Congratulations. Pregnancy is a wonderful, but tiring experience. The good news is there are some short cuts you can take to make lasagna easier.To start with, you don't have to cook the noodles ahead of time. There is usually enough moisture in the sauce to cook the noodles while the rest of the lasagna bakes. If you would rather cook the noodles, try cooking them a day or two ahead of time and refrigerating them until you're ready. One other approach is to cook your raw ground beef in the water with the noodles. Since the ground beef and it's juices are being cooked there is no need to worry about raw juices and when the noodles are done the meat also should be done. You can drain both in a colander and the just pull the noodles out and give them a second rinse if you wish. Ground beef can be cooked ahead of time when you are feeling up to it and frozen to be used later. Two cups of cooked ground beef equal one pound of raw ground beef.

For the sauce, try using a jar of spaghetti sauce. There are many wonderful brands and types of sauces now. You can add your cooked ground beef to the sauce and either pour it over the noodles or simmer it a bit to help bend the flavors. Or if your husband doesn't like bottled sauce, try using a crock pot to cook your sauce over night or while you're gone during the day. Just cool and refrigerate until you're ready to use it or make a big batch of sauce and freeze some for another meal.

For the cheese, there are many stores and many brands that now sell already grated cheese. They might be a little more expensive, but worth the money when your tired. You can grate your own, either by hand or with a processor, and then either refrigerate or freeze the cheese until you're ready. If your local grocery store has a deli department, you can ask them if they will slice whatever cheese you need for your recipe -- this is a real time saver.

Finally, when you're ready to cook the lasagna, pull any ingredients out of the freezer the night before and let them thaw in the refrigerator over night. Otherwise pull what you need from the refrigerator and the cabinets, get out the crock pot or the colander and start cooking. If your sauce seems a little dry or not juicy enough to be able to use uncooked noodles, then just add a little water to the sauce to thin it down.