Stuffed Mushrooms

Can you believe it’s already February?! Where the heck did January go? It seems like yesterday was new years (I guess I better start remembering that it’s 2012 when I write the date..)

New Years weekend Lance and I started working on a quick little master bedroom remodel. We have lived in our house for almost a year and a half now, and it felt like it was about time for us to do something about our lackluster room.

Before: Just a bed in an almost empty room

As our Christmas gifts to each other we decided to get a matching furniture set for our bedroom. That task turned out to be harder than expected – we went to countless furniture stores all throughout the months of November & December searching for something that we loved and that was in our price range. We ended up finding something perfect – and that was really good quality (that was high on Lance’s requirements…mine were a bit more superficial)

Lance cleaning the carpet in our freshly painted room

While we were waiting for our furniture to come in, I somehow managed to convince Lance that we should paint our bedroom and clean the carpets to “get ready”. So we picked out some paint and cranked it out in one day, then cleaned the carpets the next (Lance’s company has a commercial carpet cleaning truck so it makes it a little easier).

After!

We got the furniture all set up and I picked up a few frames and a new canvas print to hang up on the walls. I love having artwork/pictures up, it makes a room feel much more lived in.

Finally put up pictures from our wedding (almost 4 years ago haha)

I went with this print, mostly because it reminded me of New Orleans :)

I love the end result – and really love our new furniture! We also painted the bathroom and added a piece of artwork in there as well. Now the whole room is a bit more cohesive :)

Now that it’s already time for the Super Bowl, I figure I getter start sharing a few more of my favorite snacks and dips!

Stuffed mushrooms are one of those appetizers that are really great for entertaining. They are fancy enough for a more formal gathering (like holiday parties or dinner parties – I served them at my Wine and Cheese Tasting back in October) but they are also easy enough to have at a more simple gathering. If you are going to be serving a crowd, I would recommend doubling this recipe. It doesn’t take too much more prep time – the longest part is stuffing them, and you will be happy you did! They tend to be a crowd favorite – and are highly addictive due to their small size.

These are also really easy to make ahead, just follow the directions up to stuffing them. Once you have all the mushrooms stuffed, just lay them all out on your baking sheet, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to bake them. I’d recommend prepping them no more than 24 hours in advance.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

24 whole fresh mushrooms

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

¼ cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, plus more for garnish

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

 

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel and carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.

 

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool.

 

When garlic and mushroom mixture is no longer hot, stir in cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper until creamy but still very thick. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing.

 

Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps. Once mushrooms have cooled slightly, transfer to a serving tray and garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.

 

Recipe adapted from All Recipes