Lasagna!

A freezer meal staple, to be sure. If you've never made it before - well, honestly, with those no-boil noodles they have now, you really have no excuse! Here's my recipe:

Sauce:
2 15 oz. cans stewed tomatoes
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp. dried minced onion
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tbsp. oregano
1 tbsp basil
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp red wine

Puree the canned tomatoes in a blender, pour into saucepan, add the rest of the ingredients, and simmer for 10 minutes. Yes - you really need this much sauce with no-boil noodles!

Cheese Filling: (mix together the following)
2 eggs, beaten
15 oz. ricotta cheese
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated romano cheese
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Additional ingredients:
1 pound of cooked ground beef or sausage
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
1 box no-boil lasagna noodles, we prefer Barilla

Lightly spray a 9x13x2" pan with cooking spray.
Place 1/4 of the sauce in the bottom of pan
layer 4 no-boil lasagna noodles slightly overlapping (they will expand while cooking to cover the pan, trust me!)
Spoon on 1/2 the cheese filling
Sprinkle on 1/2 pound cooked ground beef or sausage
Place another 1/4 of the sauce on top
Layer 4 more noodles
Spoon on remaining cheese filling
Sprinkle on 1/2 pound cooked ground beef or sausage
Place another 1/4 of the sauce on top
Layer 4 more noodles
Place remaining sauce on top of noodles
Sprinkle 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese on top.

Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

At this point, you can cool the lasagna, cover it tightly, and freeze it for reheating later. Gladware makes wonderful casserole containers with lids that work wonders - you can bake the lasagna right in them, then freeze it, then reheat it - all in the same pan.

Really, you have no excuse for not making lasagna. Everyone loves it. Use your own recipe - it'll freeze just as well!

Hint - if you use traditional noodles that you boil first - you can assemble the lasagna and then freeze it BEFORE baking, ensuring a much fresher meal later on. I've done both - it's your preference, really. Lasagna also works great for a meal ministry item.

Make the most of our short strawberry season

It's strawberry season in Connecticut, and pick-your-own farms are everywhere. Why spend $2.50 a pound for pesticide-laden, questionable-quality-by-the-time-they-hit-the-east-coast berries from California, or $8.00 for a 4 lb. bag of whole frozen strawberries at Sam's Club when you can pick them fresh for @ $1.00 per pound and freeze them yourself just hours later. I freeze my strawberries three ways:

1) I wash them, cut the stems off, and lay them in a single layer, not touching, on a waxed-paper coated piece of cardboard or cookie sheet - then I freeze them that way. Once they're frozen, you've got yourself a bunch of red marbles that you simply transfer to a gallon ziplock bag and store in the freezer.

2) I wash, stem, and slice them up, mix them with a little sugar (helps keep them freezer burn-free) and store them by the quart in quart-sized ziplock bags - lay the bags flat to freeze...but make sure there's a flat surface underneath them, or you'll be trying to pry frozen bags of strawberries from your wire freezer shelves. These I use for topping desserts such as shortcake, cheesecake, etc.

3) I make a bunch of no-cook strawberry freezer jam to last us a year until the next picking season - just pick up a box of Sure-Jell at the grocery store and follow the instructions - it's the easiest and best tasting strawberry jam you will ever have!

So go ahead - fill the freezer! You'll be reaping the rewards all year long!