Yesterday we had a busy day. We grabbed some leftovers for lunch before we headed out for the day. We sold popcorn at the mall for cub scouts for a couple of hours. Then we headed to a friend's house for dinner.
Today was all about using up what I had on hand. A quick look around the kitchen showed me that I had hamburger buns that we haven't been using. I decided to grill up some of the grillers original soy burgers for lunch. I also grilled some mushrooms. I heated up some of the leftover caramelized onions. I also added lettuce, american cheese, tomato, ketchup, and mustard. I served the burgers with some homemade garlic dill pickles. The rest of the buns I tossed into the freezer.
We carved pumpkins this afternoon and my daughter made two trays of pumpkin seeds for us. She made one tray seasoned with salt and garlic & wine seasoning. She made the other tray seasoned with salt and ginger. After sampling, we all decided that they should just be mixed together.
Once again, I looked around the kitchen to see what I needed to use up. I had a partial box of large shell pasta. I looked in the fridge to figure out what to use for the stuffing. I still had a small container of cream cheese that I had mixed with processed black beans. A quick search let me know that it was still ok to use (once open cream cheese needs to be used within 10 days). I grabbed the leftover grilled mushrooms and tomato slices from lunch. I also got out onion, green pepper, garlic, spinach, the end of the cottage cheese container, provolone, mozzarella, and romano cheese.
I sauteed onion, garlic, and green pepper in a little olive oil. I seasoned it with garlic & wine seasoning and salt. I chopped the leftover tomato and added it. I set some aside for the kids and then I finished up the stuffing for myself. I added the grilled mushrooms and a couple handfuls of spinach along with local white wine.
I spread a little cream cheese/black bean mix inside the cooked pasta shells. I added some of the veggie stuffing. Next, I added a spoonful of cottage cheese. I set it in a pan that had a layer of my homemade spaghetti sauce on the bottom. The shells were topped with more sauce, provolone, mozzarella, and romano cheese. I baked them at 400 just long enough to melt the cheeses. I served dinner with a side salad (trying to use up the big container of lettuce from my garden). I had a bunch of club rolls left so I decided to make some quick garlic bread. I spread some butter on the rolls and seasoned them with garlic & wine. A few minutes in a pan and they were golden and ready to eat!
The kids really liked the stuffed shells. My son said no change for next time. My daughter said she would rather no green pepper. Funny because she didn't mention anything about the fresh tomato in there. She is not a tomato kind of girl. I thought they were delicious. Can't go wrong with five cheeses on anything!
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