I Cooked! I Really Did!

I’m not going to pretend to be a food blog. I’m not a foodie and I know it. I’m an eatie. I love to eat. Love it. Love it. Love it.

However, I don’t like to cook. The food prep, the cooking, the clean up…it’s all yuck, yuck, yuck. I wish there was some way I could quickly throw together food for the family that was cheap and healthy. If you ever find a way to do that let me know.

Anyway, over Easter weekend we went to my in-laws for their annual egg hunt and ended up eating dinner with them. My mother-in-law was fixing chicken stuffed manicotti shells. I’ll admit it looked gross but didn’t taste too bad. Hubby, however, loved it and when he went to the store he bought manicotti shells so I could recreate the recipe at home.

So that’s what I did. I watched my mother-in-law put the dish together so I knew how to do it. Basically, you season your chicken with garlic powder and stuff it into manicotti shells. You take a couple jars of spaghetti sauce and pour one of them into the bottom of your pan. Then you place your chicken stuffed shells on top of the sauce. Next you pour the other jar of spaghetti sauce over the shells and cook for 30-45 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven. Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese over the top and bake for 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

The garlic flavored chicken sounded boring to me so I used red/black pepper, italian seasoning, and garlic powder. (If I had pre-minced garlic I would have used that instead of the powder but I didn’t so I used what I had.) I then took my handy kitchen scissors and cut 3 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken breast into thin strips.

After I stuffed the shells I put them into the sauce covered pan. She used a 9 x 13-ish pan but mine is in a box in the garage so I used two 8 x 8-ish pans. (I don’t know the exact sizes so I’m guessing.) Then I baked them as the recipe suggests. I also used a mix of shredded mozzerella cheese and fancy shredded fiesta blend. (I would have rather used an italian blend for the cheese but Hubby likes the flavor of cheddar cheese so I used something similar.)

I had chicken strips left over so I tossed them on another pan and baked them for 20 minutes. I’m not sure how I’ll use them but I have enough to toss onto a salad, feed my kiddos a snack, cube and throw into soup, the possibilities are endless.

There you have it…proof that for once in my life I cooked for my family. As my eldest said, “Mom, it looks like crud but it sure is tasty.” Yes, son, I agree.

Tagged as: Cooking, recipe