Day 19-22, Birthdays, Pizza, Easter and Manicotti

As I was stressing out about falling behind on my posts my daughter gently reminded me that, "you don't need to post every day you know."

It's true, I hadn't done anything particularly post worthy or interesting.

Now, I'll get you up to speed.

Friday the 19th was my youngest sister's 30th birthday so we went to her mom's house for a surprise party.  Dinner was a Nacho/Taco bar and it was amazing.  This is really the ultimate in solutions when you forget to defrost, let someone else feed you 😋

Saturday I was uber busy prepping Easter deliciousness so cheapo, frozen, cardboard pizzas were for dinner.

                                                            Bunny's Got Back Cookies

I made crispy rice cereal treats from every flavor of Peeps I could find. Root Beer Float, Pancakes and Syrup, Blue Raspberry, Fruit Punch, Sour Watermelon and Cotton Candy.

                                          Cheesecake filled chocolate eggs with lemon yolks.

Sunday was of course Easter and my family does it potluck style, there was a ton of food including a frittata that I will be featuring here later this week because it is suitable for a night that you forgot to defrost.  It has become a family favorite and we never have an Easter without it.

Frittata before baking, stay tuned for the finished product later this week.

That brings us to tonight.  Tonight I decided to make the manicotti that I was going to make last Thursday.  It's so easy, pretty quick and simple enough that even my picky eater likes it.

Easy Manicotti
Serves 6

1 lb Ground Meat
1 24 oz Jar Spaghetti Sauce (I used Vodka Sauce)
1 8oz Box Manicotti Pasta
14 String Cheese
1 1/2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Preheat Oven to 350*
Grease 13 x 9 baking dish.
Pour 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce in bottom of baking dish.

Brown ground meat until cooked. Drain off excess grease if necessary and return to pan.

Add spaghetti sauce to meat and heat until warm.

Meanwhile cook manicotti according to package instructions.
Once manicotti is cooked carefully place a string cheese in each piece of manicotti and place in baking dish.  

Repeat with all 14 manicotti.

Spread meat sauce over the top of the pasta.

Cover baking dish with foil and bake 25-30 minutes.
Remove foil, sprinkle shredded mozzarella over the top of sauce and return to oven for an additional 5 - 10 minutes until melted.

Enjoy!

We enjoyed this dish with a garden salad with Italian croutons.