I love cheese so much that it is hard to explain sometimes. haha So backwards considering I am lactose intolerant, but I don’t let that stop me. I always have cheese in the refrigerator and in any form. I have blue cheese crumbles, cheddar block cheese, grated parmesan, string cheese; I am sure the list goes on. 🙂

Anyway, I stumbled upon this blog called The Cheese Pusher, how fitting for me I thought.  As I was reading through this blog I found a few yummy recipes that I tried. She has a good blog with yummy recipes, check it out.

Creamy Garlic Pasta– This one was pretty good. I thought it was a bit cheesy and thick, I didn’t put in as much parmesan cheese. However, it was delicious and the only other thing I would do is add chicken per request of Carl. Oh for a little zing, I added white cooking wine. Now if I can find a yummy gluten free garlic bread.

 picture from her blog

Creamy Garlic Pasta

2 tsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp butter
¼  tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
3 cups chicken stock
½ lb spaghetti or angel hair pasta (I used gluten free noodles) 
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
¾ cup heavy cream
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

In a pot, bring the olive oil to medium-low heat. Add the garlic and stir, allowing it to cook for 1-2 minutes. Mix in the butter until melted. Add the salt, pepper and chicken stock. Raise the heat to high and let it come to a boil.

Once it is at a rolling boil, add the pasta and cook for as long as the box’s directions indicate. Reduce the stove to medium heat and mix in the parmesan until completely melted. Turn off the heat and stir in the cream and parsley. Serve immediately.

The other recipe I tried and loved was the Spinach Artichoke Nachos. I love this recipe, I have already made it twice. What I do a little different is I add paprika and I didn’t put it on nachos. Carl asked if I would make it into a dip and use the chips for dipping. So I put it in a little pan and in the oven. I have another healthier spinach artichoke dip that I have made but Carl likes this one better because it is gooey and cheesy. I highly recommend it. I don’t fully follow the measurements either because I made more, I didn’t think it made a lot with the given measurements. It re-heats in the oven well.

 picture from her blog

Spinach Artichoke Nachos
3 cups fresh spinach
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup grated parmesan
¾ cup canned artichoke, chopped
3 tbsp cream cheese
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
3 cups tortilla chips
¾ cup shredded mozzarella, divided

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a large pan, bring the olive oil and butter to medium heat. Once fully melted, add the spinach and cook until completely wilted. Add the garlic and stir for another minute. Remove the spinach from the pan and chop.

Return the spinach to the pan and mix in the parmesan. Once the cheese is melted, add the artichoke. Slowly stir in the cream cheese until it is fully incorporated. Season with the salt and pepper, and take off the heat.

Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray and spread out the tortilla chips. Sprinkle ½ cup of the mozzarella over the chips, then cover with the spinach artichoke dip. Scatter the remaining ¼ cup mozzarella over the chips, and bake at 325 for 7-10 minutes.

PLEASE check out this blog- She has some other good recipes that I would like to try. 🙂

There is my cheesy cheese kick! 🙂 both of these are pretty gluten free, just need to substitute a few items for GF items.

Happy Sunday Football Day!

– Blondie!