Chicken Jumbo Shells

Need two 9x13 pans, serve with french bread

12 oz Jumbo Shells
2 Chicken Breasts (chopped food processor)
1 onion chopped and sauteed
1/2lb chopped mushrooms (not necessary, but I love them)
3-6 chopped garlic cloves
1 24 oz can of spaghetti sauce

White Sauce-
8 oz cream cheese
3 T butter
1/2c parmesan
1/2c milk
2 c shredded mozzarella (1 cup for white sauce and 1 c for top of prepared shells)
Cottage cheese filling-
8 oz cottage cheese
1 T basil and parsley
1 egg
salt and pepper

This was more work than I usually like to do. But we don't have them much and I wanted something different for dinner. This recipe uses 3 different pans- 1. to cook pasta, 2. to saute onion, chicken, mushrooms, and red sauce. 3. warm up the white sauce

Saute onion for 7 min, then add garlic and mushrooms with salt and pepper cook for a few minutes. Add chicken till cooked thoroughly, add spaghetti sauce.

In separate pot heat up and stir the white sauce. Turn off the heat, In same pot combine cottage cheese, basil, parsley, egg

In separate pot boil the jumbo shells.  in 9x13 pan lightly spray the pan and then add red sauce to the bottom of the pan. Place the empty shells on top of the sauce . Assemble the shells with the white sauce cottage cheese filling first, then on top of the cottage cheese add the meat red sauce. After all the shells are filled pour the rest of the red sauce over the top.

Cook 350 for 30 min. Last 5 mintues add 1 c of mozzarella to melt on top of shells.

Weirdly enough, I actually noticed these prepared shells tasted much better on day 3 of sitting in the fridge. Initially on the day I made them we had them for dinner and I honestly didnt really enjoy them so much, but my family almost ate one whole pan (so it passed their taste buds).  Next time make this a few days ahead and place foil/wrap on top and let sit in fridge for at least 3 days.

Valentines food Ideas

1.  Tulip tomato flowers  Shockingly Delicious and Youtube, I think fresh steamed green beans would work better than green onions
2.  Meat and Cheese hearts  Two Kids Cooking/ and Krazy Coupon and Food Ideas
3.  Cucumber and carrot hearts
4.  Chocolate bananas Finding Zest and Carrie Experiments and Striped choco bananas

One pot Lasagna

Dang delicious

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 Italian sausage links, casing removed
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
• 8 ounces farfalle pasta
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 cup ricotta cheese (cottage cheese)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add Italian sausage and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat.
2. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, basil, garlic powder and red pepper flakes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Bring to a simmer and stir in pasta and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until pasta is cooked through, about 13-15 minutes.
4. Remove from heat. Stir in mozzarella and Parmesan until well combined. Using a small cookie scoop, top with dollops of ricotta and cover until heated through, about 2-4 minutes.
5. Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.

Manicotti

1 box (8oz) manicotti
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 chopped onion
1 garlic clove
12 oz mushrooms (I would've loved these but I knew my kids wouldn't, I left them out)
12oz cottage cheese or ricotta
salt and pepper
12 oz spinach
1 c parmesan

Preheat oven 400
Boil manicotti 7 min, when it is still a little firm
Saute onion in skillet, add garlic and mushrooms.  Chop spinach and add it to the skillet.
In a seperate bowl mix cottage cheese, salt and pepper, and 3/4c parmesan. Mix the onion & garlic mixture with the cottage cheese mixture.
In a 9x13 pan lay down foil and grease foil. Place half of spaghetti sauce on bottom of pan. In manicotti add the mixture and set in pan.  Spread the red of the sauce on top of the manicotti.
Cook 30 min

Next time we could add some ground beef or sausage to the cottage cheese mixture. Also shredded mozzarella cheese would be delicious.
Could double this next time and make two 9x13 dishes

Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Forkknifeswoon

• 16 jumbo pasta shells (Cook a couple of extra shells to allow for a few breaking while the pasta cooks.)
• 1-1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp fresh garlic, minced
• 4 cups (packed) fresh spinach leaves, roughly-chopped
• 12 oz skim-milk ricotta cheese
• 1 cup shredded skim-milk mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp fresh basil, finely chopped
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
• 1-1/4 cups marinara sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cook the pasta al dente, according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the garlic and cook until it begins to brown, about a minute or two. Add the spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until the leaves begin to wilt but are still bright green, about 3 to 4 minutes. The spinach should be reduced by half. Remove from the heat and let cool.
3. In a mixing bowl, stir together the spinach, ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, basil and salt and pepper until thoroughly combined. Pour 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce into the bottom of a shallow 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish. Stuff each pasta shell with a generous amount of the spinach and ricotta mixture, and place in the baking dish.
4. Cover with the remaining sauce and bake covered with aluminum foil for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the top begins to brown and the sauce begins the bubble, another 10-15 minutes. Serve warm with a dusting of Parmesan.