Have you ever tired flavored cream cheese? It is available next to the regular cream cheeses in the grocery store, but making your own is so much more satisfying.

I got the idea to make my own flavored cream cheese last week when I was making a vegetable sandwich. When I make vegetable sandwiches I use cream cheese on the bread because I hate mayo. While trying to spread the cream cheese, the bread ripped.

Frustrated by this occurrence, I pondered ways to avoid bread-tearing issues. The solution I came up with was to make a cream cheese spread like the kind available in the grocery store. Since I was making cream cheese spread for a veggie sandwich, it only made sense to make vegetable cream cheese.

I minced 1 clove of garlic, 3 tablespoons of green bell pepper and 1 rib of celery. Then I put all of the veggies into the blender along with an 8 ounce package of cream cheese, ¼ cup of yogurt, some black pepper, a pinch of dried Italian herbs and several shakes of Tabasco sauce. I blended the mixture until it has a smooth consistent texture.

I put the cream cheese in a plastic container and left it in the fridge over night to used on my veggie sandwich the next day. This time, instead of ripping the bread, it spread smoothly and added a ton of really nice flavor to the sandwich.

Even though I used my cream cheese for a sandwich, it could also be use like a dip on celery or slices of cucumber for a healthy snack. It would also make nice party or picnic food by putting a small dollop of the mixture on the top of a cracker.

Since my veggie cream cheese turned out so well with the ingredients I had on hand, I decided to do a little bit of research on the ideal ingredients. I found that popular ingredients for veggie cream cheese include onions, chives, bell peppers, radishes, garlic, carrots, seeded cucumbers and fresh herbs.

While I was looking at flavored cream cheese recipes online, I came across a few for non-vegetable flavored cream cheese ideas, like fruit and nuts. One idea that was on several Web sites is honey walnut. This could be especially yummy on cinnamon raisin bagels or graham crackers.

There were also suggestions on how to make fruit cream cheese. I never really considered making my own fruit cream cheese, but since I like the commercial fruit cream cheeses so much it makes sense to try to make it myself.

The easiest way to make fruit cream cheese is to mix an 8-ounce package of cream cheese with two to three tablespoons of jam, jelly or preserves. You can use just one type of fruit like strawberry, or mix several together to make your own unique combinations.

Fruit cream cheese makes bagels tasty for a slightly sweet breakfast. They also are nice on sugar cookies, short bread and graham crackers. Try spreading the fruit cream cheese on a gram cracker then garnishing it with sliced strawberries and a sprig of mint.

When making flavored cream cheese, consider how thick you want the mixture. In the veggie cream cheese, I included yogurt to make it thin enough to spread easily. Yogurt, sour cream or mayonnaise can be use to when you want the mixture to be thinner or spread easier.