Crock Pot Lasagna

Isn't the sunshine and the heat wonderful? If you didn't know me very well, you'd never guess that I've grown up my entire life in Oregon because I'm not a big fan of rain. In fact, most people would think I am not a native Oregonian but rather a sad, sad transplant - most likely from someplace like California where the sun shines far more often than what we normally have in the Northwest part of Oregon. But, alas, I am indeed an Oregonian, through and through. I love the green in Oregon. I love the rain...when it first starts in fall...by December to early January, I'm done...done done done. So, this summer has been heavenly for me. We've had so many gorgeous, sunny days. I have loved it. The only issue I've had with these hot days is finding foods to cook other than on the BBQ. I don't want to heat up my house because my son and husband are true Oregonians and anything about 75 constitutes sitting in front a fan trying not to melt and BBQing every day is just a bit overkill. For some reason, I had never considered using my crock pot in the summer - it just seems like something you use in the fall - but I did this week, twice as a matter of fact, and it was wonderful. My house stayed cool, it smelled like delicious food, and I didn't spend hours slaving in the kitchen, although the food certainly tastes as though I could have.

Thanks to Pinterest and the loads of pins with crock pot recipes, I found the crock pot lasagna recipe. 

Photo from Pinterest

To be honest, I didn't follow creatingthroughlife's blog recipe pretty much at all. I already have a lasagna recipe that I love, so I used that recipe instead. I made the sauce as I normally would and instead of putting it in a pan to bake, I put it in the crock pot. I used whole wheat lasagna noodles and ground turkey instead of ground beef. I felt like I was living large with how healthy I was making this meal. hehe. 

Anyway, I put it in the crockpot on low for four hours and left it alone until dinner. It actually ended up cooking longer than the four hours I intended though because I went for a walk with my mom and son and forgot all about it. Oopsy. Thankfully, no harm, no foul. It still turned out just fine. 

Unfortunately, I didn't get a beautiful picture of it plated as I just scarfed a quarter of it before I realized I hadn't taken a picture - hence the not so pretty picture. But, believe me, the food was very good. It tasted very much as if I had made it in the oven except maybe the noodles were a bit softer, but overall, it was excellent. 

This is certainly something I will do again. It was relatively quick, my house stayed cool and my son, my husband, my mom and myself all enjoyed it. In fact, I may go eat some leftovers now....