Stuffed Shells
Courtesy of Josh Walters
Cook 1 pound hamburger with salt and pepper and freeze dried chives (to taste)

Cook 1/2 Jumbo Shells (About 1/2 box)
Mix together
1 pkg cream cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
fresh minced garlic (to taste/ about 1 tsp)
Dried onions

Mix cooked hamburger in with previous ingredients. Fill each shell with completed mixture.
Place in a casserole dish. Top with your choice of sauce, use Bertolli Spaghetti, or Vodka sauce.
Top with mozzarella cheese or fresh Parmesan.
Cook on 400 for approx. 20 mins or until cheese is melted.
Makes about 20 shells

Lillian’s spaghetti sauce with chicken and sausage

2 pounds (about 6 pieces) chicken thighs with the bones (with or without skin)

5 sweet or hot Italian sausages

2 tablespoons good olive oil

1 large onion, cut any which way you want (that’s how she always did it)

3 cloves garlic, finely sliced

1 teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning

2-3 28 ounce (800g) cans of tomatoes (crushed, whole peeled, or diced, or some of each)

1/2 cup (112g) tomato paste (one small can)

A sprig each of fresh herbs, such as oregano, basil, and thyme (but only if you have them)

1-2 bay leavessalt and pepper to taste

1. Rub chicken thighs with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in a large pot set over medium high heat. Sear until well browned and remove to a plate. Next, brown the sausage, and remove to the plate.

2. Pour the olive oil into the pot and reduce heat to low. Sweat the onions until tender, about 10 minutes. Add in the garlic and dried herbs, and cook for a minute more. Add in the tomatoes, tomato paste, fresh herbs, and bay leaves, and bring the sauce to a simmer. Fill one of the tomato cans with water, and add to the pot. Stir the meat back in.

3. Reduce heat to the lowest possible setting. Simmer for 6-8 hours, stirring often to prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom and burning. Add a cup of water every now and then to prevent it from sticking as well.
4. When all meat is cooked through, you can taste and add salt and pepper accordingly. Just before serving, remove bay leaves, herb sprigs, and chicken bones. (If you used chicken with the skin on, now would be a good time to fish those little suckers out as well, eww.)
5. Serve with pasta (I like using capellini or fettucini), and a generous amount of fresh parmesan.

CANT WAIT TO TRY THIS!!!

EGG NOODLES

Ingredients

2 EGGS (beaten)

1 1/2 to 2 cups FLOUR (I start with 1 1/2cups add more as needed)

1 Tablespoon OIL

2 Tablespoon MILK

1 teaspoon SALT

Directions

1. Beat eggs

2. Add flour into bowl, then add oil & milk and last the salt.

3. With hands or fork, thoroughly mix.

4. Put dough onto well-floured board; knead until smooth, about 10 minutes.**Add more flour or water if needed

5. Roll dough out with rolling pin.

6. Cut dough cross-wise into 1/8-inch strips for narrow noodles and 1/4-inch for wide noodles.

(WE JUST USE A PIZZA CUTTER and have fun cutting how ever they look!)

7. Add noodles to boiling chicken soup for 10 to 15 minutes or until tender.

8. ENJOY!!

Lasagna Rolls

Got this from http://alittleofthisandsomeofthat.blogspot.com, but I changed some things:
Lasagna Rolls

by: Giada De Laurentiis
Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg
Lasagna:
1 (15-ounce) container whole milk ricotta cheese (I used cottage cheese because it was cheaper)I did use the ricotta
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
I used fresh spinach and chopped it up
I also put in a clove of garlic and 4-6 large mushrooms all chopped up with the spinach
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
I used an Italian mix of cheese
3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto, chopped ( I didn't use this but I bet it would be tasty)
I used Italian sausage 1lbs, couldn't find prosciutto. Just cooked up the sausage and mixed in with all the other ingredients.
1 large egg, beaten to blend
3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for salting water
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
I used only 10 noodles
2 cups marinara sauce
I used 4 cheese spaghetti sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella (about 4 ounces)
I just used the Italian cheese (the bag is 2 cups)
Directions
To make the sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the flour and whisk for 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk. Increase the heat to medium-high. Whisk the sauce until it comes to a simmer and is thick and smooth, about 3 minutes. Whisk the salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the bechamel sauce.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Whisk the ricotta, spinach, 1 cup Parmesan, prosciutto, egg, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl to blend.
Add a tablespoon or 2 of oil to a large pot of boiling salted water. Boil the noodles until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain. Arrange the noodles in a single layer on a baking sheet to prevent them from sticking.
Butter a 13-by-9-by-2-inch glass baking dish. Pour the bechamel sauce over the bottom of the prepared dish. Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface, then spread about 3 tablespoons of ricotta mixture evenly over each noodle. Starting at 1 end, roll each noodle like a jelly roll. Lay the lasagna rolls seam side down, without touching, atop the bechamel sauce in the dish. Repeat with the remaining noodles and ricotta mixture. Spoon 1 cup of marinara sauce over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle the mozzarella and remaining 2 tablespoons of Parmesan over the lasagna rolls. Cover tightly with foil. Bake until heated through and the sauce bubbles, about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until the cheese on top becomes golden, about 15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the remaining marinara sauce in a heavy small saucepan over medium heat until hot, and serve alongside.

Here is a picture of just before I put in the oven:





And after I cooked it!

Creamy tomato chicken spaghetti

*8 oz. (1/2 of 16-oz. pkg.) spaghetti, uncooked
*2 cups frozen stir-fry vegetables
*1 Tbsp. oil
*1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
*1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
*1/4 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
*1/2 cup (1/2 of 8-oz. tub) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese Spread
*1/4 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese

1. Cook spaghetti as directed on package, adding stir-fry vegetables to the cooking water for the last 3 min. of the spaghetti cooking time.
2. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 6 min., stirring occasionally. Stir in tomatoes and dressing; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 4 min., stirring occasionally. Add cream cheese spread; cook and stir until cream cheese is completely melted and mixture is well blended.
3. Drain spaghetti mixture; place in large bowl. Add chicken mixture; toss to coat. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

(this is from http://www.kraftfoods.com/)

I think next time I cook this, I will use a more spiced up diced tomatoes--like the ones with green chilis or something. This was really good, but I think it could be better if spiced up a bit!!