Lasagna in the Slow Cooker

Today, for dinner, I'm making Slow Cooker Lasagna. Whenever I say that I make lasagna in the slow cooker, I get funny looks. Yes! You can make lasagna in a slow cooker. Yes! It tastes good. My family actually prefers it made this way instead of the traditional on the stove then into the oven method. I personally have never met a lasagna I didn't like, so I'm flexible on the preparation method. This way is very easy, though, and you get it going early in the day. The house smells great all afternoon, and you just set the plates out at dinner time.

Slow Cooker Lasagna

8 lasagna noodles

1 jar spaghetti sauce

1/3 cup water

1 lb cooked hamburger or sausage

1 15 oz container ricotta cheese

2 cups mozzarella or Italian blend cheese

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Break 4 of the noodles into pieces and put in the bottom of the pot. Combine the water sauce and meat. Put half of it on the noodles. Drop half the ricotta cheese by spoonfuls on top of the sauce mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese. Repeat all the steps with the remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 5 hours. Very good and very easy.

French Dip Sandwiches

A couple of years ago, I found this recipe for French Dip sandwiches. It is very tasty and it uses one of my favorite appliances...the crock pot.

                                                French Dip Sandwiches
              
                                                3-4 pound rump roast
                                                1 can beef consomme soup
                                                1 package au jus mix
                                                1 package Italian dressing mix

                                   Combine the consomme with the au jus and Italian
                                   dressing mixes. Cook on low for 10-11 hours. Serve
                                   on sandwich rolls with the juices for dipping. Add
                                   cream of mushroom soup and sour cream to leftover
                                   meat and juices to make stroganoff for the next night.
                                   

Gramma's Fudge

My Gramma Savery made delicious fudge. She usually served it as an appetizer to Christmas and Thanksgiving dinner, so whenever the holidays come around I get a serious craving for it. This is the closest recipe I have found to it. It is super easy and very good.

                                       Peanut Butter and Chocolate Layer Fudge

   

                                          1&1/2 cups chocolate chips

                                          1&1/2 cups peanut butter chips

                                          1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Melt peanut butter chips with half a can of the milk.

Stir til smooth. Spread in 8x8 pan lined with wax paper.

melt chocolate chips with half  can of milk. Stir til smooth.

Spread on top of peanut butter. Cool in the fridge for 3 hour

Remove fudge from pan and cut into squares. Makes 32.

Pumpkin Bread

I mentioned yesterday that I might be trying a pumpkin bread recipe. My mom loves pumpkin bread, and she has mentioned several times that she has had trouble finding it in the Walmart bakery this year. Well, the thought of my mother wandering through the Walmart bakery not finding pumpkin bread broke my heart. Of course I pulled every cook book I owned off the shelf, and made finding a good recipe a priority.

As it turned out , I only found one. It is very good. I have set one loaf aside for my mother, and the other we have been nibbling off of all morning. Here it is. It goes really well with coffee.

                                            Pumpkin Bread

                                            1&1/2 cups sugar
                                            1/2cup oil
                                            2 eggs
                                            1/3 cup cold water
                                            1 cup pumpkin
                                            1/2 chopped nuts
                                            1 3/4 all purpose flour
                                            1 teaspoon baking soda
                                            1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
                                            1 teaspoon cinnamon
                                            1/4 teaspoon salt
                                            1/2 cup chopped dates

Cream together sugar and oil. Add eggs one at a time, then add water and pumpkin. Sift and add the flour, baking soda , nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Makes 2 loaves. Wrap in foil immediately to retain moisture.

Is everyone ready for Thanksgiving  tomorrow? I think I am. I have reviewed the turkey and gravy tutorials on http://www.kraftrecipes.com/home.aspx, my turkey is thawed, and I am ready to wrestle it into submission tomorrow morning.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Banana Bread

I love baked goods. Cookies, cinnamon rolls, muffins, cake...love 'em. Give me a muffin and a cup of coffee and I am happy. I have a very tasty banana bread recipe I thought I would share today. I baked it last night so we could have it for breakfast this morning. Yes, I had it with a cup of coffee, and yes, I was happy. Here it is:

                                  Banana Bread
                             
                                  1 cup of butter or margarine
                                  1/2 cup of white sugar
                                  1/2 cup of brown sugar
                                  1 cup ripe mashed bananas
                                  2 cups all-purpose flour
                                  2 eggs
                                  1 teaspoon baking soda
                                  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
                                  1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Cream butter and sugar, add all other ingredients. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Serve warm with butter or cream cheese spread ( and coffee).

I might be trying my hand at pumpkin bread tonight. We'll see. Do any of you have any recipes that go great with coffee? I'd love to try them.