Crock-Pot Lasagna

I wish we had more recipes on here cuz I really do like them and have tried a lot of them, and after Angie said she liked to use the crock pot I remembered this recipe I got from my mom and thought I'd share. It's super easy, makes a lot, and is really good.

Crock-Pot Lasagna

1 lb ground beef

1 jar (26-28 oz) tomato pasta sauce 

1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

1 jar (1 lb) Alfredo pasta sauce

1/2 package (9 oz) no-boil lasagna noodles (about 8 noodles)

3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Cook ground beef in large skillet, drain.

2. Spray 4-5 quart crock-pot with non-stick cooking spray. Spread 3/4 cup of tomato pasta sauce in bottom of cooker. Stir remaining tomato pasta sauce and tomato sauce into ground beef.

3. Layer 3 lasagna noodles over sauce in slow cooker, breaking noodles as necessary. Top with 1/3 of the alfredo sauce, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Top with 1/3 of the ground beef mixture, spreading evenly.

4. Repeat laying twice, using 2 lasagna noodles in last layer. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

5. Cover, cook on Low 3 1/2-4 1/2 hours.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Start to finish: 4 hours 50 minutes

Servings: 8

No Fry Fried Ice Cream Cake with Raspberry Topping

Marilee gave me a the "Favorite Family Recipes" cookbook for my birthday and I love it! (you can find their blog here)  This recipe is from that book and Mike has repeatedly requested this.   I am making this for Carter's ice cream social before he leaves so depending on when you see this, you may or may not have tried this already. Enjoy!

1 C. Butter
1 C. Brown Sugar
3 C. crispy rice cereal
1 C. sweetened, flaked coconut
1/2 C. chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream (recommended: use the square boxes so you can just open up and slice)

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Add brown sugar and mix until dissolved.  In a large bowl, combine cereal, coconut, and nuts.  Pour melted butter and brown sugar over cereal mixture and stir until coated.  Press half of cereal mix into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Cut ice cream in 1-inch slices and spread evenly over mixture in pan.  Spread remaining cereal mixture evenly over ice cream.  Place in freezer for at least one hour.  Cut into squares and serve with raspberry sauce, hot fudge, caramel, strawberries or any other topping you like.

Raspberry Sauce
2 T. cornstarch
3/4 C. water
1 pt fresh or frozen raspberries
1/3 C. sugar
1/3 C. orange juice

In a small bowl, whisk water and cornstarch until blended.  In a medium saucepan, combine raspberries, sugar, and orange juice.  Slowly add cornstarch mixture.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened.

Baked Black Bean Flautas

So....I'm not sure if anyone is still looking at this blog anymore but I still think of recipes to post on here all of the time.  So if nothing else, I know where they will always be, once I get them all posted haha

A friend of mine brought something very similar to this to us the week after I had Warren and we loved them so I found a recipe on Pinterest that is very comparable.  I've made it a few times for us (and I made it for Serena & Ryan's family recently too).  This is honestly a super easy recipe and I usually have all of the ingredients on hand.

The one change I made, was instead of adding water to the beans when cooking I added the juice drained from Rotel tomatoes.

(credit given to: http://vittlesandbits.blogspot.com/2010/05/oven-crisp-black-bean-flautas.html)

Oven-Crisp Black Bean Flautas

• 1 t. olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed & drained
• 1/2 t. onion powder
• 1 t. chili powder
• 1 T. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 10 oz. can mild Rotel diced tomatoes & chiles, drained
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/2 C. Monterey Jack cheese (or whatever type you prefer)
• 5 10" flour tortillas
• canola oil, for brushing

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook about 1 minute until fragrant.

Add 1/2 C. water along with beans, onion powder, chili powder and cilantro.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer about 10 minutes until most of water is evaporated.

Remove pan from heat and smash beans with back of spoon or immersion blender until mixture is thickened but still chunky, with some whole beans left.  Stir in salt & Rotel, and allow mixture to cool.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Coat baking sheet with cooking spray, or line with nonstick foil.

Microwave tortillas in 10 second intervals until soft & pliable.  Spoon a heaping 1/3 C. mixture in a line down center of each tortilla and sprinkle cheese on top.

Fold in sides on either end of the line, and then roll tortilla tightly around filling.  Secure end with a toothpick and set on baking sheet with seam side down.

Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the tops of the flautas with oil and place baking sheet in oven until crisp, about 10 minutes.  Serve with guacamole, sour cream, and/or salsa.  (I would also recommend cutting them in half to let them cool... the filling stays really hot in the enclosed tortilla!)

Crock Pot Meatball Marinara

As you probably know by now, I love crockpot meals! I now try to add a crockpot meal each week when I do my meal plan. I found this one on Jamie Cooks It Up and we loved it (and Mike's usually not a huge spaghetti fan)! It's super easy and super good! I actually halved the recipe since there's only two of us. Since the recipe calls for 3 cans of tomatoes I used 2 and I thought it was great. I also used the Costco meatballs like she used because I already had them.

