Stuffed Shells

Ingredients

1 box Jumbo pasta shells
1/2 jar pasta sauce (about)
15 oz. ricotta
1 cup mozarella cheese
3 T. parmesan
(a little goat cheese if you have it; this makes it really good!)
(a sprinkle of cheddar if you have it)
1 egg
1 clove garlic
1 bunch fresh basil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Directions

Heat oven to 350

1. Boil the pasta according to the directions (add olive oil to the water to make sure they don't stick)

2. Meanwhile, chop basil, parmesan, and garlic (and goat cheese) in a food processor

3. Mix the above mixture with the ricotta, egg, mozarella, cheddar, and salt and pepper in a large bowl

3. Put pasta sauce along the bottom of a baking pan until it is just covers the bottom

4. When the shells are cooked, run them under cold water so they're cool to the touch and place them along the pan so they're spread out; stuff each shell with a spoonful of the cheese mixture

5. Spoon some more pasta sauce over the top, and if you like, sprinkle with a little mozarella. Cook for about 30 minutes.

Creamy Butternut Squash-Sweet Potato Soup (sans creme)

I made butternut squash before using a fresh squash and it was the biggest pain in the butt of my life. I love this stuff, but couldn't bear to make it again. I found some canned butternut squash, and thus the recipe for easy soup was born! By the way, most butternut squash soup recipes call for several cups of heavy cream...ouch. I couldn't find any good recipes online so I made this one up, and added sweet potatoes since I had some in the cupboard that were going bad; it was a good call! Also, you could probably use fresh butternut squash in this, as opposed to canned, but a) I'm lazy and b) I'm cheap. Oh, and I forgot the garlic when I made this. It turned out just fine, but I think some garlic would be nice.

Ingredients

1 15. oz can pureed butternut squash
1-2 sweet potatoes, cut into cubes
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, pressed/very finely chopped
2 tablespoons (or thereabouts) fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 can condensed chicken broth, plus water (could probably use non-condensed; about 20 oz., or one 14 oz. can plus water)
2-3 T. butter
A little bit of milk (optional)
Cinammon, nutmeg, cloves, and/or black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Saute the onions at the bottom of your soup pan with enough butter to coat them; add garlic towards the end when the onions are getting transparent

2. Add chicken broth/water, ginger, and sweet potatoes. Boil on medium-low heat until sweet potatoes are tender (about 40 minutes).

3. Puree everything with a food processor until smooth

4. Put back in the soup pot and add butternut squash and spices (and milk or cream if you feel like it, but it's totally unecessary).

Garlic Rosemary Roast Chicken

Ingredients

1 whole chicken
10 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
7 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 tsp. salt
A whole bunch of rosemary
2 cups hot (not boiling) water
1 cup olive oil
Pepper to taste
Cool water
Chicken broth or boillion cube

Directions

Prepare the chicken in brine:

1. Place 3 sprigs of rosemary, 1 tsp. of salt, and 10 unpeeled garlic cloves in a ziplock bag with the air squeazed out and mash it with a meat mallot or rolling pin or someother heavy object.

2. Place the ingredients in a pot of the hot water for about 10 minutes, then add 1 cup of cool water

3. Add the hot water mix and the chicken to a large bag and add enough cool water to cover the chicken; close the bag and leave in the fridge at least one hour, preferably overnight

When it's been brined:

Preheat oven to 450

4. Press the peeled garlic and rub it in with the salt in a small bowl

5. Meanwhile, chop the rosemary and add it to the garlic, then add the olive oil

6. Take the chicken out of the brine and pat it dry; rub the olive oil/garlic/rosemary mix all over the chicken, slipping some under the skin and in the cavity

7. Add chicken broth to the bottom of the roasting pan, and place the chicken on a rack over the roasting pan

8. Cook for 30 minutes breast side down, basting occasionally with the chicken broth at the bottom of the pan

9. Lower the temperature to 400; take the chicken out and place it breastside up on the roasting pan. Chicken is ready when a thermometer at the thickest part of the breast reads 160 degrees.

Spinach Dip

This is a modified (and WAY better) version of the directions on the packet.

Ingredients:

1 package Knorr or Lipton Vegetable Soup Mix
1 package (10 oz.) chopped frozen spinach (more is fine); defrosted and drained
1 giant bunch of dill (however much you can get at once at the grocery store), chopped
3 chopped green onions
1 cup mayo
1 cup sour cream

Directions

1. Mix it all together! Serve with pita.

Banana Bread

Ingredients

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
5 T. butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup flour (156 g.)
5 very ripe bananas
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
Two dashes of nutmeg
Several dashes of cinnamon
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

1. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs.

2. In small separate bowl, mix baking soda and sour cream; set aside

3. To sugar/butter/egg mixture, add flour, bananas, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt

4. Fold in sour cream mixture; throw in walnuts if you've got 'em

5. Pour into greased loaf pan; bake for 75 minutes, or until knife comes out clean

Ginger Molassas Cookies

Really soft and yummy...all the ginger and none of the snap!

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (281 g.)
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup molasses
1/3 cup more white sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350

1. Combine flour, sugar, cloves, ginger, and cinnamon

2. In a separate bowl, cream the butter with the sugar

3. To the butter sugar mixture, add the egg

4. To the butter sugar egg mixture, add the water and molasses

5. Combine wet and dry ingredients.

6. Separate into 24 little balls; roll in the extra sugar and place a dozen on a cookie sheet

7. Flatten each cookie slightly with the back of a spoon and bake for 10 minutes.

Baba Ghanouj

I'm not sure if I spelled it right, but it sure is good! This is very simple for even the laziest cooks, and much better than the junk you get in a plastic container full of preservatives.

Ingredients

1 large eggplant
3 T. olive oil
2 T. tahini
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
3 T. lemon juice (or juice of 1 lemon)
3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400

2. Cut eggplant in half lengthwise, rub olive oil on the two halves, and place face down on a cookie sheet. Cook for 35 minutes.

3. When the eggplant is out of the oven and slightly cooled off, scoop it into a food processor along with the other ingredients.

4. Pulse until JUST blended.