Italian Stuffed Pasta Shells

This is one of those recipes that is delicious, nutritious and full of flavor. Cheese, Marinara Sauce, More cheese, Spinach, more cheese. Get the point? LOL

My son who is very picky and is at that age where he hates most green vegetables, loves these spinach and ground turkey stuffed shells.  I love to serve this with garlic bread, or a crusty baguette and a crisp garden salad. You can even freeze this and reheat later and it is absolutely as delicious as the day you made it. What I love about this dish is that you can modify and make it as healthy or as indulgent as you want. You can simply use low fat or skim cheese or make your stuffing completely vegetarian.  This recipe will take a little time to prepare, but is well worth it. When you put this on the table those ummms and aahhhs will let you know that your time in the kitchen was well spent:-)

Spinach and cheese up close and personal. Do you see all of that deliciousness?

Ricotta cheese swimming in mozzarella, backstroking with some ground turkey, dog paddling into some garlic, butterfly stroking in some Romano  and catching a wave of fresh marinara sauce.  Don't cha wanna dive into this?

Look at that...

Aw come on...stop stallin. Don't make me eat this by myself. Why don't you make some too? Then we can get on the phone and call our friends and say..."Guess what I'm having for dinner?" Don't you want some? Hey, why don't we skype them and then wave the fork in the air with the spinach and cheese dripping off of it:-) That would really be wrong wouldn't it? LOL

Ok, lets get this party started!

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) package jumbo pasta shells
• ½ pound ground turkey
• ½ chopped onion
• 1 egg
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 (32 ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 2 ½ cups mozzarella cheese
• 8 ounces grated Parmesan cheese or Romano, divided
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons  garlic salt
•  2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (28 ounce) jar pasta sauce

Salt and pepper to taste for seasoning meat mixture

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta shell  and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. Place ground turkey in a skillet and season with salt and pepper to taste and cook until evenly brown.  Add onion and cook until translucent. Drain ground turkey and Crumble
4. In a large bowl, Mix Ground Turkey mix eggs, ricotta, half the mozzarella, half the Parmesan, parsley, and seasonings until well combined. Stuff cooked shells with ricotta mixture and spread a layer of spaghetti sauce  in a 9x13 pan and then  place the stuffed shells on top
5. Pour remaining sauce over the shells and sprinkle generously with the remaining cheese
6. Bake in preheated oven 40  to 50 minutes, until edges are bubbly and shells are slightly set.

Summer in Winter

 It is summer in winter in Southern California! I was not expecting to wear any summery attire until 2012, but here it is just a month before Christmas and instead of snuggling in front of a fireplace, I am wearing summer attire and hankering for a cold slushy drink:-) I love orange and pink, so I paired these bold colors together and they  make me think of summer even though it is long past.

Well, now that Thanksgiving is over I need to undo all of that indulgent eating, so I will be getting back into my usual fitness routine. Did you over indulge too? I have some great things in store for you! You spoke and I listened, so stay tuned and you are going to love what you see in the coming weeks. In the meantime,

Here are a few photos to inspire you on this warm sunny day and if you live somewhere that is cold, raining or snowing, I am sending sunshine your way:-)

Aren't  these orange lilies gorgeous?

 Beautiful creations like this let me know that God is real...

When is the last time you had a big ol fluffy piece of cotton candy? It's not just for kids ya know:-)

Tunic: Papaya, Purse: Dereon, Shoes: Random Boutique

 Nothing like a bold orange dress!

Hermes Birkin Bag. A girl can dream, right? LOL

 Here's to you! Make today wonderful!

Casual Friday Prepster

 Happy Friday! I hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving. I know I did:-) In fact, I got up this morning and had a slice of cake for breakfast with coffee and as soon as that was digested, I had a second breakfast of yummy Thanksgiving leftovers. Do you ever eat turkey day left overs for breakfast? 

Today I chose to just relax rather than go to any Black Friday sales.  I am wearing an outfit that is a little preppy and I actually feel collegiate for some reason in this look even though my college days are a thing of the past. What I love about this look is that it is casual, fun and cute in an unfussy way. 

