Bunco!!

Tonight I am hosting Bunco at my house.  We tried last month (twice) and between schedules and my sick kiddo, we put it off until this month.  This is my one night a month to hang out with other mommies and girls.  We get together, eat, and play Bunco! Fun, Fun!!  Not knowing what my day was going to be like today, I wanted to fix something for dinner that I could do ahead and finish it without worry tonight.  So, here is another recipe that I love that is quick, easy, and cheap.  We were at our very good friends' house for dinner one night a few years back and she made this.  Since then I have made it the same way, and also changed it up a bit.  Thanks Hayley!

Stuffed Shells

1 Box Jumbo Shells
1-2 lbs Ground Beef
1-2 jars Spaghetti Sauce
1 small - medium bag of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Bring a pot of water to boil for your noodles.  While waiting on the water to start boiling, cook your ground beef, seasoned with salt, pepper, & Italian seasoning, if you like, until no longer pink.  Drop your noodles into your boiling water (to make the whole box, you will need 2 lbs of ground beef & 2 jars of sauce, but if you make less, you can get away with only 1 lbs and 1 jar.)  Drain the meat and the noodles.  In a bowl, mix the meat, half of the sauce, and half of the cheese together.  Spread some sauce on the bottom of your baking dish and place each stuffed shell on top of the sauce.  Once all shells are stuffed and in the dish, cover with the remaining sauce.  Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.  Bake at 375 degrees until the cheese is melted and everything is heated thru.  I usually bake for 30-40 minutes.  If you want to make it ahead of time, just cover with foil, place in refridgerator until desired day. 

You can play with the stuffing and the sauce.  I like to take Ricotta cheese, steamed spinach (thawed and drained), parmesan cheese, and ground beef, mix together and stuff the shells.  I use a Vodka sauce with this stuffing combination.  You could use sausage, panchetta, ground turkey, or any other type of Italina meat instead of ground beef.  I hope you enjoy!

This weekend I am hoping to do some projects around the house, so hopefully I will have something to share with you next week!

Caramie