Shell of A Dinner

by Jenn (j3nn.net) on February 9, 2010

When my mom doesn’t make a pot of sauce on Sundays, it just doesn’t feel right. :( Being the Super Bowl took most of her attention this past Sunday, and Dustin and I weren’t home until later, she made a pot of sauce on Monday instead. Some people have asked me to post her recipe, but she doesn’t follow one LOL, she just throws everything into a pot and let’s it cook slowly all day. She uses all different types of canned tomatoes, including paste and sometimes fresh ones. There’s so many variations, it’s almost never the same. I do it the same exact way, it works well, except when recalling it to duplicate. lol

This time she made it with braciola, which is an Italian meat preparation using very thin slices of meat, such as beef, pork or chicken, then stuffed with various fillings, rolled up and tied with butcher’s twine or toothpicks and cooked in EV olive oil or in a pot of sauce. Some people stuff it with creamy cheese like provolone or mozzarella, but my family always does raisins, grated parmesan cheese and herbs. The pasta of choice was medium seashell shaped, served in my romantic zebra dishes. Zebra stripes are romantic, right? They are on Sims! hehe

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Along with a romaine side salad drizzled with EVOO + red wine vinegar…

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I had about a cup of cooked shells, about 1/2 cup of sauce and 1 braciola. Deeeeeeeeelish! I love when 2 or 3 shells stick together and form one big chewy shell; the texture reminds me of gnocchi.

Earlier in the day, I had a quick, but yummy sandwich for lunch.

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Dustin had Honey Nut Cheerios :D

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My sandwich was yuuuuuuuuummmmmmy.

  • 2 small slices Le Brea Bakery sourdough bread totaling 1oz (70 cal)
  • 2 slices Italian flavored Tofurky (40 cal)
  • 1 slice reduced fat Sargento Swiss cheese (60 cal)
  • 1 TBSP Cedar’s original hummus (30 cal)
  • Handful of fresh baby spinach (7 cal)

With 14g Glutino’s gluten=free pretzels (70 cal), this was a really low-cal sandwich and “crunchy” combo for only 277 calories. :o Cool, huh? :)

My posts are lagging behind by a day, maybe I’ll do 2 posts tomorrow to catch up? Encourage me! lol I’m the lazy food blogger. ;) I was very active today, I’ll tell you about it in my next update. We’re supposed to get lots of snow, or so they say. We’ll see I guess. Good day for baking if we’re snowed in. I made a BIG batch of cannellini (white beans) in the crock pot last night. I have so many plans for them this week, they’re so good for you. *excited*

What is your favorite kind of bean? I love them all equally I think. <3


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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Karla February 9, 2010 at 9:39 PM

I loooove the Zebra plates! I can’t wait to have a more permanent home so I can buy a ton of dishes! I’m super jealous of your collection!
Oooh can’t wait to see the white beans :)

Reply

2 Jenn (j3nn.net)
Twitter:
February 10, 2010 at 12:36 PM

I’m a dish fanatic. I usually only buy 1 or 2 at a time because they take up a lot of space. I need to show you guys how I store everything LOL.

Reply

3 Ally (Exercise and Pies) February 9, 2010 at 9:52 PM

I have to be unoriginal and go with chickpeas… i just love hummus and they are perfect to toss in pasta dishes and salads.

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4 Jenn (j3nn.net)
Twitter:
February 10, 2010 at 12:33 PM

I’ve never had chickpeas with pasta, I need to try that. Maybe this upcoming week!

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5 sophia February 9, 2010 at 11:22 PM

I love kidney beans. They are slightly sweet, and have a unique flavor.
Haha, my mom cooks like that too…she just throws everything into a pot…never has a recipe!

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6 Jenn (j3nn.net)
Twitter:
February 10, 2010 at 12:36 PM

Yes, kidney beans, especially in minestrone soup. YUM

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7 Sarena (The Non-Dairy Queen) February 9, 2010 at 11:27 PM

Beans!!! I love beans! Um, favorite…chickpea…definitely! I always have beans on hand…in the pressure cooker anyway. Love having go to meals when beans are involved!

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8 Jenn (j3nn.net)
Twitter:
February 10, 2010 at 12:34 PM

They’re one of my favorite foods, though I neglect to make/eat them as often as I should. :D

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9 annie February 10, 2010 at 2:02 AM

my mouth is watering right now. That sauce looks really good and that braciola?! gotta try it!

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10 Jenn (j3nn.net)
Twitter:
February 10, 2010 at 12:35 PM

She used pork this time, but I think I prefer very thinly sliced beef.

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11 coco February 10, 2010 at 7:00 AM

those shells are my favorite dry pasta! so cute and the salsa looks delish~~~
Fav bean=aduki beans! :D
oh… btw, I think I have the same heart bowl for cheerios! :D

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12 Jenn (j3nn.net)
Twitter:
February 10, 2010 at 12:37 PM

Heart bowls unite ;)

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13 Taylor@Joy of Food February 10, 2010 at 9:51 AM

I’ve recently discovered black beans (especially black bean burgers) and these are my new favourite. Although I do adore good ole baked beans :)

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14 Jenn (j3nn.net)
Twitter:
February 10, 2010 at 12:33 PM

Loooooooove baked beans :)

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15 j February 10, 2010 at 11:30 AM

Since we are having ANOTHER snow storm here in Jersey, I decided to take my frozen ham bone and make 16 bean soup today! We received a Heavenly Ham at Christmas time and the little bag of dried beans and a recipe are included. I’ve made this before and it is delicious. Garlic bread and a salad will round out the meal tonight:)

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16 Jenn (j3nn.net)
Twitter:
February 10, 2010 at 12:35 PM

That sounds SO good, j! Love hearing about your dinners. :D

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17 Emily February 10, 2010 at 1:23 PM

I majorly love beans! I have about 5 kinds of dried beans and 4 canned on hand right now. As for favorite I don’t know? They all have something great going for them. Pinto, cannelini and great northern are creamy and mild. Black are great in eggs and mexican food. Red and kidney are good refried. Garbanzo of course for hummus and roasted for snacks. I love lentils and split peas for soup. I’m having beans in tacos for lunch! White beans, sausage, and kale soup is tasty, filling, and inexpensive. I made that recently.
(I digress……)

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