Stuffed Shells

It was an historic day in Harlee’s life:  he’s finally crawling!  He’s taken that “first step” and can get around.  Awkwardly, but he’s getting around.

He didn’t do this until this evening.  While I had him, he was still staying in one place.  He was so happy to see me when I showed up, so we played a while.  Then, he took a nap and I watched Ellen.  When he woke up, it was dinnertime for him, so I fed him, we played a bit more.  Justin was here for a while, and he played, too.

All that play made Harlee sleepy, so it was naptime again.  I finished my knitting, and Debbie showed up at 6.  Harlee woke up and was hungry again, so after another feeding and diaper change, Debbie and I started dinner.  We cooked the shells and browned the meat and then Jami showed up.  Thank goodness, too, because we were having a hard time figuring out the can opener.

The dinner was pretty easy to make.  Jami made the cheese filling before she left, so once we were done with the sauce, Jami and Debbie stuffed the shells.  The sauce consisted of the meat, tomato sauce and seasonings.  Easy.  Jami also fixed up some homemade rolls, which we popped in the oven.  They came out great, too.

The whole dinner was tasty, and I get to take home leftovers.  Yum!

Harlee in his high chair, with nothing to eat because he's still not interested.  Although he did get an onion... since he likes those...

Here's the lineup:

Sweet Rolls

     (taken from AllRecipes)

*Note: I used our bread machine to make this, otherwise I have no idea how to bake bread... This recipe is delicious, so I'm posting it for those of you who also have bread machines, or know how to bake bread.  For those of you who don't, you should learn just for this recipe... it's that good...

 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/2 cup warm milk
1 (.25 oz) package active dry yeast
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, softened

Place warm water and warm milk together in the pan of the bread machine with the yeast.  Let yeast activate for about 5 minutes.  Add the butter, egg, sugar, salt, and flour.  Select Dough/Knead and First Rise Cycle and press Start.  
When finished, divide dough and shape into balls the size of your preference, or you can divide it into two and roll out each ball on a floured surface, cut into eight wedges each and roll each wedge into a crescent, starting with the wide end and rolling towards the point.  Arrange balls or crescents on an ungreased cookie sheet, cover with a towel, and allow to rise in a warm area for about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden.


Stuffed Shells
     (taken from AllRecipes

16 jumbo pasta shells
1 15 oz container ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups chopped spinach
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp fennel seed
2 teaspoons dried basil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground meat (your choice - we used venison as usual but beef or turkey would work well too)
1 15oz can tomato sauce
3 tsp Italian seasonings
3 tsp basil
3 tsp oregano
1 cup mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, gently place pasta shells in boiling water; bring water back to boil. Cook until noodles are just tender; drain well.  
Combine spinach, ricotta, 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, fennel, basil and garlic in a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
Brown ground meat, drain any grease, add tomato sauce, Italian seasonings, basil, and oregano, and stir.
Spread half the meat sauce evenly over the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Fill each pasta shell with the spinach cheese mixture. Arrange the shells, filling side up in the baking dish. Spoon remaining sauce over the shells. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese and remaining Parmesan cheese on top of the shells.
Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven until heated through; about 30 minutes.

Balsamic Vinaigrette
    (adapted from AllRecipes)

 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
1 clove crushed garlic
1 teaspoon ground mustard
2 tbsp honey

In a jar with a lid, add olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, garlic, mustard powder, and honey.  Seal the jar and shake well.  Serve over mixed greens and veggies of your choice.