Stuffed Mushrooms

I threw this together one night when I couldnt find a recipe for stuffed shrooms and my internet was down. They are meatless yet fabulous!

12oz pkg Portabella mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped mushroom stems
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped green peppers
1 t minced garlic
1/2 cup bread crumbs (i made mine fresh by toasting a hot dog bun)
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t parsley
1 T parmesan cheese (grated)
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)
2 T melted margarine

Topping
2 T melted margarine
more mozzarella cheese

1. Remove stems and gills from mushrooms
2. Mix all ingredients and stuff into mushrooms
3. Pour 2T melted margarine over shrooms, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese (however much you want... we make ours very cheesey, but a little will do.
4 Bake at 400 for 20 minutes

Valentine's Day

The plan for Valentine's Day was to stay home and make a fabulous dinner to save some money. Then we remembered we had a gift card for a local steakhouse and decided to find a babysitter and go out. Since my husband had to work on Sunday we decided to go out Saturday night.

So Sunday while he was at work I decided to surprise him when he got home by making some of his favorites. This was our second vanetine's day dinner :)

Menu:
Stuffed Mushrooms
Italian Salad
Pizza Bianco with fresh tomatoes
Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes with homemade whipped cream
Chocolate covered strawberries

Decor:

i planned on getting out my wedding china and eating by candlelight, but we ended up in the living room eating on tv trays while playing with the baby. Oh well. 

Photos: Recipes to follow this week

Stuffed Mushrooms

Pizza Bianco with fresh tomatoes

Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

 

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Recipes will be posted over the next few days and linked back to this post! Hope you had a happy valentine's day!

Orzo with broccoli, feta and olives

My husband claims he doesnt like orzo. Whenever he claims he doesnt like something (especially something so versatile) I take that as a challenge. I came across this recipe looking for a way to use up the leftover feta cheese in my fridge. The oil takes on the flavor of the toasty pine nuts and the crushed red pepper adds just a touch of heat. I usually dont like to take a chance with an unrated recipe, but goodness this one was worth it! Im already looking forward to eating it for lunch.

.... and my husband ate a TON of it and loves it..... silly men!

16oz box Orzo cooked
16 oz bag of frozen broccoli florets
1/4 c Olive oil
3 T Pine nuts
1/2 t Crushed red pepper
3/4 c Feta cheese, crumbled
3/4 c Black olives, pitted, halved
1/2 c Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 c Fresh basil, chopped

1. Dump cooked orzo in a large bowl
2. Cook frozen broccoli add to large bowl with orzo
3. Heat olive oil in a small skillet (med high)
4. Add pine nuts to oil and cook until brown (about 3 minutes)
5. Add crushed red pepper to oil and saute (about 30 seconds)
6. Dump oil/nut mix into orzo/broccoli. Mix
7. Add black olives, feta, parmesan cheese and basil. Mix

 

Chunky Tomato Basil Sauce

Since its the week after Christmas and our pockets are a bit light Im trying to cook dinner with what I have on hand. Since I had a bunch of basil left over from my caprese salad I decided to try to make a tomato basil sauce with what I had in my pantry. Its a little bit sweet, a little bit spicy and bursting with basil. Its a very chunky sauce ans tastes great with whole grain spaghetti.

2T EVOO
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 large sweet onion (chopped)
1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes
1 cup water
2t balsamic vinegar
4t sugar
1/2t dried basil
1/4t crushed red pepper
1/2 cup torn fresh basil leaves

1.Heat olive oil in pan. Add onions and garlic. Saute over medium heat until soft
2. Add tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, water, sugar, dried basil and crushed red pepper. Stir
3. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer, stirring frequently, 50-60 minutes
4. Remove from heat. Stir in fresh basil leaves. Serve with your favorite pasta

Stuffed Shells

This is my awesome recipe for stuffed shells. They freeze wonderfully and taste fresh reheated. I like to make them after a big batch of sausage and peppers and use up the leftover sauce and sausage as my sauce. You can use whatever sauce you have handy whether it be homemade or a jar of prego.

1 package of shells
2 eggs (beaten)
16 oz Ricotta cheese
1lb shredded mozzerella (1/2'd)(sometimes I use more)
8oz granted parmesan (1/2'd)
1T dried parsely
1t salt
1t pepper
1 jar sauce (or homemade 26oz)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Boil your shells
2. Mix eggs, ricotta, 1/2 mozzerella, 1/2 parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper until well blended. Toss in the fridge for 15 minutes to chill
3. Fill cooked shells with cheese mixture and place in a glass 9x13 pan.
4. Pour sauce over shells
5. Top with remaining mozzerella and parmesan cheeses
6. Bake uncovered for 50-60 minutes

This recipe makes a 9x13 pan full of cheesy shells. Since its just the 2 of us eating we get 4 meals out of this (8 big adult servings) We eat one fresh from the oven and freeze the other 3. If you have a bigger family you can easily double this recipe and make 2 pans (eat one and freeze one)

To freeze: portion shells in food saver bags (or other freezer bag) and seal
To eat: Thaw in fridge. Toss in the oven(or the microwave if you are me and lazy) til hot. I usually top with a little shredded mozzerella to make it taste like fresh baked