There are a LOT of recipes out there for stuffed shells! I was trying to figure out what to make for Mother’s Day dinner when everyone was coming over to my apartment. I had a box of stuffed shells languishing in the cupboard, so I decided to use them. I didn’t realize it would be so hard to pick a recipe! I searched and searched, and eventually chose this one that I found at Taste of Home. I could have looked all day, but I needed to get the grocery store. I chose this recipe because I wanted one that had meat *and* cheese, and didn’t need too many additional ingredients from the store. In the end, it went over very well with the family, and you wouldn’t go wrong with these!

Jumbo pasta shells, onion, Italian sausage, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, cream cheese, egg, salt, pepper, cinnamon (optional), dried minced onion, basil, oregano, parsley, garlic, sugar, tomato sauce.

Put your diced onion in a large skillet. In the interest of full disclosure, I’m not a big fan of onion. After I took the next picture, I decided this was too much onion and took some back out of the pan.

Add one pound of Italian sausage.

Cook the sausage and onions until the sausage is no longer pink.

Drain the sausage, and transfer to a large bowl.

Add 8 oz of cream cheese, cubed up. It will combine easier this way.

and 1 egg.

Stir until the cream cheese and the egg are well combined with the sausage.

To this mixture, add 1 cup of the mozzarella

2 cups of cheddar cheese

1 cup grated parmesan. Yes, I used the stuff in the green can.

1 cup small curd cottage cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 /4 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon. This is supposed to be the optional “secret” ingredient. I probably wouldn’t bother with it the next time.

Mix it all up until it’s well combined.

Meanwhile, cook the shells according to the package directions. Drain, and then rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Cooling them off will also make them easier to handle!

Stuff each pasta shell with a generous spoonful of the meat and cheese mixture. I ran out of the stuffing mixture at the same time I ran out of room in my 9×13 pan, but I still had some shells left over. I did use more than the 24 shells called for in the recipe.

In a separate bowl, dump in your 29 ounce can of tomato sauce.

Add 1 Tbs dried minced onion

1 1/2 teaspoons basil

1 1/2 teaspoons parsley

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon of sugar

and 2 cloves minced garlic (1 teaspoon of the stuff in the jar)

Stir it all up.

Spoon the sauce over the shells in the pan. Cover with foil. At this point, I put the pan in the fridge because I wasn’t expecting my dinner guests for several hours yet. When you’re ready, bake (still covered) at 350F for 45 minutes.

After 45 minutes, remove the foil. Sprinkle a cup of mozzarella cheese on top, and return to the oven for 5-10 minutes for the cheese to melt.

Cheese Stuffed Shells
Taste of Home

1 pound bulk Italian sausage
1 large onion, chopped
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, cubed
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup 4% cottage cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
24 jumbo pasta shells, cooked and drained
SAUCE:
1 can (29 ounces) tomato sauce
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1-1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1-1/2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon Domino® or C&H® Granulated Pure Cane Sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
In a large skillet, cook sausage and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the spinach, cream cheese and egg. Add 1 cup mozzarella, cheddar, cottage cheese, Parmesan, salt, pepper and cinnamon if desired; mix well.
Stuff pasta shells with sausage mixture. Arrange in two 11-in. x 7-in. baking dishes coated with cooking spray. Combine the sauce ingredients; spoon over shells.
Cover and bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until bubbly and cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 12 servings.

I could waste time giving you the reasons I’m posting this today and not last night, as promised, but why waste valuable time? No, let’s get on with the mac and cheese!!

You’ll need milk, elbow macaroni noodles, butter or margarine, two eggs, cheese, and paprika. Easy, right?

First you’ll need two cups of macaroni noodles. I enjoyed playing with them… in fact, I just had to keep playing with them until I managed to get a picture with some of the noodles falling into the bowl. What? Water? Oh, right…

Boil salted water…

Cook the macaroni noodles according to package directions.

When the noodles are done, drain them well and return them to the pan.

Add 4 tablespoons, or 1/2 stick of margarine or butter and stir until melted.

Stir in 2 cups of your cheddar cheese.

In a separate bowl, combine 2 eggs and 1/2 cup of milk.

whisk them together…

Then add the mixture to your noodles and cheese in the pan.

Stir it all together until well combined.

Spoon your macaroni and cheese mixture into a greased 8×8 pan.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup of cheese on top (or however much you feel like!)

Sprinkle paprika on top of the cheese.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted and the casserole is cooked through. And forever be annoyed that I didn’t notice my camera strap was in the picture.

The Recipe
Macaroni and Cheese Casserole

2 cups uncooked macaroni
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
Paprika

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 inch square baking pan.
Cook macaroni in boiling salted water, following package directions. Drain well, return to the pot. Add butter and stir until melted. Add 2 cups of the shredded cheese.
In a medium bowl, whisk eggs with the milk. Add milk mixture to the macaroni and stir until well combined. Spoon into greased pan. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese on top. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until the cheese has melted and browned and the casserole is cooked through.

Today’s recipe comes from a Light and Tasty cookbook I borrowed from my mom. I did manage to find the recipe online though, so I’ll link you to the Chili Mac. To make the Chili Mac, you’ll need two pounds of extra lean ground beef, 1 cup elbow macaroni, 28oz diced tomatoes, 6oz. tomato paste,, 2 cloves of garlic, 16 oz. kidney beans, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. The recipe lists a couple other ingredients (onion, and green chiles) but I left these out and it still turned out great!

I forgot to add the garlic in this picture, so I took another one. But that one turned out blurry and I just couldn’t bring myself to post a picture that blurry so imagine my little jar of minced garlic sitting next to my tomatoes.

First up, brown the two pounds of ground beef with 2 cloves minced garlic (or the equivalent from a jar of pre-minced garlic as I have done).

Steam makes pictures blurry too!

Meanwhile, cook elbow macaroni according to package directions. I snuck in about half a cup extra of the pasta because it just didn’t look like enough. Once my meat was finished cooking, I added the rest of the ingredients.

Stir them all together.

Add in the cooked macaroni and transfer to a 13×9 baking dish. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Don’t be like me. Cover it the first time, don’t put it in the oven, take it back out, cover it, and return it to the oven.

Remove from the oven, carefully uncover, and sprinkle on two cups of reduced-fat Mexican blend cheese. Bake for an additional 5 minutes or so until the cheese melts. Eat, and enjoy!!

I wasn’t too sure how this was going to turn out, and Sarah who was the guinea pig for this particular meal, and I were both kind of nervous. In fact, we had back up plans to head to Taco Bell for dinner if it wasn’t too good. But I dished it up with some corn on the side, and it was delicious! We were both pleasantly surprised by how much flavor it had!

The Recipe
Chili Mac Casserole

1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend

DIRECTIONS

Cook macaroni according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, cook the beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomatoes, beans, tomato paste, chilies and seasonings. Drain macaroni; add to beef mixture.
Transfer to a 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Cover and bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. Uncover; sprinkle with cheese. Bake 5-8 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Yield: 10 servings