Lasagna

Once again, it's been a while since my last post. I'm so sorry!! But I do have a really good excuse. We've had our little baby! YAY!!!!!! So I'm just barely getting back into the swing of things. Yesterday was the first day that I actually cooked and it felt sooooooo good to be back in the kitchen making yummy food! I've decided that cooking is therapeutic for me. So I'm going to have to be doing more of it to get through these baby blues!

But I do have to say that I have so many WONDERFUL friends who are amazing cooks! We've be SOOOOOO spoiled by all of the meals that have been made and brought to us. How lucky am I?!

Well the recipe that I have for today is a delicious lasagna. I found the recipe on allrecipes.com, making a few tweeks to it, of course, and everyone loved it. But the best part is that it makes a big 9x13 inch pan. So now we have LOTS of leftovers - now I don't have to worry about dinner for tonight and probably the next night too!

Here's what you'll need:

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 T. dried onion, or 1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 t. garlic powder, or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. dried basil
1 t. dried oregano
2 T. brown sugar
1 t. salt
2 (14.5 oz.) cans Italian style diced tomatoes
2 (6 oz.) cans tomato paste
12 lasagna noodles
2 eggs, beaten
1 pint (2 c.) ricotta cheese
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
2 T/ dried parsley
1 t. salt
1 lb. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Italian style shredded cheese

Brown the ground beef, onion, and garlic together. In another pan, combine the basil, oregano, sugar, salt, diced tomatoes, and paste. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes, adding the ground beef when cooked.

Cook the lasagna noodles, according to package instructions. In a bowl, combine the beaten eggs, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and salt.

In a 9x13 inch pan, layer 1/3 noodles, topped with 1/2 the ricotta cheese mixture, 1/2 the mozzarella cheese, and 1/3 the tomato sauce.

Then repeat. Top with remaining noodles and sauce. Sprinkle with Italian style shredded cheese (or you can use a mixture of Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.

Mmmmm - one of my FAVORITE foods!!

For a freezer meal, assemble the lasagna in a foil lasagna pan, using uncooked lasagna noodles.  Cover tightly with heavy duty foil or freezer foil, label and freeze.  To serve:  Thaw.  Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until heated through.