Copycat Boston Market Tortellini Salad

Copycat Boston Market Tortellini Salad
Source: Taste of Home Forum

1 large pkg. (about 40-48 oz) cheese tortellini
16 oz. creamy Caesar dressing
1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
3-6 tbsp. water
2 envelopes dry Italian dressing mix
2 tsp. Mrs. Dash original seasoning
1 red pepper, diced

Cook tortellini according to package directions; drain. Mix remaining ingredients together. Stir in the tortellini. Chill overnight for best flavors.

*****

My husband worked at Boston Market as a teenager - almost 20-ish years ago. He all of a sudden remembered that he LOVED their tortellini salad, and off to Google he ran. We cooked up this recipe really quick and threw it in the fridge to let the flavors meld overnight. This turned out great. My husband declared it to be just like he remembered and said to add it to our rotation of recipes. I thought that it was pretty good too. I'm not big on pasta salads of any kind, but overall, I thought it was really good.

*We buy frozen tricolor tortellini in 48 ounce bags.

Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells

Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Shells
Source: Once A Month Mom

12 oz. box jumbo shell pasta
2.5 cups marinara sauce
0.5 cup buffalo wing sauce (more or less depending on heat preference)
2 cups cooked and shredded boneless, skinless chicken breast
16 oz. nonfat cottage cheese
0.5 cup egg substitute
1 cup shredded part-skim Mozzarella cheese

Cook pasta shells according to package in boiling, salted water, until al dente. Drain water and allow to cool to the touch. Combine marinara and buffalo wing sauce in a bowl. In another bowl, combine shredded chicken, egg substitute, and cottage cheese until well-combined.

Spread 1 cup sauce on the bottom of two 8×8 baking dishes. Stuff shells with chicken mixture, about 1 Tablespoon per shell. Place in sauce-covered dish. Cover shells with remaining sauce and sprinkle with shredded Mozzarella. Bake at 350F about 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted. IF desired, sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles (calories extra).

Freezing Directions:
Prepare as above, except DO NOT bake. Instead, cover with foil, label, and freeze. To serve: Thaw in fridge. Bake at 350F about 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted. IF desired, sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles (calories extra).

Servings: 12 (3 stuffed shells per serving)

Nutritional Information: Servings: 12 • Calories: 267 • Fat: 6.6 • Carbs: 29.7 • Protein: 20.1 • Fiber: 2.4 • Weight Watcher Points Plus: 7

My thoughts: I made this recipe as-is to try it out (but didn't use any blue cheese crumbles since we aren't fans of blue cheese). The verdict from the family was as follows. Husband loved it and said it was perfect. Toddler (30 months old) gobbled it up despite the bit of kick to it. Daughter (age 11) said that it was a bit too spicy (which is odd since she's had spicier foods) but still really liked it. I'm the oddball out. I liked the taste of the buffalo marinara sauce, but I didn't like the stuffing in the shells at all. I practically gutted my shells to eat them. This is not to say that someone who normally loves stuffed shells wouldn't love this, because I don't normally love stuffed shells. It's more like I just kind of tolerate them. Lol. We have another 8x8 square pan of this premade in the freezer for another day, since this recipe makes two 8x8 (or one 9x13) pans worth of stuffed shells. This is definitely a keeper recipe for my family.

***
January 2013
Updated thoughts on this dish: I was three months pregnant when I first had this dish, and I now blame that for my issues that I had in the beginning. I made it, and had it as-is without any issues recently. No texture issues, no gutting the shells, etc. It was very yummy and will definitely be a more regularly served dish around here now.

Cheesy Ziti

I ended up with this recipe off of a cooking board I belong to, but somehow no one on there seems to know who/where the orginal source of the recipe is. This recipe is extremely simple and absolutely delishious! Warning though, it does make a very large batch. The next time I make this dish, I will be dividing it into two containers - one to eat and one to freeze for later.

Cheesy Ziti

2-1/2 jars spaghetti sauce (I used Ragu Chucky Garden)
1 lb. ziti (or any small) noodles (I used mini penne)
1 lb. ground beef
15 oz. ricotta cheese or cottage cheese (I used ricotta)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 packet Italian seasoning (This is the dry dressing packet. You can also use a lasagna seasoning packet instead, but the Italian gives it a certain zest.)
8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg

Cook noodles according to package directions; drain and set aside. In a small bowl mix ricotta, egg, Italian seasoning and parmesan; set aside. Brown ground beef and drain off fat. Add sauce and noodles to ground beef; mix well. Spoon half of noodle mixture into greased (I always forget to grease the pans and it doesn't seem to matter)13x9-inch** dish. Spread ricotta mixture over noodles. Top with remaining pasta mixture. Cover with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until warmed throughout and cheese is melted.

*Next time I make this, I'm going to use another recipe as a guide and add in 2-1/2 cups of fresh spinach when I do the ricotta cheese layer before topping with the rest of the pasta.

**I now make this and bake it in 8x8 pans instead of the 9x13-inch pans. For our family of four, the 9x13 pan left us with way too many leftovers. So I bake one pan and freeze the second pan for a later meal. To cook from frozen, thaw in the refrigerator overnight and bake as directed above. You may have to bake for slightly longer to be sure it warmed throughout.