A Stuffed Shell Recipe

I've been asked to bring a dinner to a family from church whose mom had surgery last week & is unable to cook meals for her kin. Although I'm a bit puzzled as to why the other 4 adults in the house cannot step in for her, I will bring them a pan of Stuffed Shells & a salad.

I have 2 stuffed shells recipes. I'm making the traditional Italian style today. The Taco Stuffed Shells will be posted another day.

Stuffed Shells  

makes a 9x13 pan (or split it between 2- 8x8 pans & freeze one for later)

I use foil pans for easy clean-up

What you need:

• 1 box of jumbo shell pasta
• 1 lbs of ground beef
• 32 oz of favorite spaghetti sauce ( Prego is my fave)
• 2 lbs ricotta cheese (I use whole milk ricotta rather than low fat)
• 1/2 lb grated mozzarella cheese
• 2 large, beaten eggs
• 1/4 cup each of grated Parmesan & Romano cheeses
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp parsley

What you do:

• Cook & drain shells using box directions for al dente. 
• Brown & drain ground beef
• Combine the sauce w/browned beef
• In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients until well blended
• Spread about 1/4-1/2 cup sauce in a 9x13 baking dish to cover the bottom
• Fill shells w/about 1-2 T of cheese mixture (I just "eyeball" it)
• Place shells "cheese side down" in the baking dish. Continue until all the cheese is used up
• Pour the remaining sauce on shells. Take care to put sauce on each shell to keep from drying out
• Cover w/foil during first half of cooking
• Bake in a 350 degree oven for a total of 45 minutes
• OPTIONAL: Add some more mozzarella cheese on top & bake until melted

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna, fingers crossed!

Ok, I've tried spaghetti squash a few times. I've posted about a few of the recipes I've made using this squash. Truth be told, even though I liked the recipes, I haven't remade them. But I'm always hopeful.

This recipe has been "pinned" on Pinterest many times & I fell in love with the photos! It looked soo good! What is "it?" Lasagna! I love lasagna but only if the noodles are cooked properly. I hate eating glue! Spaghetti squash replaces the noodles so it must be good! I hope so!

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna  Serves 2-4

What you need:

• 2 medium-sized spaghetti squashes, about 5lbs total (or 1 really big squash!)
• 1-2 tsp olive oil
• 2-4 sweet Italian sausages (casing removed or use ground beef)
• 1/2 lg yellow onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 1/2 cups marinara sauce
• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed dry
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• Salt & Pepper, to taste

What you do:

• Preheat oven to 350
• Slice squash in half, lengthwise & remove seed membrane
• Place in a baking dish, cut side up & brush on the oil.
• Bake uncovered 40-60 min or til tender (DO NOT PUNCTURE SKIN! Your stuff will leak out)
• Remove from oven & let cool at least 10 minutes
• While squash is cooling, brown the sausage meat
• Add in the onion & cook for a few minutes before adding the garlic
• Let some of the sausage get a little crispy but don't burn the garlic! (Burnt garlic ruins the sauce!)
• Add in the marinara sauce & heat until warm.
• In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta & dry spinach together (I also added 1-2 T of Parmesan)
• Add in S & P (I felt the chhese & sauce brought enough saltiness, so I omitted)
• Scrape out the spaghetti strands & place in a paper towel lined colander to remove excess liquid
• Turn oven UP to 450
• Using the empty squash shells, in baking dish, layer the lasagna in the following manner...
• Sauce, squash, sauce, ricotta, mozz cheese, squash, sauce, ricotta, mozz cheese, sauce & mozz cheese
• Return to oven & bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes
• Cool about 5 minutes before serving.

There it is. 

My squash is just about done so off I go to stuff them. 

Hoping for the best, but take-out is a possibility if this fails! 

Slow Cooker Chicken Azteca Recipe, Finally!

How did this escape from ever being posted? The original recipe was found in a diabetic slow cooker cookbook & has been modified a bit here & there to suit our family's tastes.

Chicken Azteca (serves 10)

for use in a 5-6 qt slow cooker

What you need:

• 8-10 chicken breast halves, skinless & boneless
• 2- 15 oz cans black beans, drained & rinsed
• 4 cups frozen corn kernels (I like to thaw & pat dry, but you don't have to do this. Frozen is OK)
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• 2 cups thick & chunky salsa, divided (our faves: Old El Paso HOT! or Pace MED!)
• 12 oz tub of cream cheese ( regular or low fat. No fat kind is yucky)

What you do:

• Line your crock pot w foil or use liners for easy cleanup
• In the crock pot, mix together: beans, corn, garlic, cumin & 1 cup of salsa
• Arrange the chicken over this mixture, preferably in a single layer
• Pour the remaining 1 cup salsa over the chicken pcs
• Cover & cook on LOW 4-6 hours or HIGH for 2-3 hours (I use LOW for juicier chicken)
• Remove chicken from crock pot & shred/cut into bite sized pcs
• Return chicken pcs to crock pot
• Add in the cream cheese (in small pcs for easier melting) 
• Stir well
• Cover, turn to HIGH & let cheese melt, about 30 minutes
• Stir one more time
• Serve over rice (I like it over Jasmine rice) or serve it as is.

NOTES:
This recipe can be frozen. However, do not add in the cream cheese until thawed & reheated

Sweet Rich Crockpot Dessert

My quest to find recipes for the crockpot that go beyond stews, soups or casseroles continues.
Today's effort came out very sweet & rich. Good for a big group.

Chocolate Chip Brownie Cake

What you need:
1 box of fudge brownie mix (I used Betty Crocker)
1 pouch of chocolate chip cookie mix (Betty Crocker again)
4 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter, divided
Pam spray with flour

What you do:
Spray a 4-5 qt crockpot w Pam spray
Mix the brownie mix w 2 eggs & 1/4 cup melted butter
In another bowl, mix cookie mix w 2 eggs & 1/4 c melted butter
Spoon mixtures into crockpot, alternating mixtures
Cover. Cook on High for 2 hours, maybe 3 as crockpots differ
After 2 hrs, uncover briefly to touch center of cake. It will be moist but if it bounces back when touched, it's done. Keep checking every 15 min if not
Scoop out cake & serve w vanilla ice cream