Sunday, April 20, 2008

Project Say Something...Cookin' Up Some Grub

Two weeks ago, Kim asked: What is your favorite home cooked meal/why.. and what is your favorite recipe?

I have known the answer to this since I read the question over two weeks ago. Why haven't I answered then you ask? Because I am lazy. That's why. But I have started to feel guilty getting so behind on the questions. If I'm gonna play the game, I gotta follow the rules, right?

I think I have mentioned numerous times that I don't have favorites, so I will just include ones I like a lot. Before Christian and Emma came along, every other Friday after Jessi and Taylor went to their mom's, Marcus and I would cook dinner together. We would chose a recipe we have never tried before and make it together. Sometimes it wasn't the greatest; other times we found new dishes to try again. I think I enjoyed the time together more than I enjoyed the actual food. It was fun to be in the kitchen with Marcus. Now we don't really get to do that. One of us cooks while the other chases the little ones. We have very different tastes in food, but we would both compromise and Marcus has me enjoying food I would have never tried before.

One of my favorite recipes is for Three Cheese Manicotti. I am pulling the recipe out of my butt and battling a migraine while I am typing this so I make no guarantees on how close it is to the actual recipe that is downstairs.

Boil the manicotti noodles like the package says. When they are done, drain the water and lay them on wax paper or paper towels to dry. While the noodles are drying, you can make the cheese mixture. It's one package cream cheese, about 2 cups mozzarella cheese and some chives.I don't remember how much..just make it look pretty. After that is all mixed together, you gotta stuff the noodles. Being the perfectionist that I am, this part used to suck. Then I got lazy and now it's much easier. I cut the noodles down the middle, put some cheese mixture in it and then roll them back up, putting the sliced side down. You can't even tell they were cut open and it's way easier. After they are all stuffed, cover them in spaghetti sauce..any kind that floats your boat. Then add about 1 more cup of mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes...I think. Then add Parmesan cheese over the top..again, I don't know how much, just do it. Then bake it for about another five minutes. Then Presto Chango! You have dinner. Everyone in my family will eat this, and that rarely happens. I like to make it during the day while Emma is napping, and then throw it in the fridge until I need to bake it. It's pretty easy and really yummy. I have actually been planning my menu for each week on Sunday. It saves me money when I go grocery shopping, makes dinner time easier and cuts down on trips to the corner store for things that we don't have but need for dinner that night. We have also been trying new things a lot lately. We got stuck in a rut there for awhile and we were eating the same thing over and over. Now Marcus and I are taking turns and trying new things.

All this talk of food has made me hungry now.

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