Past Post Reviews, Pantry Plans, New Fridge and Manicotti

I've been MIA lately, I know. I was reviewing some past posts this morning and realized I needed to follow up on a couple of them.

I made the Sweet Potato Enchiladas on Monday and they were great!  Everyone liked them and everyone but the 3-year old had seconds! 

I didn't fry the tortillas, I didn't feel the need to up the calories/fat or the effort.  I just warmed the tortillas before filling them and it worked great!  Though I'm not a fan of chili powder or cumin, I used it and it fits the recipe so well.  It was a perfect blend of sweet and spicy!

For April Fools Day I tried the chocolate dipped ice cubes and failed, miserably. I'll be the first to admit I am NOT an expert on chocolate, dipping or ice...seriously! After getting completely irritated with the process I filled ice cube trays with chocolate and made Tabasco chocolates instead. Shane's co-workers will testify that they were a great prank, definitely hot! If anyone is interested I still have a dozen in my freezer...we're not eating them!

The new pantry is coming along, slowly but surely.  I picked out my door so that's progress, right?  It's going to be nice and big, or at least much, much bigger than anything I've ever had.   Oh, and it'll have a window and a light...yeah, I'm that cool!

I got a new fridge last week.  My old fridge was doing just great and then it wasn't.  Overnight I lost a gallon of ice cream and my confidence in technology.  I vacuumed it out, Shane played around with it, we ordered the faulty part, decided to sell it, bought a new one...now the old one is working like a dream and so is the new one...sadly, I don't get to keep both.  I mean seriously, how cool would that be?

And now, for today's recipe.  I made this a couple of weeks ago and it was delicious!  My mom was here and everyone had seconds, even the 3-year old!  I've tried hard to integrate more meatless dishes into our menus and even my husband has no complaints.  With the manicotti and the Sweet Potato enchiladas you still get your fill without the meat.

SPINACH CHEESE MANICOTTI

1 (15 oz) container ricotta cheese

1 (10 oz) package frozen chopped spinach; thawed and squeezed dry

1/2 cup minced onion

1 egg

2 tsp. minced parsley

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese; divided

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese; divided

1 (26 oz) jar spaghetti sauce

1 1/2 cup water

1 (8 oz) package manicotti shells

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. In large bowl, combine ricotta, spinach, onion and egg.  Season with parsley, pepper and garlic powder.  Mix in 1 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan.  In a separate bowl, stir together spaghetti sauce and water.

3. Spread 1 cup sauce in bottom of 9x13 in. baking dish.  Stuff uncooked manicotti shells with ricotta mixture, and arrange in a single layer in the dish.  Cover with remaining sauce.  Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 45-55 minutes or until shells are soft. 

This recipe allows you to fill UNCOOKED manicotti, so you don't have to worry about splitting the pasta!

Here's a blurry picture of the end result, sorry!  They were so good and I was surprised at how well the pasta cooked, it was perfect!