Crock-Pot Lasagna

First things first- PACKERS WON SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Everyone cheer, go ahead, it's ok!)

I thought I'd add a picture of some crazy friends we sat near at the Falcons game to celebrate 

This evening, I set out to make Crock-Pot Lasagna. I got the recipe from Jamie Ivey, who I blog-stalk religiously.  The link to her recipe is here.  I can't follow directions, so here's what I did-  (in a 7Qt Crock-pot)

*If you don't want to make your own sauce, you can probably get 2-3 things of Spaghetti 

Sauce and use them... actually- that would make this an "easy crock pot recipe," as it really

 wasn't that easy once I spent half the afternoon making the darn sauce!* If you do this, skip the next 11-12 lines :)

Her recipe basically walks you through making your own tomato sauce, so I used what she had and went with it a little...
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1-2 handfuls of mushrooms chopped up teeeeny tiny (however much you want- I don't like them, but D loves them, so I put them in and bare it)
- 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
- 1/4 cup bell pepper (red blends right in!) chopped pretty small
- 1/4 cup frozen corn (come on, you've seen the Garden Style Spaghetti sauce!)
- 12-16 oz ground meat(like) product - I use Yves Meatless Ground
- 2 Large cans organic crushed tomatoes
- Salt, pepper to taste; I also add Basil, Oregano, Parsley, Garlic Salt, a little Rosemary, and fresh German Thyme- all by what you like stuff to taste like... I just add and taste and add and taste and add stuff until I think it's juuuuuust right! - Oh and a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper just because I'm crazy.

Other Stuff:
- 1 box of lasagna noodles (I use Tinkayada Rice noodles because they're gluten free!)
- 24 Oz Cottage Cheese
- 8-12 Oz Skim Ricotta Cheese
- 4C Mozzarella Cheese
- Parmesan Cheese sprinkles as needed


Sauté the onions for a couple of minutes, then add the garlic and mushrooms and other veggies (besides frozen stuff), then add the meatless ground, cook everything a couple of minutes, and then add the crushed tomatoes, spices, corn, and turn back down to a simmer while you get the other stuff ready!
**if you are using real meat, of course brown the meat before adding the onions and stuff***

Other things:
- I mix the Cottage cheese and ricotta cheese together to give it a little bit of flavor, then you want to layer the stuff in the pot in the following order:

- CROCK POT LINER is a MUST HAVE!!-
- Thin Layer of Meat Sauce
- Layer of noodles- broken up to make a single messy layer
- Cottage/Ricotta Cheese mixture
- Sprinkling of Mozzarella cheese
- Repeat- using more generous layer of meat sauce

Out of my massive amount of sauce and stuff that I made, and my one box of noodles, I got a good 5 layers- maybe 6.

Put in crock pot and cook on Low for 5-6 hours, or on High for 3!
Just make sure you test the noodles with a fork before you cut into it so you know they're ready!
Enjoy!


PS- if you have any good Crock Pot Recipes, please let me know about them! This is my first thing I've ever made in a crock pot!! I am EXCITED!