Crockpot Lasagna

Another recipe I found on Pinterest and another one that's SO easy to make!  

I don't know about you, but I've never prepared a real lasagna from scratch.  Just thinking about it makes me really nervous!  I know folks that do!  My great aunts, to be specific, and they are fabulous cooks!  However, I've never had 2-4 hours to prepare a meal.  Like, never!  When I found this recipe, I just knew we could now have lasagna in our house on a regular basis and without too much time and energy from me!  Kevin loves pasta, so he's a happy man!

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

29 oz can tomato sauce
8 oz pkg. lasagna noodles, uncooked

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 1/2 cups cottage cheese

Photo contains some extra ingredients we used because we're so adventurous!

Directions:

1. Brown the ground beef

2. Stir the tomato sauce in with the ground beef

This is also where we added the onions and garlic (optional variation)

3. Combine the cheeses in a bowl. (I left out about a half cup of the mozzarella cheese so I could melt in on top right before serving)

4. Spray the inside of the crock-pot with cooking spray 

5. Spread 1/4 of the meat sauce on the bottom of the crock-pot

6. Arrange 1/3 of the uncooked noodles over the sauce (I break them in half so they fit better...it's okay if they overlap!  They'll all get moist while it's cooking!) 

7. Spoon 1/3 of the cheese mixture over the noodles.

8. Repeat these layers twice
 9. Top with remaining sauce

10. Cover and cook on low for 4hrs (**I've started the crock-pot on high in the morning before I leave for work and then put it on warm when I leave and it's perfect when I get home!)
11. Right before you're ready to eat, top with the remaining half a cup of mozzarella and heat until melted.

12. Let the lasagna stand in the crock-pot with the lid off for at least 10 minutes

In the original recipe post, folks suggested some variations to the recipe.  Here they are:

1. Add chopped onion and garlic to the ground beef in step 1

2. Use Italian sausage in place of ground beef or with ground beef

3. Add 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese to the cheese mixture. Or replace cottage cheese with Ricotta. (Cottage cheese is healthier for you, so in the end, I decided against it!  I'm not a fan of cottage cheese AT ALL, but in this recipe, I didn't notice it!  It tasted like true lasagna!)

Seriously, it's amazing!  I think the first time I made it, I filled up on chex mix (which I'm addicted to) right before dinner and only had a small sliver.  When I went back for leftovers two days later, it was completely gone, so Kevin must have enjoyed some lunches out of the leftovers.  This time, I really got to enjoy it...and we changed the recipe around a little bit.  I added onions in once the ground beef was browned in step 1 and then tossed in some chopped garlic before stirring in the tomato sauce.  This really added some good flavor and reminded me of homemade lasagna.  Kevin also begged for ricotta, so we used half ricotta and half cottage cheese along with the mozzarella!  It turned out great!

**Again, much discussion about if this is safe, etc.  However, since the ground beef is completely cooked before you put it in the crock-pot, I can't imagine there would be much chance for bacteria to grow.  Save it for a Saturday or Sunday meal and cook on high from the start if you're that concerned!

Love Day!

I have to brag because I have the BEST Valentine EVER!

Kevin and I had tickets to a hockey game on Valentine's evening, so we had already decided that we'd celebrate with a meal later in the weekend.  We didn't talk much about gifts, but since our first Valentine's Day together, I've made him a photo collage each year and framed it.  Each year it highlights how many months we've been together and includes photos from the previous year.  This year, I couldn't add our married months to our dating months, so it was 44 + 4!  YAY!  We've already been newlyweds for 4 months!

As for a gift from Kevin, all I wanted was flowers.  And they didn't even have to come on Valentine's Day.  Since we were going to dinner on the weekend, that would have been a perfect time for flowers!

Valentine's day morning, Kevin woke up super early and said he was off to the store and he'd be back.  I knew it was Valentine's related, but I didn't know what he was up to.  When he arrived back home, he urged me to hurry up getting ready and get downstairs because my surprise was getting cold.  This immediately made me think he had gotten me a Starbucks treat!  I finished my morning routine and rushed downstairs to find my surprise...flowers and a Starbucks, right...and there was nothing.  I couldn't find anything.  I ended up in the kitchen and in front of my lunchbox was a bo-berry biscuit in the shape of a heart (my hot treat) and a beautiful card.  He never ceases to surprise me.  Well, he was beside himself and has been talking about it ever since...how excited he was to get me a bo-berry and how he couldn't wait for Valentine's morning so he could race to Bojangles to fetch it for me!  I just love him!

