Lasagna

So after our few days of living in the dark ages, with no power or phone.  The girls have decided they want mommys' home made lasagna, so here is what I made for supper.  I also made the pizza dough recipe and made bread sticks they could dip with the extra sauce that was left.  The best thing about making this Lasagna is that I usually make a double batch.  One to freeze uncooked, and the other one for tonights supper.  So one day when I am to busy (poof) I have supper that I can just throw in the oven.

Now a little bit about my day today, we have had a skunk problem, if you don't live in an 130 year old farm house you may not get this, but the little buggers get into the crawl space below our house and make themselves a little home.  Then when one of the kids go racing threw our house or the furnace goes on, now not every time but usually once a week or month they let fly.  So yesterday I got a live trap to catch the little bugger.  This morning I woke up to a wonderful surprise, there he was in the cage.  Now to drive him somewhere where he can live happily.  But before I could do that I let my little pom out to go for a pee, I had her on a leash but as I was shutting the door she saw the skunk, yanked the leash from my hand and headed straight for the cage, barking the whole way with me running behind her yelling noooooooooooooo.  To late we are both covered in skunk piss.  So into the house I go mix up some baking soda and hydrogen peroxide with some water and cover us both and let it sit for 5 minutes, then off to the shower the both of us went.  Hopefully they don't notice tonight when I go to vote.  My husband has not come home yet so I am not sure if I still smell like skunk.

Lasagna 

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Ingredients:

1 1/2  pound lean ground beef 1/2 cup minced onion 2 cloves garlic, crushed 2 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes 1 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste 1/2 cup water 1 tablespoons white sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

2 tsp oregano 2 tsp salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 12 lasagna noodles (If you use the no cook kind add at about  1 1/2 cup of water to the sauce) 2 cups cottage cheese or ricotta cheese 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1.	In a Dutch oven, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, 1/2 tablespoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2.	Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine  cottage cheese or ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.  If you want you can use the no cook kind of noodles that makes it even easier.
3.	Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
4.	To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the cottage cheese or ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
5.	Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.