Tasty Tuesday: Stuffed Shells and Cheese - New and Improved

I have had this as a staple or at least easy reoccurring meal on our menu for years I suppose.  I first tried a recipe out of my sister's 30 Day Gourmet Big Book of Freezer Cooking.  I stayed pretty loyal to this for years.  Great recipe and easy to freeze and have on hand.  However, we moved a few times and during one of those moves the recipe book was packed up and I looked for a similar recipe.  Instead I found myself meshing together recipes I found to make one I really like.  And my kids love it too.

Stuffed Shells and Cheese

1 package of large pasta shells
3-4 cups of spinach leaves, chopped
24 oz cottage cheese (or ricotta but I've always used cottage cheese)
1 C mozarella
2/3 C Parmesan cheese (I used a mix of Grated Parmesan cheese and the more authentic type); reserve some for topping
1 egg
1 Tbsp Basil, finely chopped
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
Jar of marinara sauce (can substitute other spaghetti sauce in a pinch but Marinara is the best)

• Preheat oven to 375* F.  Boil water in a large pot and cook your pasta shells until they are al dente (cooking time is usually marked on the package).

• While pasta is cooking begin mixing together your cheese filling.  Stir together cottage cheese, spinach, cheese, egg, basil, salt and pepper.  

• Pour a layer of marinara sauce into an 9x13 inch 3 qt  pan.  Drain your shells once cooked.  I usually rinse them with cold water to help with handling.  Stuff each shell with a generous spoonful of the cottage cheese mixture.  Place them on top of the marinara sauce in the baking dish.  Pack them in tightly to make room for all shells you can.  

• Cover with the remaining sauce and then top with aluminum foil.  Back for 20-25 minutes before removing foil and topping with reserved cheese.  Bake an additional 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce begins to bubble.  Serve warm. 

Tasty Tuesday: Yaki Soba

A few months before I met my husband I went to visit my sister in Japan.  She was teaching English there to students.  It was a wonderful trip and I enjoyed being with my sister in this culture she loved (and still loves) so much.  During my stay we enjoyed lots of different food:  ramen, a rotating sushi bar, gyoza/fried dumplings, homemade Chinese food from one of her friends,etc.

My sister has since returned home and shared a few recipes with us that we love.  Yaki Soba is one of our favorites.  It is so simple to make and only dirties one pan.  My kids ( 7 year old girls and a 3 year old boy) all enjoy it as well so I'd call it kid-friendly.

We use the entire package of Yaki Soba noodles in our recipe and it usually feeds 2-3 adults and our 3 kids.  You can usually find the noodles in the Asian area of your grocers produce or refrigerated area next to wanton wrappers, tofu and the like.  We also find our bag of shredded broccoli slaw in this area.  We originally used philly steak meat from the freezer section at Walmart but recently I've been using Steakums and find it works just as well and then I don't have to make a trip to Walmart for groceries.

Yaki Soba

1 package of Yaki Soba
1 package of broccoli slaw
1/2 package of Steakums
vegetable oil or oil of your choice
water

Directions
Heat about 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan.  Once the oil is hot then throw in your broccoli slaw and saute it until the slaw is slightly tender.  While the slaw is cooking open your package of yaki soba and pierce the individual packages you plan on using.  Remove the sauce packets and place them to the side.  Place the pierced yaki soba in the microwave for 1 minute.  Remove the noodles from the microwave and packaging and place into the pan with the broccoli slaw.

Next sprinkle the sauce packets over the top of the noodles.  Place 1 and 1/2 cups warm water into the pan over the top of the sauce.  Stir the slaw and noodles together being careful not to break the soft noodles.  This mixture should be simmering.  When the noodles and slaw are mixed together, push them to one side of your pan.  Allow the sauce to come to the empty side.

Break apart your frozen meat and place it into the bubbling sauce on the empty side.  Stir this side until the meat is browned.  Once the meat is cooked after a few minutes then mix all of the ingredients together.  Serve hot and enjoy.

We have served this with egg rolls on the side and more non-traditionally with kielbasa sausage or bread.  But generally we eat it on it's own.

We had some bread ends to use so we did buttered toast on the side this time. 

