Finicky Friday - BEEF AND BLUE CHEESE STUFFED MUSHROOMS

BEEF AND BLUE CHEESE STUFFED MUSHROOMS

Hey everyone, time for Finicky Friday again! These perfectly bite-sized mushrooms are stuffed with a savory blend of ground beef, blue cheese, and chives.

Total Recipe Time: 40 to 50 minutes

Makes 36 to 40 mushrooms

INGREDIENTS

1/2 pound Ground Beef 

1/4 teaspoon salt

36 to 40 small button or cremini mushrooms (about 1-1/2 to 2-inch diameter)

1/3 cup crumbled blue cheese

1/4 cup soft whole wheat bread crumbs

3 tablespoons minced chives

1/2 teaspoon steak seasoning blend 

Minced fresh chives (optional) 

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375°F. Remove and reserve stems from mushrooms. Season mushroom caps with salt; set aside. Mince stems to yield 1/2 cup; discard remaining stems.

Combine Ground Beef, minced stems, blue cheese, bread crumbs, 3 tablespoons chives and steak seasoning. Spoon beef mixture evenly into mushrooms.

Place stuffed mushrooms on rack in broiler pan. Bake in 375°F oven 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with additional chives, if desired.

~Test Kitchen Tips

Cooking times are for fresh or thoroughly thawed Ground Beef. Ground Beef should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160ºF. Color is not a reliable indicator of Ground Beef doneness.

Winner of the In Enemy Hands contest!

Sorry I'm so late with this y'all! Time just got away from me, with all we've had going on here lately. *shakes head* I really hope we don't have to do with whole car/truck shopping deal again any time soon. Plus, trying to get used to a new car after not driving for so long has been... interesting. It's like learning to drive all over again. It's exhausting.

So! The winner is: Laurie P! Congrats!! Email has been sent. :)
~M

Release date for Texting, AutoCorrect, and A Prius

Hey y'all! Got the email last night for the release date on Texting, AutoCorrect, and A Prius! It's June 28th, which is a bit earlier than I thought. So, it'll be on the Coming Soon page at DsP by the end of May.

I've seen the cover too. It's really cute and fun. The novella is based on a FB meme. Y'all might have seen it, lol...

Blurb Draft:

Clay McDonald finds the perfect car on Craigslist and is quick to send the seller a text:
Is your penis still for sale?

AutoCorrect strikes again. Damn—he should’ve proofread. How embarrassing.

Luckily Darrell Anderson, a mechanic and the owner of the Prius, is more amused than offended, and the two men agree to meet. When they do, the attraction is instant, and a date is arranged. But a series of mishaps, misunderstandings, and misplaced assumptions sorely test the new relationship.

In a contemporary romantic comedy about the perils of technology and dating in the modern world, a text that went so wrong might just lead to something so right—but only if Clay can refrain from jumping to conclusions and give love the benefit of the doubt.

Easter Giveaway!

Hey y'all! Happy Easter! I’m giving away an ebook copy of In Enemy Hands. Contests will end next Sunday, April 23^rd. Just leave a comment... and make sure to leave your email addy so I can contact you if you’re the winner. :) 

~M

Finicky Friday - Chocolate Bunny Treats

Chocolate Bunny Treats

Hey everyone, time for Finicky Friday again! Recipe by: Rice Krispies "Make these googly-eyed bunnies, complete with frosted cottontails, with your kids, or put the bunnies in their Easter baskets."

Link: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/213550/chocolate-bunny-treats/?internalSource=recipe%20hub&referringId=1378&referringContentType=recipe%20hub&clickId=cardslot%2069

40 m

4 servings

694 cals

Prep 20 m

Ready In 40 m

Ingredients

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 (10 ounce) package regular marshmallows

6 cups KELLOGG'S® RICE KRISPIES® cereal

Canned frosting or decorating gel

Assorted candies

Directions

In large saucepan melt chocolate morsels and butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

Add KELLOGG'S(R) RICE KRISPIES(R) cereal. Stir until well coated.

Using buttered spatula or wax paper evenly press mixture into 15 x 10 x 1-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool slightly.

Using large circle cookie cutter, very small circle cookie cutter and rabbit head cookie cutter coated with cooking spray cut cereal mixture into shapes. For each rabbit, attach one rabbit head shape to top of large circle shape with frosting. Attach one small circle for tail to each. 

Decorate with frosting and/or candies. Best if served the same day. 

Footnotes

MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS: In microwave-safe bowl heat chocolate morsels, butter and marshmallows on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Follow steps 2 thru 4 above. Microwave cooking times may vary.

Notes: For best results, use fresh marshmallows. 1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow creme can be substituted for marshmallows.

Diet, reduced calorie or tub margarine is not recommended.

Store no more than two days at room temperature in airtight container. To freeze, place in single layer on wax paper in airtight container. Freeze for up to 6 weeks. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

DsP 25% sale for tax season

 "Tax Relief" - From April 12 to 17,  the entire store will be on sale for 25% off. Link for my DsP books: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/authors/ma-church-525

Finicky Friday - Easy Tortilla Casserole

Easy Tortilla Casserole

Hey everyone, time for Finicky Friday again! Sorry I’m a little late. Busy, busy week. :)

Receipt: http://www.midwestliving.com/recipe/casseroles/amorous-tortilla-casserole/

Ingredients

1 medium white onion, sliced

1 tablespoon cooking oil

2 medium zucchini or other summer squash (10 ounces total), thinly sliced

2 cups salsa

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

4 cups torn, stemmed spinach leaves (about 5 ounces)

8 ounces tortilla chips (about 8 cups, loosely packed)

1/2 cup finely grated Mexican queso anejo, Parmesan or Romano cheese (2 ounces)

Direction 

In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, cook the onion in oil until tender, but not brown. Add zucchini. Cook and stir until the vegetables begin to brown.

Add salsa, broth and spinach. Bring to boiling. Add the tortilla chips and stir to coat. Remove from heat. Cover and let mixture stand for 5 minutes.

Very carefully stir the mixture to check that the chips have softened nicely. (If there's still too much crunch remaining, dribble in a little extra broth and return the mixture in saucepan to heat for a few minutes.)

Sprinkle with cheese. Serve from the pan. Or you can spoon mixture onto warm plates or into shallow bowls in the kitchen before sprinkling with cheese. Makes 4 to 6 main-dish servings.

Nutrition Facts

Servings Per Recipe 4, sodium (mg) 850, cal. (kcal) 280, fiber (g) 6, carb. (g) 30, chol. (mg) 10, Fat, total (g) 16