Stuffed Shells- Freezer Meal Edition

Stuffed Shells

I am so excited about making freezer meals. A few of my friends are attempting a new freezer meal group later this week where each of us chooses a recipe, makes enough for each family that attends, and then we will swap meals at the end. Because I am hosting it this time, I wanted to get mine done early, so I can help others work on theirs while they are in my home. Freezer meals create a sense of peace in me. Weird, I know, but when I know that I have a head start on dinner for the next several days (or even WEEKS!), I can face the difficulties of the day with more confidence. Other freezer meal bloggers talk about how they like to fill their freezers with their meals and then go peek at them from time to time. I may or may not do that. Don't judge. Here's a detailed depiction of why freezer meals are important for our budget.

Stuffed Shells have a lot of steps in the process, but none of the steps are difficult. I made this recipe knowing that I needed to make enough for six young families. The families have as few as three members and as many as five in the largest, so I wanted to be sure to include enough shells for a family of five (two adults and three children) to have a dinner entree.

The first step in my process was to make a big batch of meat sauce. I used  Ree Drummond's recipe for meat sauce as my basis for my concoction. 

I did stray a bit from her recipe because I don't keep wine in the house, and I used a mixture of local raised beef and local raised pork sausage instead of all beef. I am not a fan of onions, so I finely chopped some fresh zucchini, fresh yellow squash, and some red peppers that I found in the freezer. I forgot the bay leaves too. The sauce still turned out great. This makes A LOT of sauce. Seriously, it starts with FIVE POUNDS of meat! 

On with the shells. I cooked three boxes of shells in a large pot of boiling water, to which I added salt and a bit of olive oil to prevent stickage. (Is stickage a word?) Once the shells reached a perfect level of done-ness, I took my whole pot of shells, poured off most of the water, then I turned the cold water on and let the shells cool completely.

While the noodles cooked, I made a lovely filling for my shells. I grated a whole bunch of Parmesan cheese and mixed it together with eggs, ricotta, cottage cheese, shredded mozzarella, and several lovely dried herbs- parsley, basil and lots of oregano.

 Here's how the pretty herbs look poured on top of the ricotta.

 And the mozzarella...

 Here it is all mixed up together. It smells lovely at this stage, but resist eating it unless you fear no salmonella from raw eggs.

Next, we stuff them. I scoop about a tablespoon of the mixture and spoon it into the cooked shells. Then I close them and lay them seam side down.

Three boxes makes A LOT of shells. My kids seemed concerned about my sanity when I counted them... there were 120 to be exact. All the other shells broke apart and I couldn't stuff them.

Next, I added a layer of wax paper to an 8"x 8" foil pan because I have heard that tomato sauce can react with different types of metal. I'm not sure if it would happen with these, but I knew how many of these pans of shells I was planning to make, and I don't have time for an experiment to go awry! I added a couple of spoons full of sauce to the bottom of the lined pan.

Next, I took the pretty filled shells and lined them all up in rows. I fit 18 shells in each pan. Aren't they pretty?

Here's when the meat sauce really gets showcased! Scoop enough on top of the shells to cover them generously. These are going to be baked at a later date, and noodles that get crispy in the oven are not my favorite. 

Smooth out the sauce like so.

Here they all are in their beauty!

This step is exceptionally important. Truly. Labeling bags saves so much time later on! I like to include what is in each bag, instructions for cooking, the date it was made, and the cook's name too. These 8" x 8" foil pans fit nicely in a gallon size freezer bag.

Before the ladies arrive later this week, I will prep sandwich-sized bags with shredded mozzarella to top these yummy pans full of pseudo-Italian goodness and send them home to stock their freezers. I am looking forward to staring into my freezer knowing that we are working together to get a head start on the responsibilities of dinner for the coming weeks.