Off we went to work and my entire day was spent signing for a receiving large bouquets of flowers for the Saint Mary's School girls.  I had not been previously warned and it really was like working in a flower shop!  Arrangement after arrangement came in and I e-mailed girl after girl for them to pick up their flowers.  As I was walking back to my desk from lunch, I checked my phone and there was a text from Kevin saying that I had a package and naming who had signed for it.  I walked pass the mail room and there, on top of all the other packages was a ProFlowers box!  I rushed upstairs to the kitchen by my office and ripped open the box.  And to my surprise, there were a dozen red roses...and chocolates...and bubble bath!  And a sweet, sweet note from Kevin to his beautiful bride!  I was just beaming!  It was the best surprise ever and the flowers were so pretty!  Brownie points for my Valentine!

Well, I was sick all last week, so we did make it to the hockey game...for the first two periods...and then it was home and to bed.  Not very romantic!  We did go out for dinner at Kabuki on Saturday for our official Valentine's dinner.  But, I have to say, despite all of the holiday hype, everyday with my honey is Valentine's Day!  Love you babe!

Bed Drama

Our new bed arrived last Monday.  It took the guys about an hour to bring all of the pieces in and assemble them.  It would have taken at least an hour more if I hadn't stepped in.  Yes, I was one of "those" people micro-managing the whole thing in my own house!  They greeted us by saying they had never put this actual bed together and they weren't exactly sure how to do it.  No problem, right?!

Basically empty room ready for the bed guys!

Initially, I just wanted to see how the bed assembled, so when we move, we'll know how to take it apart to move it.  That turned into folding up their furniture pads/covers to get them out of the way.  Then I noticed that one of the guys was hastily reading the directions and just started screwing random pieces together.  My concern then was, "this bed is going to be put together so wrong that the minute we lay on it, it will collapse."  So, I kindly asked if I could see the directions.  Then I noticed that the directions I had in my hand were only steps 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12.  Where were 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9?  Oh, they were on another piece of paper than the guy had dropped.  I actually LOVE building things!  Ikea type furniture makes me so happy!  I love to read the directions and put things together piece by piece!  It would actually be a perfect job for me to deliver and assemble furniture, except I don't have the strength to lift the heavy pieces that these guys were.  Bummer!

I immediately halted building and told the men we were starting from the beginning.  Good thing because things were already on the wrong track!  The guy initially reading the directions got huffy with me because he had to unscrew and move some of the pieces because they were in the wrong spot.  No way?  You thought that guessing where things went would prevent you from having to do it over?  Oh well, I want it done right!  And done right the first time!  And I have the patience to read and get it right unlike...umm, well, unlike men in general!

We were finally to step #12 when we all discovered that we were missing two slats to finish off the assembly.  Those slats are important because it's a bed that doesn't require a box spring because the mattress lays on the flat wooden surface...that now had gaping holes in it because we didn't have the slats to screw down.  We did have the pieces for the middle, but two slats were missing on each side of that.  Genius guy thought he was just going to screw down those middle pieces and I stopped him because he didn't even have them centered.  He suggested we just go to the hardware store and buy a piece of plywood and screw it down.  I suggested that we call the company and get them to ship the missing pieces.  Not rocket-science.  At that point he huffed his way out of the room.  He was not happy with me at all!

Bed with slats missing!

The other guy was so nice and pleasant!  We assured him that we'd been sleeping in the guest room anyway and we wanted the bed put together correctly, so we'd just wait for the parts.  He called the company to report the missing parts, took the payment balance for the bed, and we gave him a jug of gatorade and some cups for the road.  He couldn't believe it!  He seemed genuinely grateful!  He said this had been a first for him...he'd never had anyone step in and help read the directions in an attempt to help them put a piece of furniture together.  He said it in a positive way like he really was thankful, but we'll never know.  Regardless, my furniture, my house, my way!

