Today I spent most of my time in the kitchen and it was so much fun and so relaxing! I think if I didn’t have to do the cleanup I would literally just cook all day everyday. The cleanup really puts it all into perspective, especially if you are a messy cook like myself. It amazing me how prepping one meal can create so many dishes and when I’m done, there is flour and salt and baking powder and pasta sauce or whatever it is I’m using for ingredients in that certain dish, all over the kitchen! One of the reasons why I love cooking when my husband is actually home is because for one he loves to watch me create, two I love watching him drool in anticipation of eating it but the third is truly my favorite, he dives in and does clean up! Yup, I don’t even have to ask, never have, he really is a gem! But, he works a lot so if I waited for him to be home to cook and bake we would never eat these days, hehe. My husband loves to eat as much as I do, we are quite the team and I love surprising him with goodies:-)

I have a bunch of photos of recipes I have made lately and I haven’t got around to blogging so I have some work ahead of me! Lets start with the awesome dish I made tonight, Mexican Manicotti. How could it not be good? Mexican and pasta in the same dish, it has to be delightful! Not only does this dish taste great it also looks really pretty.

 

Ingredients:

1 1/3 pound ground turkey

1 can fat free (or regular) refried beans

1 package of manicotti

24oz jar of salsa (I used medium)

1 packet of reduced sodium taco seasoning

3/4 cup of water

16 oz light sour cream

3 green onions sliced

1 small onion, diced

1/2 cup sliced black olives

1 cup of shredded Mexican  or Casserole cheese

2 garlic cloves

cilantro for topping

 

Directions:

In a frying pan brown the ground turkey and onion. Put the re-fried beans into a medium size mixing bowl. When the turkey/onion is browned and done drain the grease then add the water, taco seasoning and garlic. Cook until well mixed and it thickens. Remove from heat and add to the re-fried bean mixture mixing together well. Boil water and make the manicotti as directed. When the noodles are done drain them and fill each one with the meat/bean mixture and place them in a baking pan. Top with the jar of salsa and refrigerate for about 6 hours. When it’s time to bake them preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for about a half hour or until heated through. You will want to cover them after the first 10 minutes of baking to prevent them from drying out and getting hard. Remove from heat. Spread the sour cream over the manicotti. Top with the cheese then sprinkle with the green onion, black olives and cilantro then bake for about 10 more minutes or  until the cheese is melted. Remove from heat and let sit for about 10 minutes then dig in and enjoy! This dish has so much yummy flavor and really hits the spot!