Menu Plan Monday (March 31, 2008)

Perhaps against my better judgment I am trying a couple of new recipes from my WW cookbooks this week. I hope they turn out better than the others I’ve tried recently! I hate hit or miss cookbooks. I have really lacked the desire to be in the kitchen recently, this usually happens after a month or so on WW, I start to feel restricted and frustrated and just want to give up on cooking and planning altogether. I just want it to get easier. Fortunately that’s where Tyler steps in, if I put the recipe in front of him he will make dinner. He’d much rather do that than order out. He made the falafel for lunch today and oh man it was delicious! Better than the last time when I made it, I’m not sure what he did but it was fabulous. Definitely try it out if you are looking for a healthy meal. Stop in on Tuesday this week to see my debut with Tuesdays with Dorie, it’s not WW friendly but chocolaty and SO DELICIOUS! Now that Lent is over you will see more baked goodies around here, though I will not be eating them all, my friends, family, and co-workers will benefit!

Monday: Nachos Supreme from WW Take Out Tonight
Tuesday: Turkey Sausage with Peppers and Polenta from WW All Time Favorites
Wednesday: Parmesan Dijon Chicken, Mashed Red Potatoes, and Roasted Broccoli
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: going to Tulsa! Eating out with friends!
Saturday: not sure yet, maybe grilling before the KU game?

See what’s on the menus of other food bloggers by going to the weekly roundup post here.

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5 Cheese Stuffed Shells

I’ve made stuffed shells before, but this time I wanted to make a more WW friendly recipe. I had a tub of fat free ricotta cheese that needed to be used up so that was my inspiration. In general, I think fat free cheese is terrible. The shredded stuff certainly is. When “melted” (I use that term lightly) it often comes out waxy. I can’t stand it. Ricotta is a different consistency, but I was a little nervous about the taste, so I made sure to add plenty of other things to this mixture to give the filling a great taste. I think I succeeded!

5 Cheese & Spinach Stuffed Shells (made up by me!)

12 oz package pasta shells
15 oz fat free ricotta cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 of a small onion, chopped
1/3 cup Kraft grated parmesan and romano cheese
1/4 cup grated asiago cheese
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeeze dry
1 egg
1 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of your favorite marinara sauce (26 oz, I use Tyler’s favorite Classico Spicy Tomato and Basil)
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese or italian cheese blend

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place shell pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 glass pan.

Mix ricotta, garlic, onion, spinach, parm/romano, asiago cheese, oregano, salt and pepper, and egg in a bowl.

Stuff the cooked pasta shells with the cheese mixture (I used my medium Pampered Chef scooper, made stuffing them quick and very easy!) , and arrange in the prepared baking dish. Cover evenly with the 2 cups of marinara sauce. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake 15-25 minutes in preheated oven, or until bubbly.

Serves 5 (4 shells per serving)

WW points per serving= approx. 8
(kind of high, but they are very filling. You could decrease the points by decreasing the amount of parm/romano and asiago you use, I plugged in all the info into etools to approximate the pts. value.)

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