Overstuffed Mushrooms with Savory Crab & Real California Cheese Filling!

This post is sponsored by Real California Milk but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.



I can't even believe it's already November... I mean, this year is really just flying by.

The thing is, THIS time of year is pretty much perfection in my neck of the woods. We start out the days with a little crispness to the air and by the end of the day, it's still nice enough to watch the sunset at the beach. It's the best of both worlds... and it also makes me crave some of my favorite savory dishes.

I seriously can't be the only one that instantly feels a chill in the air and starts dreaming of pumpkin spice dishes, chili, mashed potatoes, and "stuffed" everything. I mean, that's what the month of November is about - thankfulness & food... and one of my favorite foods to bring back this time of year is actually one I tend to favor all year round as well - I'm talkin' stuffed mushrooms, y'all & this recipe doesn't disappoint!

These crab & cheese stuffed mushrooms are just like a Florida day - absolutely perfect in every way! Pairing seafood with savory, creamy goodness - it doesn't get much better than this... Except for the fact this dish is made with all Real California Milk Cheeses. That means the flavor is better and it's made with love, with the dairy coming from 99% family owned & operated farms.

That's the thing, when your dairy comes from other families - you know it's going to be good... and the extra spectacular news is, you can buy Real California Milk Cheeses nearly everywhere! I found a huge selection at my local health food store, as well as a decent selection at Publix!

Want to find a place by you, so you can get yours hands on the "good cheese" too? Check out this locator and find out where you can find these delicious, wholesome cheeses with the "Real California Milk seal" nearby you. After all, knowing your cheese comes from real people & it's kissed by the California sun just means there's that much more love going into your holiday dishes this year!

Want to serve up the best of both coasts? Pair my "Floridian" recipe with their California cheese and you have a real winning combo! So... let's get to making those delicious overstuffed mushrooms with a savory crab and cheese filling!

Ingredients:

2 cups crab meat
4 oz freshly shredded Mozzarella Cheese made with Real California Milk
1 tbsp parsley
1/2 tbsp sea salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp marjoram
1 tbsp garlic
1/2 tbsp black pepper
2 green onion stalks, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
4 large portebella mushroom
olive oil
4 oz freshly shredded Pepper Jack Cheese made with Real California Milk
1 tbsp bread crumbs

Step one - Preheat the oven to 375 degrees & get your filling started: mix the crab meat, Real California Cheese Mozzarella, spices, green onions, bell pepper, and grated parmesan all together in a large bowl. Place to the side.

Next - take your mushrooms and apply a thin layer of olive oil to the top of the caps. Flip over & place on pan, overstuffing the mushrooms with the crab mix.

Now - add 4 oz of Pepper Jack cheese made with Real California Milk on top. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake or 18 minutes at 375, then turn your oven to broil for 3-5 minutes.

Garnish with parsley, if desired & enjoy!

Embracing Fall in Florida with these Fun Halloween Foods: Jack-O'-Lantern Snacks & Batty Bite Sweet Potato Fries

This post is sponsored by Bel Brands USA & Mini Babybel® Cheese, but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

So... let's get real for a moment. Living in Florida has its advantages, sure - we all know the beach is great and palm trees are gorgeous. I don't take that for granted for even a second. I love it here...

Which is why I never thought I'd say this, but I kind of miss "home" - which to me really is just the midwest as a whole. Having lived in both Missouri and Oklahoma, I just feel connected to those center states and all their glory... It's probably a mixture of missing family & looking over old pictures and reflecting on fond memories, but the midwest really is & always will be "home" to me and I'm missing it tonight. Ironically, one of the things I miss the most about my home and my childhood spent in the midwest is FALL.

I mean, not just fall, I miss good ol' trees-changin'-color, boot-and-North-Face-wearin', crisp-fresh-air, running-wild-through-a-pumpkin-patch type of fall. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore Florida, but I certainly do miss certain aspects of "home".

Since we likely aren't relocating to the midwest anytime soon, we are doing our best to at least pretend it's fall here in Florida so Delainey gets a taste of all things amazingly autumn. So this weekend we turned our a/c down a little lower, made a little bonfire out back, and embraced what felt like a little breeze outside - we even have plans to set up a tent at some point and teach her about camping. Another way we are trying to bring out that fall feeling is to decorate & even eat fall themed foods.  So... along with our apple cider, we also decided to get festive with some appetizers and these little batty bites & jack-o'-lantern snacks were just too cute!

