Food Friday~Stuffed Pasta Shells

I am in love with cookbooks, I can't keep myself from buying them.  This recipe is from
365 Quick, Easy & Inexpensive Dinner Menus.  I have tried several recipes from this cookbook.  Some of them though just have awful sounding words in their names....Do you feel that way too?

If the name of the recipe has the word SUPRISE or SAVORY or CREAMY MUSHROOM, you all can bet I run far, far away from that one.  What is the surprise in Beef Surprise?  Or Chicken Supreme with Mushroom Sauce?  aucky

But today's recipe is so good, so flavorful, I have made it twice in one week.  Nic requested it for his birthday dinner!  With 7 of us eating, I still have leftovers for tonight!  The original recipe does not call for garlic, but I love garlic and as I told someone recently, I just feel like a good mom when I add garlic to meals, wierd, I know, but true...  I put 3 cloves of crushed garlic into the hamburger while cooking.  I use the pampered chef garlic crusher, which is so old, I probably need a new one!  Anyone sell Pampered Chef?

Without further ado:

Stuffed Pasta Shells

1 box large pasta shells
1 t. salt
1 T. butter
1 small jar spaghetti sauce
2 lbs. ground beef
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 green pepper, chopped fine
3 C shredded (mixed) cheddar and mozzarella cheese

In a large soup pan, cook pasta shells according to package directions.  Add butter to pasta while cooking.  When shells are cooked, drain and rinse in cold water.  In a skillet, brown ground beef with chopped onions and green pepper.  At this time add garlic.  Add salt and stir often.  When meat is cooked and vegetables are tender, drain off all grease and pat meat with an absorbent paper towel.
Let meat cool.  Add one cup mixed shredded cheese to the meat.  Stuff each large pasta shell with the hamburger and cheese mixture.  Lay open side down in a greased baking dish.  Pour jar of sauce over all filled shells.
Bake at 350 for 20 min.  Top shells with remaining shredded cheese and return to oven to bake for 5 more minutes.

Serve with tossed salad and garlic bread sticks.

I forgot to take a picture of the shells in the pan before the sauce!!!!

And now.....

Some action shots of the boys wrestling after dinner!

Yes if you have little guys right now, this is what they will be doing the rest of their lives.

    At this point, Nic is in the fetal position on the floor........

From the bottom:

Josh

Nic

Portia

Sophie

Then Sophie started attacking Portia.

BUT....

It was nice to have all my kids home for dinner and around the table.  This is rare.

The boys are usually working.

Can I tell just how happy that makes me?

So very happy, when all my children are home for dinner, safe and sound.

I do wish my husband would put his phone away, but I am only seen as a nag when I mention how rude it is to check your phone at dinner.....

Let me know how you LOVE this dinner, cuz I know you will!