Recipe Reveiw from 11/28/11

Back into the swing of things upon return from South Carolina!  We got our first sticking-snow this past week too - only an inch, but made roads trecherous enough that my usual 25 minute drive home took twice as long.  Not complainin' though!  Was listening to Shoot to Thrill by PJ Tracy.  Listening to a book on tape is a great way to spend time on a commute. 

I actually did some pre-planning before we went on vacation and had several meals frozen and waiting for our return.  Simple things like pork cutlets (served with stuffing and acorn squash), pork chalupas over rice, and the Stratford 'sweet' chili.  I didn't want to have to stress over doing a grocery run immediately upon return.  Worked out pretty well except for being out of milk and apples. 

And my goal to use my crockpot once a week continues with this recipe:

Slow Cooker Lasagna  (Ckng Lght Bulletin Board)
Oh my goodness! Was this quick, easy and good!  I think assembly took me maybe 30 minutes, and part of that was to caramelize the onions before adding the sausage.  I also used fresh mushrooms prefering the way they stay firm in the end product.  If you don't like you 'shrooms quite so robust in a dish, toss them in with the onion and before the sausage.   What I especially liked about this dish is that it is NOT a 9x13" pan.  This was the perfect size for two of us for about 3 lunches each and one supper. 

Serving Size : 6-8
1 lb ground round  mild bulk Italian sausage
2 tsps minced garlic  (because I just didn't feel like dicing it...)
[2/3 cup diced onion]
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
26 ozs jar chunky garden-style pasta sauce
1/4 - 1/3 c water
8 lasagna noodles -- uncooked   (I used Barilla no-boil noodles)
4 1/2 ozs jar sliced mushrooms -- undrained
8oz sliced fresh mushrooms (I used crimini)
15 ozs part-skim ricotta cheese
1 1/2 c shredded lowfat mozzarella cheese  (I just used the whole 2cup bag of mozarrella...)

Cook beef, garlic, [onion] and seasoning in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat until beef is browned, stirring to crumble. Drain and set aside. Combine pasta sauce and water in a small bowl and set aside. Place 4 uncooked noodles in a 4-quart slow cooker coated wit cooking spray, breaking noodles to fit. Layer with half of beef mixture, pasta sauce mixture, and mushrooms. Spread ricotta over mushrooms. Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella. Layer with remaining noodles, meat, pasta sauce mixture, and mushrooms. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low and cook 4-5 hours.