Savory Herb-Stuffed Mushrooms

My very first experience with stuffed mushrooms made for a pretty tasty lunch today. I've been craving mushrooms for the past few days so I decided to look up a recipe, and since I can't resist cream cheese these caught my eye. The recipe is from Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee off the foodnetwork.com. 

The original recipe is actually for appetizers, so instead of 24 medium mushrooms I used 2 Portobellos. The only difference it really made was there wasn't as much of the mushroom stems in the stuffing as the recipe called for. I think it would probably be better with the more mushrooms as the original calls for...so the smaller mushrooms would probably be the way to go. However, I'm going ahead and posting what I did rather than the original recipe.

Notes:

• Next time I think I'll add some Mozzarella on top and allow it to melt in the oven 
• I could also go for some more cream cheese
• I eyeballed and taste-tested everything so I may be way off the original
• (from original) 24 medium mushrooms, about 1 pound
• (from original) 1 cup herb-seasoned stuffing croutons

Yield: Original recipe: 24 appetizers    With the Portobellos instead: 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 Portobello mushrooms
• 6 T reduced-fat stick margarine
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/4 t garlic powder, or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 oz. low-fat cream cheese, softened
• 3 T grated Parmesan (I did equal parts of Parmesan and Parmiggiano Regianno)
• 2 T chopped fresh parsley leaves, or 2 t drie parsley flakes
• 1/3 cup herb-seasoned bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove stems from mushrooms. Chop enough stems to make 1 cup (I didn't have enough). Melt 2 T margarine in saucepan. Brush mushroom cap tops with margarine, place top side down in shallow baking pan and brush undersides of caps. Heat remaining margarine in same saucepan. Add chopped mushroom stems, onion and garlic and cook until tender. Stir in cream cheese, combining with fork if necessary. Add Parmesan cheese, parsley and breadcrumbs/stuffing croutons. Mix thoroughly. Spoon stuffing mixture into each mushroom cap. Bake until heated through.

Tip: To make ahead, prepare as directed but do not bake. Cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Bake as directed.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Gooey cream cheese goodness! These have consistently been a good hit w/ my family and friends. I originally got the recipe from my friend Nicole a long time ago, but the recipe is actually on the back of the Old El Paso Green Chile Enchilada Sauce can. 

To illustrate how much I love these, since Scott is an uber-picky eater and won't eat anything green, I will actually go through the trouble of making 2 separate meals for the two of us when I want these. I'll make him some really simple meat burritos and make these for myself. They also make excellent leftovers so I usually eat on them for a few days and are always sad when they're gone. So enough babbling, here's the recipe!

Notes:

• You can make the chicken however you prefer. I've boiled sk/bnless chicken breasts and chicken pieces (such as thighs we had on hand) and shredded the meat, but what I usually do is just cut the breasts into really small pieces and cook in a skillet b/c it's just easier and faster for me.
•  I usually fill my enchiladas up pretty good so all mine will fit in a 8x8 or 9x9. So the amount of enchilada sauce you need to use depends upon the size of the pan. 1 can (even less actually) is enough for that small of a dish, but if you use a 9x13 you need the two.
• I like Old El Paso chopped green chiles much better than generic brands.
• I use the four cheese Mexican blend of shredded cheese instead of just cheddar.

Yield: 12 enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. uncooked chicken breast strips
• 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, cut into cubes
• 1 can (4.5 oz.) chopped green chiles
• 1 package (10.5 oz.) flour tortillas (6 in.) 
• 2 cans (10 oz. each) Old El Paso green chile enchilada sauce
• 3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (3 oz) 

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease 13x9 (or any other size) baking dish.

In nonstick skillet, cook chicken over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink in center. Add cream cheese and chiles; reduce heat to medium. cook and stir until blended and cream cheese is melted.

Spoon chicken filling onto tortillas; roll up and place seam sides down in baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce over top; sprinkled with cheese. Bake 15-20 minutes until hot and cheese is melted.