Stuffed Shells (with love!!)

My boyfriend loves eating in, which is fine with me because I love being in the kitchen.  Last weekend he was craving for some "Stuffed Shells" and I've never made them before (nor had them either) so it was challenge I accepted! ;) 

After searching for a "good" recipe, I finally found one that I liked from http://blogchef.net.  I took his Stuffed Shell recipe and modified it (like always).  

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs of ground beef (we usually use lean)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced 
• 1 bag of Italian blend cheese
• 2 cups of skim ricotta cheese
• 1 cup of bread crumbs
• 1 jar (26 oz) of spaghetti sauce of your choice
• 8 oz of tomato sauce
• salt and pepper to taste 
• jumbo pasta shells (one box)
• 1/4 cup of red wine (this is optional)

Directions:

Brown the meat with onion and garlic.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and just to save time... go ahead and cook the pasta according to the directions on the box/bag. 

 

After the meat and browned, drain the excess juices and let it cool for a good 5 minutes.  

In a mixing bowl, combine the meat, ricotta cheese, half the bag of Italian cheese,  bread crumbs, and salt and pepper for taste. 

 Carefully spoon the mixture into the shells.  Prior to putting the shells (or even putting the meat mixture in the shells), combine the spaghetti sauce with the tomato sauce.  Spread some of the sauce (do not use it all!) on the bottom of the baking dish.  Then carefully place and arrange the stuffed shells on the baking dish. 

After your shells are neatly placed, mixed the red wine with the remainder of the tomato and spaghetti sauce and cover the stuffed shells with the sauce.  Sprinkle the rest of the Italian blend cheese on top of the sauce.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  

 Your stuffed shells should come out looking something like this! Bon appetit!

Sandy's Pot Roast - New Year... New Food... Better Blog

Hello... it's been a while since I last blogged.  I've actually been yelping a lot trying to keep my elite status for 2012 (which I finally received! yay me!).  But! one of my new year resolutions is to post more whether it's about places I've tried or about my baking/cooking adventures.  

So, to start my 2012 blog, I've decided to talk about my "Sunday Pot Roast."  This cozy recipe not only warms your body, but it's very comforting.  However, do know that this takes a few hours to cook.  

Ingredients: 

• 3-4 lbs of chuck roast (if you want more flavor, get 2 lbs of chuck roast and 2 lbs of bone-in beef short ribs)
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 celery, chopped
• 1 cup of baby carrot (or 2 carrots, peeled and chopped)
• 1 lbs of white mushroom (thick sliced or quarter- however you like 'em)
• 2 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 14.5 oz of chopped tomato (canned)
• 1/2 cup of tomato sauce 
• 2 teaspoon of sugar
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of red wine 
• 1 whole garlic, peeled and separated 
• 1 tablespoon of dried thyme 
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions: 

First off, make sure you get a nice piece of chuck roast (like the one shown below).  That baby was at least 3 lbs and I trimmed off some of the excess fat to make it a bit healthier.  

Then, pat the meat with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper.  I usually use fresh cracked peppers and sea salt to season my meat with.  Turn on your oven to 300 degree F.  In a dutch oven, add a teaspoon of vegetable oil and brown your meat (at medium-high heat).  I cut mine up to make cooking easier, but you can brown the entire meat intact if you'd like. 

After your meat is browned, take it out and place it on a plate or bowl (make sure it catches all the juice that's still coming from the meat) and set it aside.  

Reduce heat to medium and cook celery, onions, mushroom, baby carrots, potato, and tomato paste until the vegetables begin to soften.  

Then, add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, sugar, water, 1/2 cup of red wine, peeled garlic, and thyme.   

Place the meat and its juice back with the vegetable mixture.  Turn the heat back to medium-high and bring the pot to simmer.   Cover the dutch oven with its lid and place the dutch oven inside the oven (at the center) and cook for about 3 hours.  The pot roast will be done when the meat falls apart once you stick your fork in it.  If the meat does not fall apart easily, then cook it for another 30 minutes.  

We usually eat this with rice.  If you want more flavor, I recommend adding beef short ribs (with bone) and browning it with the chuck roast.  The bone will fall out once the pot roast is done and it's very good too!  

Bon appetite! 

Cake balls made easy!

Hello... I know I went MIA for a while, but now I'm back (and with a super easy recipe too!).

I've noticed a huge craze for cake balls and I've seen tons of recipes for them as well.  In fact, my friend bought me one from Starbucks because she was surprised I haven't tried one out yet. Let me tell you... they are yummy, but not so easy to make (at least the coating of the cake ball isn't).  However, after much "research" I found an easy way to make cake balls! WOOHOO!

First, pick up your favorite cake mix box (i.e. Duncan Hines or Betty Crockers).  I picked the cheapest box there was, which ended up being Duncan Hines.  My favorite flavor: red velvet :)  So yes, I went for my favorite cake mix and I also picked up a whipped cream cheese frosting by Duncan Hines as well.  

Now... make the cake as directed on the box.  After the cake is ready, allow the cake to cool down (takes about an hour).  Then crumble the cake with your hands! Yes... in a bowl, crumble the cake and add half the container of frosting to the bowl.  Make sure the cake and frosting is thoroughly mixed... if the cake mixture feels dry, then add more frosting.  

On a cookie sheet (with parchment paper on top), mold the cake mixture into a ball and place it on top of the cookie sheet.  I used my hands to do this, but if you want less mess then I suggest using an ice cream scooper (a small one).  Once you've finished making the balls, place them in the freezer or the refrigerator and let it "harden" (takes about another hour or so).  

Once the cakes are ready, it's time to dip them in chocolate!  Now, I'll admit, my first few cake balls ended up poorly because I was trying to use white chocolate and it just did not coat well and I kept burning the chocolate (yes, they were wasted).  However, I used dark and milk chocolate and that worked out.  Make sure you buy a few packages of either chocolate chips or chocolate bars because it takes a lot to coat the cake.  

Follow the directions on the back on how to melt the chocolate.  Then, dip the cake balls one at a time in the chocolate.  Place it back on the cookie sheet and either refrigerate them or freeze them for another hour.  Viola! You've just made cake balls!  Now, you may decorate them with sprinkles prior to placing them in the fridge.   

My cake balls apparently were super tasty and moist (I used almost the entire container of frosting).