Lasagna

By far my favorite comfort food...and anytime I have to host a dinner party. I don't think many other meals can come together to feed a group of 10 people as easily as lasagna. If you make it the night before then all you have to do the day of the party is pop it in the oven and toss a salad. Also a great dish to make a few in disposable pans at about the 37 week mark of pregnancy then freezing them unbaked. Then after baby arrives all you have to do is take it out of the freezer and bake and your husband will be so impressed by how you were able to care for the new baby AND cook such a great dinner he'll give you a foot massage...

How many more meals do you know of that can bring you all the way through elegant dinner parties and pregnancy?

Lasagna

1 spaghetti sauce recipe (see here)
1 pound ground beef
9 lasagna noodles
1 - 24 oz tub cottage cheese
16 ounces shredded mozerella
16 ounces shredded parmesan
1 small can sliced black olive (optional)
1 small can sliced mushrooms (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and put in lasagna noodles. Boil about 7 minutes until noodles are extremly al dente. You don't want to cook them all the way because they will be boiling in sauce in the oven and we don't want mushy noodles.

Follow spaghetti sauce recipe, adding 1 lb ground beef as you saute the onion and garlic. (Or use your favorite jarred spaghetti sauce, I won't judge.) If you'd like, you can also stir in a can of mushrooms and a can of olives.

Spray a 9x13 lasagna pan with cooking oil spray. Lay down 3 noodles in bottom of pan. Layer with 1/3 of spaghetti sauce followed by 1/3 of cottage cheese and 1/3 of each the mozzerella and parmesan cheeses. Continue until you have 3 layers.

Bake uncovered 45 minutes, making sure the top is nice and brown. Let set about 10 minutes out of oven before cutting to let the cheese set up.

Enjoy!!!