Since we're huge fans of cheese in this house, when we saw the adorable Fall/Halloween themed Mini Babybel® at Target, we knew we had made some new "friends".

Delainey is obsessed with the little faces on these guys and I'm obsessed with how delicious they are *and the fact that are 100% real cheese with no artificial growth hormones* - so it's a total win-win!

So... Whether you are having a little shin-dig or you just want to show your toddler what fall is about, you have to give these recipes a try (and you should most definitely snag the adorable Halloween Mini Babybel® from Target while you're at it)!

The best part is these delicious snacks are so easy to make, not to mention SO fun! So go ahead and add these two Sweet Potato fry recipes to your must try pins, because although they are simple both of these yummy dishes are sure to wow your fall loving friends, no matter where you are:

To create both of these recipes you will need:

One pack of the Mini Babybel® cheeses - You can find these adorable Halloween packaged Mini Babybels at Target!

2 sweet potatoes

Black olives

¾ cup all purpose flour (I used gluten free, you can use whatever works for your family!)

¼ cup breadcrumbs

1 egg

1 tbsp milk

High temperature Frying oil (corn, peanut, or vegetable)

Black pepper

Sea salt

Garlic

Red pepper

Parsley

Pumpkin spice

Paprika

Slice potatoes. One should be cut horizontally to form circular shapes resembling pumpkins. The other should be cut vertically to make the bat wings.

Now detail the potato slices by carving faces into the circular shapes and carving bat wings out of the longer sliced potatoes. Use half a long slice per wing for small wings or one full slice per wing for larger wings.

PREP FOR Jack-O'-Lanterns Snacks: (after carving their faces):
Place on tray lined with aluminum foil and set oven to 425. Rub each slice and each side with olive oil. Sprinkle on the salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika onto one side then flip it and sprinkle salt, pepper, garlic, and pumpkin spice onto the other. Put in oven for 15 minutes flipping half way through or until browned on the edges. Serve with Mini Babybel® and use the jack-o'-lantern as a delicious substitute for crackers!

PREP FOR Batty Bites:

Wings: Mix the flour, breadcrumbs and herbs (1 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp sea salt, 1 tsp paprika, ½ tsp red pepper flakes, 2 tsp garlic, ½ tsp parsley) together in one shallow dish. Beat the egg and milk together in another shallow dish. 

Dip “bat wings” into flour, then egg mixture, then flour again. Place them on a tray lined with parchment paper after being battered to wait for your frying oil to heat up to 375 degrees (I used a corn and peanut oil blend). 

Drop the sweet potato wings one at a time into the hot oil and cook for approximately 7 minutes or until they look done, then take them out and place them on a paper towel and/or rack to allow oil to drain and for the wings to cool.

Presentation: Slide a toothpick through one side of your Mini Babybel® Cheese and out the other. Attach wings onto the toothpick. Place sliced olive pieces onto cheese to make kooky eyeballs. Add a red sauce to make teeth if you want. We used a chipotle apricot sauce which was a delicious extra touch on all of the sweet potato goodness!

So tell me, what do you miss about your hometown? What parts of fall are your favorite about the area you live in? I'm excited to hear! I also would love to hear what you think about these kooky & delicious recipes, leave me some love when you give them a try and in case you aren't stalking Cartwheel already, I wanted to mention you can score 10% off Mini Babybel Cartwheel offer that runs 10/7 through early November.

My Favorite Carb-Conscious Meal: Smothered Turkery Burgers & Carrot Fries

This post is sponsored by Jennie-O but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Summer is here and you know what that means; I'm working on my summer body... well, kind of. While I'm trying to get a little more active than normal, I'm still my regular ol' foodie self - but I'm realizing rolls don't necessarily look great in a bikini, so I'm doing my best to try and make smart choices when it comes to meal time. I guess you could say I'm not "dieting" but I'm watching what I'm eating.

I mean, eating vegetables, even if they are fried, is still eating vegetables, right?

That's why I'm sharing a couple of my favorite recent recipes with y'all today. While this meal is incredibly tasty, it's also better for you - which makes it one to add to your "make again" section of pinterest.

So what am I dishing up today? JENNIE-O® Seasoned Turkey Burgers smothered in delicious pineapple sauce, served on a bed of cabbage, & the side of the century - fried baby carrots!

