Freezer meal: Roasted tomato, sausage and spinach pasta

Hey look!  Apparently, way back in December 2013, I had thought about posting this and got distracted.  Mommybrain, thy name is Honeybee.

This was a super-tasty recipe, which I liked making (and eating).  It also made me smile because it marked the (slow) return of my ability to share my cooking with others (read: forcing friends to be my guinea pigs).  I really enjoy that, so after months of barely feeling up to cooking for us, let alone others, it was a refreshing change.  The idea was to create some freezer meals that we could just heat up quickly later when I went back to work, and to share the love with some of our dear friends who also welcomed a baby just four weeks and one day after G-man arrived!

The recipe really didn't take much modification on my part.  It's posted here, from Canadian Living Cooks (they called it "Make-Ahead Baked Pasta... not descriptive enough.  I like my title better).  I think my only addition was some baby spinach wilted in before baking (you can see this in the pics, below).  I felt like it needed some extra veg.  Feeding a bubs with my own body made me somewhat nutrition-conscious!

Lastly: this meal was brought to you by Costco.  I think only the garlic was purchased elsewhere.  I love that store.

Noticing one more draft from months ago... perhaps for another night...

-Honeybee

The finished (if slightly blurry) product.  Mmm, melted cheese.

Sooo, these are out of order.  Deal with it.  All packaged up, ready for the freezer, with reheating instructions written on the labels!

Recyclable (yay, no dishes!) aluminum baking trays, wrapped with plastic wrap (remove before baking!!) and wrapped again with aluminum foil.  Freezer safe!!

Handwritten reheating instructions.  Nobody has time to go back and check the online recipe!

Getting ready for packaging/baking.  The white dish on the right was for our dinner that evening, the other two for later!

Adding in that baby spinach!

Pasta boiling, roasted tomatoes, garlic and sausage at the ready!

Words cannot adequately describe how AHMAZING this smelled.  Roasted garlic, Roma tomatoes, and spicy Italian sausage.  Yet another possible application for Smell-o-vision... or... Smell-o-internets?  Nevermind.

Roasting off some sausage, fresh Roma tomatoes, and two HEADS of garlic.  Yup, this isn't for a first date.

Mmm.  Tasty tomatoes.  These did take a bit of time to chop and seed, but it was WORTH it.