{Recipe} Crockpot Lasagna Casserole Recipe

Have you guys ever heard something that  just seemed completely impossible and almost too good to be true? Well, that's how I felt about throwing DRY , UNCOOKED noodles into a slow cooker. How does it cook all the way? How would I know it's done without opening the lid and interrupting vital "cook time"? How? What? Really, are you sure?? 

But I'm here to tell you that it's all true, people. It works! And it's amazing. It's about to change our lives. 

So here we go! 

We start with making our different layers. This is definitely the most labor intensive part - but when you're slow cooking, prep is always the hard part. That, and waiting of course... Especially if you're hungry! 

One mistake I made was I let it get too watery. Didn't drain the tomatoes enough. Or the veggies. Or the steamed spinach. But we like our food saucy and juicy so it was fine by us!

Layer em one at a time. Then repeat, repeat, repeat. EVEN THE DRY NOODLES. I broke up some of the noodles so that it'd fit my little bitty crock pot. It's so simple that it still seems too good to be true. :)

Your last two layers should be the meat sauce and a generous amount of cheese. I chose pepper jack over mozerella because it was cheaper. I couldn't taste the difference, to be honest!

2-3 hours on high or 4-6 hours on low should do it. We did the "high" option because Eugene was hungry! Ooh look at that cheese. 

Remember what I said about letting it get too watery? This is what happened. And this is when we decided to let it be a casserole. And whatayaknow - the pasta noodles were completely cooked! AMAZE. 

Eugene finished our 12-serving lasagna casserole in 2 days. Usually I would say "...so that means something!!" but my husband has hard time with his portion control, so..... yeah. :)

Try it and be amazed!! 

CROCKPOT LASAGNA CASSEROLE RECIPE 

Adapted from Weelicious

• Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons oil, divided
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 small green bell pepper
• 1 8-oz pack of mushrooms, sliced
• 6 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups of spinach, steamed and squeezed

• 2 pounds dark meat ground turkey or beef 
• 2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 tablespoon dried italian herbs
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3 cups low-fat cottage cheese
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 16 ounces grated mozzarella cheese, about 4-5 cups
• 1 pound dried lasagna noodles, uncooked 
• *(I ended up only using half a pound of noodles)

• 
  
• Instructions
• Add oil to a pot over high-heat and add garlic and onions. Cook ground meat in the pot with the garlic and onions until cooked through.  Drain tomatoes and dice into bite sized pieces, add to pot and allow it to come to a boil. Sauté bell pepper and mushrooms and add to the meat sauce. Finally, add salt and Italian herbs. Set aside. 

Whisk eggs in a medium bowl. Add parmasean cheese and cottage cheese until thoroughly mixed.  Set aside. 

Blanch or steam fresh spinach in hot water. Drain water and squeeze any water out of the spinach completely. Set aside in small plate/bowl. 

In the crock pot, lay a thin layer of meat sauce, a single layer of dry lasagna noodles, cottage cheese mixture, spinach, mozerella cheese. Repeat until you run out of ingredients or until your crockpot reaches the 3/4 mark. Layer meat sauce and moz cheese on top. 

Cook for 2-3 hours on high, 4-6 hours on low. Check to make sure noodles are cooked through prior to serving. 

If you want the lasagna to have more shape - turn the crock pot off and let it sit for 30 minutes prior to serving. 

Bon appetite! 

XOXO

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{Recipe} Easy Crockpot Pulled Pork and Cole Slaw

Happy February!

One of my goals for January was to use my slow cooker more. I've been using my slow cooker a lot this week and I've been loving it! This will probably be a goal for 2014 as a whole since I'm planning on using it a lot this year! I'm learning so much! 

I have an easy and super simple pulled pork recipe for you guys today. It literally takes 20 minutes to prep, 6-8 hours of uninterrupted cook time in the slow cooker and you have yourself some juicy, tasty, melt-in-your-mouth, fall-off-the-bones pulled pork! 

The first thing to do is chop your onion/garlic and make your rub. My rub had cinnamon in it and it smells so good! 

Here's my pork shoulder looking all pretty and stuff. Here's how you start: wash it, pat it dry and cut off any huge chunks of fat. I left a few slithers of fat in the meat for flavor. Season the shoulder with your rub! 

Lay your chopped onion/garlic in the slow cooker. Pour some chicken stock in. I hear a can of beer or coke works well too! (Gotta try that one day.) Gently lay your pork shoulder on top of it all and close the lid. The cooking begins!

