Sunday Family Dinners: Lasagna

If you read my New Years Resolution post you might have noticed that one of them was to have dinner at the table as a family every Sunday! I just think it's so important for our families that we gather together at least once a week and check in with each other. Especially as Man-Child is getting so much older, and that means so much busier, between school, sports, youth group and his newly emerging social life (which by the way freaks me out?) it seems like we are always on the go for something. I wanted to make sure that once a week we were sitting down at the table having a good meal and talking with each other.

Then the Hubster surprises me and says he would like to have every meal or at least most of our meals at the table, which we've always been bad about just getting our plates and then sitting in front of the TV. It didn't start out that way when Man- Child was little we always ate at the table but somewhere along the way we started eating in front of the tv more and more. I love that we were both on the same page and were both really feeling like we needed that connection that comes from sitting down to a meal together.

Have we done it every meal? No, but we have done it more meals than not since the beginning of the year.

For our first Sunday Family Dinner I made Lasagna.

Here's what you'll need:

2 cups Mozzarella, shredded

9 Lasagna Noodles (half a package)

SAUCE

1lb Ground Beef

3 cans Tomato Sauce

1-2TBSP Italian Seasoning

1tsp Garlic powder

1/2 Onion, diced

Pinch of Brown Sugar

Salt and Pepper to taste

FILLING

1 16oz container Ricotta

1 Egg

1tsp Italian Seasoning

1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

1/2 cup Colby Jack, shredded

Here's how you make it:

In a large skillet cook your Ground Beef, season with Salt and Pepper, until it is browned, add in the Onions and cook until translucent. Then add in the Tomato Sauce, Garlic Powder, Italian Seasoning, and the Brown Sugar,stir to combine then let simmer. Meanwhile fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil add in the Lasanga noodles, boil for 10min then drain the water. In a small bowl combine the ingredients for the Ricotta filling. In a 13x9 pan place a spoonful of sauce in the bottom of the pan, add a layer of noodles. Cover the noodles with half the Ricotta mixture, then cover with sauce. Add another layer of noodles, Ricotta, and Sauce. Then finally add the remaining noodles. And cover with the rest of the sauce. Then top with the Mozzarella and Colby Jack. Cover with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, remove foil, and bake another 15 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes then slice and serve.

Enjoy