Pasta Lasagna & WFMW (Freezing Casseroles)

So today was my day to cook Pasta Lasagna, I have been cooking this for about 2 years now. I mainly cook it in the winter months when it is cold out and I don't mind using the oven. When I make it, I make up a few meals so I can take something out and have a home cooked meal (works perfectly when you end up spending to much time on the computer)!

The recipe with my modifications is as follows:

INGREDIENTS --- this makes about 7 meals to feed us (2 adults and 2 young kids)

SAUCE -- I don't use it straight from the jar I make/doctor mine up. (makes a huge stock pot full)

3 pounds lean ground beef -- brown with onion (1 whole) and garlic (5-6 cloves) in pot

4 cans DelMonte Spaghetti Sauce (I use Basil & Garlic)

1 can tomato paste (thinned out with water in one of the spaghetti sauce cans)

1 large can petite diced tomatoes

Water (to rinse all the cans out) I use as little as possible

Dried basil (probably 2-3T)

Italian Seasonings (probably 2-3T)

Sugar (about 1/4 cup) - to take some of the acidity away

PASTA

3 pounds penne pasta - I use whole wheat (any short cut pasta will work just fine) Cook this al dente - as it will cook some more later

CHEESE FILLING

40-45oz of ricotta or cottage cheese (used cottage this time since I was at Costco and they had it there)
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
3 eggs, beaten

Combine all the cheeses and beaten eggs. Stir until well combined.

DIRECTIONS

Grease a pans (I forgot this time!)

Here is my big pot of sauce (I actually made this yesterday) and back behind you can see my cheese mixture.

Here is some of the pasta -- had to cook in two batches

Layer a thin (1-2 noodles thick) layer of pasta

The put some of the cheese mixture - I put small scoops all over it (you can see it under the sauce scoop). Then layer with the sauce -- I spread it around.

The follow up with another layer of pasta, cheese mixture and more sauce. Top with remaining mozzarella.

Here are my completed ones for the freezer (with 3 containers of sauce - 2 large and 1 small (lunch) sized). You do top them with more mozzarella cheese - usually I put more than what is here but I ran out of cheese so I will just get more and top it when I go to cook them.

These are the two for the fridge - the top one is huge and was taken to a family in the ward who just had a baby, and is about twice as large as the others. Then the bottom we had for dinner tonight with enough left for lunch for us both. Don't mind the rest of the stuff, that yogurt container is our chili thawing for tomorrow.

When ready to cook:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake in preheated oven 34 to 40 minutes, until hot and bubbly

What Works for me Wednesday....

You can see in the pictures above that all the pans are lined (with the exception of that one disposable one). I do this when I am making casserole type dishes for the freezer. This is what I do, I have two different sized pans I have used. My bread pans (shown) which I have 3 of or a 8x8 square (which I only have one of). By the way I use heavy duty foil to line them with.

When I have filled the pan, I put it into the freezer to freeze SOLID (sometimes I wait overnight) then I unwrap the edges fold over the top and turn it over. It slides out and I wrap a layer of foil all the way around - label and put back in the freezer. When I want to make that dish I just pop it back into that same pan, put into the fridge to defrost and cook as usual.

Here is a picture right after I took it out of the pan but before I wrapped it to a "brick".

So what Works for You? Head over to Rocks In My Dryer and see what works for others.

Again don't forget to check out A Mommy's Musings and The Nifty Thrifty Homemaker for a giveaway from Krisi's Kards.

Edited 2/1 to include a link back to a Freezer Cooking Carnival!