Mom's Corner | Cooking & Recipes | Crock Pot Recipes

The Crock Pot! A Busy Mom’s best friend…   

By Jody DeRosso

Families are so busy these days, rushing our kid’s to school or daycare and ourselves to work.  Were worn out by the end of the day and who

wants to cook a huge meal?  So you decide to go out for fast food or just cook a quick meal.

Do you own a crockpot or slow cooker? Maybe it’s gathering dust… Most of us own one but never use it.  You probably thought it was just for soups or stews.  It’s actually quite easy to make a delicious balanced meal in your crockpot, and it only takes minutes.

Whether you’re a working mom, a stay at home mom, or a “sports mom” you can save yourself time and stress by utilizing this tool.  When I ran a daycare from my home, I would set the crockpot and we would be busy with crafts and maybe go on a field trip.  We would come home to the smell of chicken and roasted carrots and potatoes.  All I would have to make was a salad! The parents would arrive at about 6pm and be greeted by the delicious aroma.  I often wondered how stressed out they would feel to get dinner on the table.

You can do most of the preparation the night before and just throw it in the pot the next morning.  Here is a recipe that has been floating around our family for some time and has become my family’s favorite recipe. It feeds three teenaged boys and my husband & I.  All you do is add bread and a salad.  This meal takes 3-1/2-4-1/2 hours to cook, perfect for a “sports” day.

Slow-Cooked Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef, ground turkey, or ground sausage

1 (28-oz.) can tomato pasta sauce (pick out your favorite flavor)

1 (8-oz.) can tomato sauce

½ (9-oz.)pkg. (about 8) no-boil lasagna noodles

1 (1-lb.) jar alfredo pasta sauce

12 oz. (3 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Brown meat in a large skillet over medium-high heat until thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently.  Drain.

2. Spray the inside of your slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.  Spread 3/4 cup of the tomato pasta sauce in bottom of slow cooker.  In your skillet stir the remaining tomato pasta sauce and tomato sauce into ground beef.

3. Layer 3 lasagna noodles over sauce in slow cooker, breaking noodles if needed.  Top with 1/3 of the alfredo pasta sauce, spreading evenly.  Sprinkle with 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese.  Top with 1/3 of the ground meat mixture, spreading evenly.

4. Repeat layering twice, using 2 lasagna noodles in last layer. Spread some more parmesan cheese over top.

5. Cover, cook on low setting for 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours. 

Bon Appetite!

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