Mexican Stuffed Shells

You may have heard of this idea before, especially if you use Pinterest. I love Mexican food and have been enjoying it even more these days than usual, so even though I heard about this idea probably two years ago, this was my first time actually making them.

Marshall wasn't so sure about the combination of Mexican flavors with pasta, but he thought they were surprisingly good. A pan of these lasts us a couple meals, so we got to confirm that we liked them over the course of a few days, and the answer was yes every time. This recipe is a keeper!

 

 

Mexican Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:
6 oz. jumbo shells (18-20)
1 lb. ground beef
Taco seasoning (recipe below for the homemade mix I use)
1 cup sour cream
2 cups salsa
8 oz. cheddar cheese, grated, divided in half
Optional toppings: black olives, green onions, tomatoes, avocado, corn, or anything else you come up with!

Taco Seasoning:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Mix everything together well. This will be enough for 1 lb. of beef. If you want to make a large batch of this to have on hand, you will need two tablespoons for each lb. of beef.

Directions:
Cook shells until al dente. Drain and set aside on a kitchen towel for them to cool and dry.

Meanwhile prepare your taco meat. First, brown your meat in a large skillet. Once browned and almost cooked through, drain the fat, add the taco seasoning and 1/2 cup of water, and simmer over low heat until the water is mostly evaporated and the seasoning is mixed in well (about 5 minutes). Place in a mixing bowl. Let cool for 5-10 minutes.

Add the sour cream, 1/2 cup of salsa, and half of the grated cheddar cheese to the mixing bowl with the taco meat. Mix well.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread 1/2 cup of salsa evenly in the bottom of a 9x13 pan to lightly coat it. Take one shell at a time and fill it with 1-2 tablespoons of the filling. Place in the pan and repeat until all of the shells are stuffed. Top evenly with the final 1 cup of salsa, and bake in the oven until heated through and salsa is bubbling, 15-20 minutes. Top with the final half of the cheddar cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes to melt the cheese. Serve with any toppings you would like.

Basic Stuffed Shells

My posts have been few and far between lately. At least compared to the last two years of running this blog. I guess that's what happens during the first trimester of pregnancy when you write a blog about food.

When all you really want to eat is beef and pretzels for three weeks it's not that exciting to blog about. I had no motivation or inspiration to develop recipes, nor the energy. My days were filled with work and sleep, plus more sleep (And crazy excitement about having a baby!).

However, I am now joyfully emerging from the first trimester and have left those struggles behind! No more sickness, not near as much napping, and I'm back to my normal eating habits with the addition of a little more ice cream.

So please take my sporadic blogging in stride as I attempt to take pregnancy in stride.

Having said all of that, I do have a new recipe for you today. It's not gourmet, it's not original, but it's a pretty quick and tasty dinner that you've probably all heard of, and this is one of it's most basic forms, which I happen to love.

Basic Stuffed Shells

Ingredients:

6 oz. jumbo shells (18-20)

1 15 oz. container ricotta cheese

1/2 lb. ground Italian sausage

10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed

2-3 cups marinara (I used leftover homemade sauce)

Parmesan or mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Cook shells until al dente. Drain and set aside on a kitchen towel for them to cool and dry. Meanwhile, cook the sausage breaking it up into small pieces. Drain on a paper towel and place in a large bowl. Add the ricotta cheese and thawed spinach and season with salt and pepper. Mix well. 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Ladle a spoonful or two of sauce into a 9x13 pan to lightly coat it. Take one shell at a time and stuff it with 1-2 tablespoons of the filling. Place in the pan and repeat until all the shells are stuffed. Top evenly with the rest of the sauce, and bake in the oven until heated through and sauce is bubbling, 15-20 minutes. Top with Parmesan cheese and serve. Alternatively, you could use mozzarella cheese and add it to the tops of the shells for the last five minutes of baking.

I hope you enjoy my simple version of this great dish. I have a completely different version of stuffed shells coming your way soon! : )

Salsa Chicken - A Quick and Easy Delicious Dinner

I haven't posted a recipe in so long! This almost seems like cheating to me because this is a recipe I have been making for years and just never thought about posting. But when you've been making something for years there's usually a good reason! Besides being really tasty, this recipe has only 4 ingredients and takes only a few minutes of hands-on time.

I almost always serve this with rice and peas as seen in the photo below. The excess salsa and cheese from the pan can be poured over the rice as a sauce. Definitely kicks plain rice up a notch (or two!).

My favorite way to cook is without a recipe. That can either mean I have the recipe memorized, or that it's a recipe that is totally customizable. This dish kind of falls into both categories. I never change what ingredients I use, but I never measure anything for this, so how much of each ingredient I use does change. I gave my best estimates for the recipe, but everything should really be done according to your liking, and you'll figure out just how you like it after making it a few times. Other cheeses could definitely work here, but after trying a couple Marshall and I much preferred the Colby Jack so now I stick with that. 

