Friday, December 16, 2011

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat!

Okay - so we don't eat goose but we do know how to make some fabulous food to celebrate the season! Recently I hosted a cookie decorating party with family ranging in age from 1 year to... well... 70+. We decided  to keep the ovens vacant for the cookies by cooking the meal in crock pots. Each of us decided to make a different item in our crock pots and I aimed high and tried something I'd never made before. It was a hit!

I've spent the past year modifying recipes to reduce the calories in an effort to shed some pounds. When I came across a recipe for "Crock Pot Lasagna", I decided to give it a whirl but also to give it my "healthy twist". I'm really bad about measurements etc but I'll list the ingredients and let you try to figure it out on your own based on your taste.

My crock pot has a 6 quart crock so it's pretty large. Trim the amounts if you've got a smaller crock pot.

Ingredients:
Two boxes of no-boil lasagna pasta
One large jar of spaghetti sauce
One small can of tomato paste
2.5 lbs of extra lean ground turkey
3 cups of part-skim mozzarella cheese
1.5 cups of freshly grated parmesan cheese
1 cup of fat-free ricotta cheese
Diced green and red pepper, broccoli or other "dry" vegetables. ("Wet" veggies like zucchini makes it really soggy.)

Brown the ground turkey
Mix the tomato paste with the spaghetti sauce so it is a little thicker than sauce
Spray the inside of the crock with non-stick olive oil spray (Don't forget this... otherwise just plan on buying another crock!)
Begin layering meat, three cheeses and sauce between layers of pasta sheets
Break pasta sheets to fit into the rounded corners of the crock

Put it on low in the crock for about four hours. Walk away and enjoy your life! When you come back, the lasagna will be done. The cheese on top doesn't crisp like it does in the oven but not having to babysit it is a great trade off!

Serve with a big salad and follow it with a long walk and enjoy!

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