day twenty nine

i haven't blogged in a few days because i've been sick, which i probably got from all of my glorious gift wrapping hours at the mall. i'm sure i picked up something somewhere.

anyways, needless to say, i've been ingesting pretty much juice/smoothie's and i still haven't been able to kick this. my nose is raw and i can't smell anything. its crappy.

i did, however, make these AWESOME veggie manicotti last night(not raw)... & i thought i would share the recipe here:

* 12 oz box large pasta shells
* 10 oz package spinach
* 1 Tablespoon olive oil
* 1 medium onion, diced
* 4 cloves garlic, crushed
* 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
* 1 package of extra firm Tofu, drained
* 2-3 Tablespoons lemon juice
* 3.8 oz can sliced black olives, drained
* 1/2 cup basil, chopped
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
* 2 1/2 cups prepared spaghetti sauce
* 4 Tablespoons pine nuts


Bring a large stockpot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta shells al dente(usually 12 minutes.)

In a non-stick skillet with a lid, heat olive oil on medium. Saute onion for 2 minutes, until brown on edges. Reduce heat to low. Stir in garlic and mushrooms and spinach. Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes(which reduces the spinach).

Place tofu in a medium-size mixing bowl. Sprinkle lemon juice over tofu and stir with a fork, crumbling tofu into small curds that resemble ricotta cheese. Once mushrooms have sauteed 10 minutes, stir in tofu, spinach, olives, basil, salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat another 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 375.

Spread spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 12x8" baking dish. Gently spoon vegetable-tofu filling into the shells. Arrange in tight rows on top of the sauce. Bake for 15 minutes on the middle rack. Raise oven heat to broil. Sprinkle shells with pine nuts and broil (still on middle rack) for 5 minutes.