This month is all about Spend Smart. Eat Smart. recipe mashups: we hope it encourages you to try something new! As a busy mom, I surprisingly enjoy meal planning because it gives me a sense of control for those extra busy weeks. Even though I enjoy it, every so often I find myself in a recipe rut.
To help combat feeling stuck during the week, I started meal planning around recipe themes. Each week, we have a pasta dish, some form of pizza, and then seasoned meat for taco-type dishes. Including these recipe themes makes planning easier for me and gives my kids predictable meals I know they will eat. For my recipe mashup, I decided to combine two of my favorites- Stuffed Pasta Shells and the Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Bake!
Below is how I combined these two family favorites for a fun twist on meal planning this week.
- I replaced the tortillas in the enchilada bake with cooked jumbo pasta shells. I used 24 shells total and boiled the shells while I made the enchilada filling.
- I tried half of the shells with salsa Verde and green enchilada sauce, and the other half with red salsa and red enchilada sauce. Both were delicious!
- I split the chicken filling into two bowls and added 2 oz. of cream cheese to each. This made for a creamy texture and replaced the cottage cheese in the original stuffed shells recipe. Splitting the mix into two bowls allowed me to try the mashup with both salsa Verde and red salsa.
- Before baking, I placed ¾ cup of enchilada sauce in two 8×8 oven-safe dishes and then added the stuffed shells. I topped the shells with the remaining enchilada sauce and a ¼ cup of shredded Monterey jack cheese. I covered each dish tightly with foil and baked for 40 minutes.
This recipe mashup was a little bit more labor-intensive than I had originally planned for. It was time-consuming and took a bit of prep, but the result was great! My husband preferred the red sauce version, while I preferred the green. We topped our shells with diced jalapenos, a small dollop of sour cream and homemade Guacamole. If you are looking for a fun spin on your taco or pasta night, give this mashup a try!
