Oh, right, the 22nd is a Sunday...the big prep day. Should be a relax day, lol. But no, it is a multi-task day.
Not sure of your family favorite recipe, but my winter lasagna is much more dense and rich compared to my late summer veggie lasagna....
When i do the winter version i make a crockpot chili at the same time as they use similar ingredients except for the spices and final additions...
For the lasagna i do all the prep, the sauce, caramelized onions and mushrooms, etc. , and 'build it' and bake just 1/2 hour short, chill, and top with cheese and fridge, covered. I can finish the baking the next day or two days later...
Three days is a stretch, but if chilled in the coldest part of your fridge it should be fine. Or prep all the 'layers' and keep them cold and in the fridge and do a final quick assembly the night before?.
Three-four days for left-overs is not a problem...my limit is three, DH will go four, lol.
You don't want to serve left-overs, so if you bake it 2/3ds and get it cold fast in the coldest part of your fridge and do the final bake Christmas day, it will taste fresh.
The only trouble is if your fridge get so much action and is full and not holding a good cold temp...from opening often by family members off school and work, things will spoil faster, so crank it colder for x-mas week and all your foods will be fine.
If you have snow like we do, bake it and chill it in a snow pack under the casserole dish to chill quick.
Extending a dish for later serving is really all about how well you get it cold fast, then keeping it chilled...

Have you tried the oven ready lasagna sheets from Ronzoni and Barilla? I like the ease and texture better than boiled noodles. If you make the sauce ahead, you can assemble the lasagna in 15 minutes. Maybe that will allow you to make it Christmas Day.

I am the luckiest person I know--our Italian friends (from Naples, Italy) offer us lasagna on Christmas Eve to eat on Christmas day. I give them huge cookie trays and they give me lasagne. Sounds like a good trade!!

Otherwise, I would freeze it for 2 days and them thaw and bake. It will be wonderful!

I would make the sauces and then assemble just before cooking. I would worry that the pasta sheets would suck up the sauce and it would end up a bit dry and not taste so fresh. With the no-cook sheets, assembly is a matter of minutes.

Thanks for all of the ideas.
Making the sauce ahead is a great idea and I am going to do this. That is the part that takes the longest. :)

Or make it and freeze it. It freezes well.

:)

I agree, it freezes well. I often assemble a couple of small pans of lasagna and freeze them unbaked, then thaw and bake later. I also take small unbaked pans to my stepmother, so she can bake them when she wants them.

Annie

I always make my lasagna without boiling the noodles first, and I don't use the no-boil sheets, either. I make my sauce just a little more juicy, and it comes out beautifully after baking.

Cj

I'm odd man out here, I don't care for lasagna that has been previously frozen.

Another who thinks it's best to have it all ready and assemble Christmas Day or Christmas Eve Day. Make the sauce, grate the cheese in advance, I actually like to use provolone slices as well as grated moz. I also like ricotta and a bit of spinach so I add the spinach to the ricotta and keep all the piece parts in the fridge until ready to assemble.

I use the fresh pasta sheets from the deli section. You don;t cook them and they are oh so tender...but the no bake works...actually the regular noodles work fine too. Just make the sauce a tad more liquid than you might normally.

The whole thing goes together in 15 minutes tops!

Sometimes I assemble my lasagne 24 hours in advance and refrigerate...its always great even if I do say do!!!

Good luck!