Six-Cheese Turkey Manicotti Recipe

Here's another amazing recipe from my friend Heather. I had this stuffed manicotti at her house shortly after I met her, almost four years ago now, and I can still remember how melt-in-your-mouth delicious these were. I asked her for the recipe that night, she hand wrote it down for me and then I promptly lost it. So after getting to know her a little better, I decided it would be ok to ask for it a-gain and of course she happily gave it to me a-gain because she's awesome like that. So I finally recreated these last night to post and save this as one of my favorite recipes. I did use turkey instead of beef (which her original recipe calls for) so choose whichever you prefer. Turkey's just a bit healthier and I figured with all that cheese...

Ingredients
2 boxes manicotti noodles
2 cans spaghetti sauce
1 lb turkey (or ground beef)
2 (8oz) pkgs shredded mozzarella
2lb ricotta cheese
24oz cottage cheese
3 (5oz) containers asiago, parmesan and romano cheese blend
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried basil

Directions

1. Prepare manicotti in large stock pot according package. I like al dente.

2. Brown turkey (or beef) in a skillet. Drain if using beef.

3. In a very large bowl, mix together all packages of cheese except one of the mozzarella packages.

4. Fold in cooked turkey (or beef) and garlic to cheese mixture.

5. Put thin layer of spaghetti sauce on bottom of two 9 x 13" baking dishes.

6. Gently stuff manicotti with turkey and cheese mixture using a spoon. Place stuffed manicotti in the baking dish. If a manicotti noodle rips, don't worry, place the noodle rip-side down in the baking dish.

7. Pour spaghetti sauce over the manicotti, then put mozzarella over top.

8. Bake at 350˚ for 30mins. Sprinkle with basil right before serving.

Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers Recipe

I actually like to use a 1/2 and 1/2 blend of turkey and ground beef whenever any recipe calls for ground beef. It's just a little bit healthier and it produces a really yummy and less greasy tasting flavor if you know what I mean. Feel free to go all-turkey if you want.

So, here's the recipe I use. It came from my mother-in-law who makes these (and so does her mother) and they are soooo good. She doesn't measure anything though so she just told me the ingredients. After many times making and tweaking this, I finally have gotten it to taste like hers...

Ingredients
1/2 lb ground turkey
1/2 lb ground beef
2 eggs
1 cup cooked rice
1/2 onion, diced
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp parsley

4 bell peppers (choose your favorite color!)
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 (10 3/4oz) can condenced tomato soup
1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes
1 tbsp sugar

Topping
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Cut off tops of peppers and remove seeds.

2. Knead together turkey and beef with eggs, rice, onion, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and parsley.

3. Stuff peppers with turkey mixture. Place into Crock-Pot.

4. Stir together garlic, tomato soup, diced tomatoes and sugar. Pour over stuffed peppers.

5. Cook on low for 4 hrs or until thoroughly cooked. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.

Yield: Serves 4

Things you'll need:

  

Savory Salisbury Steaks Recipe

(10.5 ounce) can condensed French onion soup
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp  yellow mustard
1/4 cup sour cream

Directions
1. Mix 1/3 cup French onion soup with ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, salt and pepper. Shape into 6 thick oval-shaped patties.

2. In a skillet, lightly brown both sides of patties over medium heat. Drain fat.

3. In a separate bowl, blend soup, ketchup, milk, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce and mustard. Pour over meat in skillet and cook for 20 minutes, covered. Stir occasionally.

I like to cook meats in our cast iron pan but it did not come with a lid so my hubby found this great universal lid for me and it fits perfectly. I like the window so I can see what's going on under there =)

Crock-Pot Jelly-Glazed Meatballs Recipe

This is the easiest appetizer recipe. Ever. I made these glazed meatballs recently for a party and they were so easy and very yummy. I made a smaller batch with meatless "meatballs" for my vegetarian friends. Both versions were popular. Even some of the meat-eaters tried and liked the vegetarian batch.

Ingredients
1 jar concord grape jelly
1 bottle chili sauce
3lbs frozen meatballs*

Directions
1. Toss all 3 ingredients into a Crock-Pot and cook on medium/high for about 4-5 hours, stirring occasionally.

Doesn't get much easier than that!

*Vegetarians use meatless meatballs.

Classic Meatloaf Recipe

This is simple to make and always a crowd pleaser. Even my one year old scarfs this down... and she is a picky, picky eater.

2lbs pounds ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 onion, chopped
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Topping: ketchup

Knead all ingredients together and form into a loaf. Spread a thin layer of ketchup over top. Cover & bake at 350˚ for 1 hour.

Serves: 6

Shepherd's Pie Recipe

My favorite pub in Richmond, VA is Pennylane Pub. They have all of my favorite things in a bar: Cool people, great food, great beer, authentic decor and poker tournaments.  Here's a recipe modeled after the Shepherd's Pie they serve there. My whole family goes crazy when I make this—they love it!

Ingredients
8-10 red skinned potatoes
1/4 cup tbsp sour cream
3 tbsp butter
1 tsp pepper, divided
1 tbsp parsley
2lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 cans beef gravy
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp salt, divided
1 cup frozen peas & carrot

Directions
1. Peel and boil potatoes until soft; drain. Whip potatoes with butter, sour cream, 1 and 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and parsley; set aside.

2. Brown beef in a pan. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add gravy, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper. Bring to a boil them remove from heat; stirring frequently.

3. Microwave peas in a bow, covered with water for about 5 minutes.

4. Form a "pie crust" with the potatoes two 9 x 12 baking pans dish or two deep-dish pie pans. Layer in peas and carrots, then layer in cooked beef with gravy. Finish by layering with mashed potatoes sealing the top of the "pie."

5. Bake at 400˚ for 15-20 mins or until top is golden brown.

Yield: 2 pies

Things you might need: