Dinner #13 & #14

Monday Dinner.  That seems like such a long time ago.  Monday didn't go well.  It should have been fine, but we all like the other way that I cook ribs that this new way wasn't good.  I didn't even take a picture, but I'll post the recipe just in case someone wants to use it.  I must say that doing this every day is exhausting.


Slow Cooker Saucy Barbeque Ribs

Ingredients

3 1/2 lb pork loin back ribs or pork spareribs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup water

1 1/3 cups barbecue sauce

• Spray inside of 5- to 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Cut ribs into 2- or 3-rib portions. Place ribs in cooker. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour water into cooker.
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• Cover and cook on Low heat setting 6 to 7 hours. Remove ribs from cooker; place in shallow baking pan. Drain and discard liquid from cooker.

• Brush both sides of ribs with barbecue sauce. Return ribs to cooker. Pour any remaining sauce over ribs. Cover and cook on Low heat setting about 1 hour or until ribs are glazed and sauce is desired consistency.

Happy Valentine's day!  This day was a bit more stressful then I wanted it to be.  I wanted to do nice things for the family to show them how much I love them.  I got cheeky remarks from my tween, my daughter was home sick from school, my middle child didn't tell me ahead of time about making a lunch for someone in his class for the V-day party and Damon wasn't really in the greatest of moods either.  Oh, and my treadmill broke.  Dinner turned out extra yummy and even though we had to rush it because of Cotillion we still enjoyed it.

I ended up changing the recipe a little bit.  Some by choice, some by force.  The old von's didn't stock manicotti.  So I used the big shells instead.  I chose to cook my chicken before I stuffed it because the idea of eating raw meat really freaks me out.

 Easy Chicken Manicotti

1 jar (25.5 oz) Muir Glen® organic pasta sauce (any variety)

3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 1/2 lb uncooked chicken breast tenders (not breaded)(I used cooked shredded chicken)

14 uncooked manicotti shells (8 oz)(I used jumbo shells, but it's all the same)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz) 

1 container cottage or ricotta cheese (16oz) (I added this and mixed it with the mozz cheese, chicken and seasoning) 

Chopped fresh basil leaves, if desired

 Heat oven to 350°F. In medium bowl, mix pasta sauce and water. Spread about 1/3 of the pasta sauce mixture in ungreased 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish. 

Sprinkle garlic salt on chicken. Insert chicken into uncooked manicotti shells, stuffing from each end of shell to fill if necessary. (Fill shells with cheese/chicken mixture) Place shells on pasta sauce in baking dish. Pour remaining pasta sauce evenly over shells, covering completely. Cover with foil.  (It's so nice to not have to cook the pasta before had.)
  
Bake about 1 hour or until chicken is no longer pink in center and shells are tender. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with basil.  (make sure to cover the pasta completely with sauce.






I also made cupcakes for a friend and made cake pops with the rest of the batter.  The kids enjoyed those when they got home from school.  After the kids went to bed Damon and I had our dessert.  We love brownies and ice cream.  We took it up a notch for Love Day by adding raspberries and chocolate syrup.  Way yummy.