Tasty Tuesday! Crock Pot Lasagna

Crock Pot Lasagna

I am by no means queen of the kitchen - I do (almost) always try but occassionally I have major dinner time flops.  A perfect example would be the time I intended to make chicken noodle soup in the crock pot - I decided NOT to use the provided recipe and instead went at it full force.  All by myself.  It was a hodge podge of ingredients and my end result was a ginormous crock pot full of chickeny mush.  We all ate a little bit, but the rest ended up being trash.  I couldn't tell you exactly where I went wrong, but I'm guessing it started somewhere around the whole "not following the recipe" part. 

With my blunders also come some fantastically delicious meals as well.  Meals that don't get turned into a mushy mess.  Meals that delight my family because they are filling and delicious.  One of my favorites of these delicious meals is crock pot lasagna. 

I first came across this dish from a girl I go to church with.  I've since tweaked it and changed a few things around and its turned into a simple, easy dish that can cook while I'm at work.  I encourage you to try this out and make your own adjustments - comment below and let me know what you think or you can send an email to tiarasandtantrums2012@yahoo.com!   I'm also always looking for recipes from everyone and everywhere - so if you've got a good one to share, send it to me!   You can also check out my Facebook Fan page by clicking here.   I'll do my best to make sure that Tasty Tuesday recipes are on Facebook too!

1 Pound Lean Ground Beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon each of: salt, dried oregano, and dried basil
1 large can of Pasta Sauce (I use the Hunts Four Cheese variety)
2 cups of mozzarella cheese
1 small container of part skim ricotta cheese
1 cup of low fat cottage cheese
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of water
1 box of uncooked lasagna noodles

1.  Cook ground beef and onion in skillet over medium heat.  Stir in pasta sauce, salt, dried oregano, basil and water. 

2.  Mix 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, all of the ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and cottage cheese. 

3.  Spoon your 1/4 of your beef mixture into the bottom of the crock pot. Top with noodles until your beef mixture is covered.  Spread a portion of your cheese mixture over the noodles.  Repeat until you've used all of the beef mixture and cheese mixture.  (Your final layer should be the uncooked noodles, topped with a small portion of your beef mixture.)

4.  Cook on a low heat setting for 4 to 6 hours or on a high setting for 2 hours (or until noodles are tender.)

5.  Sprinkle lasagna with the remaining mozzarella cheese and let melt.

Serve and enjoy!