Stuffed Shells in a Crock Pot

It's Wednesday..  

How about a really easy dinner to for the middle of the week?  

I'm sure you'll love it!

I have this obsession with Marinara sauce.  We have some kind of marinara dish once a week.  Sorry husband. :)  Stuffed shells is one of my favorites!  It's easy and only takes about an hour prep and cook time.  However, one afternoon (true story) I had to run all of these errands and I wouldn't be home until five.  Now by five o'clock, dinner needs to be practically on the table.  There is no way my children or my stomach would last if I started dinner at five.  So I tried "stuffed shells in a crock pot."  And it totally worked!  Here it is:

 

Stuffed Shells 

(in a crock pot - I'll post my stuffed shell recipe in the oven later!)

one 1 lb of pasta (bigger is better for this recipe - penne, bowtie, etc. I'm sure you can actually use the jumbo shells like you would if you baked it, but I didn't have them at the time.  But you try, and tell me how it goes!)

one jar of marinara sauce (Ragu Tomato Garlic and Onion!)

one 8 oz. container of cottage cheese

16 oz of shredded mozarella cheese

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 tsp. of oregano

1/2 tsp of garlic

one egg

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups of water

Crack an egg in a large bowl.  Beat.  Add three kinds of cheeses, and seasonings.  Mix together until well blended.  Cover the bottom of the crock pot with 1/2 cup of water.  Now layer!

1. 1/3 of the bag of pasta on the bottom

2. Top with 1/3 of the cheese mixture

3. Top with 1/3 of the sauce.

Repeat steps 1-3 until all ingredients are gone (should be three layers with sauce ontop.)  Sprinkle on more Parmesan cheese.  Take remaining 3/4 cup of water and pour in. 

Be sure to get the edges and middle. Cover.  Cook on high for 2-3 hours.  It cooks pretty fast so be sure to check it after two hours - and depending on how soft you like your pasta, you might want to cook it longer.

And then maybe add some yummy bread sticks to the meal.  Oooh, I have an awesome bread stick recipe.  That's coming too.

Pasta Primavera

This is one of my favorite summer meals.  It's light and filled with summer veggies. 
My sister, Rachelle gave me the recipe.

Pasta Primavera

8 oz of pasta of your choice

1 zucchini or yellow squash

1 pepper (red, orange, yellow or green)

3-4 roma tomatoes

4-5 T. of olive oil

salt & pepper

Italian seasoning

Parmesan cheese
*If you add a variety of squash/peppers, it helps with the flavor and color.  
Sometimes when I have them, I cut up half of each squash and a few different peppers.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Boil water for pasta. Wash and slice veggies. 
You can slice them in long strips or in chunks.  Pour olive oil onto a cookie sheet.

Place cut veggies onto the sheet.  Mix them into the olive oil.  Sprinkle on salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.  Bake for 10 minutes, flipping vegetables halfway through.  Dice tomatoes.  Take a large bowl and dump cooked pasta and vegetables into.  Be sure all of the oil on the pan goes in - it helps add lots of yummy flavor.  Mix. 

Top it all of with fresh tomatoes and Parmesan cheese. 

*How I tweaked it:

We like meat so I cut 2 chicken breasts into strips and cook them in olive oil and Italian seasoning over medium heat. 

I mix the vegetables right into the cooked chicken and steam that for a few minutes.  Then I mix everything together in a large bowl, then top it off with tomatoes and cheese.

Hope you like it!

And just a few reminders:

1- I post new recipes every Monday and Wednesday.  

2- Fridays are special days for my followers!

3- Be sure to follow the blog and email me letting me know you're following.  Then you'll have the chance to post one of your recipes.

And it begins...with Veggie Burritos

This is my food blog.  I absolutely love food.  I love to cook, bake, and eat food.  I'm quite surprised I'm not a million pounds yet because I have no control.  I'm no health nut, chef, or amazingly creative in the kitchen.  I'm good at following recipes and then maybe tweaking them just slightly.

 I plan on posting 3 recipes a week - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Sometimes the recipes will be nice gourmet (ha!) meals.  Sometimes (maybe a lot of the time) the recipes will be a yummy treat since all I do is try to bake new desserts.  And then other days the recipe I post might just be a snack my kids and I can't get enough of.  But be assured, that each week there will be 3 NEW recipes for you to try. 

I have a few exciting ideas up my sleeve for this blog so be sure to check often!

So for my food blog debut, I have one of my favorite recipes to share:

VEGGIE BURRITOS

(don't let the name scare you.  I am no vegetarian.  I love meat.  But this meal is filling and delicious!)

What you Need:

8 inch flour tortillas

One can of black beans

One jar of salsa (your choice)

Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Sour cream

One Lime

Bunch of cilantro

Rice

This meal can literally be prepared in 30 minutes!
The key is to do everything while the rice is simmering.

Combine 2 cups of water and 1 cup of rice into saucepan.  Once it comes to a boil, turn down to low, cover, and start timer for 20 minutes.  Shred cheese.  Open can of black beans, dump into caliender over the sink, rinse beans thoroughly.  Cut one lime into 8 wedges.  Rinse cilantro.  Pluck cilantro leaves off the stem.  Have sour cream, salsa, and tortillas out and ready to go!  When the timer goes off for the rice, remove the saucepan from the stove.  And begin making your burritos!

I start with warming my tortilla in the microwave.  However the absolute BEST tortillas are these.  Put a spoonful of sour cream across the middle of the tortilla.  Add a few spoonfuls of rice and beans.  Sprinkle on cheese.  Pour on salsa.  Top with cilantro and squeeze a lime.  Roll and enjoy!