Crockpot Lasagna

I've said a few times before that Crockpot recipes are our thing right now. It is so easy for me to prepare everything the night before and throw it in the Crockpot to cook all day and dinner is ready when we get home. It's the best feeling when I don't have to cook after working all day. Plus one pot and a couple of dishes to clean isn't a big deal! We can then sit down and watch Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. Such oldies that we are over here. I also get to spend more time with my little family and that's always a win.

I got this recipe off of my handy dandy phone app and wanted to try it! I still have the ingredients for a Crockpot Jambalaya that I plan to make on Friday. I'll let you know how that one goes! I will say that since the cooking time for this is 5 hours, I made this one on Sunday and not during the week. Any Crockpot recipe I make during the week has a cook time of 7-8 hours otherwise it will burn by the time we get home!

For the lasagna you'll need-

8 whole wheat lasagna noodles
1 pack of ground turkey- I use 85/15 (if you like it meaty use the whole pack otherwise use half)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
A jar of pasta sauce sauce- I use Wild Oats organic marinara pasta sauce.
1/3 cup of water
Mushrooms- this recipe calls for canned mushrooms but I used fresh and sauteed them in a little Olive oil.
15oz fat free ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded skim milk mozzarella cheese- I didn't use the entire amount, probably 1 cup.

Brown the turkey meat and stir in the Italian seasoning, set aside. I sprayed the inside of the pot with olive oil and layered 4 noodles. You can break them to make them fit. Add the ground turkey, a layer of sauce, mushrooms, water and cheeses. Repeat. 

Set on low and cook for 5 hours. Voila! Dinner is ready. It's not the healthiest but it is warm, rich and comforting! I think anything having to do with pasta is comforting. ;)





Hope you enjoy it!

Tortilla Soup.

With the cold days here (finally!) all Jack and I have been talking about are soups, soups soups. There's something so comforting about them. They make you feel cozy and good and fuzzy inside.

I've made a couple of different ones in the crockpot before it got cold but this tortilla soup that I've made a few times now is so so good and so easy!

Here it goes!

What you'll need-

Chicken broth
Onion- half diced
Water
2 chicken breasts
1 can of black beans
1 can of corn
1 can of Rotel tomatoes with chilies or whichever brand you like

Put the  chicken breasts in the crockpot, add the diced onion and about 2 cups of the broth and one cup of water. Let that cook on low for about 6 hours or high for about 4 hours. Pull apart the chicken using two forks and add the black beans, corn, tomatoes and chilies. Let that simmer for 30 minutes.

I make tortilla chips by cutting them into strips, I coat them by tossing them in olive oil, spread them on a baking sheet and sprinkle a little cayenne pepper and put in the broiler for about 7-10 minutes or until crispy.

I add this to a bowl of the soup along with some avocado and cilantro. It's a super friendly recipe and the best part is that you let the crockpot do all the work for you! I got home yesterday to a house smelling so good and dinner was ready! What more can you want! If you're a SAHM, you can start cooking this in the morning and by the time your hubby is home dinner is ready. No hassle, no million pots to clean and no twenty ingredients to chop up. Those are things that I look for during the week!

Enjoy! :)