I was actually pleased because I now had a chance to vacuum the room and we could arrange the furniture around the bed.  This turned out to be a good move because we ended up having to move the furniture a few times to make it perfect!  It was also during the furniture moving/vacuuming period that I noticed the wood on the side of the bed had been split.  Now I can't promise it didn't happen before it arrived in the house, but the force that huffy guy was using to slam the side railing into the headboard could have damaged anything!  So, now we've got a crazy expensive bed with a split side and no slats.  YAY!   This is my life people.  Seriously, nothing is ever simple.  Ever!

Oh well.  The room looks awesome!  Someday, we'll be able to sleep in there and it will be every bit the bedroom I've been waiting for!  Until then, we're still camped out in the guest room!

Final placement of furniture and the mattress resting on the bed for the time being!

One other nugget...why is it, when you have a scheduled delivery time, the company ALWAYS want to deliver outside of that time?  Our delivery time was 4pm-7pm.  I received the call that morning at 9:49am saying they were running a little ahead of schedule (oh, just a little right?) and could they deliver between 11:45 and noon?  Umm...is 11:45-noon, 4pm-7pm?  No?  Yeah, because we're real people with real jobs!  We can't just stop everything and come running.  How about your 11:45-noon move to 4pm-7pm like scheduled.  Okay?  Cool!  Oh...you're not going to be there until 5pm?  Perfect!  That's actually in the scheduled time!  Maybe it's just me, but when I schedule something, I expect that to be the plan!  And I like things to go according to plan!  The end!

Road Trip to Wilmington

Last Saturday...the coldest day of the year (probably not a fact, but it was literally 18 degrees when I woke up)...Ashley, Candice and I..with little P...loaded up in Apex and made the drive to Wilmington, NC to visit our good friend and former Bible study member, Laura.  It was the most perfect day!  Despite the cold, it was sunny and not a cloud in the sky!  We had a great time catching up and despite the fact that our entire Saturday was packed, my weekend felt longer.  How is that possible?

We left Apex around 8:30am.  On a Saturday!  That's early for me!  With the help of some DD coffee and breakfast we hit the road and made great time!  We were in Wilmington by 11am.  The schedule actually worked out perfectly!  It was Paisley's nap time and the little angel slept the entire way!  We arrived at Laura's and spent some time just catching up before we headed out to lunch.

Lunch was at the Wilmington Tea Room. 

What a cute place!  I was a little skeptical at first.  I was pretty famished and I didn't think I could get full off of tea.  Man, was I wrong!  We were all stuffed to the brim and took some of our treats to go!  The tea room is on the waterfront (Cape Fear River) downtown, so we enjoyed great views while we ate. 

Okay, so this "tea" included actual tea.  We shared Monks Blend.  It was so smooth and relaxing!  Then we were all served seafood bisque, which was slap yo mama good!  I don't know what it was about the soup, but it had good size potatoes and corn and it was heavy and smooth and I can taste it now.  It was just wonderful!  Then, as we had all ordered the full tea, a tower of treats came out!

There were mini sandwiches and scones with jams and Devonshire cream and the whole top tier was little treats!  My favorites were the ham salad sandwiches on cinnamon raisin bread and the carrot cake with cream!  Amazing!  It reminded me of little Bettys, a tea room in York, England.  Oh memories! 

2008..wow time flies!


Like I said, we were stuffed, so now it was time to walk it off!  And Paisley was so good during lunch, but she was tired and it was nap time!  We snapped a quick picture on the deck of the tea room before we headed off down the riverwalk. 

It was a gorgeous afternoon and we just spent time walking and talking.  We stopped in the Cotton Exchange (a shopping area) just to peek and then it was more walking!  We did make our way down Market Street back to the riverfront and stopped in a cute store before going next door to Kilwins Chocolates.  We didn't purchase anything, but the aroma was enough to make me full again!  Back to the waterfront and we strolled back to our car at the tea room.

Then it was back to Laura's to drop her off and say our goodbyes before we hit the road back to Raleigh.  It was short and sweet, but really perfect!  

