Crock Pot Lasagna

I've had a few people ask for my crock pot recipes so here is one you can begin with. You can find more recipes at Slow Cooking Thursday. I am going to check out more of the recipes posted there because most of mine are just adaptations of regular recipes that I used to cook in the oven. We need some new dishes.

I'm so lazy that I never thaw my meat before I throw it in the crock pot. I love to put frozen ground beef in it for a few hours and then chop it up to use in a recipe. It's so much easier than frying it on the stove! Plus you can add onions and spices to it so they simmer all day giving lots of flavor. I do the same thing with chicken and spices and then serve it on tacos that night. There is no need to add any water with the meat.

I've made lasagna in the crock pot before but I wanted to try a new recipe and found this one from SCT that is super easy! I made a few changes of course because that's what I do. Here is my version (I don't measure). If you want more exact measurements try the original recipe. Notice I start with frozen ground beef? Easy! (Of course if I were just making this for myself I wouldn't add any meat.)

Crock Pot Lasagna

• 1 pound low fat ground beef, frozen (the beef I use is very low fat so I don't have to drain it off)
• 2 cans Diced Tomatoes, 14.5 ounce
• 6 ounces tomato paste
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 each onion, chopped
• jalapeno peppers, 1-3 chopped (One pepper adds a very mild chili flavor. Next time I'm going to add two or three because my kids like spicy food.)
• dried oregano
• dried basil
• garlic
• salt
• 8 lasagna noodles, uncooked
• 1 cup or more cottage cheese (I used three cups and we loved it.)
  about 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Mix tomatoes, paste, water, onions, peppers and spices in crock pot. Add frozen ground beef. Cook on high for a couple hours or on low all day. Break up the ground beef as it thaws and cooks.

Break noodles in half and press into the sauce making sure they are all covered. Mix the cheeses together and spread on top. Cook on high for 1-2 hours more. I cooked mine 2 hours and the noodles were a little too soft. When it's done it will look a little soupy but if you turn the heat off and let it sit for a few minutes it sets up. We can't wait that long so we eat lasagna soup.

Everyone loved this recipe. Even Stranger who doesn't like my lasagna (hence the new recipe)!