Easy Veggie Lasagna

Here's a recipe I love because it's easy, relatively healthy, and yummy too! I also like it because I can make it up in the morning or at nap time (my most productive time of day) and stick it in the oven when it gets close to dinner time. My sister gave me a veggie lasagna recipe a while ago, maybe 5 years...? She got it from some cookbook called "Recipes with Very Few Ingredients" or something to that effect. I've since lost the recipe, and I just made up one of my own, but I think it's pretty similar.

Here's what you need:

-Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles

-1 container Ricotta Cheese

-2 cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese

-1 Jar Pasta Sauce

-1/4 cup Water

-2 cups steamed Veggies (My favorites are zucchini and broccoli. I've also used spinach and mushrooms before with success. I've only ever used fresh veggies, but you might be able to do frozen as long as you thaw and steam them first.)

Here's how you do it:

-Preheat your oven to 375. (unless of course you're going to wait a while before you cook it, like I usually do)

-Spread a little bit of sauce in the bottom of a 9X13 pan.

-Add a layer of lasagna noodles. (somehow I missed taking a picture of this step)

-In a small mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese and the 1/4 cup water. This just makes the cheese easier to spread.

-Spread 1/3 of the ricotta over the noodles.

-Pour and spread 1/3 of the pasta sauce over the ricotta. (clearly I'm still getting used to taking pictures as I cook)

-Sprinkle 1/3 of the veggies over the sauce.

-Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella over the veggies.

-Repeat layers: pasta, ricotta, sauce, veggies, mozzarella, pasta, ricotta, sauce, veggies, mozzarella. Good time to talk about patterning if you have a child helping you or watching you. (sometimes the early childhood educator in me takes over) Truthfully, I put more veggies in the bottom 2 layers than I do in the top one. Super B is more likely to dig in if he doesn't see zucchini everywhere, so distribute as you wish.

-After all the layers are in the pan, cover it with foil.

-Bake, covered, for 40-45 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for 5-10 more minutes. You can check the noodles with a knife to see if they feel done. I usually can tell if it's ready by looking at the cheese on top.

-Enjoy!! I dare you not to love this stuff. You won't miss the meat AT ALL!