)
1 lb. lean pork sausage or 1 package bacon (I used turkey bacon but again you can you which ever kind you want)

Wearing gloves, wash jalepenos then cut lengthwise in half and scoop out all the seeds. For the sausage kind, cook sausage in a pan until done and add the blocks of cream cheese until melted and mixed well. Scoop this mixture into the jalapeno half and place on baking sheet. Cook on 300 for 1 hour.

For the bacon kind, scoop the cream cheese (just right out of the package) into the jalapeno half and top with a piece of bacon just long enough to cover the whole top (you can also wrap the bacon all the way around the jalepeno but this only works for regular bacon). Place on baking sheet and cook on 300 for 1 hour.