meatless monday

I can't believe I've never done this before. My neighbour-friend K and Miss A (J's to-be babysitter in one week!) and I did a freezer-friendly veggie meal swap today. It's as simple as it sounds -- we all made three portions of a vegetarian dish that would freeze well, and this morning we all swapped, giving us each three ready-made meals. So today, I have spicy chic peas with rice for lunch (which I portioned into seven lunch-sized portions in the freezer - thanks, Miss A!) and we're having zucchini-eggplant lasagne for supper (thanks, K!). And the best part? I don't have to cook! Simply brilliant.

So here I share with you the recipe I made. These are my Gram's stuffed shells. Totally and utterly delicious. In the spirit of our low-fat-ish, vegetarian theme, I changed this up a bit from the original, and they were definitely just as tasty.

Stuffed Shells

One box of large shells (It doesn't take a whole box though; I used two boxes and made four pans of shells to freeze with approximately 22 shells in each portion)

Cook shells until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water to cool.

Combine in a bowl:

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I used low fat)

1/2 cup of parmesan cheese (I used low fat)

1 container of ricotta (Again, I used low fat)

1/4 cup bread crumbs (I use the Italian kind because they're extra yummy)

1 egg

2 Tbsp. parsley

A few pressed cloves of garlic, depending on your taste

1/2 tsp. salt

Pepper to taste

Stuff mixture into each shell.

1 jar of pasta sauce (I used a low calorie version -- blue label Our Compliments mushroom and garlic from Sobeys. For extra veg, I added a cup of grated zucchini and carrot to the sauce.)

Pour enough sauce into 9X13 baking pan to cover the bottom. Arrange stuffed shells in pan. Cover with remaining sauce. Bake at 375F for nearly an hour or until hot and bubbly all over.

So, so good.

(Photo here.)

Our swap worked so well that we're going to do it again in another two weeks! I'm thinking a Mexican dish next time. Have any freezer-friendly veggie recipes to share?