Slow Cooker Triple-Layer Lasagna

I made this recipe forever and a day ago and DH and really liked it (but didn't love it). I was talking to a co-worker about what we were making for dinner a couple weeks ago and she made lasagna. I immediately thought about this recipe.

I found it in a Prevention Guide Slow Cooker Recipe Book.

I'm going to include the original recipe, followed by my additions and substitutions.

Triple Layer Lasagna

1 pound extra lean ground beef (very important that it's extra lean!)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 clove of garlic, minced
9 oven-ready lasagna noodles
1 jar tomato sauce
1 container fat-free cottage cheese
2 cups shredded reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (we never have this so I don't use it)

Additions/Substitutions
-I use 1 pound of ground turkey instead of ground beef. It adds a little more of a milder flavour to the lasagna, and it's a little more healthy
- I add waaaaaay more garlic
- added half a red pepper, chopped
- added one handful of spinach, chopped
- added a few shakes of Club House Italiano Seasoning (or whatever is your favourite)

1. Combine meat, vegetables, and seasonings in large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until meat is no longer pink, 8-10 minutes .


2. Coat 4-quart or larger slow cooker with cooking spray. Place 3 noodles, side by side, in bottom of cooker. Top with one third each of the tomato sauce, cottage cheese, meat mixture, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers two more times, ending with mozzarella. Sprinkle with Parmesan on top.



3. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours, or until lasagna is cooked through and cheese is bubbly.

Note: I find that if you put the cheese on and then cook it, it gets hard and over done. I usually top the last noodle layer with tomato sauce and meat mixture, making sure that all the noodles are covered to keep moist, if it looks a little dry add some of the liquid that was in the skillet with the meat mixture.

When the lasagna is about half an hour from being done, or when you get home from work, sprinkle with the last bit of mozzarella, and wait for it to melt.

Yummy!

Spaghetti Sauce Recipe

I was still running a fever late yesterday afternoon, so I am still sick. What better way to use my time off then post another slow cooker recipe. I'm sure you could make this recipe on your stove top, but why?

This recipe originially hailsfrom 300 Slow Cooker Favorites by Donna-Marie Pye, with some changes from me. This is one of the best recipes I have found that not only stretches a jar of tomato sauce and a pound and a half of ground meat something fierce, but it also comes full of veggies which is a recipe must have in our house.

Anthony's Big Ragu (spaghetti sauce)

1 lb ground turkey
1/2 lb ground beef
2 onions finely chopped
5 cloves of garlic minced
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
handful of spinach leaves finely chopped
4 tbsp Clubhouse Italiano Seasoning
1 can diced tomatoes with juices
1 carrot finely chopped
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 can of pasta sauce (or roughly 3 1/2 cups)

In a large skillet brown the ground turkey and beef. Drain and add to slowcooker.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the slowcooker and stir to combine.

Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours, or on HIGH for 4-6 hours, until hot and bubbling. Serve over your favourite pasta, or over some spaghetti squash just like we're going to do tonight. That way there is no guilt even though I'm also eating garlic bread.

This recipe works best with a 6-7 quart slowcooker.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice

(taken from the Crock Pot Recipe Card Collection)

I got a recipe card collection for Christmas last year for my slow cooker. You may have noticed that quite a few of the recipes I share are for slow cookers. Andre and I both work long hours at work, and the earliest either of us arrives home to start dinner is 6:45. Pretty late to start a traditional dinner that takes an hour to cook. Needless to say I cheat and use my slow cooker a lot so we can still have a good meal together at the end of the day.

This is one of my favourites. I was a little skeptical when I read the ingredients, but let me tell you, coming into your house at the end of a long day and taking a whiff of this great dinner will turn you into a believer! Just whip up some veggies, and dinner is done. In fact, this is cooking in my kitchen at this very moment.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice

Ingredients:

3 cans of condensed cream of chicken soup (we use the sodium reduced, or reduced fat varieties)

1 lb of chicken breasts or cutlets (can be frozen)

2 cups of brown instant rice, not cooked

1 cup of water

1/2 cup chopped celery

salt, pepper and paprika

Start by adding the soup, rice and water to the slow cooker.

Mix well, and then add the chicken. I always cheat, and add the chicken while it's frozen, you can always thaw it first.

Then season with a little salt and pepper, and paprika, and add the chopped celery on top.

Cover, and cook on Low for 6-8 hours (I find 6-6.5 works perfectly), or on High for 3-4 hours. This is how is should look:

If you are cooking your chicken from frozen, I would suggest checking to make sure the chicken is fully cooked with a meat thermometer (I'm a little bit of a freak like that making sure the meat is cooked properly, regardless if frozen or thawed from the start).

Make some veggies and dinner is done!

Enjoy! I know we will tonight!

