Monday's Meal: Easy Lasagna Recipe...in the Crockpot

Happy Labor Day everyone! I hope you are having a relaxing day!

This fall our family will be busy in the evenings Monday through Wednesday since soccer practice and scout meetings will all be after 5:00 PM.  So that means late dinner meals when everyone arrives back home by 8:00 PM.  Because of this hectic schedule, I am trying to use my crockpot more and more so that a meal will be ready for us when we get back home from all the activities.

 

Last Monday, I tried a great crockpot recipe for the first time that I found in my Best of Country Slow Cooker Recipes book.  Have you ever tried cooking lasagna in a crockpot?  I sure hadn't until I found it in the recipe book!  So I gave it a try!  Here is the recipe from the book that I have:
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic gloves, minced
1 can (29 oz.) tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 package (8 oz.) no-cook lasagna noodles
4 cups (16 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups (12 oz.) small-curd cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a skillet, cook beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.  Add the tomato sauce, water, tomato paste, salt and oregano; mix well.  Spread a fourth of the meat sauce in an ungreased 5-qt. slow cooker.  Arrange a third of the noodles over sauce (break noodles if necessary).
Combine the cheeses; spoon a third of the mixture over noodles.  Repeat layers twice.  Top with remaining meat sauce.  Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until noodles are tender.  Yield:  6-8 servings.

Our family's reaction to the meal:  I had never tried making lasagna with cottage cheese before so it had a new taste and my kid's thought it tasted "funny", but they ate it and liked it!   My husband enjoyed it and that says alot since he always orders lasagna at an Italian restaurant so his taste buds know good vs. not so good lasagna. (but, what lasagna is ever not good?)
I really liked the lasagna cooked this way in the crockpot and it was great to prepare the sauce in the morning before our homeschool day started, let it simmer all morning, and then on our lunch break I put it all together and started cooking the lasagna in the crockpot!

I was interested to know how others make lasagna in the crockpot since this was a new concept for me and I came across this version that I may try and this recipe doesn't use cottage cheese:   http://preventionrd.com/2010/01/20/keeper-crock-pot-lasagna/ 

Have you ever heard of lasagna in the crockpot before? I'm wondering how many others have tried this easy and delicious way to make lasagna?  If you try it, I would love to know your family's reaction!

I look forward to trying other crockpot recipes during this hectic soccer and scout season for our family!