Making dinner during lunch...crock pot lasagna

♥

I sometimes like to start what's-for-dinner during my lunch hour and recently found a yummy recipe in Woman's Day Magazine that was a big hit. This recipe for crock pot lasagna is a real keeper!

The recipe called for "2 cups of baby spinach roughly chopped" but I chopped it first then measured it. Accidentally adding too much spinach ended up being ok, and when I make the recipe again I'll do just the same.

The recipe said nothing about browning the ground beef first and I was a little skeptical. A friend advised to make the recipe just as it is printed the first time, and I could change it up next time if I needed to. I'm glad I didn't take the time to cook the meat first, it ended up working out just fine!

Layered in the crock-pot, ready to go. {I did spray the pot with some non-stick cooking spray before I started layering the ingredients because I was afraid the edges might stick. I'm glad I did as this became a little crusty around the edges.}

The recipe calls for cooking on low for 4 hours, and mine cooked for about 5 hours so it was just a little dry around the edges - still really good though!And all that spinach I accidentally added? It cooked down and was really good. I even slipped some by my picky-eater-grown-up-kid and she liked it too. {Good way to sneak some veggies past the kiddos!}
What would I do different next time? Well, the recipe calls for 3/4 pound of beef but next time I'll add a full pound. And I was only able to find a 24 oz. jar of sauce (recipe calls for 26 oz.) and I think it really needed the extra 2 ounces...either that or an hour less cooking time.

.

This recipe made a LOT of lasagna and I had enough
left over to put some in the freezer.
Hey...come to think of it...
That's what's for dinner tonight!
:o)