New Recipes!

Since I am currently a stay-at-home-wife (hopefully not for too much longer!), I have PLENTY of time to cook new recipes for my husband and myself. I am cooking almost every single day, so I'm trying to mix it up a little bit.

Monday night, Michael slow-cooked BBQ ribs in our crock pot all day. They were so delicious; the meat practically fell right off the bone. For an appetizer, I made fresh mango salsa! I got the recipe from Good Things Catered, one of my favorite recipe blogs. I forgot to take a picture, so I've borrowed the one from her blog:

Mango Salsa (image from Good Things Catered):

This recipe was so easy...you can find the exact details on her blog, but it's basically two fresh mangoes, half of a red bell pepper, half of a red onion, a jalapeno pepper, and lime juice. Dice everything and mix it together...Michael loved it!

Last night, I made Three Cheese Manicotti! It was so yummy and I am not even that huge on red sauce. Actually, I hardly like red sauce at all. But this is so light on the sauce (and heavy on the cheese)! I found the basic recipe on All Recipes (amazing site), but I adjusted it a little. I changed the order, cook times, and I added spinach. Here is my recipe:

Three Cheese Manicotti:

• 1 package manicotti shells
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 2 cups ricotta cheese (my favorite!)
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 T. minced fresh garlic
• 1 egg
• 2 T. dried basil
• 1 package frozen spinach
• 1 jar pasta sauce

1. Pre-heat over to 350 degrees. Soak manicotti shells in salted, warm (not boiling!) water for 15 minutes.

2. In a bowl, mix together 3 cups mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup Parm cheese, garlic, egg, basil, and spinach. Stuff manicotti shells with cheese mixture.

3. Coat the bottom of a lightly greased baking dish with half of the jar of pasta sauce. Place the stuffed manicotti shells on top of the sauce. Cover shells with remaining sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese.

4. Bake for 20 minutes; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese, and continue baking for 10 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Here is a picture of our dinner...Michael loved this one too. I think it would have been a little too boring without the spinach. We had plenty of leftovers for lunch today:

Tonight, I'm cooking Balsamic-Glazed Salmon Fillets, green beans sauteed with pine nuts, and baked potatoes. I'll let you know how it turns out!