Stupid easy lasagna

WARNING If you are paleo, or more importantly Italian, you should probably just stop reading now. There is nothing paleo friendly about this recipe, and it's also just an insult to all Italians. Before I get into all of that let me say that I have a hard time sleeping in, so I went to bed at midnight last night - or this morning. I was awake by 7:30, and could not go back to bed. For me, that is a success. I decided to try to make today an electronic free day. So much accomplished today!!! When I used to do triathlons, I was constantly productive. I haven't raced in a while, and while I think about doing it again, I must admit that I am obsessed with the barbell right now. At any rate, since I haven't had to budget my time to include training for racing, I haven't really been doing all of the things I used to. I know that I work, because I feel that it makes me a better mom. I am just better able to budget my time, but I have been neglecting some household chores, and that effects my stress level. I am feeling pretty good that I was able to put some attention into the things that I have been needing to for a while.

Today my daughter went over to her best friend's house, and I've started to become friends with her mom. I never thought i would be friends with any of my kids' friend's parents, but I am happy that we are becoming friends.  When I went to pick my daughter up, I stayed and chatted a bit, and found out that they make home made pasta every Sunday as a family. Pretty cool tradition and family bonding. I told her we were having lasagna for dinner, and that's when she told me about that tradition. She then asked if I've ever made pasta before, I said no, and then she asked if I make my own sauce. While I have, I don't very often. When I got home, I decided to take a small respite from all my productivity. Then I went to search for my lasagna recipe. I remember my mom making lasagna when I was a kid, and I remember her putting egg in the recipe, and she would make her sauce from scratch. Yummy! David is the lengthy pasta dish maker. He makes the most delicious manacotti. I should request that in the next menu block (in about 6 weeks). I have only made lasagna 2 or 3 times before, and I haven't made it in probably 10 years. Imagine my dismay when I saw that it was a fairly lengthy process. I went online to see what I could dig up. I struck gold on www.myrecipes.com As I started to assemble the dish, David walked in, and shook his head at the order of operations. Certainly not like I've ever made it before, and definitely an insult to Italians. However, it was so delicious and there were no leftovers. Everyone - including Kaila had seconds.

The recipe calls for ground beef in the sauce, and I would normally add that, but I didn't thaw any out, so I left it out. Everything else was followed as instructed.

Extra Easy Lasagna
Makes: 6-8 servings

1 pound lean ground beef
4 C tomato basil pasta sauce
6 uncooked lasagna noodles, uncooked
1 (15 ounce) container ricotta cheese
2 1/2 C (10 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 C hot water

Cook beef in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring until it crumbles and is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the pasta sauce

Spread 1/3 of the meat sauce in a lightly greased 11x7 inch baking dish; layer with 3 noodles and half each of ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese. (The ricotta cheese layers will be thin). Repeat procedure; spread remaining one third of meat sauce over mozzarella cheese. Slowly pour hot water around the inside edge of the dish. Tightly cover baking dish with 2 layers of heavy duty aluminium foil.

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes; uncover and bake 10 more minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

So easy to prepare, and I was able to continue to be productive while the lasagna was cooking.

Enjoy