Mealtime Monday....YUM....Lasagna!!

Well....believe it or not.....we do have to do a few other things around here besides fixing up the house....of course one of those things is eating....

Unfortunately.....I have to admit that we eat out A LOT!  I really wish that we didn't.....don't get me wrong.....I LOVE eating out......and Houston has SO many good restaurants (like a ridiculous amount)....and it is sort of the culture here to eat out a lot.....for example there may even be a wait to get seated at a restaurant on a Tuesday or Wednesday night......I know.....crazy right? 

Anyway.....I really want for us to eat at home more often.....and at one time I was doing really well.....I was planning all our meals a week in advance.....shopping for everything in one trip to the store, fixing healthy meals, etc, etc.....

Well.....lately I haven't done so well.....so I'm trying get back to planning our meals again.....once I do I hope to be able to share that with you all here on Mondays......like I said I'm not there yet.....but hopefully soon.....

So.....as a placeholder for Mealtime Monday.....I thought I would share a favorite recipe with you all today.....I don't think I could call it healthy.....although I would bet it is 10 times healthier than any restaurant food......

In any case it is quite delicious!!  So here it is....YUM....Lasagna!!

Start with these....

Then add in some browned hamburger meat (alternatively you could use frozen spinach if you don't eat meat or want to make it a bit healthier) and one egg.....and you'll end up with something that looks like this.....

And then you'll need some of this.....

The really cool thing about this recipe....you don't have to cook your noodles before you put everything together....they'll cook in the oven!!

Next put everything together in the pan....start with your sauce....then noodles....then sauce....then cheese/meat mix, then noodles, then sauce, then cheese/meat mix, then sauce.....and then finally top with a little cheese.....

At the end you'll have something like this....

Is your mouth watering yet???   Just wait until you smell it cooking.....YUM-O.....delicious......

Next pour water around the edges and cover tightly with some aluminum foil....

Set your timer on the oven....

And....before you know it....you've got this.....

Ummm.....yeah....YUM!!!  YUM!!!  YUM!!!

So....here's the full recipe with all the details.....

Ingredients:

1 lb ricotta cheese (we use the fat free kind)

1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (more if you like)

1 lb ground hamburger meat (browned)

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp oregano

1/8 tsp pepper

1 large jar of spaghetti sauce (28 oz)

8 oz package of noodles (9 strips)

1/4 cup of water

1 egg

Directions:

Mix together the ricotta, 1 cup mozzarella, egg, browned meat, salt, oregano, and pepper.

Using a 13x9x2 baking pan layer 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce and 1/3 of the noodles.  Cover noodles with additional spaghetti sauce and 1/2 of the cheese mixture.  Repeat layers.  Top with remaining noodles, spaghetti sauce, and sprinkle the remaining mozzarella on top (if you like it cheesy, you can add extra mozzarella).  Pour water around the edges. Cover tightly with foil.  Bake at 350^oF for 1 hr (to 1.25 hrs depending on your oven). Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

ENJOY!!!!!

I wish I could take credit for this recipe....but it was actually given to use with a lasagna pan as a wedding gift (pretty cool).....so thank you Mrs. Cantrell!!

Until next time.....Happy Eating....

XOXO-
Kristal