 

 Nothing like a 50 yard line on a college campus to make you feel collegiate:-) This is actually making me miss my son. He is away for the holidays and he always goes with me to the college campus where I go running. He loves to cheer and play on the sidelines while mommy runs around the track:-) 

I am just being downright silly, but being on the 50 yard line makes me want to cheer. YAY!  Be safe and have fun catching all those great sales today:-)

 and now I am sitting in the bleachers reflecting on everything I am thankful for. Have a great day:-)

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I want to wish all of you a wonderful and blessed holiday with your loved ones. I am very thankful to have a circle of friends and family that love me no matter what. There are some things you can't put a price tag on and having genuine people in my life is priceless to me. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because ti causes us to reflect and have a spirit of gratitude.

I am busy preparing for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, but wanted to do a quick post to share my Thanksgiving menu with you:-) I hope you have enjoyed all of my recipes and I would love to hear what is on your menu  and your favorite Thanksgiving dishes. Talk to me...Leave me a comment and tell me what you are cooking, or what you look forward to sinking your teeth into:-)

Here is my menu:

Appetizers/Starters

Green Salad

Cranberry Salsa and Chips

Libations 

Cranberry Lemonade

Cranberry Margaritas

Sides

Cornbread Dressing

Corn Casserole

Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes

Seasoned Green Beans

Autumn Roasted Vegetables

Macaroni and Cheese

Sweet Potato Casserole with Praline Pecan Topping

Vanilla Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Red Zinfandel Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry Sauce with Vanilla Coffee infused pears

Main Dish

Garlic Herb Turkey

Roast Beef

Desserts

Sweet Potato Pie

Sweet Potato Praline Cheesecake

Praline Pumpkin Cake

7-up Cake

Peach Cobbler

Bon Appetit!

Praline Pumpkin Cake

Brown sugar, pecans, caramel, cream cheese icing and lots of sweet sticky goodness. Eating this cake is like having a party in your mouth!  I am serious! This cake starts with layers of pumpkin cake with just the right hint of cinnamon and nutmeg, but what puts this cake over the top is the pecan praline topping on both layers. And as if that wasn't enough, cream cheese icing is spread on top of the praline layer and drizzled with caramel. Do you want a showstopping dessert? This is it!

This cake starts with a yellow cake mix and is transformed into this amazing display of sugary goodness. I am embarrassed to admit that the last time I made this cake, I ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You might be thinking....that's not so bad.  But what makes me hang my head in shame is the way I licked the dish the cake sat on to get the extra icing and praline topping and crumbs. So I hear you asking yourself, could it have been that good? And the answer is: "HECK YES!!!!!!!" 

Do you still need convincing?

I garnished this cake with pecan halves and a white chocolate truffle with a pecan on top.

Look at all of that delectable caramel resting on a bed of creamy tangy cream cheese icing and look at those freshly shelled pecan halves. This can be in your mouth in an hour.  Maybe you will lick the plate too:-) It'll be our little secret...

Ingredients 

1/ cup butter or margarine

¼ cup whipping cream

¾ cup brown sugar

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1 box yellow cake mix

1 cup canned pumpkin

½ cup water

1/3 cup oil

4 eggs

1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

caramel topping

cream cheese frosting (recipe follows)

Directions:

Heat oven to 325°F. In 1-quart heavy saucepan, stir together butter, whipping cream and brown sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, just until butter is melted. Pour into two ungreased 9- or 8-inch round cake pans; sprinkle evenly with 3/4 cup pecans

In large bowl, beat cake mix, pumpkin, water, oil, eggs and 1 teaspoon of the pumpkin pie spice with electric mixer on low speed until moistened, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Carefully spoon batter over pecan mixture in each pan.