For the pineapple sauce recipe you will need:

1/2 pineapple - cut & grilled
1/4 cup white onion
2 tbs cilantro
1/2 lime
2 tsp brown sugar
4 cup water
1/8 tsp ground ginger
2 cloves garlic
2 1/2 tbsp coconut vinegar
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

To make the sauce, cut and grill your pineapple, then blend all ingredients together in a blender or food processor. Now just saute and stir the mixture, on medium heat, until it meets a gravy-like consistency.

Let cool in fridge while you start the JENNIE-O® Seasoned Turkey Burgers on the grill & prepare as instructed (which means cooking to at least 165*F), then get the carrots started with the items below:

2 cups of baby carrots cut into long halves

For the dry dip, mix these items all together in one bowl:
3/4 tbsp bread crumbs
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste

For the wet dip, mix these together in another bowl:
2 eggs beaten
4 tbsp milk

Once cut, you'll want to dip the carrots in the dry mix first, then the wet mix, then the dry again. Line up on a baking sheet covered with wax paper until all carrots have been dipped. Fry in peanut oil at 350* degrees until crisped on the outside, which took our fryer about 6 minutes. Let cool a few minutes and serve.

Now it's time to plate everything, which means you may want to add these delicious extras to your burger, although they aren't at all necessary - they do add to the over all flavor and provide a nice little boost:
Slices of Gouda Cheese
Slices of Avocado
Cabbage Leaves for buns
A small amount of Cilantro to garnish

You'll just smother your turkey burger in the chilled Pineapple Sauce, once melting the cheese, and add an array of CARROTS that taste like delicious pockets of love to your plate & ENJOY!

So tell me, what is your favorite meal to make when you are watching your carbs? I'd love to add some additional recipes that still taste amazing without sacrificing my diet, so please share some of your favorites!

Our Memorial Day Backyard Lunch Date with Unique & Delicious Summertime Recipes: Fancy Tacos & Florida Hot Dogs

This  post  is  sponsored  by    Tyson    Foods,  Inc.  ,  but  the  content  and  opinions  are  my  own.

Memorial Day is approaching rapidly, which means BBQ and sundress season is in full swing, and I'm in my own little version of heaven because of that fact. This is part of what life really is all about after all - comfy clothes and good food... am I right?

With this holiday approaching quickly, I finally decided to get into the spirit of summer and have a little family lunch date on our back patio.

After all, what's better than a home-cooked meal enjoyed with your family? The thing is, I wasn't traditional in the slightest with our menu... which made this little Backyard Lunch Date that much more tasty and amazing!

Plus, like the genius I am, I decided to go ahead and make some of our dishes in advance, which made for easy prep since half of our food was already ready to go and we just took the other half of our adventure out to the grill when it was time.

Making Ball Park® Hot Dogs was a breeze, just a a few minutes on the grill and then slid into a couple  of Ball Park Hot Dog Buns, topped with piquante peppers and pineapple for a fun, tropical flair - ya know, Florida style dogs!

Next on the menu was our Fancy Tacos... because, well, if you know me, you know I have to have tacos for every occasion. These Tyson® Chicken tacos may very well be THE BEST we've ever made at home though, so hurry up and jot this recipe down:

Ingredients:

Fancy Chicken Tacos:
1 lb Tyson® Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, sliced into approximately 1/2" pieces
Corn Tortillas
3 tbsp butter

Chicken Seasonings:
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp coriander
1 tbsp vegetable oil
6 pieces of bacon, already cooked to a crispy texture, made into bits


Goat Cheese Crema:
1 cup Sour cream
2 oz Goat Cheese
1 clove dried garlic

Tropical Florida Hot Dogs:
Ball Park® Hot Dogs
Ball Park® Hot Dog Buns
Piquante Peppers
Pineapple

Beverages:
Lipton® Iced Tea Bags
Water

Prep:

To get this cooking party started, combine all seasonings listed above. Then go ahead and drizzle the vegetable oil over chicken in dish, evenly coating both sides. Then do the same, coating both sides with the seasoning mix.

Grease pan well with 2 tbsp butter and on medium-high heat, add chicken, cook each side approximately 2 minutes then begin chopping/separating within the pan with spatula. Turn down to medium and continue shredding, add in bacon bits.

Now turn to low and add 1 more tbsp of butter while allowing the meat to simmer and warming tortillas in a pan.

While you're warming tortillas, if you wanna make the fanciest part of my fancy tacos, just toss the garlic, sour cream, and goat cheese into a food processor and let it spin for a few. I have found that this has a more amazing flavor once it's been warmed up a bit so I suggest pouring into a small sauce pan and letting it get a bit creamier on low heat for a few minutes.

