With the Daylight’s Savings Time change now in effect, I hope that everyone is adjusting to the longer evenings we are all experiencing.

On a positive note, it tends to make one feel like turning on their oven and cooking more crock pot dinners and soups.

Many times I prepare a lasagna dish for when our family has Christmas together here at our home. Most of our family members like this, and we also serve appetizers along with a couple of salads, vegetables, dinner rolls, and usually an assortment of desserts.

I like to double this recipe and find it a quick dish to put together since the noodles do not have to be cooked ahead of time.

Of course, it is a convenient dish because it can be prepared the evening before the meal. Preparing what you can ahead of time, gives you time to clear the counter and mess before guests arrive. I like to prepare my salads the day before as well.

Overnight Lasagna

1 lb. ground beef

1 (32 oz.) jar spaghetti sauce

1 c. water

1 (15 oz.) carton cottage cheese

2 T. dried chives

1/2 tsp. oregano leaves

1 egg

8 oz. lasagna noodles, uncooked

16 oz. sliced mozzarella cheese

2 T. grated parmesan cheese

1. Brown ground beef and drain well. Add spaghetti sauce and water. Blend well. Simmer mixture for 5 minutes.

2. In a medium bowl, combine cottage cheese, chives, oregano and egg. Mix well.

3. In the bottom of a 9 x 13 in. ungreased pan, spread half of meat sauce. Top with half of the noodles, then half of cottage cheese mixture, then half of mozzarella cheese. Repeat with remaining noodles, then cottage cheese mixture, then mozzarella cheese. Top with remaining meat sauce. Top dish with parmesan cheese. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Uncover before baking. Bake for 50-60 minutes at 350 degrees. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

This is a salad that is very simple and quick to make, just the kind I like. It tastes great and can be made in a short amount of time. This salad can be made with other pie filling flavors also, but I find it nice for the holidays because of the red color of the cherries.

Cherry Salad

1 can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk

1 can cherry pie filling

1 can crushed pineapple

1 (8 oz.) ctn. Cool Whip

Mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate and enjoy!

Time Saving Tip: Rinse off the fruit, veggies, and herbs you are going to use in the coming week, before storing them. This can be helpful during the week when time to prepare a meal is short.

Loretta Krahling is a columnist with over 30 years of newspaper experience. Email her with your recipes and why they are your favorites to krahling93@gmail.com