RECIPE #22: Your husband can still have a home cooked meal while you're away

To make sure your husband eats well while you're out of town, why not make him a meal he can pop in the microwave or oven?

Most of the time I'll make Ryan ratatouille or soup. It's easy to heat in the microwave. But I asked me to make him a lasagna before I left. I'm going to be going up to the cabin for Thanksgiving with my parents before the rest of the family comes on Wednesday, so there will be a couple of days Ryan will have to fend for himself. I made him a lasagna & froze it so he can put it in the oven when he gets home from work on Monday.

Since I don't measure much, I'll try really hard to explain what I did & put some type of measurements.

VEGANs: sub ricotta cheese for tofutti sour cream & vegan "mozzarella" cheese too. Leave off provolone unless you find some vegan form :)

Also these are the ingredients I used tonight. You can use anything you wish...ground meat, sausage, pepperoni, corn, spinach, pesto, fresh herbs like thyme or basil, etc. You can also layer it however you want as well.

UNCOOKED before frozen

Active time: approx 25 min

Cook time: approx 50 min - 1 hour thawed or approx 1 hr 30 min frozen

Temp: 425 degrees

Thinly slice 2 medium zucchini or yellow squash & lightly toss them with 1 T olive oil and 1/2 t sea salt. Arrange on cookie sheet and broil on highest rack for 6 min or until golden brown.

Rinse 1 bunch Swiss chard in cold water; drain, leaving some water clinging to leaves.

Cut thinly. In a large skillet, heat 1 T oil on medium. Add 1 small finely chopped onion & 2 cloves minced garlic. Cook 3 minutes. Add chard & 1/4 t salt. Cook 6 minutes or until chard is very soft, stirring frequently. Remove and set aside.

In 8x8 baking dish, add 1/2 C tomato/pizza sauce to bottom of dish. Top with 2 non boil lasagna noodles which you run under cold water before layering them. It's good to overlap them.

Add thin sliced tomatoes.

Layer broiled zucchini or yellow squash.

Add all the onion - Swiss chard mix. There will be a small amount of liquid in it. Add that too.

Crumble 1 C ricotta cheese on top.

Top with 2 more non boil lasagna noodles which you run under cold water before layering them. It's good to overlap them.

Spread 1 C tomato/pizza sauce.

Add approx 1 C mozzarella...depends on how much your husby likes.

Top with 4 slices of provolone cheese.

Cover & write in perm. marker time & temperature on the cover or piece of masking tape & put in freezer.

See, with a little bit of effort, he can still have a home cooked meal while you're away.