While you're standing there, warming tortillas, and making the crema, grab a pitcher of water and make your tea too. All you need to do is warm up water and stick in the tea bags. Lipton® tea bags work the magic beyond that. Just add ice and sugar to your preference once following box directions!

After all this fun in the kitchen, it's time to head out to the grill and get your Ball Park® Hot Dogs grillin'! Just toss them on a medium heat grill and cook until the grill lines look delicious! Add into a Ball Park® Hot Dog bun and top with pineapple and chopped piquante peppers.

That's it, your main dishes are ready to go! If you're wondering what else hubs and I prepped in advance, it was our famous guac & chips and a tasty and colorful black bean and mango salad. Two easy and amazing side dishes for this little bit of backyard shenanigans.

The best part is, Delainey loved it all too! We'll be repeating this little day-date backyard BBQ fun pretty much every weekend this summer... but of course, we'll be out there on Memorial Day enjoying the weather and being thankful for our freedom & those who served our country!

So tell me, how do you like to spend Memorial Day? If you plan on spending time near the grill, check out all the amazing deals you can find on Tyson®, Ball Park® Hot Dogs & Ball Park ® Hot Dog Buns, and more at Walmart.

The EASIEST Recipe That Also Helps a Child in Need: Gourmet Cheesy Bruschetta Chicken Wrap

This post is sponsored by Mighty Spark Food Co. but the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Okay, y'all.. I'm going to share something with you that I'm a little embarrassed to admit.

This may come as a surprise... and confuse you somewhat since I blog about this topic somewhat often... but this is something I need to get off my chest.

I'm actually not a good cook. I'm not just being modest either... It's bad... like, to the extent that I've burnt rice and had to attempt to make recipes a multitude of times before sharing something edible with my family and y'all here on the blog.

I mean, if I'm being real with myself, this may not actually come as a surprise to you... since when I do share recipes they tend to all be EASY, I'm never going to be one to make Baked Alaska... but this recipe is seriously the EASIEST I've ever shared. I mean, I would trust any self proclaimed "bad cook" like myself to whip this up and impress their friends.

So, if you're a new cook and trying to learn the ropes or your just no good in the kitchen (like myself), then I suggest you take notes... because this Gourmet Cheesy Bruschetta Chicken Wrap is one your friends and family will be asking you to make over and over again!

What's the secret to making this delicious dish... and several others? Mighty Spark Foods Co.

What IS Mighty Spark Foods Co? It's a company that started at a little Minneapolis Farmers' Market and has grown into an empire that's going to take over your kitchen! With flavors and spices ALREADY included in their meats, these little flavor packed packages are the answer to your dinnertime woes!

Beyond just helping you to make amazing food, Mighty Sparks Foods Co also makes a difference in the world. For each package of Mighty Spark purchased, the company will donate a meal to a child in need... even more amazing, they've already helped over 1 million kiddos and that number grows each time a package of their delicious food is purchased!

So how can you get in on this goodness and help a child in need?

Here's my Gourmet Cheesy Bruschetta Chicken Wrap recipe... and keep an eye out for a couple of other amazing recipes using their Sweet Thai-Style Seasoned Ground Chicken and Bacon-Bursting Ground Turkey Blend!

Ingredients for 1 Wrap:

1 Large Flour Tortilla
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
Goat Cheese (to taste)
1/2 cup Mighty Spark Foods Co Bruschetta Ground Chicken
For the lines, you'll want a grilling pan - otherwise a regular pan will be just fine!

Alright, y'all ready...

All you have to do is follow the directions on the Mighty Spark Foods Co packaging to make the Bruschetta Chicken - which literally include heating the meat up in a pan... and that's it!

Now you'll place your tortilla in a pan on medium heat and start placing your ingredients on only one half of it.

Adding the Mozzarella Cheese first, then the Mighty Spark Foods Co Bruschetta Ground Chicken, and a spring of Goat cheese for a little extra pop of flavor.

Allow the wrap to warm on one side, letting the cheese melt some - it took about 4 minutes for me. Then flip with a spatula and warm the other side for another 3-5 minutes.

ENJOY!

And... listen up, I have EVEN more good news to share with you! You can save $3 the next time you wanna whip up this delicious recipe AND help a child in need! So grab THIS coupon and head to Publix to get your chef on!