Friday, August 28, 2015

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
 

27 comments:

  1. Hi Jo - glad you could bowl .. and pity about the maintenance next week. The fettucine looks delicious .. cheers Hilary

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    1. So was I even if Thursday was disastrous. I enjoy pasta Hilary so always like a good recipe.

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  2. I'm glad you're feeling better, Jo. Who knows but the break from bowling might help you keep improving. What's an Icy Hot patch?

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    1. Thanks Helen. It's just what it sounds like. It's a medicated patch which you put on your painful area and it feels cold at first and then hot. I swear by them. Icyhot.com

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  3. I had a hot stone massage recently to alleviate some pain from a nasty fall I took. Very nice and I felt great afterwards. Glad to hear you are feeling better.

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    1. I often wondered about those Denise. Glad to hear it did you good.

      Thanks.

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  4. Keep that Icy Hot patch on!
    Sorry you won't be bowling next week, but it will give your body time to recover.

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    1. I will Alex.

      True, but I will miss bowling.

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  5. I'm glad you are feeling better. I just made that recipe a few weeks ago and it was really good. But I had to laugh at what is considered a 'jumbo shell'. I guess compared to the small ones it's 'jumbo' but they certainly aren't restaurant-sized.

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    1. Thanks JoJo. I have never had shells in a restaurant so don't know how big they are.

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  6. So glad you were able to bowl, and that you beat Matt. But sorry things changed on Thursday. Who knew clouds could be so heavy they don't look it. Gosh I wish the same was true here on earth. I love to look light too! :)
    Love the recipe, hubby would toot!

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    1. That's bowling I guess Yolanda. I still didn't know how clouds were weighed I just googled. It would be nice to look light I agree.

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  7. Hope you're on the mend. I hope you don't try acupuncture. It's had me confined to bed this week and made my sciatica twice as painful. It's years...no decades since I went bowling. Sounds fun.

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    1. I had acupuncture years ago Rosalind, didn't seem to do anything for me at the time. Bowen Therapy would work, but it's a tad expensive to have several treatments. We bowl all year round, 5 pin which is a Canadian game, and love it.

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  8. Only one person commented about heavy clouds,, but I just found this: Do the math with the density and volume to determine the total water content of the cloud. In this case, it's 500,000,000 grams of water, or 1.1 million pounds. That's a lot of weight to wrap your head around, so LeMone suggests putting it in more familiar terms, like elephants. It weighs as much as 10 elephants.

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  9. Sorry to hear that you will miss your bowling but glad you are slowly getting better. Next week will be a good recovery week for you. This is another recipe that sounds great

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    1. Yes, I guess it won't hurt me to miss a week Birgit, but it will be a miss, we both look forward to it.

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  10. I suppose they must measure the density and size and calculate from there.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zsbwjxs

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    1. Don't be so boring Pinky. The angels take itty bitty clouds and weigh them on heavenly scales.

      If you read my comments above, you are right density etc. etc.

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  11. Shame you can't bowl next week - but maintenance has to be done!

    I love spinach and ricotta they go well together.

    All the best Jan

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    1. You're right it does Jan. Don't have to like it though.

      I do agree with you about that combination.

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  12. HUmmm - can Icy Hot help you win - or lack thereof cause you to lose??? An interesting question. :) I won a frozen turkey once in a bowling league. And that was BEFORE I discovered Solan Pas )sp?) - just sayin' ....Have a good weekend - Marsha

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    1. I wonder. Is Salon Pas (sp) good, seen it advertised here Marsha.

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  13. Maybe the new surface will help your bowling score.

    That recipe looks good. :)

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    1. That's a thought Melissa. I'll let you know.

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  14. Sorry about all next week. Good on you for beating Matt.

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    1. He wasn't too happy though Ivy. Said he wouldn't bowl with me again when I was unwell.

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