 

Bake 41 to 47 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Stir remaining 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice into frosting. To assemble cake, place 1 layer, praline side up, on serving plate. Spread with half of the frosting. Top with second layer, praline side up; spread remaining frosting to edge of layer. Drizzle with caramel topping and additional pecans. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

Note: do not let this sit in pan longer than 5 minute or topping will stick to pan. You can also bake this as a sheet cake, which makes it easier to turn over without the cake splitting. If some of the topping comes off just put it back on with a spoon.  The first time I made this, half of it stuck to the pan, so be cautions when flipping it over.  I love the way it looks in two layers, but I often bake this as a sheet cake because it is a little easier to manage.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8oz package cream cheeses softened 

1/4 cup softened butter

2-3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Cranberry Sauce with Vanilla Coffee Infused Pears

This cranberry sauce is full of flavor and everyone I serve this too wants to know whats in it.  I love coffee and can drink it all day everyday and I came up with the idea of boiling pears in a mixture of strong vanilla flavored coffee before adding them into the cranberry sauce.  Now you can have your coffee and your cranberry sauce!

Coffee is probably not a flavor that you expect to find in a cranberry sauce, but this cranberry sauce is Disneyland for your taste buds! When you combine all of the ingredients together, the flavor is delicious and the coffee just adds another dimension. This will not taste like coffee cranberry sauce, but it will have a unique flavor that makes you keep wanting more. This is so good, that I have seen people put this on their plate and eat it for dessert.  

 Pears boiling in an ocean of sweet strong vanilla coffee

 Don't feel like brewing coffee? No problem! Run to Starbucks and get too large Venti coffees  and pour into a pot with the vanilla when you get home:-) See how easy that is? LOL

Your cranberries will start off like this

When your cranberries start to boil with the sugar,it will look like this, but be sure to reduce heat and boil gently

After your cranberries have boiled a while, they will look like this

Add those sweet succulent pears into the cranberries. Once you put this in your mouth, you will never want to open a can of cranberry sauce ever again.

 

Look at those juicy pears swimming in a sea of sweet sticky goodness...plump cranberries, sugar, pears, vanilla coffee. Yes Please!

Ingredients

1 Bag fresh cranberries

4 ripe Bosc Pears

6 cups very strong coffee

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 1/2  cups  white sugar 

1/2 cup light brown sugar

Directions

Slice pears in half (to allow even more of the coffee flavor to infuse the pears, cut the pear into smaller chunks, or simply cut the halves in half:-). Brew six cups of coffee and stir in 1 1/2 cup of sugar and the vanilla. Put coffee mixture into a pot and let it come to a boil, add pears and bring back to a boil.  Let the pears simmer for 15 minutes. Let the pears sit in the coffee mixture for ten minutes and then discard the coffee mixture. When the pears are completely cool, chop the pears into very small cubes and set aside.

Stir the remaining white sugar and light brown sugar and water together in a pot and bring to a boil.  Add the cranberries and bring back to a rapid boil then simmer and boil gently on medium/low heat for ten minutes. As the cranberries are cooking, use spoon to gently pop the cranberries. It is important to cook the cranberries long enough to release the natural pectin that makes the cranberries turn into a thick jelly consistency.  Add the pears to the mixture and cook for another few  minutes to evaporate the extra moisture from the pears. Let it bubble away on low heat and you may need to let it cook for anywhere from another 3-7 minutes.  Be careful to stir constantly to make sure the sauce does not burn.  Let cool and refrigerate. The sauce will thicken as it cools.

Note: After this has cooled and been refrigerated, you should have a nice jelly like consistency.  If your sauce does not thicken, just simply put back in pot and cook a bit longer to evaporate some of the extra liquid.

Red Zinfandel Cranberry Sauce

Thanksgiving is not complete without cranberry sauce. For years, we have always opened up a can of that jiggly cranberry sauce in the can.  I had never had fresh cranberry sauce until one day many many years ago at a holiday luncheon at work, I tried fresh cranberry sauce. I was never the same. All of these years I had been seriously missing out. I made up for lost time by playing around with every possible cranberry sauce concoction I could come up with.

Now my family has fresh cranberry sauce every Thanksgiving and we often have two or three different kinds just because I love coming up with unique ones. Cranberry sauce is incredibly easy to make.  This recipe has a full bodied Red Zinfandel, mulling spices, and fresh plump cranberries.  

