We went the children’s museum yesterday with some friends.  It was a play date sort of thing. While stoping to nurse E and get the other kids a snack my friend broke out all kinds of organic goodness for  packed up in these adorable little cloth sandwich bags. Fortunately she brought enough to share with all the kids, which was good because all I brought was some easter candy from the church egg hunt in case I needed to bribe them out of the building (it happens from time to time). I call it hush money.

I want my kids to be healthy. Shoot, I want to be healthy, but despite my attempts at new years resolutions healthy habits are often out ranked by convenient ones.

Last night I tried to make up for it by pulling together a recipe from my pinterest board.

 The previous pinner had labeled it “Kid-approved spinach recipes” so I thought it would be worth a try.

My brother, who I live with, is working on implementing videography into his recording studio. You have to be prepared to be filmed at all times when you are around him, and today this little clip showed up on Facebook.

It’s a just glimpse of what I was cooking in the kitchen, but I thought I would share it because the recipe actually turned out pretty good. My kids were eagerly eating something with spinach in it and we had leftovers for lunch today. I was worried that frozen spinach might somehow be void of nutrients, but it’s quite the contrary. Frozen spinach is really nutritious, probably even more than the spinach you find in the produce section. So if you are interested in the recipe from All You here it is.

Spinach-and-Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Ingredients

  • 24 jumbo pasta shells
  • 1 15-oz. container ricotta
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella 
  • 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
  • 1 10-oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten 
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • Pinch of ground nutmeg
  • 1 26-oz. jar spaghetti sauce 
Preparation
  1. 1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Mist a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Cook pasta shells according to package label directions; drain and set aside to cool. While pasta cooks, in a large bowl, stir together ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, Parmesan, spinach, egg, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and nutmeg.
  2. 2. Spread 3/4 cup spaghetti sauce over bottom of baking dish. Stuff shells with cheese-and-spinach mixture and place in dish. Spoon remaining sauce over shells and sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella.
  3. 3. Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake about 10 minutes longer, until bubbly and cheese begins to brown.

Oh yeah, and today I order one of those reusable sandwich bags. Their called Lunchkins. Isn’t it cute?
Maybe I will be inspired to fill it with healthy snacks for the kids and I. Or maybe I’ll fill it with hush money. Either way I look forward to filling it.