Stuffed Shells

Richard and I were grocery shopping the other day and while in the pasta aisle he started talking about how he used to make stuffed shells when he went on a boater's pot luck affair. That was all I needed to hear. We promptly picked up all the ingredients we did not have at home. A few days later I went to work, with some help from my wonderful sous chef Richard.

I cooked the shells per the instructions on the package. While they were draining and cooling I browned up some sweet Italian sausage (1 lb). When the sausage was cooked I drained off the grease and put it into a large bowl. To the sausage I added 3 cups of grated mozzarella cheese, 1 lb of ricotta cheese, 3 cloves of minced garlic and 1 can of chopped spinach which I had squeezed all the water out of. Then I stuffed the shells.



After I had all the shells stuffed I covered them with spaghetti sauce, I used two cans. I then sprinkled them with Parmesan cheese and baked them at 350 until the sauce was bubbling around the edges.



When I pulled them out the Parmesan cheese was a little golden brown in spots.



After we ate I had a lot of shells leftover so I packaged them into meal size portions and froze them for future use.



I used:

1 can of chopped spinach
2 cans of Hunts Spaghetti sauce with garlic

Pork Chops My Way

I love to "freezer dive" in my chest freezer because I am never 100% sure what I will find. In this case the last of our pork chops from Sam's Club. Being a very cool spring day I got creative.

3 pork chops
2 cans diced tomatoes with veggies
1 can French cut green beans - drained
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp dried Basil

Brown the pork chops in olive oil; using just enough to cover the bottom of the skillet. Add the tomatoes, green beans, wine and dried herbs. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Mix the dumplings together and spoon the batter on top of the pork-tomato mixture.

Cover and simmer for about 10-12 minutes or until the dumplings are done.

Dumplings:
1 cup sifted flour (sift then measure)
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1/4 tsp dried thyme





I used:

2 cans of diced tomatoes
1 can of French cut breen beans

Ideas for Using Canned Goods

Having been traveling for the last two weekends and not having a working oven in my kitchen at the time I have not made any really nifty or unique dishes but I have made a couple of simple ones.

One night I took a pork tenderloin, butterflied it, pounded it a little thinner than it normally is and set it aside. I drained a can of sliced mushrooms and then sauteed them in a skillet with a little olive oil and with 1/2 of a medium onion, diced, 1/4 cup diced celery and 3 cloves of minced garlic. I sprinkled a little bit of dried Thyme on. When the veggies were cooked I used them to stuff the tenderloin. I then closed it up so the veggies would stay put and secured it with toothpicks. I then put a dry rub all over the outside of the tenderloin and we cooked it on the grill. Richard really liked the veggie stuffing.

Earlier this week I chopped up two slices of bacon, put them and 1/2 of an onion which I had chopped up into a small saucepan. I cooked it, stirring occasionally until the bacon and onion were cooked. I drained off the grease and then added a can of young peas. I cooked them over low heat until the peas were heated through. This will also work with canned green beans.

Tuesday I get my new range which has two, yes two, ovens and five burners. I am very excited.

I was also thinking I may expand this blog to include was to use all the stuff I have canned here at home.