This is a favorite for both my husband and the kiddos, it’s pretty easy and awesome for leftovers.

What you will need:

1 box of Manicotti Shells {I like Barilla} cooked al dente

1 each of Red and Yellow peppers seeded and finely chopped

1 can of white crab meat {feel free to use the real stuff!}

1 egg

1 12 oz container of Ricotta Cheese

2/3 cup Parmesan or Formaggio Cheese

1/3 cup Parmesan for topping

1/4 cup Blue Cheese

Dash of salt and pepper

Sauce:

4 tbsp butter

4 tbsp flour

4 cups milk

3/4 cup Parmesan or Formaggio Cheese

1 tsp Seasoning Salt (Lawry’s)

1 tsp Pepper

Heat your oven to 350 and grease a 9×11 baking dish. While your pasta boils for roughly 7 minutes (until al dente), start mixing your filling. Combine the Ricotta, peppers, crab meat, and cheeses, then beat your egg and add that too. Add the dash of each salt and pepper and you’ll be ready to fill your manicotti shells. Fill each shell and arrange in the 9×11 baking dish. Set aside.

To start the sauce we’re going to make a rue with butter and flour. Once that melts together smoothly over low to med, stir in your milk slowly over medium heat. Bring to a slow boil over med to high and once your sauce starts to thicken reduce to low. Add in cheese, salt and pepper and remove from heat.

{I tossed in a little Sharp Cheddar that I had left over as well}

Drizzle the sauce over the Manicotti and sprinkle the Parmesan over the top. Cover with aluminum foil for 30 minutes, remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes without foil. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.

Unfortunately I was not able to capture images of the finished project as we were serving company on this particular evening. I will tell you that it is always a major hit and another plus is that it passes as vegetarian {so long as you’re not vegan!}. Enjoy!

I’m trying to be more frugal. It can be so hard to clip coupons, make your own this and that, but it is totally worth it. I keep seeing and hearing about everyone making their own laundry detergent and I kept convincing myself that it was not for me. After all, I’ve always been pretty faithful to Tide just for the way my clothes smell after they’ve been washed. Not to mention the first few recipes I came across involved melting and stirring and whole lot of  steps I knew I wouldn’t commit to. It wasn’t until I came across this recipe that I decided it’s worth a shot, especially since the grand total costs less than 1 jug of Tide and is supposed to last much longer.

Ingredients:

ONE 4 lb box of Borax

ONE 4 lb box of Pure Baking Soda

ONE 55 oz box of Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

3 bars of Fels Naptha Bar soap or Pink Zote grated

*Optional {I added this} 2.5 lbs Oxy Clean, just because I add this to my washing cycle anyway

I lined a metal bin of sorts that I had laying around with a garbage bag and dumped all of the ingredients in. This took a total of maybe 10 minutes and 9 minutes and 45 seconds of that was occupied by the grating of the Fels Naptha. Then I used a large bamboo spoon to kind of sift it all around. When I finally got over my fear that the garbage bag wouldn’t split open if I lifted it out, I did just that and mixed it by moving it in a back and forth kind of motion making sure that it was all combined.

At one point Rob came in, afraid for my sanity I’m sure, because he watched me grate the Fels Naptha and it looks just like a block of cheese.

I’ll store the bulk of it in the garbage bag, but am using a re-purposed Oxy Clean container to store above my washing machine.

Most articles I read say to use 1 tbsp/load, but I am using 2 tbsp/load in my HE washing machine. Speaking of HE washing machines, if that is what you’re using, make sure to put your scoop of detergent right in the barrel before loading your linens/clothing.

I’ve officially finished 2 loads using this and am so incredibly pleased. 1.) It took out this stain, without any stain lifters from Olivia’s Mattress Pad. This stain was caused by an exploding gel ice pack and I really wasn’t certain it would come out at all. 2.) My clothes and sheets smell like a fresh spring day and are so soft yet crisp. I’m definitely using this from now on.

Total Cost: $16.69 including the Oxy Clean

I’ll update when I know how long my batch lasts.