Easter 'shrooms

Well, here I sit stuffed like an Easter basket after a very food filled Easter Sunday. ;) My day started with breakfast at my house with my mom and step dad. It was really nice to have them up...my hubby is on the road right now, so it was really fun to have someone to cook breakfast for! Even better that it was them and that it was Easter breakfast! I made home made orange julius' (omitting the raw egg...yuck) and Pioneer Woman's Sleepin' in Omelette. Oh my gosh, that stuff was AWESOME and got rave reviews. You definitely gotta try it sometime.

Then, it was off to church and then back to the kitchen to make stuffed mushrooms for a get together at my in-laws.

This is the recipe I shall share with you now.

At the risk of looking like a PW wannabe I'm gonna include pics 'cause it's so much easier to illustrate the process this way...

What you'll need:

• Some 'shrooms (I usually get about 1/2 bag full)
• 1 small container of your fav. dip (I use bacon & onion)
• 1 box of Stove Top stuffing (I use chicken...but it's up to you!)
• Bacon bits (optional)
• Italian cheese (NOT optional) ;)
• Butter baby!
  Cooking spray
• 9x13 baking dish

Here we go!

Begin by cleanin' those 'shrooms...to expedite the process, I really love this vegetable wash. Just stick whatever it is that you're needing clean in a big bowl, pour a little of this on top and then add water. Let 'em soak for just a little bit, then swoosh them around to remove the loosened dirt n' stuff...

Then, just throw those babies in a colander and rinse 'em off...the solution rinses off really easily and doesn't leave any residue behind. See?

While these are draining you might want to start setting out the rest of your ingredients. You will want the butter to be a bit soft...

Okay, next up (once these are done draining), you're gonna start popping the stems outta each mushroom cap. Just throw them away, or if you have a couple of ravenous dogs that won't leave you alone when you're cooking, feel free to play a little game of "mushroom stem catch it" with them.

Okay, moving on...once all those stems are off, you're gonna start scooping out the 'shroom caps. As you scoop, go ahead and stick these "innerds" into a bowl, along with your package of dry Stove Top.

I've found that the best utensil for scooping is a teeny tiny metal measuring spoon, like this one. A regular spoon just doesn't work for me.

Oh, yeah...right about now is when you probably want to pre-heat your oven. 375 please. Don't be like me and forget...I always do that!

Okay, back to scooping...here we go...

After all these babies are gutted, plop them into your sprayed cooking dish and then go ahead and add a little spoonful of the dip to each cap.

Then, even though your dip has bacon (unless you've strayed from this recipe and chosen a different kind), I like to add some bacon bits to the top of the dip. Oh, yeah...BRING ON the bacon.

The next step is to spoon some of your stuffing mix on top of the dip and bacon bits.

Almost done...

Next, sprinkle with the mandatory italian cheese (or just mozerella if you're not into four cheese).

Last, slice up a few pats of butter and place all over the top of your creation. Then, pop into your preheated oven (you remembered right??) for about 20 minutes.

If you have a watchdog on hand to keep an eye on your leftover stuffing, that's perfect...you never know, you might want to cook it up for a little snack. Lucky for me, Cabela doesn't mind helping to keep Caleb away...

Okay...pretend 20 minutes have gone by. Here I am placing my 'shrooms into my handy dandy Pampered Chef carrier given to me by my sister in law.

She's the one who requested that I bring these mushrooms today. To me, stuffed mushrooms seem more "Thanksgiving-ish", but when she gave me this carrier, it came with the condition that I must bring these mushrooms to each and every potluck style family function. ;) I totally felt like a pizza delivery boy with this in my car, but it sure kept them hot for my half hour drive. Great invention in my opinion!

Alrighty then, it's getting late now and as I type this Caleb is coming in the computer room to tell me that it's time to go cuddle on the couch. Doggie mommy duty calls!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!