Day 23- Letters and Shells

Jordyn starts Pre-K on Monday next week. I think it is crazy she is already old enough to be in school and she thinks it is awesome. She is so excited about going to school, I think she ask how many more days at least 20 times a day and shows her new princess book bag to everyone who comes through the door.
In preparing for school we have been working on her letters all summer long. We have been doing an activity with a letter once a week and finding the letters everywhere we go. For some extra practice we put letters going up the stairs. We used small sheets of paper and I wrote the capital and lowercase version and she did too; then we taped them going up the stairs in a random order. I used blue painters tape so we could move them around easily (this I could change the order and she couldn't memorize a pattern.) She usually gets her fairy princess wand out and taps each letter as she walks up or down the stairs. We only did A-H for the first few days and now that she has mastered them we will be adding the next set of letters today!

Jordyn dressed like a princess everyday!

I have been trying to make dinners with things I have that need to be used up, we do this once every few months so that we can clean out and restock. As I was looking though my pantry I found jumbo shell that I used to make stuffed shells awhile ago. Last time I made them they did not have enough flavor, so my good friend Pinterest helped me out and got me a recipe that was much more flavorful, two recipes actually. I found two recipes and married them, I read through them both and came up with my own version and it was delicious.

This is what the shell should look like before it goes into the pan

Before baking...

After baking!

Rave Reviews

Jonathan said,"these are great they just need more meat per bite." (typical guy answer...not enough meat)
Jordyn said, "Mommy do we get these tomorrow? They are yummy, I like them."

Jessica's Stuffed Shells
1 jar three cheese spaghetti sauce
1 pound of ground beef
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
Pinch of basil
10-15 jumbo dried pasta shells

Preheat oven to 350
Lay half of the lemon juice on the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch  baking pan then cover with a thin layer of spaghetti sauce
Prepare the pasta according to the directions on the box (you want them al dente)
Drain noodles and let them cool so that you can handle them
Brown the ground beef in a pan over med heat

Combine the ricotta, egg, salt, garlic, Mrs. Dash, Italian seasoning, and basil in a medium bowl, then add the remaining lemon juice. It should resemble mashed potatoes when you are done mixing it all together.
Fill each shell with ricotta mixture, and arrange in a single layer in the pan.
Sprinkle the ground beef over top of the shells make sure you get some on each one
Ladle the remaining sauce over the shells (I added Parmesan cheese to the top too...but that is optional)
Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, uncover for the final 15 minutes or until the shells are cooked through. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if desired.