Your house will smell amazing amazing amazing while this is cooking and I promise you the end result is sweet and flavorful. Don't worry about the alcohol content of the Red Zinfandel because as it cooks, all alcoholic content dissipates,leaving nothing but flavor note after flavor note. So your children can eat this too:-)

Fresh Cranberries

I got this great Red Zinfandel from Trader Joes.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups red Zinfandel

1 cup sugar

1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

6 whole cloves

6 whole allspice

2 cinnamon sticks

1 large strip orange peel

1 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries

Directions

1. Open the bottle of Red Zinfandel and pour yourself a glass:-)  or put on some good music.  Why don't you do both?

Combine all ingredients except cranberries in medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer until reduced to 1 3/4 cups, about 10 minutes. Strain syrup into large saucepan. Add cranberries to syrup and cook over medium heat until berries burst, about 6 minutes. Cool. Transfer sauce to medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate until cold.

Guest Post! Danielle Celeste - The Best Thanksgiving Turkey Ever!

Tracking Turkey...

I am thrilled to introduce you to Danielle Celeste of Danielle Celeste Couture! Danielle is sharing a fabulous recipe and detailed instructions on how to make an amazing Thanksgiving Turkey! You can visit Danielle's blog here.  I will continue featuring more recipes from my kitchen to yours over the next couple of days. Check in this afternoon for another great recipe!  And now here are photos of Danielle's amazing turkey and instructions so you can achieve the same delicious results! Thanks Danielle for sharing your amazing recipe with my readers:-)

THE BEST TURKEY EVER!!

"You have outdone yourself." That is what I heard when I took my turkey to the yearly Harvest party at my church.

There are two things you need to know about my Turkey Quest. I wanted to make THE BEST TURKEY EVER and....I HATE TURKEY!!!! A complex psychological analysis could be made from those contradictory statements....but we're talking turkey. No time for that.

There are a few stages to this process: Begin with the end in mind. Reverse-engineer your process backwards  from the time the triangle rings " Dinner's ready" to the time you start thawing.  

• THAWING
• BRINING
• COOKING

For the Thawing, I HAD A 25 Lb. Turkey that had been in my freezer for at least a year and a half maybe two. I told you I hate turkey. 

**MYTH BUSTER: A Turkey that has been in the freezer for two years is FINE. If there are no tears in the original wrapping, you will find beautiful skin and meat after thawing.

FOR THAWING my 25 lb turkey, it took 5 WHOLE DAYS. You seriously need to plan for thawing. There are many helpful charts and graphs on numerous sites on the web regarding thawing time.

You can thaw in the fridge or submerged in cold water (which is faster if you are pressed for time). I chose to thaw in the fridge. It takes longer but assures that MAGIC 40 DEGREES F which Turkey must be at all times to avoid bacterial growth.

TO BRINE OR NOT TO BRINE:
I tell you what- people are dead serious about their turkeys out there. And Brining is a MAJOR point of controversy. I had never brined a turkey before so I was absorbing all the arguments for and against. The most compelling argument AGAINST was: someone said that the turkey meat nearest the bones looked raw-ish after cooking a brined turkey. That was enough to dissuade me, but I forged ahead with my Brining Dreams. And let me tell you, IT IS NOT TRUE. The meat looked beautiful throughout. So don't believe everything you read, go with your gut.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED FOR BRINING:

• 5 GALLON FOOD GRADE CONTAINER
• 8 QUARTS OF WATER
• 2 C. BROWN SUGAR
• 2 C. KOSHER SALT
• DRIBS AND DRABS OF HONEY
• A COUPLE OF T. ALLSPICE
• A FEW SPRIGS FRESH ROSEMARY
• TONS OF GARLIC
• LOTS OF BLACK PEPPERCORNS
• 8 OR SO FRESH ORANGES OR 3 OR 4 C. ORANGE JUICE

PREPARING THE BRINING LIQUID:

**THE BASIC RULE OF THUMB IS ONE GALLON LIQUID TO ONE CUP KOSHER SALT**.

You will need to BOIL A LARGE POT OF WATER and put all the ingredients listed above except the oranges.

