Cash. Rules. Everything. Around. Me. Cheese

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The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with baited breath.

                                                                                ~ W.C. Fields

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If the title makes no sense to you, then you need more Wu-Tang in your life.

Cream Cheese is one of those ingredients that can do many things. Add some sugar and you have great fillings for puff pastry, keep on going with eggs, milk and flour, and you can make one of God’s true blessings on this earth – Cheesecake. Or you can add some salt, herbs and garlic and make a spread for wraps and bagels, which coincidentally, is what I did.

This is another one of those recipes that I picked up when I first started cooking. Simple, quick, and tasty, what more could you ask for? If you enjoy a good wrap or a savory bagel in the morning, this is going to be your new best friend:

Cilantro Cream Cheese:

                                      8 oz ~ Cream Cheese
                        2 tablespoons ~ Heavy Cream or Milk
                         1 tablespoon ~ Cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon (roughly 2 cloves) ~ Garlic, chopped
                          2 teaspoons ~ Lime Juice
                               To Taste ~ Salt and Pepper

I love the taste of Cilantro, but I know not everybody does. It’s one of those “love it or hate it” flavors, so it’s understandable if you don’t want to use it. This is a pretty flexible recipe so if you have a fresh herb you would rather use in place of Cilantro, give it a shot. Just keep in mind the strength of the herb and how much you put in.

• First off, make sure you leave the Cream Cheese out for a bit so it can soften. This will make working with it a lot easier. If you’re like me and lack the patience or memory to leave it out, just pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time until it becomes easy to work with.

• While it’s softening, chop the Cilantro and Garlic and set aside. Once the Cream Cheese is ready, add the Heavy Cream or Milk (whichever you have on hand, but Heavy Cream is preferred), and slowly whisk it until it is incorporated nicely. 

In case you’re wondering, the cream is added to keep the product spreadable straight out of the fridge, which is a big deal since it's a spread and all. 

• When the Cream/Milk is mixed in, add the chopped Cilantro, Garlic and Lime Juice and stir it all together. Add salt and pepper to your liking.

And that is that. Keep it refrigerated and it should last a few weeks. This is good enough to sandwich in a tortilla wrap and eat it just like that. I should know, I buy tortilla wraps for actual wraps and instead I wind up eating them with just the spread. And you know what, I don’t feel any guilt whatsoever.