Stuffed Shells

My Papa Bear has been asking me for a couple of weeks to make him stuffed shells. This is probably his favorite meal I cook. My mother used to make this for us when I was little...not very often and I never understood why...until I started making them myself!
It's time consuming but oh, so worth it!
I buy the large pasta shells, cook lean hamburger meat seasoned with dried cilantro, parsley and oregano and garlic powder. Once the meat is cooked I add two or three cans (one per pound of meat) of Italian Stewed Tomatoes. The shells are super hot so I usually rinse them under cool water and then begin stuffing.
Yes, I stuff each individual shell....
First comes the shredded cheese.
Then add in your meat mixture.....

Form one layer in a casserole dish that has been sprayed with Pam.

I add some juices and some meat on top of the shells....

then sprinkle them with Italian Cheese blend...or mozzarella, depends on what you have.

Since everything is already cooked, just heat on 350 until all the cheese is melted.

We usually top the warm shells with sour cream. They are so very good!!

I prepared two boxes of large shells today, this way I can send some home with my mom and we can eat on them tomorrow! Friday's are usually so busy for us and at least cooking is one less thing I will have do! So, I found my largest baking pan and filled it up!

These shells are stuffed with all mozzarella because I forgot to by a bag of cheddar. They are still delicious!

And I love how good the house smells with these goodies baking!

Today after walking in the park I stopped by H-E-B to buy the ingredients for my shells and saw these cute mugs. You can't tell from the picture but they are HUGE!! And they were only $2 each! Gotta love a snowman cowboy! I just made a nice big cup of eggnog flavored coffee in my Keurig and topped it off with eggnog creamer...delicious!

All I want to do now is lay on the couch and watch some DVR'd shows! Or maybe just read a book in bed...that sounds really good too!! I can't believe Friday is almost here and there are only two weeks left in this year!! It's just crazy how fast time has been flying by!