Stuffed Mushrooms

I'm just going to say I was a little doubtful about this one, but it's actually really easy and incredibly tasty! In fact, someone once proposed to me because they are so good!

24 medium mushrooms, about 1 pound
6 tablespoons reduced-fat stick margarine
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (3-ounce) package low-fat cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves, or 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
1 cup packaged herb-seasoned stuffing croutons
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Remove stems from mushrooms. Chop enough stems to make 1 cup. Melt 2 tablespoons margarine in saucepan. Brush mushroom cap tops with margarine, place top side down in shallow baking pan and brush undersides of caps. Heat remaining margarine in same saucepan. Add chopped mushroom stems, onion and garlic and cook until tender. Stir in cream cheese, combining with fork if necessary. Add Parmesan cheese, parsley and herb seasoned stuffing. Mix thoroughly. Spoon about 1 tablespoon stuffing mixture into each mushroom cap. Bake until heated through.
Tip: To make ahead, prepare as directed but do not bake. Cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Bake as directed.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

3 8-oz pkg cream cheese
¾ c. sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2/3 c. canned pumpkin puree
¼ c. brown sugar
1 ½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 ½ tsp. vanilla
Beat cream cheese and sugar 3 min. until creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time, and 2 tsp. vanilla until smooth. Pour 1 ½ c. batter into bowl. Into remaining amt, blend pumpkin puree, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla. Pour half of plain batter into crust; spoon half the pumpkin batter in puddles over the plain batter. Repeat layers. Swirl batters with knife for marble effect. Place pan in large roasting pan; fill halfway with boiling water. Bake at 325 for 65 min. until cake has puffed slightly and center is still jiggly. Refrigerate on a rack uncovered about 4 hours. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
*This is NOT an easy recipe and it kinda takes some planning, but it's really good for Thanksgiving!

Beef Stew

2 lbs stew meat, cut into cubes
¼ c. flour
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
1 ½ c. beef broth
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. paprika
4 carrots, sliced
3 potatoes, diced
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, sliced
Put meat in stoneware or pan. Mix flour, salt, and pepper and pour over meat; stir to coat meat w/ flour. Add remaining ingredients and stir to mix well. Cover and cook on low 10-12 hours or high 4-6 hours. Stir stew thoroughly before serving.
*If you just cook this on the stovetop in a big pan, it usually takes about 2-3 hours.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

½ c. butter
Garlic salt
1 c. saltine crackers (crushed)
1/3 c. grated parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. parsley
½ tsp. pepper
Chicken breasts (6-10)
Sliced ham (deli thin sliced works best)
Swiss cheeseIn one bowl, melt the butter and mix in the garlic salt. In another bowl mix the crushed crackers, parmesan cheese, parsley and pepper together. Use a meat tenderizer to flatten the chicken breasts. Take a chicken breast and coat it with the butter mixture. Then dip it into the cracker mixture. Make sure it is evenly covered. Lay it on a piece of wax paper. Place one slice of ham and one slice of Swiss cheese on the chicken. Roll the chicken up (like a jelly roll) and put into a pan. Repeat this for all the chicken breasts. Cover with foil and cook in oven at 375° for about an hour (check it after 45 min.).