Bowling, Clouds.

I didn't blog for Thursday so thought I would post today. We went bowling on Wednesday afternoon although at one point it was touch and go. I took things very gently and much to Matt's annoyance, I bowled pretty high scores. I beat him in all three games. I tended to feel a bit better as the afternoon wore on. Then Thursday afternoon we went again and the situation changed, Matt beat me. I bowled like a woman with no arms. Terrible. On Wednesday I wore an Icy Hot patch, Thursday I didn't and I think that was a mistake. Then, much to my disgust, I discover that we can't bowl at all next week because they are resurfacing the lanes. I know it has to be done on an annual basis so guess we have to grin and bear it.

This bit of information came to me from How to Geek - They might look fluffy and ethereal but clouds are quite heavy; the average cumulus cloud (the big white cotton-candy-like ones you see on nice days) weigh 1.1 million pounds. What I want to know is how do they weigh clouds?

Having just had Fettucine Alfredo, I guess I have pasta on my mind. This looked so good to me. I make marinara sauce and freeze it in portion sizes.

Stuffed Shells with Spinach and Ricotta

(makes 4 servings)

Ingredients

• 16 jumbo pasta shells


• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil


• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced


• 4 cups fresh spinach leaves, roughly chopped and packed tightly when measuring


• 12 ounces skim-milk ricotta cheese


• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese


• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese


• 1 large egg, lightly beaten


• 1 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped (or 1 teaspoon of dried basil)


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper


• 1 1/4 cups marinara sauce (click here for a homemade sauce recipe, which we used with our baked ziti recipe, or use store-bought sauce)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.


2. Heat a large pot of water until boiling, add a big pinch of salt to the water, and then add the pasta shells. Cook the pasta shells according to the packageís directions, until the shells are al dente.


3. Drain the pasta shells and set them aside.


4. Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and let it cook for a minute, until it starts to get a little bit brown, and then add the spinach. While the spinach is cooking, stir it occasionally for about four minutes, or until the leaves start to wilt ñ- the leaves should still be bright green. The entire batch of spinach should reduce in size by half.


5. Remove the spinach from the heat and let it cool.


6. Grab a mixing bowl and combine the spinach, cheeses, egg, basil, salt, and pepper until everything is evenly blended.


7. Lightly grease the bottom of an 8×8-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Then, pour 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce into the bottom of the dish (spread it evenly).


8. Get the shells and spinach/cheese mixture. Stuff each shell with a heaping spoonful or two of the spinach/cheese mixture (make sure each one is nice and full!), and then place each shell in the baking dish on top of the sauce.


9. Cover the shells with the remaining sauce and cover the dish with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes, remove the foil, and then continue baking for about 10 or 15 more minutes (until the top starts to get golden brown and the sauce starts bubbling).


10. If desired, sprinkle with more Parmesan cheese and extra slivers of fresh basil for garnish.


11. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Fork Knife Swoon

Have a great day