Stuffed Pasta Shells with Spinach

Ingredients
12 dried jumbo shell macaroni
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
2 eggs
1 8-ounce package shredded Italian cheese blend (2 cups)
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 26- to 32-ounce jar pasta sauce
Directions
1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Rinse with cold water; drain again. Meanwhile, drain thawed spinach well, pressing out excess liquid.
2. For filling, in a medium bowl beat eggs. Stir in spinach, 1-1/2 cups of the Italian cheese blend, and the ricotta cheese. Spoon 2 rounded tablespoons of the filling into each jumbo shell. Place shells in 2-quart square baking dish. Pour pasta sauce over shells.
3. Cover and bake in a 350 degree F oven about 40 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup Italian cheese blend before serving.
4. Makes 4 servings
5. Make-ahead directions: Cover casserole with plastic wrap, then foil. Chill for up to 24 hours. To serve, remove plastic wrap; cover with foil. Bake chilled shells in a 375 degree F oven for 50 to 55 minutes or until heated through.

Caribbean Pork over Rice

1.5 lb boneless pork loin
1 can chicken broth
3 teaspoons jerk sauce
7 oz (half a can) light coconut milk
zest of half an orange

sliced almonds - provided
1 cup rice - provided

Defrost loin overnight. Put the pork loin in the crock with the chicken broth, set on low and abandon for 6 hours. Return just to stir things up and shred pork. Add frozen jerk sauce, milk, and zest and cook until toasty. If you want your dinner less saucy, remove the lid during the last 30 mins of cooking to thicken sauce. Keep the lid on everythinf if you are like Shea, "less is less, but more is awesome!"

Cook rice with two cups of water. Nestle the pork in a bed of rice and sprinkle with almonds.

Greek Lemon and Spinach Soup

8 cups of chicken stock
1 1/2 cup pasta (I used Pipette)
2 eggs, lightly beaten (NOT provided)
Juice of 2 lemons (provided as frozen cube)
Zest of 1 lemon (included in frozen cube)
1 box of frozen spinach
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring the stock to a boil over high heat. Add orzo and cook 5 minutes. In the meantime, microwave the spinach for 5 minutes. While stirring constantly, drizzle in the eggs and continue stirring for 30-60 seconds. Add lemon juice cube with zest, spinach, salt and pepper. Return to a boil and serve immediately.

Gourmet Baked Macaroni and Cheese

This recipe came from the Food Network's Alton Brown, and I made a few changes based on what I had on hand. This macaroni and cheese recipe is thick and creamy, and absolutely, sinfully delectable!

Ingredients:
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon powdered mustard (not yellow from the refrigerator!)
3 cups milk (preferably whole or 2%)
1/2 yellow onion, finely diced (I substituted 1/2 teaspoon onion powder)
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 large egg
12 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon kosher salt (to taste)
fresh black pepper (to taste)
Topping:
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta al dente (6 minutes)
While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk the flour and dry mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper the egg (whisk the egg in a different bowl, then slowly add small amounts of liquid from the milk flour mixture, to the egg bowl, to bring up the egg temperature until it reaches the same temp as the mixture in the pan, about a cup of liquid, then add the egg mixture to the pot). Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter for the topping into a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Pizza Pasta

(from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:
8 oz's rotini pasta
1 lb lean ground beef
1 sm onion
1 (28 oz) jar spaghetti sauce
4 oz's sliced pepperoni sausage
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bring a large pot of slightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 min's or until al dente; drain.
In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, cook beef with onion until beef is brown. Drain. Combine beef mixture with spaghetti sauce, pepperoni and cooked pasta and pour into a 9x13 in. baking dish. Top with mozzarella.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 min's, until cheese is melted.

For frozen dish: Thaw overnight in refrigerator. Bake at 350 for 30 min's or until cheese is melted.

***FYI -I diced the pepperoni and added it to the beef when I was browning it. Otherwise it gets a bit soggy when mixed in with the sauce. I also added shredded parm to the mozzarella.

Debriefing from Dec 2008

We decided that we were happy with 7 families participating. When we all participate we will bring 6 meals to swap (and keep ours at home). We are closed now but will keep a waiting list of interested folks so that if in the future we have enough to fully sustain 2 groups, we will split.

Portion Size that serves 4:
Burgers/Sandwiches - four
8 cups of soup/stew
1 -1.5 lbs of meat if it is meat based dish
8 x 8 pan is good for a traditional casserole

We are committed to meeting in person every month. Many of us have playgroups that meet on Wednesdays. To honor both commitments we agreed to meet from 9:30 to 10:45.

Joanna found great pans from Wal Mart. They are $4 each. They are red lidded pyrex dishes and we should communicate about when/if we find them so that we all have 6 of the exact same pans. The metal ones are just not holding up well.

Here is the schedule of hosting (third Wed of each month):
Jan - Shoshana
Feb - Kim
Mar - Liz T
Apr - Liz K
May - Joanna
Jun - Dina
Jul - Michele