Okay, on to sharing recipes. I had posted on Facebook on Sunday that we were having crockpot lasagna and that I was making my weekly batch of granola bars and I had several people ask for both recipes. First I would like to say that both were recipes from other individuals that I took and tweeked to my own personal taste, so I cannot take the credit. But both are some of my favorite things. So, here it goes.
Crockpot Lasagna
Brown in a skillet:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound italian sausage
Diced onion-I buy the frozen chopped onion and use about 1/4 cup, use more or less to your taste
Salt and pepper-to taste
Boil-
1 box of lasagna noodles-though I typically do not use the whole box. I boil them until they are soft, but not completely cooked b/c they will cook additionally in the crock pot. I salt the water and also put 1 garlic clove in the water as well to flavor the pasta while cooking.
Then in a mixing bowl I combine 1 large jar of traditional pasta (I use Prego) sauce with 1 small jar of pizza sauce (anything I can find).
After all of these items are either mixed or cooked accordingly, I layer in a large crockpot as follows:
-thin layer of sauce
-layer of noodles
-topped with layer of meat mixture
-a thin layer of cottage cheese
-sprinkle of Parmesan cheese
-sauce
-mozzarella cheese (I used shredded, and I use a lot!)
-repeat noodles etc.
I end with noodles, sauce and Parmesan and mozz chese. Cook 4-6 hours on low. This can be prepared in advance and just cooked when needed. I often make it the night before b/c my crockpot has an insert that the lid fits on and then I just sit the insert into the crockpot when I am ready to cook it. One thing about this lasagna is that it's not a pretty served lasagna! What I mean is that you cannot serve in in a perfectly cut piece! When it's done cooking, I have to cut into it with a big serrated knife and then spoon it out. It may not look good, but it sure does taste good! And the best part is that you can change this up to add your favorite lasagna ingredients like spinach or even eggplant.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees, prepare a jelly roll pan with cooking spray (I use my Pampered Chef stoneware bar pan, so I skip this step).
Cream together:
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 brown sugar, packed
Then stir in:
4 1/2 cups whole grain rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 cups of your favorite ingredients: I use 1 bag of miniature semisweet chocolate chips, alongwith 1/2 cup of slivered almonds and often toasted coconut. Mini M&M's would be a good addition, or even PB chips or raisins.
Also, when I have it on hand, I add some wheat germ or milled flax seed.
Press into prepared pan and bake for 20-22 minutes. The longer they cook, the crunchier they are. So, if you like them chewy, bake for 20 and for crunchy 22! Hint: if you cook in stoneware, it will continue to cook one you remove it from the oven from the heat of the stone.
Cool completely and then cut into bars. We cut into 24 bars. We then put them into snack size baggies that we reuse each week. Everyone in my house loves these. I know they are healthier than what we buy at the store b/c of preservatives. I have yet to figure what the cost is, but I am sure it's cheaper. Regardless, the kids and I usually bake these together and so it's a good time each weekend!
Now I am hungry! Good day everyone.
