Wildtree Greek Tzatziki Sauce

Busy Mama Recipes





Homemade tzatziki is the best. This recipe goes great with pita bread, bagels, carrot sticks, crackers, or on salads with chicken. It is simple to make and requires on a few ingredients so its perfect for get-togethers or for a snack.

1 cup full fat Greek yogurt or sour cream (or mix the two)
1 tbs Wildtree Dill Dip Blend
3 tbs grated cucumber
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 tsp Wildtree Lemon Pepper Blend

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and chill for an hour before serving.  Serve with pita chips, crackers, veggie trays, or put on wraps or sandwiches.

For a Middle Eastern twist, add basil or mint. Its great with cilantro on tacos, too!

Wildtree Dill Dip Blend- buy it here.

Sturdy Buttercream Frosting (Great for Decorating)

Busy Mama Recipes



I know there are a million recipes out there for buttercream frosting, but I get asked for a recipe a lot. This one is my favorite because it tastes good and is still stiff enough to decorate and tends to not "melt". IT doesn't taste like sugar or food coloring, like a lot of decorating frosting tends to do.  It is not a traditional recipe, if that is what you are looking for. It does contain some cream cheese, but not enough to be called a cream cheese frosting.

I use my KitchenAid stand mixer and make large batches at a time. The recipe below yields enough frosting to frost and "stuff" a two layer cake, with leftover to make decoration flowers. Today I decorated three dozen cupcakes and had enough leftover to do almost a dozen more. The reason I don't like making small batches of frosting is because if the mixer isn't full, air gets whipped into the frosting and it creates bubbles... not good if you want smooth, decorating frosting.

3 cups salted butter at room temp
8 ounces room temp cream cheese (to stabilize and add flavor)
1 1/2 cups vegetable shortening (for stabilizing)
6 cups powdered sugar
2 tbs milk or heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract

Whip the butter, cream cheese and shortening until smooth. While continuing to mix, slowly add the powdered sugar. Add the milk (one spoonful at a time, and only if necessary) and the vanilla. Chill until you're ready to use.

Photo:  Monster cupcakes for my one year old son's monster themed birthday in February.  The frosting looked like this for a week before the rest of the cupcakes got eaten.  No melting, no running- even with the added food coloring.  I bought the candy eyeballs at Safeway.

Immediately prior to use, re whip in the mixer to prevent the frosting from becoming too hard to pipe.  The cream cheese and shortening are optional, and you can substitute butter instead. However, adding the shortening makes the frosting less "meltable". The cream cheese adds just enough flavor to make it not taste like butter, and also creates stability and helps keep it from melting or becoming soft.

Smoked Mozzarella and Tomato Stuffed Mushrooms

Busy Mama Recipes





I made this yummy "snack" today for a little family get-together and it ended up being gobbled so fast I wish I would have made more. If you like stuffed mushrooms, this is a must-try!

Photo from www.wildtree.com, where this recipe is featured. 

One package white mushrooms (about 30)
8 ounces cream cheese
2 tbs Wildtree Smoked Mozzarella and Tomato blend
2 green onions, sliced very thin
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella or Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F and coat a 9x13 baking dish with pan spray. Wash and de-stem all mushrooms. Arrange the mushroom caps, hollow-side up, in the baking dish. Chop half of the stems and discard the rest. In a medium mixing bowl, add one tablespoon of warm water to the Wildtree Smoked Mozzerella and Tomato Blend and mix until the water is absorbed. Add the cream cheese, chopped mushroom stems, and green onions.  Mix until thouroughly combined. Place cream cheese mixture into a zip-top bag and cut about half of an inch off of its corner. Squeeze the cream cheese mixture into mushroom caps until filled and top with shredded mozzarella. Bake for 30 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and cheese is browned.

Wildtree's Smoked Mozzarella and Tomato Blend.  Buy it here.

Serve with lemon wedges and easy marinara sauce:
Combine 14 ounces crushed tomatoes with a 1/2 tablespoon of Wildtree Hearty Spaghetti Blend. Warm on the stove or in the microwave.

Readers: This recipe is featured on the Wildtree Website now!  Check out their recipes, which you can sort by Wildtree Product.