Veggie Manicotti

I combined mom's manicotti recipe with a recipe that I found on Peas and Crayons. Adding veggies made me feel a bit better about eating all that cheese :) and it was good to boot.

Ingredients:

• 
  
• 1 box of manicotti noodles
• Torn up baby spinach
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1/4-1/2 cup (or more) of grated carrots and/or zucchini 
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 15 oz ricotta cheese
• 1 cup (approx) shredded parmesan/romano cheese
• 1-2 cups (approx) shredded mozzarella cheese - and some more to sprinkle on top
• to taste: black pepper, salt, parsley, oregano, thyme & garlic powder.
• 16 oz marinara sauce

Preheat your oven to 350.  Gently boil shells until tender/al dente (Very important you don't boil them too long or you'll end up doing a manicotti noodle casserole like me). Drain & arrange cooked noodles in a glass baking dish with a layer of spaghetti sauce on the bottom.  Dice and sauté, onions and garlic together with shredded carrots/zucchini in olive oil. In a large bowl, fold ricotta, parmesan, and mozzarella cheeses, and torn spinach together with all your herbs and spices.  A note about cheese: I NEVER measure. I just go with what looks/tastes right. Next, add your veggies to the mix.  Put the stuffing in a bag with a hole cut in the corner and stuff the noodles gently. Pour more sauce on top.  Top with shredded mozzarella/parm cheese and bake for approx 20-30 minutes at 350F.

Pork Carnita Tacos and Tomatillo Salsa

From 100 Days of Real Food

I love using my crock pot these days and this was yummy and made lots!

Ingredients:

• 2 to 2 ½ lbs pork shoulder or Boston butt roast, cut into 5 or 6 small pieces 
• 3 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 onion, cut into 6 or 8 chunks
• 3 garlic cloves, whole

Toppings:

• Tortillas
• 1 recipe tomatillo salsa (or regular salsa.  There were no tomatillos at Winco when I made this so we just used regular salsa and it was still great! I will put the recipe for the tomatillo salsa at the bottom in case you want to try it out.)
• avocado
• shredded cheese
• plain greek yogurt

Directions

1. Mix together oregano, pepper, salt, and cumin and rub on outside of pork pieces in bottom of slow cooker.
2. Throw onion and garlic on top of pork.
3. Slow cook on low for 6 – 8 hours or until meat is falling apart.
4. When finished discard the onion and garlic. Drain meat and shred with a fork

Tomatillo Salsa:

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ lbs tomatillos (they look like little green tomatoes with husks around them)
• ½ cup white onion
• ¾ cup cilantro leaves
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, seeded and roughly chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler on high.
2. Peel and discard husks off tomatillos. Rinse and cut tomatillos in half. Place cut side down on foil or parchment lined baking sheet. Broil for 5 – 7 minutes until skin is lightly blackened.
3. Puree tomatillos and rest of ingredients together including onion, cilantro, lime, and pepper using a food processor, blender, or hand immersion blender until ingredients are finely chopped and mixed.
4. Cool in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Lentil Taco Salad

From 31 Days of August

Katelyn has made this too and it is great! You don't miss the meat at all and it cooks in a crock pot! SIMPLE!

1 red pepper, coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup brown lentils (on the website it says you can use black or green too)
½ cup brown rice
1 garlic clove
2 teaspoons chili powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 cups vegetable broth

Toppings:
lettuce
shredded cheese
tortilla chips
avocado
tomatoes
hot sauce
plain greek yogurt

Prepare veggies and throw everything together in the crock pot. 
As for how long.... that is kind of up in the air at the moment. The website says high for 6 hours. I tried that and it was burning on the side and bottom around 4 or 5 hours. Plus I don't even think you cook meet on high for 6 hours.  So maybe low for 6 hours? I'll update as I play around with it. 
You can make this vegan by leaving out the cheese and yogurt.

Veggie Omelette/Frittata

I got this idea from Aggie's Kitchen, but I don't have a skillet that is oven safe so mine turned in to an omelette. I never thought of putting black beans in with eggs, but it is delicious!

eggs
zucchini, chopped

red onion, chopped, or whatever kind you have
Best Black Beans, rinsed
shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese
salt and pepper

I have also added bacon or sausage at times if I wanted some meat.

Saute the zucchini and onion in some evoo. Add in some black beans according to taste until warmed through. At this point you can either mix them in with some scrambled eggs for a breakfast burrito, put them in a fritatta, or place them in your omelette. Add cheese, salt and pepper. YUM!