Ham Pinwheels and Stuffed Mushrooms

Ham Pinwheels

This has been a "go to" appetizer recipe for me for a long time.  I found this recipe in the Pillsbury Classic No. 23 - Appetizers, Snacks & Beverages - from, get this, 1982 and have been making it ever since!  

Here's what you'll need:

3 oz pkg cream cheese, softened

1/2 tsp prepared horseradish

1/2 tsp prepared mustard

1/2 tsp parsley flakes

8 oz can crescent rolls

4 thin slices of boiled ham

Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease a cookie sheet (or cover with parchment paper).

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, horseradish, mustard and parsley flakes; mix well.

Separate dough into 4 rectangles and firmly press perforations to seal.

Spread cheese mixture evenly to edges of dough and place 1 ham slice on each rectangle.

Roll up, jelly-roll fashion, starting with shorter side.

Cut each roll into 8 1/2-inch thick slices.

Place, cut-side down, on prepared cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield - 32 snacks

Stuffed Mushrooms

I have been looking for a good recipe for stuffed mushrooms for a long time.  I found this recipe on, where else, Pinterest.  The picture looked yummy and they are said to be a "most requested appetizer", so I had to give them a try.  You can see the original here.  

Here's what you'll need:

• 8 oz bacon
• 1/2 cup finely minced sweet onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 16 oz white button mushrooms
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Using scissors or a sharp knife, cut raw bacon into small pieces. In a large saute pan, over medium heat, cook bacon until nice and crispy. While bacon is cooking, remove mushroom stems from caps and chop stems into small pieces. When bacon is done, remove from pan and set aside; reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon grease and pour the rest from pan. Saute onion until soft about 5 minutes, scraping up any brown bits on bottom of pan. Add chopped mushrooms stems and garlic and cook a few minutes longer. Reduce heat to low. Add cream cheese and parmesan cheese and stir until cheeses are melted. Add reserved chopped bacon and season to taste with salt and pepper. (Mixture can be made, cooled, and stored, covered, in the fridge for up to two days.) Remove mixture from heat and stuff each mushroom cap generously with mixture. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes or until mushrooms are soft and filling is nice and hot.

I hope you enjoy!!

Pepperoni Pizza Dip

Tomorrow we are having a potluck at work and thought I'd bring this Pepperoni Pizza Dip.  I couldn't just make one for work I had to make one for home as well.  We got the recipe originally from Donna, found on lowcarbfriends.com.  See here.  It's been a family favorite ever since.

Ingredients: 8 ounces cream cheese 1/2 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon oregano 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper 1/2 cup pizza sauce 1/2 cup pepperoni sausage -- chopped 1/2 cup chopped onion 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese How To Prepare: Heat cream cheese, sour cream, oregano, garlic powder and red pepper. Spread evenly in a 9-10 inch pie plate then spread pizza sauce over heated mixture. Sprinkle with pepperoni and onion. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Top with cheese and bake until cheese is melted (about 5 minutes). Serve hot

When we make it, we usually will use either low fat or no fat cream cheese and sour cream... it will all depend on just how fat I feel at the moment.  This way I can almost convince myself that it's healthy... but wait, we also tend to use much more mozzarella, up to 2 cups... Okay so maybe it's not that healthy, but boy is it good!!   :)

Here we have the cream cheese mixture spread in the baking dishes (remember I doubled the recipe so I could make 2).  Next is the onion and pepperoni chopped and ready to add to the dish.

Here you see the sauce, onions and pepperoni added to the dish.  Once it's baked for 10 minutes or until slightly bubbly and heated through we add the mozzarella and continue baking until the cheese is completely melted.

We like to serve this dip with Ritz crackers.  Other great dippers would be tortilla chips, pita wedges or even cocktail breads.  

Enjoy!