Stuffed Shells

I don't know about you, but Italian food is total comfort food for me.  I LOVE it.  It makes me feel good, and who doesn't like food that makes you feel good?!  So a couple of years ago, my sister-in-law made stuffed shells and my husband raved about it.  He, by the way, is NOT a lover of Italian food.  Yes, I still married him in spite of this.  But I have been working on that, and we have come a long way in 13 years.  Anyway.  He liked them, and I let them be her thing for awhile.  However, I needed something new to throw in the mix and I found this recipe on Pinterest.


The good thing about this dish is that it truly is versatile.  You can change and adjust it as you need to for your family's personal tastes.  You can go vegetarian, vegan (Yay, Olivia!), or whatever floats your boat.  I am going to give you the version that I made for a few reasons.  First of all, I do not have time to make the tomato sauce from scratch every time.  Sad, but oh so true.  So this is my weeknight rush version.  Second, even my picky eater Wil ate this yumminess, so you know it's a keeper.  Lastly, everyone needs a starting point in a recipe.  This just happens to be mine.


If you have not explored the Pioneer Woman's blog, I strongly urge you to do so.  She has some great recipes on her site, and I have made more than one.  She has a little bit of everything going on.  Here is her recipe for Stuffed Shells.  This was definitely a success in our house.  Enjoy!!

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 jar of favorite tomato pasta sauce
• 8 oz jumbo pasta shells
• 30 oz Ricotta cheese
• 8 oz Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup of grated Romano cheese
• 1 whole egg
• 2 tbs dried basil (Or you can use fresh basil.  I did not have any on hand.
• 2 tbs dried oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste 

Preparation

• Preheat over to 350 degrees F
• Cook jumbo pasta shells according to package, but cut cook time in half since this dish involves baking as well.
• After the pasta shells are cooked, drain water and rinse in cold water.  Set aside.

• Brown ground beef and drain off grease.
• Add jar of tomato sauce and let simmer while you get the ricotta cheese mixture ready.  Also, you can add spices to the jar sauce here if you like to adjust the flavor, which I do.  I like to make it a bit more homemade tasting.

Excuse the tomato sauce all over my stove top.  I was watching my kids
do a play at the same time I was cooking, and did not notice it
until now.

• Put ricotta cheese in a bowl and mix in the egg, parmesan cheese, romano cheese, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper.  Stir together until mixed well.

• Spread some sauce in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish.
• Take jumbo shells and spoon cheese mixture into each one, then place seam side down in baking dish.  Continue until all the cheese mixture is gone, or until you have no more shells.  I usually run out of the cheese mixture first.

• Once they are done, pour remaining sauce over the shells.  Then I top it with more parmesan cheese, and mozzerella if I have any on hand (which I did not when making them this time).

Ready for the oven.

• Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

This was my overflow dish because I had no
more room in the other one.

I also bought a loaf of bread from Walmart's bakery called "Italian Anything Loaf".  It is SO good with anything Italian.  I am also a lover of bakery items, in case you were wondering.  Another weakness I have to live with.

Honeybun Cake

If you know me even a little bit, then you know that I am infatuated with honey buns.  They are a serious weakness in my book of weaknesses.  If there is a box in my house you will have to wrestle me to get even one out of it.  It is THAT serious.  Seriously.


So when I came across a recipe for honeybun cake on Pinterest, I literally jumped up and down in pure excitement.  My husband thought I was crazy until he saw why I was jumping, and then he understood because my infatuation with honeybuns has been going on for years ~ way before my infatuation with him ever began.  But I digress!


Yes, honeybun cake.  Incredibly easy to make and oh so yummy dancing on my taste buds.  The link where I got the recipe is here.  In my kitchen, I make the recipe as it is the first time and then make my personal adjustments from there.  I did not make any changes to this recipe.  It was absolutely scrumptious the way that it came.  So this Pinterest recipe was a definite success.  I have even made a few and given them away as presents.


Enjoy!!


Honeybun Cake

Ingredients

• 1 box (18.25 Oz. Box) Yellow Cake Mix
• 4 whole Eggs
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• ¾ cups Vegetable Oil
• 1 cup Light Brown Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 2 cups Powdered Sugar
• 6 Tablespoons Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

 Instructions

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

By hand, blend the cake mix, eggs, sour cream, and oil until well-incorporated. The mixture will be pale yellow; it’s okay if it has some lumps! Then set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon until well-blended; set aside.

Pour half of the cake batter into a greased 13×9 pan, spreading the batter out into a thin layer. Add half of the swirl mixture to the top, covering the entire layer of batter. Don’t be alarmed if it looks like you’re over-saturating the cake—it’ll taste great! Pour the rest of the batter on top, and spread the batter until the cake is even. Top the cake off with the rest of the swirl mixture. With a knife, swirl the batter until you create a beautiful masterpiece (I always pretend I’m a barista pouring cream into a cappuccino because I’m really nerdy like that).

Place the cake into the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

While the cake is baking, make the glaze. In a bowl, mix the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until glaze is of desired consistency. When the cake comes out of the oven, immediately pour glaze onto the hot cake.

You might have to pick up the cake and tilt it to spread the glaze evenly. Let the cake sit for a few minutes so the glaze can set and serve warm or at room temperature.

My favorite part is the edge of cake around the pan.  The cinnamon just melts in your mouth *Drool*

Pan Roasted Chicken With Lemon-Garlic Green Beans

My absolute favorite thing about Pinterest is the recipes.  It is the main thing that attracted me to the website over a year ago (thanks to my sister Michelle), and I have probably made hundreds of recipes from there ever since then.  Tonight is no exception.

My husband LOVES to scroll through the pictures on my Pinterest account often, and I never mind because then I can make him something new that he chose.  Also, if it bombs then I can blame him for it.  The dish that I chose to make tonight came from him, and as it is in the oven right now it smells AMAZING!

Another great thing about all this cooking that I am doing is that the kids get to help.  Brooklyn assisted in making dinner this evening, and that is usually incentive for her to eat it as well.  We also made my own recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (recipe will follow in a few days after some test tasters get lucky) while we were in the kitchen, so my house is very happy right now.

Here is the link for the Pan Roasted Chicken With Lemon-Garlic Green Beans.

Pan Roasted Chicken With Lemon-Garlic Green Beans

This has proven to be a SUCCESS!! Everyone (minus the incredibly picky Wil) loves this meal, but he does approve of the muffins. I stayed pretty close to the original recipe, so I say happy cooking to you!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins