The start of the month

So, Mr. R and I are starting a new way of grocery shopping. Industrial, utilitarian, and Midwestern in its manner, I am aiming to only go to the store once per month, with interim stops only for milk and other perishables. We rely primarily on frozen veggies, so that isn't an issue, and I've frontloaded most other perishables into the earlier weeks of the monthly menu. I am optimistic that this will be both a time and money saving plan, as our grocery bills had ballooned out of control for a family of 2 plus one spastic dog.

So, with that in mind, I planned 15 meals for the month (each to be eaten for two nights plus leftover lunches). Night one - faux lasagna (faux in that, I had penne, so I used penne instead of lasagna noodles).

First, I browned up a pound of ground beef with 2 small sliced onions, some garlic, and a TON of Penzey's pizza seasoning. This pizza seasoning was the whip. It had all kinds of delicious flavors - fennel, basil, oregano, etc - and really was tasty. Once browned up, I added in about 1 1/2 c of marinara sauce I'd made a while back (in retrospect, 2 c would have been better, even 2 1/2). Meanwhile, I prepped the creamy filling. I mixed equal parts ricotta and cottage cheese, an egg, garlic, thyme, basil, salt and pepper.
After cooking a pound of mini penne, I began the layering. A spoonful of sauce, penne, ricotta mix, repeat. SOMEONE ate all my cheeses, so I had to rely only on Parmesan on top. Then, it was ready for baking.I baked it, covered, at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Notice the lovely Do-si-Dos in the background. V integral. Then gently served (note - cannot serve slices like you can regular lasagna, penne went flying). You'll notice it is a bit dry - extra sauce would have been useful. But it is really tasty!