Healthy(er) Italian Food

I spent my afternoon off today making dinner for the priests and sister at our church.  Last time I made this particular meal, I don't remember it taking quite as long as it did today.  It consumed my entire afternoon, but I enjoyed every minute of it since I love cooking.

As one of my dear friends pointed out, it probably is daring to make food for company healthy.  It inevitably tastes better if it's filled with fatty butter and cheeses. My problem is, I was feeding a portion of the meal to my family, and I want to keep them healthy.  Therefore, the goal I have is to make healthy(er), yummy food.

Here is the recipe I used today.  It's not exactly healthy, but it's better than it could've been.  And it tasted better than Lean Cuisine, that's for sure.

Stuffed Shells

1 lb. lean ground beef (I like 90-10)
1 lb. Italian-style turkey sausage
1 tsp. + Italian blend of spices
1 tsp. garlic powder
salt to taste
1 large (12 oz) package jumbo shell pasta
1 16. oz container low-fat cottage cheese
1 large package part-skim mozzarella
1 24 oz. can spaghetti sauce (I like Hunt's garlic and herb)
parmesan

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brown both meats in a large skillet.  Drain well.  Add spices, garlic powder and salt to taste.  In skillet, add entire carton of cottage cheese and about 3 1/2 cups cheese.  (You can add more or less depending on your health and taste preferences.)

Meanwhile, boil shells according to package directions.  Rinse with cold water, so shells are not apt to fall apart.

Stuff each shell with enough filling to fill shell completely but so each shell is not overflowing, and place them in a 9x13 baking dish.  Cover shells with pasta sauce and a light sprinkling of parmesan cheese.  Bake in oven for 30-40 minutes or until heated through.

Voîla!

I served it with Italian green salad, bread and chocolate buttermilk cupcakes with light (of course) cream cheese frosting.  It made a nice meal that didn't break my daily calorie budget.