Stuffed Shells

These shells are so flavorful and filling. They're easy to make, but look impressive. My sister-in-law, Mary, made these for me years ago, and I have been making them ever since. She doesn't like recipes with a lot of ingredients, and this one only has six. (Hoping to get her on here soon!)

This is a versatile recipe, so feel free to add or subtract the amount of ingredients, according to how much you like them. I like to add extra ricotta, my kids like extra mozzarella, and my hubby likes extra tomato sauce. I'm a big fan of hidden veggies because my kids are really picky. Even though you can see the spinach in these, I still consider them hidden because the flavor of the sausage covers up the flavor of the spinach really well. If you can get your kids to try it, there's a great chance they'll like it!

Ingredients:

• 1 box Jumbo shells
• Jimmy Dean ground breakfast sausage - 1 hot, 1 mild (or both mild and add red pepper flakes)
• 4-6 oz ricotta cheese
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese
• 16 oz tomato sauce
• 1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add jumbo shells and cook according to the directions on the box.
2. Brown the sausage in a skillet (add red pepper flakes if desired), drain grease. I like to pat dry with paper towels too, to help get as much of the grease off as possible.
3. In a medium bowl, mix spinach and ricotta together, then mix in sausage.
4. Preheat oven to 250.
5. Pour tomato sauce in a baking dish, only enough to coat the bottom.
6. Spoon sausage mixture into shells, one by one, and place in the baking dish.
7. Pour remaining tomato sauce on top of shells.
8. Sprinkle with mozzarella
9. Heat in oven for 10-15 minutes, until sausage is warm and cheese is melted.

Serve with bread, salad, corn, or anything else that sounds good to you!

Taco Spaghetti

Last year for Christmas, my grandma got me a subscription to Taste of Home which is basically a cookbook magazine full of  simple, yummy recipes and lots of pictures. I have a hard time trying a new recipe if I can't see the final product, so I love that it's very visual. One of my latest finds has been a Taco Spaghetti recipe. I wasn't really sold on it at first, but we had most of the ingredients and it looks quick and easy. Well, we were all very pleasantly surprised! Not only was it as quick and easy as I thought it would be, but it was really tasty. Even though quite a few of the ingredients were canned, the flavors really came together with a lot more depth than I expected. It was delicious!!

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. uncooked spaghetti (I like to use the Barilla brand with veggies here just to add a bit more veggies and you really can't taste a difference at all--this is especially great for picky eaters who struggle with veggies)
• 1 lb. ground beef (I like to replace ground beef with ground turkey, turkey sausage, or ground chicken)
• 1 envelope taco seasoning (last time I made it with Jenny-O taco seasoned ground turkey so I just excluded this and the water)
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 can (10 oz.) diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
• 1 can (15 oz.) sweet corn with no added salt, drained (this wasn't originally part of the recipe,but it was a good addition!)
• 2 cup (8 oz.) shredded Mexican cheese blend, divided
• 3/4 cup salsa

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Break spaghetti into thirds (or forths, I like forths, but to each his own); cook according to package directions for al dente.
2. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven (or whatever), cook beef over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until no longer pink, breaking into crumbles; drain. Stir in taco seasoning and water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in beans, tomatoes, 1 cup cheese and salsa. Drain spaghetti; add to beef mixture and toss to combine. 
4. Transfer to a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Bake casserole, covered, 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, 3-5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. (Personally, I prefer to top with the remaining cheese right away and cook the whole thing uncovered for 25+ minutes until it is crispy).
5. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!!

My son has been sensitive to dairy since he was born so I make a small, separate dish for him without cheese, and it's not quite the same. He still enjoys it, but I would say the cheese definitely makes the meal. For a dairy-free alternative I would recommend finding a good dairy-free cheese substitute rather than forgoing the cheese.