Five (or 6) Cheese Jumbo Shells

Supper was awesome last night! And believe it or not, I followed a recipe, well, almost. LOL The only thing lacking was a salad & garlic bread, but hey, I was running short on time!

This fed my family of 5, plus had plenty left over for lunch. I may cut the recipe in half next time.

Box of uncooked Jumbo Pasta Shells
1 Tbsp Olive Oil (no, I didn't measure, but some people do)
1 medium Zucchini, shredded (I freeze mine in the summer time to add to recipes later)
1 can of Mushrooms or 1/2 cup of fresh, chopped Mushrooms
1 medium Onion, finely chopped
2 cups reduced fat Ricotta Cheese
2 cups shredded Italian Blend Cheese (includes Provolone, Asagio, Romano, Parmesan, & Mozzarella)
1 Egg
1 tsp Italian Seasoning (I like Tastefully Simple Dried Tomato & Garlic Pesto Mix)
1/2 tsp crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1 jar of Spaghetti Sauce
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese)

• Preheat oven to 350. 
• Cook shells to al dente. Drain & cool.
• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add vegetables. Cook until tender. Remove from heat. 
• Combine cheese, egg, seasons, & veggies in a medium bowl.
• Pour 1 cup of spaghetti sauce in bottom of a baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray.
• Fill slightly cooled shells with cheese mixture. Place randomly in baking dish.
• Top with remaining spaghetti sauce.
• Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
• Bake 30 minutes.

Don't forget the bread!

Strawberry Flag Poke Cake

Since I have gotten a few comments on Our 4th of July Festivities, I thought I would include the recipe for my strawberry poke cake.

Bake a regular strawberry cake mix as directed. I added sliced strawberries to the mix as well. Allow to cool.

While the cake is cooling, prepare jello as directed.

Poke small holes into the cake. You can use a fork, a wooden skewer, a chop stick, or whatever you have handy.

Then pour slightly cooled Strawberry jello over the cake, allowing in to seep into the holes.

Since this was for July 4, I wanted to be extra festive.

I poked another set of holes in different places and poured Blue jello into those holes.

*if you are out of a particular kind of jello, plain works just as well with a pack of Kool-aid for color & flavor*

I bake the cake for another 10 minutes on 350. Then I put the cake into the fridge to cool.

After the cake cooled, I added cream cheese icing and topped with sliced strawberries and grapes, because my family doesn't like blueberries.

It sure was a hit. There wasn't a single piece left.