Sauce:

3 lbs ground beef

2 lbs sausage

2 T minced garlic

2 c minced veggies- zucchini, yellow squash, red bell pepper about 2/3 c each to total 2 cups

6-8oz cans of plain tomato sauce

2 jars of good spaghetti sauce

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 T oregano

1 T parsley

1 t ground thyme

1 t basil

1 T salt

Brown meats in a large pot. Drain and set aside. In the same pot, add veggies and garlic and cook on medium for about 3 minutes. Pour in tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce and tomatoes. Add seasonings and bring to a low simmer. Add browned meat back to pot and simmer on medium low for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Stuffed Shells:

3 boxes of jumbo pasta shells

5 containers of ricotta

1 large container of cottage cheese

1 lb shredded mozzarella

3 c shredded Parmesan

4 eggs

1 T parsley

1 T oregano

1 t basil

Cook shells according to package directions. Cool. Mix all other ingredients together in a large bowl. Spoon 1 T mixture into each shell. Ladle meat sauce into a baking dish. Place each shell mixture-side down into baking dish. Once your dish is filled with one layer of shells, top with a generous amount of meat sauce.

From this point, you can bake them at 350 for 35 minutes and top with extra mozzarella cheese and bake another 5 minutes. If you want to freeze them, pack for freezer and label. Freeze for up to two months. When you're ready to use, thaw and bake at 350 for 35 minutes and top with extra mozzarella cheese and bake another 5 minutes.

Yield: seven 8" x 8" baking dishes of shells and sauce with a little extra sauce left over. 

I got 120 shells from this recipe for an approximate cost of $50 (including pans and bags); that's about $7.15 per baking dish.

The Grill is On

Grilled chicken and grilled veggies has been on my mind since my husband asked me to go get the grill tank filled. He's craving hot dogs. I'm not going to judge him for that.

Since our youngest can't seem to handle the preservatives in hot dogs, dinner can't just consist of hot dogs, so I decided this morning that we would have a grilled variety for dinner. A mixed grill, if you will.

I started off this morning by getting frozen chicken breasts from my freezer, putting them in my marinade container, and squeezing lemons over the top. Then I sliced up the lemons and tossed them in the container too. Next, I used a packaged vinaigrette dressing mix, followed the directions, and poured the mixture over my chicken breast. Italian dressing would work too, but I didn't have any on hand. Before I let it sit, I added about 2 tablespoons of prepared pesto because I love the flavor of basil on about anything grilled.

Since I was planning to fire up the grill anyway, I decided to soak some bamboo skewers in water while I prepped some veggies. I sliced up some fresh mushrooms, yellow squash, zucchini, and carrots, then I skewered them in patterns. Once they were all on, I put them in a pan and drizzled some vinaigrette over the top

I popped these lovelies in the fridge and headed off to work. When I got home, I hooked up the new tank on the grill, cleaned off the yuk from the winter, and turned all the burners to "High" to burn off the grossness. I used the wire brush on it a few times and let the fire heat up very hot.  Once the grill was ready for food,  I put all the marinated chicken on the bottom portion of my grill. You can see I loaded it up. My philosophy is to use every bit of space efficiently on the grill when I use it. Anything that we don't use today goes in the freezer for another day. I don't typically heat up the grill for just one or two items; I make the whole meal on the grill!

(See the hot dogs in the top left corner? Those are for my dear husband. And my picky daughter.)

Next up, I added the veggie skewers and the few hot dogs to the top rack, so they would not get burned by the high heat on the bottom rack.

Because I have read research about the health benefits of lemons preventing carcinogens in grilled foods, I like to toss the lemons right on the grill with the chicken. And it smells great. I bet the whole neighborhood is ready to get their grills out too after the aromas produced when that yummy vinaigrette marinade hit the heat with those lemons! Yum!

After several minutes, I gave the chicken breast a quick flip. There were some lemon casualties down between the grates of the grill.

The veggie kebabs needed a quick turn too.

Once I pulled it all off of the grill, I paired the grilled goodies with some baked beans and fruit for a fantastic meal!

The kids asked if we could please eat our meal outside on the porch, but alas, the weather is still a bit cold. Eating outside with a parka on takes away the enjoyment of grilled foods.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Freezer meal note: For my freezer meal friends, I had four chicken breasts left over from this grilling time, so I chopped up one for tomorrow and put it in the fridge to top my salad for lunch, and then I took the other three and popped them in the freezer for another time when I want to have a low-calorie dinner without a lot of fuss!