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Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Shells

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Date: 4/26/2012

Recipe: http://annies-eats.com/2009/02/27/sausage-and-spinach-stuffed-shells/

Modifications: I got diced tomatoes for the “chopped tomatoes” called for in the recipe – I’m not sure if there is a different thing actually called chopped tomatoes, but if there is, I couldn’t find it. I only made 2 8×8 pans, and for my preference, there wasn’t NEARLY enough sauce. I added a large can of crushed tomatoes to the top – a 28oz can split pretty evenly between both pans.

Time to table: 1 hour prep, ~1 hour baking time

Servings: Three 8×8 pans (but I got only 2 + some extra)

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Notes: This made a little more than 2 8×8 pans for me – but the remaining weren’t quite enough for another pan. I used my small pampered chef cookie scoop to stuff  the shells – about 2 scoops per shell. I froze the 2nd 8×8 pan prior to the baking step. This is very similar to the other stuffed shells recipe we tried, but I liked this one better, especially since I knew to add a lot more sauce. The filling was especially rich and delicious, probably due to using sausage versus turkey.

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Pasta carbonara

Pasta Carbonara

Date: 4/13/2012

Recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/09/cooking-with-ryan-pasta-carbonara/

Modifications: None

Time to table: 40 minutes

Servings: 6 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Notes: Erin and I made this for a “stay at home” date night, where we put both kids to bed and then made ourselves dinner. It was a lot of fun to be able to just focus on cooking food and eating it without the usual distractions. We’ve made this dish before, and it was just as delicious and unhealthy as I remembered it :) It made a ridiculous amount and we ate it for several lunches in the next few days.

Pasta Carbonara

Pasta Carbonara

Herbed Risotto with Chicken and Carmelized Onions

Risotto with carmelized onions and chicken

Date: 4/9/2012

Recipe: http://annies-eats.com/2011/01/13/herbed-risotto-with-chicken-and-caramelized-onions/

Modifications: I cooked 3 chicken breasts, but it seemed like FAR too much chicken – I probably only used 1.5 and then we saved the rest for another meal. I also forgot the butter at the end and it still seemed plenty rich and delicious :)

Time to table: 45 minutes

Servings: 4 adults

Ben: Love

Erin: Love

Annie: Like

Notes: Risotto is one of those meals that is always a hit. How could it not, with all that cheese and butter?? The carmelized onions really put this one over the top for me. It was delicious. Annie (of Annie’s Eats, not my child) says this method is easier, but for the time you save from stirring, I spent shredding chicken, which is one of my most hated tasks in the kitchen. This still seemed plenty involved – wouldn’t be what I would call a “quick dinner” but it was worth it! Luke enjoyed watching me cook – good thing :)

Luke watching mom cook

Now Annie's plate
Annie was well accessorized for this dinner

Spaghetti Pie

Spaghetti Pie

Date: 1/26/2012

Recipe: http://weelicious.com/2010/08/31/spaghetti-pie/

Modifications: We used ground beef, and added chopped spinach to the sauce mixture. I also baked this in a cake pan instead of a pie pan and it was FULL.

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 30 minutes bake time

Servings: 6 adults

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: Our neighbors are big fans of this meal so I’ve wanted to try it out – I think it could have just used more sauce because the noodles got a bit dry. We made quite a big batch of the tomato sauce recipe linked in the post, so we had extra.

Spaghetti Pie

Annie eating spaghetti pie
Examining the mess on her hands

Pasta with turkey pesto meatballs

Turkey Pesto Meatballs and Tomato sauce

Date: 12/5/2011

Recipe: Meatballs: http://weelicious.com/2010/06/01/turkey-pesto-meatballs/

Tomato Sauce: http://weelicious.com/2009/10/06/weelicious-tomato-sauce/

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 25 minutes bake time

Modifications: Not many – I think we probably used nearly double the pesto because that’s what we had frozen, and it still worked out fine.

Servings: 35 little meatballs – we baked half with all the tomato sauce, and froze the other half and half the meatballs served our family of 3 perfectly.

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: This was very easy, especially with frozen pesto. The tomato sauce also came together quickly, making this a great weeknight meal. I always love recipes that we can get 2 full meals out of – we froze the meatballs as she indicates in the post, prior to baking so that’ll be an easy one to just pull out and have with more tomato sauce. We served this over spaghetti.

Tomato Sauce

Turkey Pesto Meatballs and Tomato sauce

Crockpot lasagna

Crockpot Veggie Lasagna
Date: 12/1/2011

Recipe: http://weelicious.com/2011/09/14/crock-pot-veggie-lasagna/

Time to table: 30 minutes prep, 4 hours cook time

Modifications: We used a head of cauliflower and a handful of spinach for our veggies.

Servings: 6 adult meals

Ben: Like

Erin: Like

Annie: Like

Notes: I actually liked this more than I thought I would, especially with some sriracha :) There were enough leftovers to skip lunch and just have it for another full dinner, which is always nice.

Crockpot Veggie Lasagna

Crockpot Veggie Lasagna