Recipe's

Birthday Manicotti
Ingredients:
1 lb. Italian Sausage
8 oz. Mozzarella Cheese (grated)
15 oz. container Ricotta Cheese (I like Precious Brand)
4 Tbsp. Fresh Parmesan Cheese
1 Egg
2 Tbsp. Parsley
½ tsp. Basil
1 jar Spaghetti Sauce (I like Robusto Ragu)
1 14.5 oz. can Italian Recipe Tomatoes (diced)
10-12 Manicotti Noodles

Sauce:
Cook Italian sausage on stovetop. Set aside 2/3 of meat for cheese mixture. Add spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, basil, and 1 Tbsp. parley to the fry pan and simmer 10 minutes.

Cheese Mixture:
Set aside 1 cup of the grated mozzarella and 2 Tbsp. of the fresh parmesan for the topping. In a large bowl mix the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese, ricotta, egg, and 1 Tbsp. parsley.

Preparation:
Spray 9 x 13 pan with Pam and put 2-3 scoops of sauce in bottom of pan. Boil noodles for 7-8 minutes. Pour out hot water and add cold water to cool the noodles. Stuff noodles with cheese mixture and place in pan. Stuff the noodles full and throw away any remaining noodles. Pour remaining sauce over noodles. Top with the saved 1 cup of mozzarella and 2 Tbsp. fresh parmesan.

Bake:
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes with foil over top. Remove foil and bake another 15-20 minutes until top is lightly browned.

Low-fat recipe:
Make this a lower fat recipe by using low-fat ricotta and 93% lean ground beef.

Fluffy Pudding Frosting

Ingredients:
4 oz. pkg. Chocolate Instant Pudding
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 cup cold milk
1 pint Whipping Cream (whipped with vanilla and sugar to taste)

Directions:
Mix together pudding, powdered sugar, and milk. Fold in whipping cream (your whipping cream needs to be pre-whipped). Chill to thicken. Spread on cooled cake.