Slow Cooker Meals

I have a friend who has been in and out of the hospital lately. She is home with a brand new baby and a lot of complications. For her and the baby. She also has a husband and a 3 year old.

What can I do to help?

Cook!

My schedule has been hectic. So getting something done for her family has been pretty sporadic.  I thought, "Why not do some slow cooker meals?" They are quick and easy. Dump stuff in in the morning or at noon and supper is ready!

I prefer to cook from scratch as you may have figured out by now. Crock Pots don't mind a can of this, a box of that or a bag of something else. They do well with that kind of thing. And most of it does come out pretty well. For me though it tastes kind of like a can or box or bag. But even I will sacrifice some taste for time savings. (Don't tell any one that I said that though. It will ruin my reputation!)

So I went searching for some slow cooker recipes. Thankfully there are hundreds, no thousands, of them out there. I have a cook book called "Make It Fast, Cook It Slow" by Stephanie O'Dea. (She has a blog too) It is a great book with lots of different kinds of recipes. Main dishes, but also how to melt down the kids crayons and make new ones. With a whole lot in between. So check it out.

Anyway, what I found was interesting. (that's the best word I could come up with!) I knew that I had to try the recipes before I could share them with anyone else. I mean, what if they were awful? How could I live with myself. Off I went to dig out some of my many slow cookers that were stored in my nice new cupboard. (Love my new kitchen!) Here is the first one we tried.

Slow Cooker Lasagna

1 lb Hamburger, browned (I used 2)
1 jar Pasta Sauce (I used 26 oz Spaghetti Sauce)
1 8 oz can Tomato Sauce
1 16 oz jar Alfredo Sauce
1/2 9 oz box of No-Boil Lasagna Noodles
12 oz pkg Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (3 cups)
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese

In a bowl mix the cooked hamburger with the pasta sauce and tomato sauce. Spray the crock with cooking spray. Put a small amount of the meat mixture in the bottom of the crock. Just enough to cover the bottom. Then layer about 1/3 of the noodles. (you will need to break them up) Next put about 1/3 of the remaining meat mixture. About 1/3 of the Alfredo sauce then 1/3 of the Mozzarella Cheese. Continue to layer until its all gone. Ending with Mozzarella Cheese on the top and sprinkle with the Parmesan Cheese.

Cover and cook on Low for about 4 hours.

Ours ended up cooking for 5 hours and it was a little too long. There was some burned cheese around the bottom. I ate it but Ron didn't.

We liked it! What I liked most was it was READY when I got home. I made some garlic bread I had ready in the freezer. We ate and cleaned up and still had most of an evening to enjoy.

For my friend I think I will brown up the hamburger and refrigerate it. Put the rest of the ingredients in a bag with the instructions and add the meat and cheese at the last minute. I'll drop it all off for her to put together. Hope they like it!