• TASTE IT.
• Is that  how you want your turkey to taste?
• Add something else. Let inspiration move you.
• Be inventive and creative.
• I recommend putting the salt in last of all. To taste.

**THE BASIC RULE OF THUMB IS BRINE THE TURKEY FOR ONE HOUR PER POUND.**

So, my 25 pound turkey should be brined for a full 24 hours. I only brined it for 12 hours because I had time constraints. and it still absorbed plenty of flavor.

PLACING THE TURKEY IN THE BRINING LIQUID:

• Make sure it is thawed and rinsed.
• Delicately separate the skin from the meat with your finger so the meat will REALLY absorb the flavors of the brine.
• Make sure the boiled brining liquid has cooled to 40 DEGREES F. Pour it over Turkey in the 5 GALLON BUCKET.
• Halve your oranges and fresh-squeeze the juice over the turkey and throw the orange halves in.
• Cover the turkey to submerge it  with water or chicken stock if you want.
• Place in Fridge and WATCH IT BRINE!!

• After the allotted brining time is complete, take turkey out and rinse twice. Save your brine.
• Allow turkey to dry in the fridge. Not on the counter.

COOKING TIPS:

• A Turkey is done when your thermometer reads 165 DEGREES F.
• Add a cup of your brine to the bottom of the pan.
• Use a shallow sided pan. I used a large lasagne pan with 3 inch sides for a 25 pound bird. Dispense with these monstrous roasting pans. The high sides do not allow the turkey skin to get yummy and CRISPY.
• Cooking time for a 25 pound bird is 4 3/4 to 5 1/2 hours. If you stuff your turkey (and DO stuff your bird) it is a little bit longer. There are numerous websites with helpful charts and graphs. Google it.

WHEN YOUR BIRD IS IN THE PAN:

• Smear butter delicately on the meat under the skin. Lots of it.
• Place whole pieces of bacon --about 10--wherever you can under the skin. On the breast and legs. This takes a bit on manual dexterity but do it anyway.
• Take 3 or 4 Sprigs of fresh rosemary or whatever fresh herb you want. Garlic even and put it under the skin. Slather the skin with butter.
• DO NOT SALT SKIN. The brining has done that.
• Stuff the turkey.

I placed a whole apple under the flap of skin at the neck and another one at the cavity where the stuffing goes. You can choose to put anything there. An orange, a whole head of elephant garlic. Whatever flavor with which you want to infuse the turkey.

YOU ARE READY TO GIVE YOUR BIRD A SUNTAN:

• Place your pan with bird on a lowered rack.
• Cook at 325. No need to preheat the oven.
• Let your turkey brown slightly at the beginning then cover with a foil tent.

Take the turkey out a three or four times and remove excess juices into a separate bowl. Baste the turkey while you do this. A large syringe works best for this. SAVE THESES JUICES FOR YOUR GRAVY!!

Too much juice in the bottom of the pan makes the skin too wet and slimy.  WE WANT CRISPY SKIN!!

• During the final HALF HOUR: Remove foil tent. I used a teriyaki glaze during this last phase to give a BEAUTIFUL GOLDEN GLOW to the skin of the turkey.
• During the last 30 min of baking brush orange Teriyaki glaze liberally on turkey and put back in oven.Turn oven up to 500 if necessary to brown. but watch closely to avoid burning it.

• Remove the Turkey and let it rest. It's been working hard.
• To carve, refer to many helpful sites on the internet. Google it.

In the Final Analysis:

• Be Creative. It is YOUR turkey. make it taste how you want it to  taste.
• Source from as many recipes as you want. Take the best of each recipe and forget the rest.
• 
  Have it your goal to make the BEST TURKEY EVER. YOU CAN HAVE THAT!!
• 
  MAKE A MAGNIFICENT ROAST BIRD AND IMAGINE SERVING A TURKEY LEG TO KING HENRY THE VIII. Remember what he did to his wives. It better be good.