Repurposed: Gerber Cereal Container

Cleaning and organizing sometimes go hand in hand with finding something to use that "it has to be useful" container.  In my effort to clean and organize our hall closet (craft and toy central for our 4 year old girls) I decided to use baby brother's empty cereal container.  I like it.  Now to find other uses for these things.  They do recycle I suppose but they also filled a need I found so yay for that!

Jayne Cobb Hat

Well this is almost a year late in the posting.  I found this pattern on Ravelry last year and aimed to make one for my hubby who is a huge fan of Firefly and Serenity.  I asked for my sister's help and also got quite a bit of instruction from a few YouTube channels.  There really is nothing to stop someone from learning a new skill with all the information out there.

Anyway I was miserable with it for the first while as I thought I remembered what a single crochet was like but somehow fumbled it and was using more of a slip stitch to do this hat.  I was more than half-way through with the pattern and the hat wouldn't have even fit a newborn.  Something had to be wrong.  Yep of course.  This is when YouTube came to my rescue and I relearned some basic skills.  On second attempt (or was it third? or fourth?) I was able to make this hat with no issues and much more quickly.  I think the last "real" attempt only took me a few hours and considering it was my first hat ever attempted I didn't think that was too shabby.

End result (my project link here so you can find the pattern by Dryope).  My stitch/tension is probably a little more snug than most so I think the hat ended up being a little snug.  I may make another someday but we'll see.  It did fit my 2 year old daughters at the time.  Seren was willing to model it for me.  Can you guess where her name came from?? Seren...Serenity.  Yep my husband came up with the idea and I actually loved it.  We later discovered it's a popular name in the UK so it worked out pretty well I think.

Seren Cobb...she was so excited to model it for me

Hubs showing off his new hat and shirt from Christmas 2013

Updated Garland On The Cheap (...Okay Free)

I know it's not really original but I thought I would share how I fancied up my $2 garland from Walmart for free.  First off the garland was 9 feet long.  I though it was long enough but when I got it home discovered the ledge in our front room is more like 10 or 11 feet long.  Luckily I already had filler I planned to use around the garland (the bells).  Out came my wire cutters and I snipped the garland into 3 separate pieces so I could spread it out.  I wanted to add some embellishment to it.  Conveniently, I had leftover pine cones from our bird feeder activity so I added these on.

Wash and bake your pine cones on aluminum foiled cookie sheet prior to using for decoration.  I washed mine in hot water and then baked them at 250 degrees for about 30 minutes.  They didn't have sap on them to worry about thank goodness. 

Next using fishing line or possibly jewelry string (I used fishing line), tie it around your pine cone first wiggling it into the center to get a tight hold.  Secure this with a square knot leaving a few inches on both sides of the knot.

Then attach the secured pine cone to your garland with the excess line.  I wrapped mine around the metal center but you would place them on stems of the pine also.  Make sure to tie a couple square knots so it doesn't come lose.  Trim off excess line. 

Somewhat close up of the pine cone attached.  The larger pine cones were also found (last year)...these required more washing and baking than the smaller ones.  Also, I promise my wall isn't so distastefully green as it looks, although I've been dying to paint it since we moved in a year ago. 

Last of all, love yourself for saving money this season...Merry Christmas!

Pine Cone Bird Feeder

Simple.  Easy.  Kid-Friendly.  This was our afternoon project today.  We collected pine cones at the park last week.  No need to clean or bake them.  Just tie on a string or twine then apply peanut butter.  I would advise a couple large spoonfuls in a bowl unless you have a jar that's almost gone.  Roll in or sprinkle with bird seed and you're set.  I imagine wild bird seed might be better for this project (for the birds) but we used what had available.  The girls loved it.  Although so far we haven't seen any birds (darn it!)...maybe it was too late in the season. 

What's New On Etsy: Child Aprons

Well I did it again.  I participated in a holiday boutique with my good friend.  It was much more successful.  I was able to clear out some of my stash of towels and I added a new item this time.  Children's aprons.  I figured they were a simple project and a good way to use up some of my larger scraps of material.  They have elastic in the neck straps and snap closures at the hip for the back strap...making it super easy for children to put on and use without too much help.  I'm thinking that my girls will definitely be getting their very own this Christmas.  In the meantime here are some great pictures and the aprons are available here at my Etsy shop.