So Long Lasagna

Everyone has their signature recipe; the meal you make that is your own. Mine is lasagna. The actual recipe is the one I grew up on made by my mother, however I have altered it a little and it has become mine somehow. I love it. Matt loves it. Everyone who has been served it, loves it.

But, here's the problem. It takes a long time to make! I made two 8X8 pans last night - one for us and one for a family who recently had a new baby.* It took me a little over an hour and a half to do. And that was just preparing the lasagna. I didn't actually cook it. (That's another hour). That was just browning the meat, grating the cheese, preparing the bechemal sauce, and the assembling the lasagna. Granted I was making two 8X8 pans, not one - but still!

And it's not like it is all that cost effective either. I probably spent about $15 on ingredients. For two lasagnas, that's certainly better than eating out, but there are other dishes that I can make at home that are significantly cheaper.

After I finally finished the lasagnas, I crashed in one of our cozy chairs and wondered whether I wanted to make another lasagna again. I don't know the answer to that yet, but I think it may be a while before I make one again. I might just break down and buy a pre-made one instead.**

*This has become the thing I do when a friend has a baby. My neighbor dropped a lasagna off for me when we had Ellie and it was wonderful. We could eat it that night or we could store it in the freezer for another night. We chose the latter option and it was great. I still think about how thoughtful she was to bring the lasagna over. It was the perfect gift.

**After all, I am a firm believer in weighing opportunity cost - especially time cost. This is why I pay someone else to change the oil in my car rather than doing it myself. They do it much faster than I would and they don't charge me much more than it would cost for me to buy the replacement oil and filter. Maybe it's time to the same with pre-made lasagnas. Who knows...