yummtastic dinner & dessert for 4

I had the day off yesterday and was feeling semi-ambitious so I decided I would make dinner for my parents and boyfriend. Partly because I wanted to cook something for people to enjoy, partly because I had nothing else to do all day, and partly because both my mom and boyfriend were working a long day at their jobs. I decided to make one of my new (ish) favorite recipes, taco stuffed shells, that was suggested by Camille. I love it but my mom says its too much work so I figured I had all the time in the world yesterday so why not make it for everyone. 

We had most of the ingredients at home but I did need a few things so I had to go out to the grocery store. Let me tell ya, it was insane trying to find jumbo shells. For some reason the grocery store didnt have any at all, in any brand! So I had to go across the street to another one to find some. And they only had one box! Are jumbo shells really that hard to come by? haha.

I thought it might be cool to share how to make this dish so as I was cooking I took some pictures. (obviously I had blogging in mind. lol.) 

First I cooked the hamburger and added the taco seasoning. 

Then you add cream cheese. 

Then you let it simmer so that the cream cheese melts. 

Once the cream cheese is melted its a good idea to chill the meat in the fridge for a little while so its easier to stuff the shells. While the meat is chilling, I boiled the shells. 

The shells then get put into a greased casserole pan that has been covered with salsa on the bottom. 

Then you fill the shells with the chilled meat and cover with more salsa. 

Then bake for a half hour, until it looks something like this. 

I also chopped up some green onions to put on top of the shells for when they are plated. 

Top finished shells with any desired "taco toppings". I added salsa, shredded cheese, sour cream, and green onions to ours. They tasted amazing!

While I was cooking the shells, I also had some cookies baking. 

They came out pretty yummy too!