If you want to make a creamy soup, but do not want to add fat by using milk or cream, you can puree white beans like canellini or Great Northern or white kidney beans in the blender to use as your base. I did this recently for a “cream of mushroom” soup. Tastes great!
If you find lemons on sale, but can’t use that many before they go bad, slice them or quarter them and put them in a freezer bag to freeze. When you thaw them out, the juice is as good as new. They don’t look as pretty, but if you’re just using them in a recipe (rather than to adorn the lip of your iced tea glass) then you’re good to go. Lemons are often 89 cents a piece during some times of the year. But when I can find a bag of 4 or 5 at the 99 cent store, I get them, cut them up and freeze them.
You don’t have to pre-cook lasagna noodles. Just layer your noodles and fillings and cheeses and sauce in your baking pan, but make sure that you leave enough room at the top (about 2 inches) so that you can completely cover the whole thing with liquid. Leave the last layer of mozzarella off the top until the very end of your cooking (the last 10 minutes) I usually leave about a ¼ of the sauce in the jar and then add about ¾ to 1 cup of water, then shake the jar to mix the remaining sauce with the water, then pour it over the top and around the edges of the lasagna, just to make sure it is all submersed in liquid. Then cover with foil and cook for 20 minues to a half an hour longer than your recipe calls for. During the last 10 minutes, remove the foil, add the last layer of mozzarella on top until it melts, then you’re done.