What's For Dinner

Week 36

I am always on the look out for a good crock pot meal… for obvious reasons.  Minimal prep, minimal hassle, a meal waiting and ready for you at the end of the day.  Love. It.  I will say I am a little picky about crock pot recipes.  I don’t really like the kind that require some sort of cream-of-whatever soup.  I don’t know why, I’m not opposed to cream-of-whatever soups.  Maybe they just don’t sound super healthy.  That’s probably it.  And I usually weed out the ones that require some sort of whole chicken; mainly because I never think to buy a whole chicken or any sort of chicken with bones.  Maybe one day, when I finally have my own chickens, I’ll get brave enough to butcher one and use it in a whole chicken crock pot recipe.  Hmmm, on second thought, that is highly unlikely.  Even though I’m a ranch girl, I know how life works and where my food comes from, I don’t think I’ll ever be brave enough to actually butcher and pluck a chicken.  Sorry.

It is for these reasons that this weeks recipe is so wonderful!  Lasagna!  In the crock pot!  Wonderful!  I really like lasagna but it does take a bit of time to usually make it, so when I found this recipe I knew I had to try it out.  If you love a good crock pot meal, be sure to give this week’s Crock Pot Lasagna a shot!

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 12 ounces cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese or 1/2 cup asiago cheese
• 12 ounces lasagna noodles, uncooked
• 16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Brown ground beef, onion and garlic in frypan.
2. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt and oregano.  Cook long enough to get it warm.
3. Mix together cottage cheese and grated parmesan cheese or asiago cheese.
4. Spoon a layer of meat sauce onto the bottom of the slow cooker.
5. Add a double layer of uncooked lasagna noodles (break to fit) and top with cheese mixture and mozzarella.
6. Repeat with sauce, noodles and cheeses until all are used up.
7. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours.

Tips I Learned Along The Way

1. I changed up the sauce a little bit:  I used ground turkey instead of beef (can’t even tell the difference).  Instead of using 28oz can of tomato sauce, I used a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes.  This doesn’t make the sauce as thick and I like the chuncky tomatoes.  My personal preference!  You could also do one can of sauce and one can of diced tomatoes.  I didn’t use the paste at all.
2. I also added basil and Italian seasoning to my ground meat.
3. If you like your lasagna a little more veggie friendly, try adding mushrooms and spinach.  I like to use the frozen spinach.  I let the meat mixture cook a little longer because of that, but you probably don’t have to.
4. I was skeptical about using uncooked noodles, but it works!
5. Several reviews that I read for this recipe said to pour 1/2 to 1 cup of water around the edge once  you have everything assembled to prevent the lasagna from burning to the sides.  I was VERY nervous to do this!  I didn’t want soggy lasagna.  But it worked out great!  I carefully poured about a 1/2 cup of water around the outside of the lasagna and let it cook away.  No burned edges for me!

Recipe High Points

1. Easy, easy, easy!
2. It turned out delicious!  And we had lots of left overs.

Recipe Low Points

1. The crock part of the crock pot takes of a lot of room in the fridge for leftovers.
2. The first slices kind of fall apart.  After cooling in the refrigerator for a day, the remaining left overs held together like a dream.

This recipe may replace my standard lasagna just because of the convenience.  I really think you can take any lasagna recipe and convert it to the crock pot!