Lasagna

Lasagna is one of those dishes that can be made with so many variations. I sometimes skip the sausage and pepperoni and just use the ground beef, sometimes I use three layers and cook four more noodles, and sometimes I just use cottage cheese for the filling. If you want to skip the meat altogether or add to it, you can add sauted vegetables such as mushrooms, onions, garlic, bell peppers, carrots, zucchini, etc. to the sauce. I like putting grated Parmesan on top too.

1 lb. ground beef, browned
1/2 lb. ground Italian sausage, browned (optional)
1 lg. jar spaghetti sauce
8 lasagna noodles, cooked
pepperoni
1 lb. mozzarella, grated

Filling:
15 oz. ricotta
1 egg
1/2 tbsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 c. mozzarella, grated

1. Brown ground meat. Add spaghetti sauce.
2. Cook noodles.
3. Mix filling ingredients.
4. In 9x13, layer 1/2 of the noodles, sauce, filling, single layer pepperoni and mozzarella. Repeat.
5. Bake at 350 F for 1 hr. Let stand 10 min.

Beefy Chile Rellenos Casserole

5 (4 oz.) cans whole green chiles, drained
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 med. onion, chopped (1 c.)
1 tsp. garlic, minced
3 tsp. cumin, divided
1 pkg. taco seasoning, divided
1/2 tsp. salt
8 oz. pkg. shredded Monterey Jack cheese (2 c.)
8 oz. pkg. shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (2 c.)
4 eggs, beaten
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 tbsp. flour
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
Sour cream
Raisins
Toasted slivered almonds
Pitted ripe olive slices

1. Heat oven to 325 F. Grease 9x13 glass baking dish.
2. Split chiles lengthwise; remove seeds. Pat chiles dry with paper towels.
3. In a heavy skillet, cook and stir ground beef with onion and garlic until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in 1 tsp. of the cumin, 2 tbsp. of the taco seasoning, and salt.
4. Arrange half of the chiles in a single layer in greased baking dish; top with beef mixture and another layer of chiles.
5. Sprinkle cheese over chiles.
6. Combine eggs, milk, and flour; pour over cheeses.
7. Stir remaining 2 tsp. cumin and remaining taco seasoning into tomato sauce. Spread tomato sauce evenly over casserole.
8. Bake until bubbly in center (about 60 min.). Serve with sour cream, raisins, almonds and olives if desired.
NOTE: You can refrigerate this casserole up to 24 hr. before baking. Refrigerate the tomato sauce in a separate bowl and spread on casserole just before baking.