For your coleslaw - gather up your ingredients. I chose to use Greek yogurt instead of Mayo again (tryna be healthy, y'all) and though it did it's job - I think my cole slaw would have appreciated a little bit of mayo. It ended up being a little too bitter and not creamy enough.   Next time! This is Eugene's request, too. 

The veggies get mixed together first with some lemon juice. The dressing gets whipped up all on its own. Then they marry and make a beautiful little salad. 

This gets covered and goes into the fridge to set in. 

Here is what 8 hours did for me and my pork shoulder. It was so exciting seeing it shred so easily. I drained the excess broth into a bowl and left the onions and garlic in the crockpot.  I shred this thing like crazy then put it back in my crockpot. Add juice back into the slowcooker, one spoonful at a time until it's at your desired level of juiciness.

We used Hawaiian rolls and made our sandwiches! Eugene are so many, I don't think I'm allowed to tell you just how much he ate. Let's just say these little guys didn't have to sit in Tupperware for long. 

Add a few drizzles of sriracha if that's your thing. Or Dijon mustard. You just can't go wrong!

Xoxo

SLOW COOKER PULLED PORK RECIPEAdapted from CHOW.com

INGREDIENTS

• 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 4 medium garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 cup chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 (4-1/2- to 5-pound) boneless or bone-in pork shoulder (also known as pork butt), twine or netting removed
• 2 cups barbecue sauce (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1) Place the onions and garlic in an even layer in the slow cooker and pour in the stock or broth. 

2) Combine the sugar, chili powder, measured salt, cumin, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Pat the pork dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture all over the pork and place the meat on top of the onions and garlic. Cover and cook until the pork is fork tender, about 6 to 8 hours on high or 8 to 10 hours on low. 

3) Turn off slow cooker, remove the pork to a cutting board. Pour the onion mixture and leftover juice from the slow cooker through the strainer and return the solids to the slow cooker. Set the strained liquid aside.

4) Remove pork from slow cooker and shred. Return back to slow cooker and add the juice until desired tenderness. 

{Recipe} Simple Crockpot Hoisin Chicken

 I've been wanting to use my slow-cooker for months now but honestly never got enough courage to try using it. I was anxious about leaving it on while I was taking my nap before work because I wasn't sure if it was gonna burn out the food or worse--set our place on fire!  Silly me.

Because I'm working a night shift tonight, I thought I'd gather up my courage and give it a go. Deep breath. Hold yourself together. Just do it! and I did.. and I'm so glad that I did. I delayed my nap until this finished cooking because under all this superficial courage I was still a little bit nervous. I wasn't sure if I had to turn the heat down myself. or take the food out when it was done. or, or or!

 The awesome thing I found out is that once the timer is done, your heat mode will automatically switch from "High" to "Warm" which means, I can leave it at home cooking for hours with a peace of mind. Thank you Lord for slow-cookers!!!!!

Anyway, I wanted to try an Asian-style dinner and found a recipe on a magazine I had purchased a few weeks ago. Since this was my first time I wanted to try something super easy and the "Simple" part of the title won me over. (I also love Hoisin sauce so that was also a bonus!)

recipe adapted from: Better Homes & Gardens Magazine 

Simple Hoisin Chicken Recipe:
Prep: 15 mins    Cook: 4 hours (low) + 30 minutes (high)

Nonstick cooking spray

6-8 bone-in chicken thighs (I used legs because that's all I had!)
2 Cups Broccoli Stirfry Vegetables
1 Cup of Mixed Bell Peppers (roughly chopped)
1/2 Cup Cilantro to garnish (finely chopped)
Salt & Pepper

Sauce:
1 Cup Hoisin Sauce
1/2 Cup Chicken Broth
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
1 Tsp Ground Ginger (optional)

3 Cups hot cooked rice (I used Jasmine)

1. Lightly coat the inside of the slow cookier with cooing spray.

2. Season chicken with a pinch of salt and pepper. Place chicken in Slow Cooker.

3. Gather ingredients for sauce together in a bowl. Mix well. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 4-5 hours or on high-heat for 3 hours.

3. Turn heat to high before adding the vegetables. Stir well and make sure the chicken and vegetables are well coated. Cook for an additional 30 to 45 minutes more or until vegetables are crisp-tender.

4. Serve over hot cooked rice. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

 Bon Appétit!