Lasagna...A Dinner Fit for a....

Our daughter Christie is leaving for Georgia tomorrow and I wanted to fix a nice dinner for her before she left. Yesterday I let her make the decision as to what she wanted. After mulling it around for the day she decided on her grandmother's lasagna. My dad loved lasagna but didn't like the texture of cottage cheese or ricotta cheese, therefore my mom decided to try it with cream cheese instead, and it became an instant hit with the family. Here's the recipe that my mom would fix the family.
Teena’s Lasagna (Full recipe)
2 Lbs ground beef (we prefer lean meat)
2 Tbs. Olive Oil
4 Large cloves garlic mashed
1 Large Onion diced
1 large Green Pepper diced
2 bricks of cream cheese sliced short side (you may want to put in freezer for a few minutes before slicing)
1 package of lasagna noodles (cooked al-dente)
1 small can tomato paste 6 oz.
can of water (use tomato paste can)
1 Bag of Mozzarella Cheese
salt
pepper
1-2 Tbs. Basil
Spaghetti sauce mix. Nothing that has cumin or chili spice in it.
1 Large Jar of favorite Spaghetti sauce. I like Prego and or Bertolli Onion, Basil, Garlic sauce

In a large HOT skillet add oil, onion, bell pepper and garlic let sear for 1-2 minutes while stirring, turn fire to low cover and let cook stirring occasionally until onions are opaque. Remove from skillet into a large bowl.

Get skillet hot again and add a quarter of a pound of meat and brown, remove to bowl and repeat process until the whole two pounds are cooked.

Pour all of mixture back in skillet. Add tomato paste, half a can of water, spaghetti sauce mix, Basil, salt and pepper to taste. Don’t use too much salt, save the salt shaker for the table. Mix all together. If too stiff add more water or about a 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce. Don’t get it soupy.

Cook noodles according to package. Warm your spaghetti sauce in a pan.

Assembling the lasagna

In a large 3 qt. rectangular baking dish spray bottom with cooking spray. Put a drizzle of spaghetti sauce in bottom of baking dish, put in three strips of lasagna noodles. Cover with a layer of meat mixture, lay in a piece of cream cheese into every spot you want a serving to be. Large casserole I figure 1 brick per layer, cover with spaghetti sauce and a light dusting of Mozzarella cheese. Repeat the same with next layer. Last layer leave off cream cheese and top out with rest of bag of Mozzarella cheese covering whole casserole.

Bake in 350 oven for 30 minutes or until Mozzarella cheese is bubbly and has a nice light brown crust. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving. I suggest putting dish on a heavy duty baking tray to catch any drips. Also this will make it easier to remove from the oven. Makes 9 servings.

Serve with a tossed salad and Italian Garlic Bread Sticks.
Dinner is served.
Happy trails...