Little known fact: I like to cook. In college when I had more free time I cooked a lot. Nothing fancy, but dishes that more closely resemble real meals than the hodgepodge lunches and dinners I throw together now. This weekend I had a chance to try out a couple new recipes for a baby shower I hosted. The dishes were a hit, so I thought I’d share.

Stuffed Mushrooms

I really like this recipe because it’s easy and it doesn’t include cream cheese like many stuffed mushrooms, which makes me think it’s healthier.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. Italian-style dried bread crumbs
• 1/2 c. grated Romano (I used a Parmesan/Romano mix)
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 T chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 T chopped fresh basil
• Sprinkle of salt and pepper
•  1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
• 28 large white mushrooms

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Stir bread crumbs, Romano, garlic, parsley, basil, salt, pepper and 2 T olive oil
• Drizzle large baking sheet with about 1 T olive oil
• Wash mushrooms (should this go without saying?)
• Spoon the filling into the mushrooms cavities and arrange on baking sheet
• Drizzle remaining oil over the filling in each mushroom
• Bake until the mushrooms are tender, the filling is heated and top is golden (about 25 mins)
• Serve & Enjoy!

Bacon Wrapped Smokies

The night I tried the Brown Sugar Babies at Psycho Suzi’s I couldn’t stop thinking about the yummy, caramely goodness. So I scoured the web until I found a similar recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb sliced bacon, cut into thirds
• 1 (14 oz) package beef cocktail wieners
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• Toothpicks

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees
• Refrigerate bacon until needed (it’s easier to wrap with cold bacon)
• Wrap each cocktail wiener with bacon and secure with toothpick
• Place on a large baking sheet
• Sprinkle generously with brown sugar
• Bake for 40 mins, until sugar is bubbly (granted I was using an old oven, but when I made these it took closer to an hour)
• If needed, can place wieners in a slow cooker and keep on low