Valentine Dinner Recipes

I had some friends on Facebook who wanted the recipes for the Valentines dinner that we made last night! Like I told y'all, these are simple and easy to do.

Spinach, Butternut Squash, Ricotta Stuffed Shells

I was on Pinterest and found a picture of this but when I clicked it had no recipe. So, I improvised! 

You need:

- box of jumbo sized pasta shells

-2 jars of favorite marinara sauce(I usually get tomato basil). 

-large container of ricotta. (I used the one with skim milk but you can get original).

-half of a butternut squash cut into small pieces. about 1/2 in thick. 

-3-4 cups of fresh spinach

-1 tablespoon chopped garlic

-salt and pepper to taste.

The night before I boiled the butternut squash until it was done. I then refrigerated it overnight and made the rest of the mixture the next day. 

First thing, start boiling your water for your pasta. You need a huge pot. Follow the directions on your pasta box for cooking time. I cooked until they were done done but you don't want for them to be falling apart. 

Holland sautéed some onion for about 4-5 minutes than added the spinach and cooked for 2-3 or until wilted. We use veggie stock when sautéing but you can also use water.  

Put ricotta cheese, cooked (then cooled) butternut squash, spinach and onion mixture, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Mix all ingredients together with large spoon until ingredients are spread evenly. I used an ice-cream scooped to scoop mixture into shells. Place stuffed shells in glass baking dish that has your jar and half of pasta sauce in it.  

Bake at 350 for 25- 30 minutes. Top with parmesan cheese and broil for about 3 minutes to finish off. 

This is just one of the dishes! It also made another dozen or so shells in another dish! This is a great leftover recipe!

Zuchinni Brownies
You can find the recipe for the zucchini brownies here.  These are good, but they are not like a typical brownie. You will deifnately get your chocolate fix, but they are not as rich as they look in picture. Still delicious! ( probably a little more healthy than a regular brownie, too) Unfrosted they have 103 calories and frosted they have 183! Not bad!

Hope you all had a great Valentines Day! :)