Shells and Gorgonzola

During Anna's school bookfair, I bought a cookbook called Cheesy, Cheesy quick & easy and this is the first recipe I have tried from it. All of the recipes in the book are pretty much a different take on macarroni and cheese, but my kids love mac-n-cheese so I thought it would be worth a shot.
I wasn't sure what to think when I saw the title of this recipe, but decided to try it anyways. The girls were not sure what to think of either because of the orange-looking sauce and the crubles of cheese. To add insult to injury, I sauted SPINACH I had picked from our garden and added it to the pasta. How would they react!?!?
For the most part, the girls liked the dinner. They finished the pasta that was on their plate farely quickly, but did not want any seconds. Not sure if it was the strong taste from the Gorgonzola or not, but I didn't like the dinner enough to have seconds either.

Grade: B-

Ingredients:
1 package (16 oz) uncooked medium shell pasta
1 jar (24 oz) vodka sauce
1 package (4 oz) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
3/4 oz fresh spinach, sauted

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well; cover and keep warm.
2. Heat sauce in medium saucepan over medium heat.
3. Toss pasta with sauce until well blended. Stir in cheese and spinach just before serving.

Emily was a little timid at first.

Sarah loved everything (even the brocolli).

Anna, looking like she is singing a song into her shell microphone.

Lucy, surprisingly happy!

Crunchy Party Mix

This is a quick and easy mix to make. The girls, like most kids, love to munch on mixes like these (except for the nuts). I need to remind myself to make a bigger batch and freeze half of it because it can be frozen for up to 4 months.
Grade: B

Ingredients:
5 cups pretzel sticks
4 cups round toasted oat cereal (Cheerios)
4 cups wheat chex
4 cups corn chex
3 cups mixed nuts
1 cup butter
3 TBS Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder

1. In a roasting pan, combine pretzels, oat cereal, wheat cereal, corn cereal, and mixed nuts; set aside.
2. In a small saucepan heat and stir butter, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder until butter melts. Drizzle butter mixture over cereal mixture; stir gently to coat.
3. Bake at 300 degree oven for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on a large piece of foil to cool. Store in an airtight container.

Lucy enjoying the mix.

Emily digging in on the pretzel sticks.