This is one of those quick and easy dinners that is delicious and special enough for guests. I have served this to many a guest all of whom enjoyed it.

Salsa Chicken

Ingredients:

Boneless skinless chicken breasts - as many as you would like to make

Taco seasoning - about 1 tsp. per chicken breast

Salsa - 1/4 - 1/3 cup per chicken breast

Colby Jack cheese - about 1/4 cup per chicken breast

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sprinkle both sides of each chicken breast with taco seasoning and place in a large enough oven-safe dish. Cover each chicken breast with salsa and bake for 25 minutes. Spread cheese out evenly on top and place back in the oven for an additional 5 minutes or until chicken breasts are cooked through. Of course the cooking time will vary depending on the size of your chicken breasts. The chicken breasts I buy are generally on the small end, so adjust your time accordingly.

Enjoy!

Another Menu

Monday - Chinese food made by our friend, Tim -- He's a great cook and makes authentic Chinese food. Looking forward to it!

Tuesday - Stuffed shells -- I have wanted to make these for a long time but somehow never managed to get around to it. I'm going to stuff them with ground sausage, ricotta, and spinach, and I have leftover homemade spaghetti sauce from the weekend that I will cover them with.

Wednesday - Homemade gnocchi (from the freezer) with lemony butter basil sauce

Thursday - Quesadillas

Friday - Maple Dijon chicken 


Guess what?! I actually have a recipe to post later on this week! : )

Menu

Monday - Greek lemon chicken and potatoes, kale on the side

Tuesday - Avgolemeno soup, homemade bread

Wednesday - Leftovers from Monday

Friday - Leftovers from Tuesday

Saturday - Quesadillas


I don't usually like to cook this way (batches that will feed us multiple times), but this week it seemed like a good choice time-wise and budget-wise. As Marshall says, I like the act of cooking too much to ever do once a month cooking (cooking everything for a month on one day and freezing it), but with a tight schedule it's nice to come home and know that dinner is done, it's homemade, and all I need to do is spend ten minutes heating it up.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I'll have plenty of time to cook so I'm going to make fresh homemade bread to be ready just in time for dinner. I haven't had the time to do this in a while, and warm fresh bread with butter is one of my favorite things to eat. So excited about it!

A Menu - Finally!

Monday - Makhani chicken (Indian butter chicken), naan, rice, and kale

This was all leftovers from Friday. This is by far the best Indian dish I have made, and I have it several times so I know it wasn't a fluke. In fact, it seems to get better every time I make it. The first time or two that I made it I got one of those tubes of ginger paste. I have since been buying fresh ginger and grating it myself and there is a big difference! Also, once I get the second yogurt based marinade on the chicken I like to leave it overnight. Not necessary, but a good idea if you have the time. The naan has been a work in progress, but the last two times it came out really well. I leave the egg out completely and make sure to roll them nice and thin.

Tuesday - Homemade gnocchi with a lemon-basil-butter sauce

Wednesday - Tacos for house church

Thursday - Shrimp fried rice (broccoli either in or on the side)

Friday - Quesadillas

Saturday - Salsa chicken, rice, and peas

A Weekend Recap with Joshua and Kayla

This is basically a photo dump post of when Joshua and Kayla were here two weeks ago. I'm sure  you'll notice that all of these pictures are of food, or are related to food (except the last two). Let me just be honest and say that it's because all we did was eat : ) ....And play games, and walk....but mostly eat. And I can't take credit for the pictures - Thanks Kayla!

Friday lunch - whole wheat flat breads and spreads (olive tapenade, edamame hummus, and pesto), cheese, fruit, and veggies.

Friday dinner - Marshall and Joshua made dinner while Kayla and I relaxed.

They made us a cheesy chicken dumpling casserole and roasted Brussels sprouts - Yum!

Saturday lunch - More flat breads (this time with chickpea flour, AP flour, and sourdough)

Vin Derby with port wine cheese

Kayla made guacamole before the flat breads were ready since we were starving! And we also had curried lentils.

Saturday dinner - Kayla showed me how she does her deep dish pizza!

Sunday lunch - Ginger peanut noodles

Sunday dinner - There isn't a picture of the kale-chorizo-potato soup we had, but we made this delicious cheese and onion bread to go with it.

This was a strange method of making bread where you stacked a bunch of rolls together even though in the end they were supposed to be one loaf....I guess it's a texture thing. But we lost two!

We stuck 'em back on though and it worked out just fine....Even though we forgot to put the cheese on for the last few minutes....At least there was already a bunch in the bread. So with many mistakes we still came out with a delicious bread that I will definitely make again.

Great food + Better family = A really wonderful weekend : )