Cheese Stuffed Pasta and Sauce

Mmmmmm...YUM! LOVED this one! WAY EASY and oh so tasty!
This recipe also comes from my "Kid Approved Meals" notebook that I bought when I was at a Mothering conference. For more meals by Christine Steendahl and Jenn Caligado, you can go to her website, www.kidapprovedmeals.com

Ingredients:
1 pkg. manicotti or lasagna noodles, cooked drained and cooling in water
1 cup cottage or ricotta cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 egg
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 cup spaghetti sauce

Directions:
If you are using lasagna noodles, get those cooking first. (My opinion: I think you should either use half of the box of lasagna noodles, or you should double the cheese mixture if you are using a whole box. I had quite a bit of noodles left over when my cheese mixture was all used up)Once they are cooked, use tongs to take them out of the boiling water and put them in a bowl of ice water so they can chill enough to touch them.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together cheeses with egg and Italian seasoning. Stuff manicotti or lasagna noodles rolled up. Place stuffed pasta in large baking dish. Top with spaghetti sauce and bake for 30-35 minutes.Serve with veges. These are delightful, btw!!!!!!!!

Tomato-Cheese Ravioli Soup

Makes 1 (1.25 cup) servings.

I have to start by saying that these pictures do not do this recipe justice. This is always going to be one of our family favorites. This recipe came from my Five Ingredient, Fifteen Minute cookbook. I LOVE this cookbook. Did I mention yet that it is definitely my favorites of all my cookbooks? It is. Try this recipe and you will see why. This recipe has two easy steps.










Ingredients:
1 (14.5 oz.) can stewed tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz.) can chicken broth or vege broth
1/2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning (I always use it from an Italian seasoning packet, but I think the recipe intends that you just use regular seasoning)
3 cups frozen cheese ravioli (about 12 ounces)
1 small zucchini, sliced
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Step One:
Combine first three ingredients in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.









Step Two:
Add ravioli, zucchini, and pepper; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heart, and simmer 7 minutes or until pasta and zucchini are tender.











Now, the question is: Will you use a fork or a spoon?!

Southwestern Meatloaf

Meatloaf is always a good freezer meal if you need one. Just cook it, let it cool, and wrap it tightly with aluminum foil. This meatloaf is particularly tasty, in my opinion.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped (for directions on how to chop and freeze lots of onion, or bell pepper at once, go here)
  
• 1 cup frozen corn (for directions on how to quickly, and efficiently, freeze corn on the cob to be used later, go here...Thank you Mummy Deals!)
  
• 2 pounds ground beef (90 percent lean is suggested)
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup plain yogurt (not nonfat)
  
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
  
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons ketchup, optional

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a baking sheet with heavy-duty foil.

2. Warm oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in corn; sauté 2 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl to let cool slightly.

3. Add beef, bread crumbs, egg, yogurt, cilantro, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper to bowl. Mix gently until well combined; do not overmix. Transfer to baking sheet and shape into a 12-by-4-inch loaf. (I spread mine out in a long rectangle piece of stoneware, and slapped some ketchup over the top of mine)

4. Bake until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 160ºF, about 1 hour. Spread with ketchup (or additional ketchup), if desired, and let stand 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Can't get your kids to eat meatloaf? Slap some of the stuff on a bun and call it a hamburger. :0)

Makes 8 servings
1 serving=8 Weight Watchers Point Plus points

Mexican Cornbread Pizza

Ingredients:
I Jiffy Box of Corn Muffin Mix
1/4 cup Flour
1/4 cup Milk
1 egg
2 Tbs. Chilli Powder
1 tsp. Parsley
1 can Chili (they said with no beans, but we used beans)
2 cups Shredded Cheddar cheese


Mix all the ingredients in a bowl except for the can of chili and the cheddar cheese. On a floured surface knead the dough 10-15 times until it is easy enough to work with.







Roll out dough into a 9"x11" pan that has been greased. I had to use extra flour to get rid of some of the stickiness. Use the back of a spoon if you do not have a one-handed rolling pin.






Use the back of a spoon to spread the chili over the corn bread mixture.







Sprinkle cheese over the beans. Cook in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.









Taken from a Jiffy mixes Recipe book. Husband loved it, I loved it, and Preston pretended that all he had in front of him was the blueberries. When asked to take just one bite he declared that he was done over and over. We did get him to take just one bite, but that was all. Maybe tomorrow's pizza will go down better.








Dinner is served.

What to munch for lunch

Make a lunch that will smile back at you...
Cheeseboat sandwiches with a tomato half cut in half to make eyes, tomato soup makes nose, and apple slices make the smile. Serve with milk. Mmmm...yummy. For those of you who do not know, cheeseboats are like grilled cheese sandwiches, but you put a couple of slices of bacon on top of the cheese before you cook the sandwich. I thought my two and a half year old would get a kick out of this. I was wrong, but my husband loved it! :) He even took the picture for me.