Fave Foods-Stove Top Lasagna

Hello, all! Here is a recipe that I made for dinner last night that was a BIG hit in our house! One of my husband's favorite things to eat is Hamburger Helper. He loves the stuff and I usually have a box or two (or three!) in my pantry. It's not really that great for you and really, I just hated the idea of giving my family a box of powdered dinner with no veggies in it. This meal is adapted from a recipe on the Eat Better America website, found here. (I did half this recipe to make only four servings which was plenty to feed us dinner and even have some leftovers for lunch) I made some simple adjustments to a) suit Husband's like and dislikes and b) use up some produce I had purchased for another recipe that was not lasting as long as I thought it would....just being honest here, people!

Stove Top Lasagna
Makes 4 Servings

Ingredients:
1/3 medium onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 medium zucchini, diced
8 oz Italian sausage (or you could use ground beef or even ground turkey to be healthier here)
1/2 of a jar of your favorite pasta sauce (I used Classico Spicy Red Pepper because I have yet to perfect a homemade recipe :/ )
1 1/4 cups water (plus a little more if needed)
1 1/2 cups uncooked no-yolk medium egg noodles
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper (if you like your pasta to have a little kick and we really do!)
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup part skim shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
In a large skillet or 4 qt Dutch oven (this is what I used because sometimes I am messy and this helps me keep everything in the pan!), cook the sausage, onion, bell pepper, and zucchini over medium-high heat until the sausage is no longer pink. Drain.
Add pasta sauce, water, uncooked pasta, and all the seasonings and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Reduce the heat to medium and simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes or until pasta is tender. This is where I had to add about 1/4 cup or so more water after it had been simmering about 5 minutes. Let stand about 2 minutes then sprinkle with cheese and serve.

The great thing about this recipe too is there are endless possibilities. Husband actually had other plans for dinner but this smelled and look so good he ended up eating a little bit of it with us before he left! In my book, that is a success!