EASY STUFFED PASTA SHELLS

 

EASY STUFFED PASTA SHELLS

Ingredients

o   One half of a 12-ounce box of jumbo pasta shells (about 18 shells)

o   1 teaspoon salt

o   1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese

o   2 large eggs

o   1 cup grated parmesan cheese

o   2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

o   2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or mint (or 2 teaspoons dried)

o   1 (26-ounce) jar Italian pasta sauce

Instructions

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and the pasta shells to the water. Boil the pasta shells until they are tender, but still a little firm (al dente), about 10 minutes. Meanwhile make the filling (step 2). When pasta is done, drain the shells, run under cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside.

2.      In a large bowl stir together: the ricotta cheese, eggs, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, and parsley or mint. Pour about 1 cup of pasta sauce into a 9x12 casserole dish. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the ricotta filling into each cooked pasta shell. Place the filled shells, side by side, (three lengthwise rows of 6 shells per row), into the casserole dish. At this point, the dish can be made and refrigerated for up to 24 hours.

3.      Spoon the remaining pasta sauce on top of the shells and bake uncovered until bubbly, about 30 minutes. If using refrigerated shells, allow 40 minutes baking time.

Overwhelmed....

     I have been on a downward spiral since my mom passed away. I kept busy with my classes, getting the kiddos to and from all of their functions, and just generally maintaining my household. Once school got out, Gabbi had her tonsils out, so I was busy with that; then Mo burned 4 of her fingers, so I was busy with that. Now that everything has settled down (or as settled down as it can be with 5 kids), it has hit me like a ton of bricks.

     One day last week, I got up with Steve when he was getting ready for work. I chatted with him, helped him find his socks, gave him a kiss and sent him on his way. Once he left, I headed back to bed. I logged on to Facebook and pulled up my media player for some background music. This song was playing. Tears began to fill my eyes and before too long I was full out bawling. I ended up crying for about an hour and a half and fell asleep. Since that day, I will randomly burst into tears without any warning. I hate it. 

     Here's what I think it boils down to: I need to deal with everything that I held in trying to be strong for my girls....but I'm just not ready....

So, This is How it Feels....

Even though I knew her prognosis was grim, I still wasn't ready when we got the phone call saying she had passed. 

It was Saturday, April 30th, just about noon. Steve and I were cleaning the house and rearranging the living room. The Littles were upstairs cleaning their room. The Bigs were off on a Crew camping trip. I caught the tail end of his phone ringing, so I picked it up and looked at the ID. The call came from Dottie's cell. I handed him the phone and told him he had missed a call from her. He headed outside for better reception and gave Dot a call back.

I looked up from the couch I was vacuuming off, and I could just tell by the look on his face that it wasn't good. As he hit the middle of the kitchen, he blurted out "We lost her about 10 minutes ago". 

Those words have echoed in my mind every day, several times a day, since I heard them. Steve has never been the person you want to hear news from: he sucks at it. He makes good news sound bad and bad news just gets blurted out.

At first, it was surreal: there wasn't anything to physically see. I was kind of in a state of denial. I texted and phoned the people that I thought would want to know. I was eerily calm and collected. I called Chris's dad and asked him to tell Cassi and to bring her home. Steve had the Littles come down and we told them. He called his parents. We all cried together for a short time, but I felt that I needed to maintain control over my emotions to be there for my girls. I mopped up my tears and held all three girls while they shed many tears.

I won't go into the details of the insanity that followed with my family in Michigan...just know that I spent the days following my mother's death being yelled at, cussed out, and informed of all the things that were expected of me. 

The day of the funeral was really the first day that her death hit home with me. There was her Earthly body, encased in box for all to see. I spent a good deal of the wake outside. It was very hard to look at her like that; not that it's ever easy, but I was on the verge of losing it. In the back of the parlor, the video tribute I made was playing. I spent a lot of time back there, too. 

When it was time for the service, my sister hurt me very badly. I had to sit in the front row with just my three girls; she didn't let Steve and Chris sit with us. She actually taped names to chairs. As I sit here typing this, tears have come to my eyes. I was devastated by her selfishness yet again. 

I will have to finish this post later..........