Helen

That was my great-grandmother's name. Yes, I got to know my great-grandmother. In fact, I even got to know my great-grandfather as well. I was 21 when she passed away. She never got to meet Andre, even though her wish was to see me married off. I believe she was with me though when Andre and I said our vows.


The reason for this trip down memory lane is that I've been thinking about her a lot lately. I've been burning the candle at both ends so to speak lately and I've been paying the price. It seems like every weekend my body has enough and I start to feel like I'm coming down with something. This past weekend was the worst. As I was doing my best to do nothing on my day off on Monday all I wanted was my great-grandma. I knew that she would give me a hug and make me a pot of her homemade chicken soup.


See she was the type of grandma that believed that the common cold or flu could be cured with chicken soup. The moment she found out that anyone had come down with a cold she would immediately hit up her arsenal (the freezer) pull out some chicken and in just a few hours you would be seated in front of a steaming bowl of homemade chicken soup with the biggest (and best) egg noodles. Her soup was the best. And all I wanted this weekend was her soup. It would make me better, I knew it would.

Instead I had to settle for copious amounts of water, COLD FX and sleep. It seemed to do the trick for the time being. But last night when Andre and I went to the grocery store, I picked up an extra whole chicken, they were on sale. I had big plans for this chicken. So last night after we had finished the roasted chicken dinner when the slow cooker had barely had time to cool I threw in the required ingredients for chicken soup.


Here is my recipe:
1 chicken carcass, pieces of chicken, whole chicken. whatever you have
1-2 carrots chopped in three
1-2 celery stalks (with leaves) chopped in three
2 bay leaves
1 onion, chopped into quarters
2-4 cloves of garlic (I love garlic, I added 6)
6-8 cups of water
salt and pepper
sprinkle of paprika (I've been searching for that little something extra, I think this might be it)

Throw everything into the slow cooker, and let simmer on LOW for 12 hours. She wouldn't be happy that I'm not standing over a simmering pot for hours, but lets face it, I just don't have that much time. I like to let my soup simmer overnight.

Take out the chicken and strain and compost the vegetables. Let the broth cool and skim off the fat. Chop up the chicken and add to broth along with cooked veggies of choice. Cook egg noodles, rice, whatever you like and add to broth. Voila! You have soup!

Now I am prepared for whatever the fall throws at me. I know that I can handle it as long as I have some soup just waiting in the wings (my freezer).

Here is a picture of my great-grandparents:


I hangs in our dining room. It's them in their garden in their home in "the city", because all of us that lived on the escarpment lived in "the country". Together with the picture of Andre's departed grandparents that resides underneath, they watch over us. Making sure that we eat our chicken soup and take care of us every time we get sick.

Drunken Roast Chicken

As fall approaches I am slowly dragging out some of my favourite cold weather recipes. There is nothing better than coming home from work on a blustery cold day to a warm house smelling of deliciousness. This recipe was taken from "300 Slow Cooker Favorites" by Donna-Marie Pye (with some changes by moi).

No Frills happened to have a sale on President's Choice whole chickens this week so I have been stocking up. Tonight was suppose to be wish dish night (AKA Jenna is on strike, fend for yourself!) but I would be home earlier than my usual 8:20 from work, and Andre felt like chicken so I threw this in the slow cooker for dinner really quickly this afternoon.

It seems like a really fancy meal, but the beauty is that you can have it cooking in less than 15 minutes in the morning, and if you're just feeding two people (like us!) you will have dinner, and plenty for lunch the next day. If you're so inclined, you can also make some homemade chicken soup from the carcass!

Here we go!:

Drunken Roast Chicken (Slow Cooker)

1 roasting chicken (3 1/2-4 pounds)
6 cloves of garlic1 onion quartered
1 lemon (rolled on the counter while applying gentle pressure to loosen up the juices, then pricked with a fork)
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 cup sodium reduced (or homemade) chicken stock
1/2 cup dry white wine (can substitute more chicken stock)

Rinse chicken inside and out and pat dry with paper towels. With your fingers, gently loosen skin from chicken breast to form a pocket. Insert garlic halves under the skin. Place a few cloves of garlic and the lemon into the cavity of the chicken.

With kitchen twine, tie chicken legs together and secure wings to body, leaving an extra length of twine at each end. You will use the ends to lift the chicken from the slow cooker.

Spread the onion on the bottom of the slow cooker and place the chicken breast side up on top. Sprinkle with thyme and paprika. Pour in stock and wine.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, high for 4 hours, or until a meat thermometer inserted in thigh reads 170 F (77 C)

When finished cooking remove chicken and place under preheated broiler for 5-7 minutes to brown if you prefer crispy skin.


Skim fat from juices in slow cooker, transfer to pot, warm juices and add flour and water mixture to thicken for gravy.

Serve with mashed potatoes and veggies.