Snowy Sunday

We drove into Ridgway yesterday evening with clear skies and mild [for here] temp. of 30 degrees.

We did not expect to awake in the morning to this!

Another blizzard.......

that darned old Gorebal warming!

The guys have been over in Telluride snowboarding............

so I have had a quiet day.

I had planned to take Button on a long walk but not in this blizzard.

As if a day on the slopes wasn't enough with Daylight Savings Time they have an extra hour of light so to top it all off the boys are now off on the snowmobile!

And sledding!

Here's Button watching over the snow plow!

I made crockpot lasagna -if you haven't tried it I doubt you'll ever go back to the oven kind once you make it this way. Everyone loves it and it is so easy, perhaps the best I have ever had!

And did I say easy? And no crusty pan to scrub either.

Yum!

Here's my version of the recipe, it's great for a hungry crowd it makes a lot. Six hungry guys ate large portions [and some had seconds] and yours truly, and there's a large portion left. So I figure it feeds ten adults. I use low fat ricotta and mozarella so it's pretty healthy too and economical! What more can you ask?

1 lb. ground meat browned- I use turkey

28 ozs. jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce

1 cup crushed tomatoes or tomato puree

1 tsp Italian seasoning

10-12 lasagna noodles uncooked- I use whole wheat

32 ozs. carton ricotta cheese

1 cup fresh grated pecorino or Romano cheese

4 cups grated mozarella

handful of parsley, chopped

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Mix lightly beaten egg, ricotta, chopped parsley, S and P and pecorino or Romano cheese. Set aside.

Mix browned ground meat, Italian seasoning, spaghetti sauce and crushed tomatoes[or puree] together. Spray the inside of crockpot with Pam, then cover the bottom with a few tablespoons of the meat sauce.

Break up noodles to fit and place a layer over the meat sauce.

Cover noodles with a layer of meat sauce, then the ricotta mixture then a cup of mozarella and continue for another couple of layers until you run out of ingredients, usually about 3 layers depending on whether your crockpot is tall and narrow or short and wide!

I finish with a layer of noodles, meat sauce and mozarella.

Cover, cook on high for 30 mins, then another 3-4 hrs. on low.

The noodles will be cooked and the result is delicious!

PS. In case you really don't trust that the noodles are cooked through, take a long skewer and poke it down through the layers and you will see that it is indeed done! That's what I did the first time I made it, LOL!