Here's the link. Go try it out! http://jamiecooksitup.net/2012/09/meatball-marinara-crock-pot/

OBB Cheesesteak Sandwich

One of our favorite quick and easy meals is Cheesesteak Sandwiches from Our Best Bites!  I usually use yellow or orange bell peppers just as a personal preference over the green.

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/07/cheesesteak-sandwiches/


Angie

Freezer Meals for the Crock Pot

Before I had Warren, I spent an evening preparing freezer meals to use post-baby and I have LOVED having them! I use them on the days that he just won't let me put him down or the days I felt more sore and tired from recovery or because he didn't sleep very good that night or just because I'm feeling lazy. I haven't used them all and I hope to prep some more once I run out!   They've been so handy!  I know there are recipes for freezer meals that you can bake (like the Honey-Lime Enchiladas that Marilee gave us...DELISH!!) but all of these are meant to just throw in the crock pot for a few hours.


These are from the Six Sisters' Stuff blog.  They have other recipes for freezer meals but these are the ones I chose because I had just bought a case of chicken from Zaycon Foods.

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds chicken breasts

1 (16 oz) bag frozen broccoli florets

2 (16 oz) jars Alfredo sauce (I use light)

1 large green pepper, chopped

1 (4 oz) can sliced mushrooms, drained

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag and mix together.

When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on LOW for 4-6 hours. 

Serve with cooked fettuccine noodles, green salad, and breadsticks. 

Cilantro Lime Chicken w/ Corn and Black Beans

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts
Juice from 2 limes
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp cumin 

salt and pepper to taste

Directions: 

Place all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Mix together and zip bag closed.

When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on LOW for 8 hours (or HIGH for 4 hours). 

Serve with tortillas and toppings such as with sour cream, guacamole, salsa, and cheese.

Recipe adapted from Over the Big Moon. 

**I have this in the freezer but I haven't made it yet. I'm excited to try it though so I'll let you know what we think.

**I don't think you need to thaw  these before hand, it just cook it for a couple more hours til the chicken is done.

 

These recipes are from Saving You Dinero

Crock Pot Hawaiian Chicken
(4-5 servings)

• 2-3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• ½  cup white sugar
• ½  cup vinegar
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• ½   cup of pineapple juice (use what’s in the can)
• ½  can of large pineapple chunks

Add all the ingredients to the bag. Cook 4-5 hours on high or 6-7 hours on low. Serve it over rice and enjoy. While I am cooking the rice I  like to shred the chicken and put it back in the juice before I serve it.
**This was a little sweet for my taste but still yummy.  I just added soy sauce on top when we ate it at it was better (according to my taste buds).

Garlic Honey Chicken
(4-5 servings)

• 1 ½  to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ⅓ cup  soy sauce
• ⅔  cup ketchup
• ¼  cup honey

(Feel free to double the sauce if you like extra sauce)
Add all the ingredients to a freezer bag. Cook 3-4 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low.  We like to eat this with mashed potatoes and a veggie.
 **THIS WAS DELICIOUS!!  It could easily be done without freezing if you wanted. I made loaded mashed potatoes (with sour cream, bacon, cheese, and green onions) and salad with the chicken and we both loved it!

Chicken Fajitas
( 5-6 servings)

• 2 peppers (your favorite)
• 1 onion
• 1 1/2 pound chicken breast
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• taco seasoning packet
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. salt

You will also need tortillas, cheese, cream, etc.
**I cooked the chicken and then made chimichangas with the meat after I shredded it. I used the meat and peppers, black beans, cheese, and salsa. Rolled them up with the ends tucked in and lightly fried them in a pan with a little bit of oil in them.  So yummy!

Directions

1. Put all the ingredients in a large freezer bag. (Make sure you label the bag with instructions.)
2. When it’s time to cook it, dump it all in your slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours.
3. When it’s cooked, shred the meat and add it back to the pepper mixture and serve on warm tortillas and your favorite toppings.

 Let me know if you have any great freezer meal recipes or if you have any questions about these!  Happy Cooking everyone! :)

Love ya!
Ang 

Pumpkin Cinnamon Struesel Pancakes

Every week on either Friday or Saturday night, we like to have breakfast for dinner.  It seems like that is the only time I have to actually cook breakfast!  Last week I made these pancakes from twopeasandtheirpod.com:

http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/pumpkin-cinnamon-streusel-pancakes/

They were sooooo good! I followed the recipe exact, except I only used half the amount of struesel and I thought they were just right.  I think that if you used the full amount, they would be way too sweet.  Also, we liked them with just butter, no syrup on top.