Lasagna and the Flu

Statistically speaking, this year’s flu shot has been a dismal failure. The five people in our house all got the shot and now, only one has not had it. The kids had the flu at Christmas while Mr. Picky Eater and I successfully avoided it………..that is until last Monday. At first it started out like a mild headache and the sniffles – like I walked into a room where some perfume I am allergic to had lingered. In about an hour, I wanted to lay down and by late that afternoon my temperature was over 102F. Five days and countless medications later, I am beginning to feel a bit more normal. The thing about being sick is that you are not hungry at all and you must remind yourself to drink water so you won’t become dehydrated – that’s what often causes hospitalization. Eating healthy food, drinking enough water and taking your medicine are necessary to prevent this from happening. Good news is there are also pharmacies, such as the Canadian Pharmacy, that allows you to conveniently avail your medications during those times when you have to deal with sick days.

After barely eating for nearly a week, I was ready for some real food and I talked my husband into making me some lasagna. He needed a recipe to follow so he dug around until I finally pointed to a box that had arrived from Red Gold for their Lasagna Week Giveaway in which you have a chance to win everything in the picture plus a Red Gold Spatula and a Le Creuset Lasagna Pan! I hope you enter to win the prize here: THE WINNING ENTRY and if you win, let me know. You only have a couple of days to enter so don’t delay!
Enjoy this great lasagna recipe while I recover fully from the flu……….it’s a killer!

ALL IN ONE LASAGNA

Ingredients
1/2 cup water
1 (28 ounce) can Red Gold® Crushed Tomatoes, or 2 (15 ounce) cans Red Gold Crushed Tomatoes
2 (14.5 ounce) cans Red Gold® Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic & Oregano
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt to taste
1 (16 ounce) box traditional lasagna noodles, uncooked
1 (15 ounce) carton low fat ricotta cheese
3 cups (16 ounce) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
• Preheat oven to 350 F. In large mixing bowl combine water, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning and salt.
• Cover the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking pan with 1½ cups of sauce mixture. Arrange 1/3 of noodles on top of sauce, slightly overlapped. Top with ½ of ricotta cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 1 cup of sauce. Repeat layers and top with last 1/3 of noodles and the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.
• Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 to 1½ hours; until noodles are cooked. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
• The recipe makes 12 servings, but you could divide the recipe into two 9×9 inch baking dishes and freeze one for a wintry night supper.
Variations:
1. Add 1 pound ground Italian sausage or lean ground beef, cooked and drained, to the tomato mixture of the basic recipe.
2. For added color, flavor and nutrition add 1 (10 ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed and water removed, as another layer after the cheese layers.
3. Add both Italian sausage and spinach for great nutritional value and appearance. Use each as a layer in the recipe.
4. Add fresh basil to sauce for added color and flavor or sprinkle fresh basil on top as a garnish.
5. Use fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced, as an option to shredded mozzarella cheese.

Enjoy!

P.S. – Guys, Red Gold gave me everything in the picture except the plate and the cooked lasagna – but you already know I have used Red Gold LONG before they sent me any canned tomato products and the nifty carry-all, apron, and Creamette lasagna noodles are a plus! 🙂