Making life easier, one bite at a time
Black bean burgers! I’ve been loving meatless Monday recipes lately – cooking seems to go so much faster when you don’t have to prep meat. If I’m prepping meat, it usually involves way too much hand washing, not to mention disinfecting every surface that touched …
HI! It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?! Maintaining a food blog has definitely been more work than I first realized. I consciously made the decision to take a break during busy season and our trip to Southeast Asia, and life has gotten away from me for …
Pizza. AND. Pasta. While that double trouble combo sinks in, feast your eyes on these babies 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 which are basically all the good parts of lasagna, pizza, and pasta all perfectly contained within a stuffed shell so that each bite is a *perfect* combo of cheesy, savory, pizza flavors.
Seriously, could there be ANY better comfort food than taking cheesy delicious pizza toppings, and stuffing them into a noodle?! These were made for Drew to eat on nights that I get dinner at work, so I loaded it up with his faves. This filling has ricotta and mozzarella cheese, Italian sausage, mini pepperonis, spinach, and green peppers, but can easily be modified to however you like your pizza. Meat lovers? Go for it! Veggie lovers? My people!
Taking a bite of these stuffed shells is like falling into a soft pillow of ricotta cheese, and then once the pizza flavors explode, it’s game over. Comfort food at it’s finest, y’all.
The best thing about meal prepping these is that you can make extra filling and use it in my spaghetti squash pizzas. Recipe coming soon! It’s basically like double duty meal prep. Both recipes are super freezer friendly, which is top priority for me during this busy time of year. After thawing, just reheat with a little extra pizza sauce and sprinkle with parm and Italian herbs for a delicious finish. All these pictures were taken post-freezing – I promise that using the freezer does not mean compromising on taste, flavor, or texture!
What are your favorite pizza toppings? Let me know in the comments below! If you try this recipe, please leave a rating and tag me on Instagram @busygirl_bites so I can see the results!
Pizza and pasta, the best of both worlds combined! Freezer and meal prep friendly, and easily modified to vegetarian.
Cook Italian sausage in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, breaking up into small pieces, until browned and cooked through. Drain fat and pat dry with paper towel.
Stir together cooked sausage, pepperoni, bell pepper, and Italian seasoning. Add ricotta cheese and stir to combine.
Set aside or refrigerate until ready to make shells.
Cook pasta according to package directions, less 1-2 minutes. Add a drop of olive oil to the boiling water to prevent sticky noodles.
Drain pasta and let cool until safe to touch.
Prepare pan: line a casserole dish or 9x13 pan with foil. Spread ~1/2 of the pizza sauce along the bottom of the pan.
Add about 1-2 tablespoons of filling into each shell and place into the pan.
Cover with remaining pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese.
Let prepared shells cool, then transfer to meal prep container or ziplock bag. Refrigerate 3-4 hours or overnight, then transfer to freezer.
Thaw overnight. Reheat in microwave or oven (350°F for ~15 minutes should do it). Garnish with your favorite pizza toppings, like parmesan, fresh basil, or red pepper flakes.
To make this recipe vegetarian, leave out the pepperoni and sausage and sub in mushrooms.
To make this recipe gluten free, use gluten free pasta shells.
Extra filling can be frozen for later use!
Adapted from The Chunky Chef
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Hi Busies!
This post goes out to my mom, who is most of the inspiration for Busy Girl (and my life in general!) Working full time as a nurse, she also managed to be a full time mom – always around to chauffeur my sister and I to our after-school activities, serving on various school and figure skating boards, and somehow managing to have a home cooked meal on the table every night. I’m still not sure how she did it!
As a kid, you never fully understand the responsibilities and frustrations that come with #adulting. I remember the look on my mom’s face one night when we got home after figure skating practice and realized she had put the food out but forgot to turn on the crock pot that morning. At the time, my sister and I took for granted the time and effort she had spent planning, shopping, and making the meal – we were just excited that we got to order takeout that night!
Recently, I set out a meal to thaw on the counter and forgot to put it in the fridge before going to bed. The next morning, my stomach dropped as I walked into the kitchen and saw it sitting innocently on the counter. As I threw the 4 servings of that meal away, cursing the time & money I had put into it, I remembered the times we ended up ordering takeout growing up, and suddenly I didn’t feel so bad. After all, those takeout nights were a fun change to our regular routine, and they gave me some great family memories of passing Chinese takeout containers around the table, sharing (and fighting!) over our favorites. And the eager look on Drew’s face when I told him it was a Chipotle night pretty much did the rest!