I just love her!  She's so cute!

The next day at church, we were wrapping up a sermon series called "Come Together".  It's about community and small groups and just being in community with people to do life together..a big push to get people plugged in to the new small groups that are rolling out.  Pastor Mike was encouraging folks that had never been in a group to join one and giving reasons why.  At one point he was talking about how once you reach a certain size, you need to split and make two new groups to make room for new people (which I know and am very familiar with, even if I don't always like it) and how there's no perfect small group.  And I turned to Kevin and said, "yes there is and I was in it!"  And I got a little teary eyed because that group was Laura and me and Ashley and Candice, Heather, Kaleena, Meredith, Christy, Nicole, and others that came and went over the 2.5 years I was in the group.  And then I started thinking about how much things change and how I wish I could just keep things, like our Bible study group, the same!  Of that group of 9 people, in the time that I was in the group, 3 of us got married (well really 2, I left to plan our wedding), 2 had babies (and since I've left another baby was born).  Laura moved to Wilmington, Ashley branched and started a new Bible study that I'm currently in (because our group was too big), Candice left to raise Paisley, Heather left to raise James, Kaleena took time off to do a study with her husband, Meredith was co-leading with Laura and has since taken the remaining group and newbies and run with it, and Christy and Nicole (as far as I know) are in the newly morphed group.  Lots of people going lots of directions and nothing will ever be the same.  But, Mike's right, we did life together and these are women whose lives I've learned about and whom I've grown with and we will be forever friends!  Even though my relationship with God is personal, it was never meant to be private (another nugget from Mike) and it was these women that I was in community with!  Even if we don't meet every week to study the Bible together, we can take weekend road trips to visit and catch up!  That period in our lives has changed, but the impact we made on each other has not!  Bittersweet!

Just a snapshot of our core Bible Study Group over the years!

Bacon and Egg Muffins

Kevin wanted to make an awesome breakfast for me on Christmas morning for my birthday and he was thinking along the lines of a breakfast casserole.  We have one that I've made a few times and it's good, but a little dry with the hash browns.  I told him, "just pick up bacon and eggs and I've got another recipe for you to try!"  He was skeptical, he really wanted to surprise me, but he agreed, and on Christmas morning, together, we made what I now call Bacon and Egg Muffins.  And it took 1/4 of the time we would have spent on the casserole for preparation and cooking!

I stole the recipe from my fabulous wedding planner, Priscilla.  She's named them Bacon and Egg Cups, but since they're made in the muffin tin, I call them Bacon and Egg Muffins!  Regardless, they're fabulous and you must make them pronto!

The recipe makes 12 of them (a muffin tin full) and on Christmas morning I begged Kevin to only make 6 (half of the recipe), but he refused to listen!  I was stuffed after 2 and I think he ended up eating 4, but then we had 6 leftover.  I'm not a fan of twice heated eggs, but I think he ended up eating more a day or so later.  So, if you're a sweet little family of two, I'd suggest halving the recipe!

Ingredients:

12 Slices Bacon

8 Eggs

1/2 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese (more for us because Kevin is a cheese lover!)

Pinch of Salt

1/4 tsp Black Pepper

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350.

- Spray each muffin cup with cooking spray.
- Whip the eggs, salt, pepper and cheese with a fork.

- Wrap each piece of bacon around the inside of each muffin cup.

- Fill each bacon lined muffin cup 3/4 of the way with the egg mixture.

Of course I had to make these again to get photos for the blog and the second time around, we only made 6!

- Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the egg cups are golden brown. Scoop them out of the tins. Serve immediately.  (I suggest wrapping those babies in some paper towels to get rid of excess grease!)

Yumm-o!

The fun for us started when we were trying to get the muffin tin in the oven...because I don't own a tin.  It's one of the silicone muffin trays that's very flexible and it took both of us holding the corners and trying to steady it, and it still sloshed our egg mixture around a bit!  However, our result was tasty and paired with birthday mimosas, it might now be my favorite Christmas morning breakfast! 

The simple ingredients for mimosas! Celebrate!

Go make these now!  Seriously!  Go!