21 Day Fix Approved stuffed Shells

I LOVE pasta!!!! I wanted to find a meal that could be a little more than just the regular brown rice pasta I've been having. This uses ricotta cheese over a bunch of mozzarella cheese. It is sooo delicious!!! Saved some for my lunch tomorrow!! Looking forward to eating it again. LOL!

Ingredients

• 25 Jumbo Shells (whole wheat if you can find them!)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb ground beef (or turkey)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups pasta sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Cook shells until el dante and set aside (TIP: I cooked mine earlier in the morning so it would cool down and be a little easier to work with).
2. Heat oil over skillet and add garlic and saute for a few min.  Add ground meat and onions and season with salt and pepper.  Cook until meat is no longer pink. Set aside to cool.
3. Heat some more oil and cook the spinach (if you want to or omit this step..I cooked mine ahead of time).
4. Mix ricotta cheese, spinach and eggs in bowl.
5. Once meat mixture is cooled, add to ricotta mixture.
6. Pour 1/2 cup of pasta sauce in bottom of 9×13 dish.
7. Stuff 25 pasta shells with roughly 2 tablespoons of mixture and place in baking dish. Pour remaining 1 1/2 cups of sauce over the shells and top with mozzarella cheese.
8. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in oven at 400 for 30-35 minutes.

**21 Day Fix Containers (per 5 shells): 1 Yellow, 1 Red, 0.5 Purple, 0.5 Green, 1 Blue ***

Lemon chicken pita with spicy garlic sauce

I had pinned a recipe on Pinterest...but didn't have the time to grill it. So I kind of took the basis of the recipe but put my own spin on it!!! It was delicious and a very light tasting dinner!!

Ingredients:
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• Olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
• Zest of 1 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Pinch or two black pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon coriander
• ¼ teaspoon paprika
• 4 middle eastern-style flatbreads (you can use pita bread, as well)
•  greens
• Sliced tomatoes
• Spicy Garlic Sauce (recipe below)

Place the  chicken into a slow cooker, and drizzle in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil; add in the garlic, plus the remainder of the ingredients up to and including the paprika, and using your hands, toss all of the seasonings/spices very well to coat the chicken. I cook mine on low for about 6 hours.
Cook time will depend on your slow cooker.

To make the spicy garlic sauce:
  ½ cup sour cream or full-fat, plain Greek yogurt
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
• 1 tablespoon tahini
• 2-3 teaspoons sriracha (I used a lot more since I like mine spicy, so use your own judgement!)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Pinch black pepper
• Pinch cayenne pepper (again, you can use more, if you like it spicier)
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice 
Place into a mixing bowl and blend.

After the chicken was done, I put the sauce on one side of the pita bread, added lettuce, tomato, and I decided the last minute some onion. Add chicken!!
Enjoy! 

Avocado Pasta

Creamy Avocado Pasta! I have been craving the avocados (okay mostly guacamole). I had seen a friend recommendation for avocado basil pasta. I thought why not. Got my ingredients and went to town. It was yummy!!!

Ingredients

• 12 ounces spaghetti
• 2 ripe avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/3 cup olive oil 
• Crushed red pepper
•  
  Instructions
• In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
• To make the avocado sauce, combine avocados, basil, garlic and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor; season with salt and pepper, to taste. With the motor running, add olive oil in a slow stream until emulsified; set aside. 
• Mix in a large bowl with pasta. Sprinkle crushed red peppers as you like.
•  
• My favorite pasta now a days is the brown rice one from Aldi's. Cooks up nicely and tastes delicious!! I served with steak. Yummy! You can add veggies to your pasta if you want...but I decided not to.