Crock Pot Lasagna

In the continuing effort to make dinner time easier on myself while working, I've been trying to incorporate my crock pot more often. That way everything is set up before I start working and dinner is ready when I take my lunch break at 7 pm.
I found this recipe on Recipezaar (thanks to Alyssa for introducing me to that site!) and it turned out really well! It's definitely an easier was to make lasagna than the traditional way, and tasted great as well.

Crock Pot Lasagna

Ingredients

* 1 lb lean ground beef (I used turkey)
* 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 (we like 2%)
* 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese or asiago cheese
* 12 ounces lasagna noodles, uncooked
* 16 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Brown ground beef, onion and garlic in frypan.
2. Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, salt and oregano.
3. Cook long enough to get it warm.
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 cheeses.
6. Repeat with sauce, noodles and cheeses until all are used up.
7. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours.

Pop Up Pancakes

I was searching the interwebs for easy dinner ideas last week (now that school and soccer have started, cooking has become extra hard considering I'm still working swing shift), and I happened upon Makes and Takes.

I loved the idea of pancakes shaped to hold goodies, so we tried them last night and they were a big hit! We filled them with strawberries, blackberries, and whipped cream. Aiden just loved them.



Here is the recipe pulled off her site; I halved it since it was just for Aiden and me.

* 1 cup milk
* 1 cup flour
* 6 eggs
* 1/4 cup melted butter
* dash salt
* Preheat oven at 400*

I just filled a slightly greased muffin tin to about 2/3 of the way full per spot and popped them in the oven for 15 minutes. Also, I followed Marie's advice of mixing the batter in the blender, and everything came out perfectly. Next time, I am going to try to find a way to bake a thin slice of ham and swiss cheese and top with some boisenberry jam for a type of Monte Cristo.



Again, many props to Marie from Makes and Takes for this great recipe!