Stuffed Pasta Shells

This weekend I was bound and determined to try a new recipe since I haven't had time to try something new in a while. I came across a stuffed shell recipe that looked good so I tweaked it a little and made it mine. It turned out SOOOOO good and I would highly recommend making it for your next family dinner! :) The other great thing about it is you can easily make enough to put some in the freezer for a meal on another day! I hope you enjoy it!!

Stuffed Pasta Shells
Serving Size-3 stuffed shells
Calories: 365 cals
Fat: 10g
Protein: 28g
*It seems pretty high but this is a VERY filling meal!

Ingredients:
27 (9 oz) Jumbo Pasta Shells
1 cup onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1.25 lb lean ground turkey
32 oz crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper
2 cups part skim ricotta cheese
8 oz reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg
9 oz package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed well between paper towels
1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375°. Bring water to a boil and add pasta shells. Make sure you do not overcook the pasta shells.


While boiling the water, cook the ground turkey over medium heat in a frying pan. When turkey is done, add in chopped onion and minced garlic.

Add crushed tomatoes, fresh basil, salt and pepper to meat. Cover and simmer on low for a few minutes.


In a large mixing bowl, mix together ricotta, egg, spinach, mozzarella, and parmesan.


Lightly cover the bottom of a baking dish with some of the pasta/meat mixture. Fill each pasta shell with 2 tbsp of the cheese/spinach mixture. Place the stuffed shell on top of the sauce in baking dish. You can use two baking dishes if you want so you can freeze one for another time.


Once all pasta shells are in dish or dishes, add the rest of the tomato/meat sauce on the tops of the shells.


Put foil over the baking dish and bake in oven for 40 minutes. Three shells doesn't seem like a lot but these shells will fill you up I promise! :)

PS-This meal was so good that Shawn and I both wanted to lick our plates! :)

Quick Meals for One

Hey guys,
Remember a few weeks ago I said that I was going to make it my mission to find quick and easy meals for one? Well, I am still working on it and have found some great things at the grocery store so far. I am still working on fixing easy meals so I will post those soon but I found several good finds at the grocery store.

I have listed the items I have found below:

Grandfather

I apologize for the 2 week absence. My grandfather passed away so I have been spending my extra time with my family. I have enjoyed recapping memories of fun times with my grandfather and most importantly remembering all that he taught me during the last 25 years. I was so excited to share my weightloss experiences with him during the last few months of his life. I know he was so proud of me and all I have accomplished thus far and I look forward to him watching the rest of my journey from up above. :)


This was the last picture I took with Grandpapa about a month ago.

Wordless Wednesday

September 6

The Good: I had a pretty good day with my eating. I started out by fixing myself my "normal" breakfast of scrambled egg whites, greek yogurt, and center cut bacon. It felt good to get back to something that I knew was a good fit for me and my weightloss. I had my Isagenix shake for lunch which was a perfect pick me up for my energy! I made a crock-pot meal today to eat for dinner tonight so I wouldn't have to think about making dinner when I got home. I tried a new recipe for teriyaki chicken. It was good but not what I was hoping for so I will continue to work on it. :)

I did come to the realization today that I need to get back to the gym for so many reasons besides losing weight. I remembered last spring when everyone was getting sick at school, I didn't because I was working out and taking care of my body. I need to start taking my vitamins again every morning and getting at least a 20-30 minute workout/run in. I WILL make a point to do it tomorrow! I already wrote it down in my planner! I have realized that I HAVE to write it down otherwise I won't keep myself accountable. I make it a date with myself. A date to take care of myself to make sure I am the best "Hope" I can be...physically, mentally, and emotionally.

The Bad: Mom and I did splurge and go to Yumilicious today after I left my dentist appointment. We have only been there once together so she wanted to go back. Instead of getting my usual avocado tart with fresh fruit, I did not do so well and got cake batter, coffee, and pecan praline yogurt and topped it with cookie dough, sprinkles, and Oreos. Yeh...not so good. Will definitely make a better choice next time!

The Ugly: I did not get my water in today and I can tell because tonight I am so thirsty! I also did not get my much needed exercise in today. I have noticed that the 10 pounds I have gained back in the last 3 months is definitely showing up in my clothes! Things are fitting tighter and not looking near as good as they were. The good thing is I threw out all of my old "bigger" clothes so I have no other choice but to lose the weight I gained because I am NOT buying bigger clothes again. I REFUSE!

New Challenge!

Hi again! I apologize for the delay in postings. I have been crazy busy with the start of school and life hasn't slowed down enough. I always look forward to Labor Day weekend because it usually signals the time that I am getting back into a normal routine and the beginning of school craziness has calmed down.

I have really spent the last few days reflecting on my weightloss journey. I have been trying to figure out how to get back on track, especially the track that I had myself on for so many months. I have continued to have the "doubtful" feelings again and asking myself, "can I do this?" Of course I know I can because I have already done it but the fear of failure is still haunting me. As I have reflected, I tried to think back to what I was doing when I was making so much progress. One of the best things I EVER did was start this blog. I started it as my "story." I wanted to keep track of my journey and all of the changes. It has been a key aspect of my reflecting this week. I went back to the postings where I had confidence and had written my plan of action. It reminded me that it isn't hard once I get my mind back into it. I also realized that I needed to spend the extra time each day planning and posting on here. It really made a difference! It keep me accountable and it also gave me a space to out down my thoughts during my journey.

I have prayed. I have cried. I have reflected. I have smiled. I have found motivation.

As I prayed about my struggles, God has continued to answer me by telling me to keep trying and keep posting. One of the things he laid on my heart today was to figure out a way to get out of this struggle I am having. The biggest struggle that I have faced in the last few months is Shawn's new work schedule. Once I reflected, thought, and prayed I realized that this is where my struggles have rooted from. His new schedule is nothing like we have ever dealt with before and it has sent me into crisis mode. I spend a lot of time by myself which is causing me to eat. I am a stress eater. I always have been. With this new routine, I feel continuously stressed. I know this time will pass but right now it has rocked my world.

One of the biggest struggles I have dealt with is eating by myself. I realize now that this is one of my weakest points and one that I HAVE to overcome. I HAVE to find a way out of this! After praying this morning, God laid on my heart a wonderful idea and challenge! Ready for it?!

My challenge is to post and create healthy meals for ONE person eating! I think this is going to be SO incredibly valuable to so many people, especially ME! These post will hopefully be helpful to anyone who eats and cooks for one person. So...this is going to be my personal challenge but I hope that it will get me back on track now that I realize that this is one of my biggest struggles now. I hope this will inspire many people to eat healthier even if they are cooking for themselves. Let's make this happen!

I am excited about this new challenge!

One last reflection that I had. I need to go back to the meal plan that gave me success. It was one I created for me and one that worked for me. I will go back to counting calories and eating my egg beaters, bacon, and yogurt in the morning. It is going to take some extra time in the morning but I feel comfortable with this meal because it gave me so much success for so many months. I will continue to drink my Isagenix shake during lunch and will focus on eating healthy meals for one during the evening. I feel like this plan will work for me. I am going to try it for a month and hope to find success again. If not, then I will go back to ground zero and figure out another plan.

If you have any yummy meals you cook for one person or any yummy meals that you would like for me to work on for one person, please post them or send them to me on Facebook! I would love to try them out!