Cream cheese and Butternut Squash soup

Sometimes, you need a crockpot meal. This soup makes quick and easy work of a butternut squash. Make sure you have a large enough one or your soup will be too strong.

Ingredients:

2 T butter

1/2 C chopped onion

1 (2 lb.) butternut squash

3 C water

1/2 t marjoram

1/4 t black pepper

1/8 t cayenne pepper

4 chicken-flavor bouillon cubes

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, cubed

Peel and cube the butternut squash, scraping out and discarding the seeds.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion. Cook until tender, stirring occasionally.

Combine onion and all remaining ingredients except the cream cheese in a slow-cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Remove the contents to a blender in batches and process until smooth. Return mixture to slow-cooker.

Add the cream cheese. Cover; cook on low an additional 30 minutes or until cheese is melted. Stir with a wire whisk until smooth.

Pour into bowls and serve with bread or crackers!

Tastefully,

Tamara

Three-Cheese Chicken Alfredo

I already had chicken Alfredo on our menu, since we had leftover pasta to use up. I make an Alfredo sauce fairly often, since Parmesan cheese, butter, and heavy cream our staples in my house.

But I saw someone post a slightly different version of creamy noodles, and it gave me the idea to try this. It was amazing! And really easy to do.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

3 C heavy cream

8 oz. cream cheese, softened and cut into squares

1/2 C meltable cheese, shredded (I used Monterrey Jack, but Swiss would also be lovely)

1 tbsp corn starch

1/2 C parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp pepper

Heat a tablespoon of oil or butter in a large saute pan. Add the chicken and cook until golden, about ten minutes. Remove from the pan.

Pour the cream into the pan, then add the cream cheese and shredded cheese. When the cheeses start to melt, add the cornstarch (the cornstarch is not acting a thickener here but as a separator. Just as it's used in fondue to keep the cheese from clumping, we're using it here to accomplish the same thing).

Add the parmesan cheese. Return the chicken to the sauce, add the pepper, and heat through.

Serve the sauce over your desired noodles, though it would look amazing with rainbow rotini. The kids had it with broccoli over angel hair, while I poured it over spaghetti squash! It was still fantastic!

Tastefully,

Tamara

Baked apricot and cream cheese

This was yet another dessert to make use of the plethora of apricots from my produce basket. I loved this one and the kids gobbled it up. 

ingredients:

1 1/4 lb. apricots, halved and pitted (weight before removing the pit)

1/2 C sugar

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

3 oz. crushed cookies (I used graham crackers)

Put the apricots in a pot with the sugar. Add 2 tablespoons of water and heat until simmering. Cover and cook ten minutes. 

Drain the apricots, reserving the syrup. Put the apricots in an oven-proof dish. Measure out 6 tablespoons of the syrup and pour the rest over the apicots.

Beat the cream cheese until soft, and then gradually add the reserved syrup until smooth. Spoon the cream cheese mixture over the apricots. Sprinkle the cookie crumbs over the top.

Bake in a 400 degree F oven for  10 minutes until the crumbs begin to darken and the filling has warmed. Serve immediately. 

Enjoy!

Tastefully,

Tamara