Sometimes, you just have those days where you want ?,?, or ?. Or, you have a meal prep fail and you’re left with no other choice. Something else my mom taught me is to how to roll with the punches and learn from your mistakes. You can bet I’ve never left another meal out on the counter overnight!
Always practicing that calligraphy lettering!
My mom was always thinking of creative new meals, and she also has some valuable time saving tips that I still use today! Salad dressings make a great base for a sauce, and the slow baking method means this Catalina Chicken comes out tender and juicy. Just stir the sauce ingredients together, pour over the chicken, and bake!
This was my first time using cauliflower rice. I got a prepared version from the grocery store and sautéed it (see recipe notes section for more details). I made regular rice as a backup because I was worried Drew wouldn’t like it, but we were both pleasantly surprised! The almonds in the rice and the green beans both bring a nice crunch to this plate.
For meal prepping, I made the chicken as part of meal prep and then made the sides on the day of. There’s no reason you can’t prep the sides too, though! I actually made a double portion of green beans and popped the leftovers in the freezer (you’re welcome, Future Sam!).
Serving Suggestion:
Cauliflower Rice:
Heat 1 tsp olive oil and 1T butter in a pan over medium high heat. Add cauliflower rice, season with salt, pepper, and 2 tsp Italian seasoning. Sauce 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Stir in a handful of sliced almonds.
Green Beans:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Rinse beans and pat dry. If desired, slice off ends and cut in half. Add green beans to a pan, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to coat. Bake 15-20 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking.
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Hi Busies!
It’s officially that time of year – Happy Fall Y’all! And sorry (not sorry) if this is #basic – White Chicken Chili is something I look forward to all year. A warm, comforting bowl of spicy, savory, tender chicken & beans – all smothered in cheesy, cheesy, cheese! It’s like a fall-themed hug in your mouth. This round’s meal prep guide definitely has a “bowl” theme. Kale bowls, buffalo chicken bowls, this chili in a bowl – all the easier to lounge on the couch while eating, curled up with your bowl, a blanket, and a good TV binge-sesh.
featuring the most photogenic avocado ever ^^^
And – of course – ALL the toppings. Take this comfort bowl bliss and top it with all the fixin’s:
Chips add the perfect salty crunchy finish. I like to crumble mine and stir them in, while Drew’s more of a dipper.
Crock pot round 1 – the beans (warning, the crockpot was overfilled in this picture – you should have room for 2″ of water above the level of the beans). also featuring some overexposed Netflix, my constant cooking companion.
Plus, it’s a perfect meal prep meal. I even included it twice this round in my free meal prep guide, because it’s so easy and delicious! And eating it twice just wasn’t enough!
I’m a recent convert to using dried beans – I always thought it wasn’t worth the extra step. But it totally is!
Crock Pot Round 2 – Chicken and jalapeños!
Prepping this meal is easy, but if you use dried beans you either need to do it in phases or use 2 crock pots. I made the beans first, then left them in the fridge overnight and made the chicken the next day. The chicken cooks with the jalapeños and other spices, then that liquid gets stirred in with the beans for storage in the freezer. When you’re ready to eat, the toppings bring the chicken & beans to life with freshness and flavor.
These last few weeks have been extra extra busy. I started back volunteering at an after-school tutoring program, now that the school year is in full swing. That multiplication and division is harder than I’d like to admit… I don’t know who’s more relieved after we finish math and get to start reading – me or the kids! I’ve been working on keeping blog posts up to date, developing the Round 2 meal prep guide, and trying to enjoy every bit of good weather before fall truly hits down here in NC. That means weekly softball games, playing in the yard with the pups, football tailgates, and walking up to the free local tribute concerts nearby.
Sometimes, knowing that my prepped meals are in the freezer/fridge ready and waiting for me, I tend to slack on weekly grocery shopping (it’s honestly such a luxury to be able to slack on this!), and usually I can make do. But there was no way we were eating this chili without cheese! So I had to make a quick stop after tutoring to grab some of that, and I also picked up the most perfectly ripe and beautiful avocado I’ve ever had the joy of witnessing. Seriously – check out the evidence in the first snap above.
Which are you – a dipper or a stirrer? What’s your favorite thing about fall? Let me know in the comments below!
Check out my meal prep tips and tricks page for tips on how to best thaw and freeze your meals!
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