Slow-Cooker Lasagna and a Gooseberry Patch Giveaway

My slow-cooker and I have a serious relationship.  I adore my slow-cooker.  I love that I can put a meal in it during the day and then I have a full meal when it is time for dinner.  Gooseberry Patch sent me one of their latest cookbooks, Slow Cooking All Year Round.  I usually use my slow cooker in the winter for soups and chili but I used my slow cooker the rest of the year for convenience and so I don’t have to turn on the oven.

I have wanted to try lasagna in my slow-cooker ever since a friend told me about it.  I just never got around to it.  When I saw a recipe for it in the book, I knew I had to try it.

4-Cheese Lasagna

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground beef

2 26oz jars chunky tomato, garlic and onion pasta sauce

1/2 c. water

1 T. Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

2 T. grated Parmesan Cheese

16 oz. container small-curd cottage cheese

8 oz. pkg oven-ready lasagna noodles, uncooked

4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cups shredded Colby Jack cheese

***I made a few changes to the recipe so that I was able to use what I had on hand.  Instead of cottage cheese, I used ricotta.  

Directions

Brown beef in a skillet, remove from heat and drain.  Stir in sauce, water and seasonings.  In a bowl, combine Parmesan cheese and cottage cheese.  In a lightly greased slow-cooker, spread some of the sauce mixture.  Layer with noodles (break them if you need to), cheese mixture and both kinds of mixtures.  Repeat layers and end with shredded cheese.  Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours or until noodles are tender.  Let stand with slow-cooker off for about ten minutes before serving.

I have to say that don’t feel like cooking the lasagna in the slow-cooker was any less work than cooking it in the oven.  The only step I was able to skip was boiling the noodles.

Both of my kids gobbled it up.  We had more than enough for leftovers so I ended up freezing it for another meal on another day.  The book is full of recipes for all four seasons and we have been having fun trying them out.  Bananas Foster is next on the list!

GIVEAWAY

Do you want to win a copy of the book for yourself?

How to Enter

We will be giving away ONE copy of the cookbook to one lucky winner. If you would like a chance to win, leave us a comment in this post and tell us about your favorite slow-cooker meal. Leave your comment before May 18, 2013 at 9:59 p.m. CST.

Don’t worry about being creative in your comment, the winner will be chosen by a random number generator. Please make sure that you fill out the required fields by putting your first name in the name field and your email address in the email address field. We do not share email addresses and you will not receive emails from Threaded Together unless you win.

Winners

We will choose ONE winner randomly and announce the results here on Threaded Together sometime after May 18, 2013.

Rules

No purchase necessary to enter or win. Sweepstakes is open only to legal residents of the 50 states and the District of Columbia and who are 18 years of age at time of entry. For this giveaway, entrants can enter 1 time. We will disqualify any entries that we believe are generated by scripts and other automated technology and Threaded Together assumes no responsibility for late or misdirected entries due to SPAM, technological issues or for prizes lost in transit.No substitutions including for cash are permitted, except Threaded Together reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater monetary value for any prize. Void where prohibited by law. Winners shall be responsible and liable for all federal, state, and local taxes on the value of their prize. Relatives of Threaded Together are no eligible to win.

Because this is a family site and we get a lot of spam comments, all comments on this site are moderated. If you comment doesn’t show up right away, don’t worry!

 

Zucchini Pie — Another Early Gooseberry Patch Cookbook Recipe Review (plus a giveaway!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A couple of days ago I shared a yummy dessert recipe from Gooseberry Patch’s new-not-yet-in-stores-near-you cookbook, Meals in Minutes — 10th Anniversary Edition.  This cookbook is full of yummy, quick and easy recipes — I had a hard time selecting just a couple to make for review purposes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love zucchini, year round, and had all of the ingredients necessary for this recipe right on hand.  It was delicious!  Most of the time I am cooking for one (which is not a whole lot of fun).  I try to make at least one dish on the weekend which will make a good Sunday dinner, lunch on Monday, and then provide some leftover which can be frozen for the future (because two days in a row is about all I can take any meal — this way I’m not throwing out food, and I have a variety stocked up in the freezer, especially for the working-through-lunch days, and I’m-tired-of-cold-cereal-after-a-long-day-in-the-office days).

 

 

Zucchini Pie

(page 35)

Ginny Paccioretti

Oak Ridge, NJ

 

Ingredients:

1 cup biscuit baking mix

4 eggs, beaten

¼ cup oil

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 cups zucchini, sliced and quarters

1 onion, diced

1 clove garlic, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

 
Directions:

In a bowl, combine baking mix, eggs, oil, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper; Stir in vegetables.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spread into a lightly greased 13”x9” baking pan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 45 minutes.  Serves 6 to 8.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is not too late … Do you want a copy of Meals in Minutes — 10th Anniversary Edition before it hits the bookstores?  Be sure to enter by clicking here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: Baking, cross-stitch, Debbie, family, Giveaways, Gooseberry Patch, vegetable, zucchinni