Pasta Shells Casserole

I saw Rachel Ray do this recipe on her show!  I, like her, am a lover of stuffed pasta shells but hate stuffing the shells!!  She came up with a brilliant way of getting all of the stuffed shells taste without the fuss of stuffing the shells!!  And it is DELICIOUS!!

I also made a couple of changes to help it to be healthier and drop those ww points a bit more!

I have my alterations in the recipe below.  Following this recipe below will yield you about 10 ww points a serving (which for a pasta dish – that ain’t bad!!)  (per serving is approx 562 calories, 17.5 grams of fat and 10 grams of fiber)

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped, divided
• 1 large or 2 small to medium onions, finely chopped, divided
• 1 small carrot, finely chopped or grated
• Salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano or marjoram, half a palmful
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, 1/3 palmful
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed by pressing under flat of your knife
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme, 5 to 6 sprigs
• 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dry white or red wine
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 28-ounce cans Italian crushed tomatoes
• 1 pound medium or large shell pasta (not extra-large stuffing shells)   (I used whole wheat pasta shells…my nutritional information above was figured using this)
• about 20 oz frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and wrung dry in clean towel
• Freshly grated nutmeg, about 1/4 teaspoon
• 2 cups part skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup reduced fat grated parmesan cheese, plus some to pass at table
• 1/2 cup egg beaters
• Yields: Serves 7-8 servings

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Preparation

In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons EVOO, 3 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add 4 cloves of chopped garlic, 3/4 of finely chopped onion and the carrot. Season with salt, pepper, oregano or marjoram, red pepper flakes, fennel seeds and thyme, and gently sauté 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in parsley, stir, then add wine and reduce a minute. Add stock and tomatoes, bring sauce up to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer sauce 45 minutes.

After sauce has been simmering for 30 minutes, preheat oven to 375˚F.

Bring a pot of water to a boil for the pasta. Salt water and cook pasta 5 minutes.

While pasta water comes to a boil, heat remaining 2 tablespoons EVOO in a small skillet over medium heat. Add remaining garlic and onion and sauté to soften, 5 minutes. Add spinach, pulling it apart and separating it as you add it to pan. Stir to combine well and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Turn off heat.

Drain undercooked pasta and return it to the hot pot. Add spinach mixture to pot along with ricotta and grated Parm. Stir to combine, adjust salt and pepper then add eggs and stir.

Pour a thin layer of marinara sauce into the bottom of a casserole dish. Fill dish with pasta then top with another thin layer of red sauce. Save remaining sauce to pass at table. Bake 30 minutes until bubbly.

Serve casserole directly from casserole dish, passing extra sauce and cheese at the table.

It’s COLD Outside!

It is COLD outside!  An artic front has hit and it is suppose to get down to 15 degrees tonight (with windchill around 0).  For Texas this is COLD!!!!

What’s better for a cold night than a good ol bowl of chili to warm you up!!  And my new friend Hungry Girl (btw – I got 2 of her cookbooks for Christmas) has a wonderful chili recipe!

This is a wonderful vegetable chili.  The best part about this chili is the fact that 1 serving is 120 calories, 1 gram of fat and 6 grams of fiber (that’s 1 ww point people!) It takes about 2 hours to cook so if you are one who works you might want to do this on a Saturday.  But hey – one batch makes 10 servings so you could freeze part of it for a easy meal later!! 

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 4 1/4 cups canned tomato sauce
• 1 cup canned diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 3/4 cut canned black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3/4 cup canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup jalapeno slices, chopped
• 1 cup canned sweet corn kernels, drained
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onions
• 1 large red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 3/4 cup chopped carrots
• 1 1/2 cups chopped portabello mushrooms
• 1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp crushed garlic
• 1 tsp worscestershire sauce
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• optional: salt

Directions:

1. Place the tomato sauce, tomatoes, jalepenos, chili powder, and cumin in a large pot.  Stir over low heat.  Once mixture is heated, stir in the garlic and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.
2. Add carrots and continue to cook over low heat.  Meanwhile, over medium heat, cook onions, peppers, and mushrooms for 3 to 5 minutes in a large pan with juat 1/2 cup of water (and some salt, if desired).  THe onions and peppers should still be a little crunchy.  Using a slotted spoon to drain any excess water, add the veggies to the chili pot.
3. Add beans, corn, and worcestershire sauce to the pot.  Mix well.  Everything should now be in the pot.
4. Cook over low heat for about 2 hours, stirring every 20 minutes or so.  Chili is done when carrots have lost their crunch.
5. Makes 10 servings

I served this with Hungry Girl’s Cheesy Good Cornbread Muffins and brown rice.  The entire meal (which includes 2 muffins) is only 8 ww points!!!   You can’t beat that!!!

Enjoy!

And, if you are looking at loosing some weight and need some encouragement and motivation please feel free to check out my new blog Let’s Lose Weight Together.

Kellie

Chicken Pot Pie

Before I get to the recipe I just want to say something.  I got on the scales this morning and I am down 32 pounds now!!  WOW!!  I have lost 32 pounds in 4 months!!  If you would have told me 6 months ago that I would be cutting out practically all sugar, as much fat as possible, using ground turkey instead of ground meat, using whole wheat flour, eating whole wheat and high fiber bread, etc…I would have told you were crazy!!!  I have never been real health nut when it comes to food…but I am quickly changing my mind!  I used to think healthy food had no flavor but I was so wrong!!

Not only am I losing weight I feel better than I have in a long time!!  Now all I need to do is add some exercise to this living and I will really be doing well!

I am not on a diet – I have made a LIFEFSTYLE CHANGE!  This is the way I plan on eating from now on!!  I refuse to yo-yo with my weight the rest of my life.  I am determined to keep this weight off!

I hope I didn’t bore you with that story…now to a yummy recipe!!

I love chicken pot pie!!  It is one of my all time favorite comfort foods!!  I decided to give hungry girl’s recipe a try…it is actually very close to the recipe that I have always done.    I made a slight change to the recipe but you still get 1 serving for about 230 calories, 7 grams of fat, and 2 1/2 grams of fiber (that is 4.7 ww points people!!).

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb (8 oz.) raw boneless skinless chicken breast; cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 cups frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 can (10.75 oz.) Campbell's Condensed Soup, 98% Fat Free Cream of Celery
• 4 servings  (1/2 can) Pillsbury Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls (unprepared)
• season salt (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute chicken pieces for several minutes in a pan spritzed with nonstick cooking spray, until chicken is light brown/cooked but still tender; set aside.
2. Heat frozen veggies in microwave (I place mine in a covered dish with a couple of tbsp of water).
3. Mix chicken, vegetables and soup together and put in a 9" pie plate sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. (I added a few dashes of season salt to the mixture…I think it adds good flavor…but it is completely optional). Place dish in oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.
4. While dish is cooking, unroll 4 crescent rolls. Hungry girl’s recipe states to take the dough (and she only uses 3 crescent rolls) and combine into a ball and then roll out with a rolling pin.  I thought of something much easier.  Since the dish is to make 4 servings and the crescent rolls are already triangle shaped I decided to just place them on top of the filling in the pie plate.  I had to fold and manipulate the triangles a bit to get it to fit right but it worked out well and this way each serving gets a whole crecent roll! 
5. Put back in the oven and cook for an additional 15 - 20 minutes or until top is golden brown. Serves 4.