Oh, hello. How are you today?
You know how in the past I've shared how much I love to cook? Especially recipes that fall in line with gourmet style cooking, typically of French origin? Well, today we are doing a complete 180 from that.
This my friends is simply all American Comfort food. Nothing fancy, nothing gourmet, but amazingly delicious.

After my dental mishap last week, I was left with a very limited selection of what I could eat. Yogurt and smoothies were not cutting it anymore. I needed something with more substance. A while back, I'd seen a recipe for creamy shells and beef for pressure cookers. Alas, I do not have a pressure cooker. So, I adapted something similar to be cooked the traditional manner. Oh man, was it good. It was so quick and easy too, 35 min start to finish.
I know that I don't have children, but I'll bet you dollars to donuts that this is little person palette appealing.
I think the best way to describe it would be an unprocessed, from scratch hamburger helper type meal.

The kicker? Its 5 ingredients total (aside from basic seasonings)!

• One pound of  90/10 ground beef
• One jar of marinara sauce
• One box of shells or elbows
• One Pint of Heavy Cream
• One bag (1.5 C) of grated Parmesan Cheese (The dehydrated/non refrigerated stuff  in the shaker container will NOT work.)

Steps:












2) Brown the ground beef , once its browned add some salt and a dash of Italian seasoning.( Do not salt before the meat is browned as that cause clumping.) My friend, Jeff and his dad make an out of this world garlic salt. It is what I use anytime I'm seasoning meat. I HIGHLY recommended it. Its sold in stores locally here, if you are not local, you can purchase it Here . Also,you could use a tiny bit of onion powder with just a tad of salt and pepper.  After meat is browned, and seasoned, remove from heat.



















3) In a medium - large sauce pain bring the heavy cream to a gentle simmer, add in cheese and stir constantly until melted together over medium heat.



                                                                 
                                                                                     












4) Once the cheese is thoroughly melted, add in marina sauce and cooked beef. Stir it all together then mix it with the cooked pasta. I left it on a low burner for about 5 minutes while occasionally stirring just to thicken it up.

The end result was so good.  If you wanted more of a carb load, add some garlic bread as a side.

Again, I'm well aware that this is nothing fancy.  Sometimes though, simple is good. Sometimes, simple is GREAT.
I'm willing to bet that this could be done in a slow cooker also. Next snow day, I'll test that out.

Tell me if you make this. I'm thinking you'll really enjoy it!


XO
SheShe

Well hello!
Valentine's day is just around the corner. Here in New England, Valentine's Day has always symbolized the start of the END of winter. Well, to me at least it has.
I'm not one to be cutesy and dress to each holiday. Well, except for the 4th Of July. I go ALLLLLLL out for the 4th Of July. Its my favorite day of the entire year. I'll get into that in a few months ;)
I do tend to ''Shop" for Valentine's Day though. I look at it as a way to step away from the black and grays of winter.
I figured it might be fun to round up  a few outfits. Maybe you are doing a big date night, maybe a galentine's brunch is more your speed. Either way, lets get out of the dark, dreary clothes for a few hours, shall we?












Cherry Wrap Dress   $118.00









How pretty is this dress?! The jersey material looks so comfy and we all know how this wrap style of dress flatters most every body type.








Pink BodyCon Dress      $33.60












This dress! This price! As of writing this, all sizes with the exception of XXL are in stock! Long after Valentine's day this will look great at the office with a blazer thrown over it. Or, make it casual this summer with a cute paid of wedges or Jack Rogers.





Key Hole Dress                 $22.99














Y'all (Can I say y'all if I'm from the north?)  Most weeks, I spend more on coffee than this dress costs.  ($6.50 x 7 = Darn it, Starbucks!)  Plus, it looks so loose and comfy. It might just help you hide the dessert you and your honey might split.





Lace Top          $34.00















So romantic! This is so pretty. Its clearly adorable with jeans. I'm thinking it would also look great dressed up.


   




Heart Sweater    $28.98














Please pardon this picture! Figures, I have to use this photo after recently writing about the problem of overly edited photos .
I did purchase this one myself though, I assure you- It looks good in real life. Also, its so soft and cozy! I'm tempted to also get the white one with the red heart.
If my face were not all banged up and bruised, I'd snap a few pictures of me wearing it.


So, that's it from me for suggestions. What do you do for Valentine's day?



XO
Sheila