Mushroom Poppers

Notice the Michigan State plate. 

Recently my brother-in-law and son came over for the weekend to watch the Michigan vs Michigan State football game. If you know anything about the state of Michigan, then you know we love college football. Half of us walk around wearing green and white and the other half of us walk around wearing maize and blue. One of the “You Know You Are from Michigan” signs is if you have a drawer full of sports jerseys, hats, socks, jammies, sweaters, jackets, and undies because we also don our Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Lions garb. I have been known to wear my Detroit Tigers jersey to school on dress-down day. Apparently this is not done in other states?  Don’t judge us – it’s fun!

We are a house divided: hubby is a proud graduate of MSU and kid number three is a student there (Go Green!) -- while kid number one is a proud graduate of U of M and kid number two is working his way through U of M (Go Blue!)  I, on the other hand, am a proud Central Michigan University graduate (Fire Up Chips!) But in honesty, none of this makes much difference to us, because we are pretty mild sports fans – except for my husband who can get pretty caught up in a football game. And basketball too – but that’s another topic.

Leftovers for dinner the next day. 

So anyway, the big game was a few weeks ago and I decided to make some fancy finger foods. My famous stuffed potato skins, Gardein Chicken Nuggets (LOVE those things!), and these Mushroom Poppers. The recipe comes from Colleen Patrick Goudreau’s “The Vegan Table.” The recipe seemed pretty basic, but in reality the end result was way, way too salty for my palate. This was my first attempt at stuffed mushrooms, but I want to try again using much less bacon and adding some bread crumbs and more herbs. Rounding out the heavy cream cheese taste and cutting back on the salty bacon flavor. 

Give it a try and let me know….. or better yet, send me your favorite stuffed mushroom recipe. I could use it.

Here’s what you need:

15 – 20 white or brown mushrooms, stems removed and wiped clean

5 oz veggie bacon – about 12 strips- heated and minced

8 oz non dairy cream cheese – room temperature

3 garlic cloves – minced or grated

Chives

Fresh pepper

Here’s what you do:

Mix the bacon, cheese, garlic and chives together. Fill each mushroom cap with about a teaspoonful. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. Serve warm.