So as you can see I didn't get much done over the weekend. So this morning as I tripped through the mess of toys, dropped shoes, and the mass of dishes I just couldn't look in the eye last night, I knew today was going to be spent cleaning.
But you see, when I spend my day cleaning I rarely have the energy to spend the evening cooking and then cleaning it all up. Especially if laundry was involved earlier, (which it is BTW). Now I mentioned in an earlier post my goal of feeding my family on $200 a month. Yeah, I'm still working on it. But because I've planned all of our meals in advance I looked at the calendar and realized I was gonna have to cook tonight. So with some switching around I decided that we were going to have lasagna from the crockpot.
I had found a pin several months ago for crockpot lasagna but when I followed the link it was linked to spam. So with no instructions, and just a couple pictures (which really? Is it that hard to imagine how they made lasagna?) I set out once again to re-create this recipe into my own.
I didn't take any pictures while making it because I figured if you know what lasagna is you know the basics of making it.
But even if you're not a connoiseur of lasagna the steps are relatively simple. Cheese, meat sauce, noodles right?
Okay so here we go:
Crockpot Lasagna
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup diced onion
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste
3-4 shakes of the Worcestershire sauce
2 cans Hunts spaghetti sauce (this isn't the best sauce if you're having spaghetti but as I just needed a base and it has all the spices it works)
16 oz low fat cottage cheese
15 oz skim ricotta
8 oz mozzarella shredded
8 oz Kraft Italian 5 cheese blend
2 TBSP Italian seasoning
1 box lasagna noodles
Brown hamburger (you could sub turkey) with onions, garlic, salt and pepper and worcestershire. Once cooked through drain the excess fat and add 1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce. Stir and set to simmer.
Next in a seperate bowl stir together cottage cheese, ricotta, half of the shredded mozzarella, and the italian seasoning.
Once you've got your cheese and meat sauce ready it's time to layer it all together. Spray the crock with Pam or whatever non-stick spray you have. Start by adding a thin layer of meat sauce to the bottom of the crock. About 1/3 of a cup. Next break your lasagna noodles to fit the crock and put a layer of noodles on top of the meat followed by the cheese mixture, then noodles, meat, cheese, five cheese blend, noodles, meat and so on and so forth. Layer your mixture till the top layer is just noodles. You need to leave some space at the top of your crock for the lasagna to expand. If you don't it will spill over. And who really wants to clean that mess up? Then pour the remaining spaghetti sauce in making sure that you get it down the sides too.
Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Now my crockpot even on low cooks very high. So if yours doesn't get as hot as mine you might want to had some extra time to let it cook, an hour two more. But you know you're pot the best and judge accordingly. About twenty minutes before you're ready to serve turn the broiler on your oven on low. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella on top and putting JUST the ceramic crock in the oven broil the cheese till it's golden and bubbly. About 5 minutes. You'll want to keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn. Once cheese is golden remove it and let it set for a few minutes to allow everything to settle. Slice and serve. We had ours with a green salad and homemade rolls.
Perfect!!
I always seem to have the energry earlier in the day to cook rather than at night. That's what I love about my crockpot so much! I can start it when I have the time and don't have to worry about the big mess later! I'll have to start coming up with more recipes to use that thing with!
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