Recipe Wednesday: Slow-Cooker Lasagna (New Sauce Recipe!)

I've shared this recipe before, but I love it so much, I thought I'd share it again with another option for the sauce! It was taken from the Sparkpeople Cookbook (only $17.22 on Amazon right now for the hardcover!)

Slow-Cooker Lasagna

For Sauce:
1 pound ground beef, 96% lean
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp dried thyme
One 24-ounce jar low-sodium marinara sauce
One 3/4 pound eggplant, unpeeled, diced (2 cups)

For lasagna:
15 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded Italian five-cheese blend
1/4 cup egg substitute (or 1 egg white)
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
6 no-boil lasagna noodles

1. (Skip this step if you are using sauce recipe below.)
In a skillet over moderate heat, brown the ground beef and drain any excess fat. Stir in red pepper flakes, thyme, tomato sauce, eggplant, and 1 1/4 cup water.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, shredded cheese blend, egg substitute, and parsley.

3. Coat the inside of the slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place enough meat sauce in the slow cooker to cover the bottom. Top with 2 or 3 lasagna noodles (break them up as needed) to cover the meat sauce. Repeat layer.

4. Top the second layer with all of the cheese mixture and finish with a top layer of the remaining meat sauce.

5. Cover and set the slow cooker on low. Cook for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

**Tip- I make my sauce ahead of time with the recipe below in bulk and put it in the freezer. Then, when I'm ready I just defrost it and put it together. Takes me a max of 10 minutes to make this and put it in the crock pot!

Nutrition info. for Sparkpeople recipe:
per serving: 271 calories, 10.2 g total fat, 56.6 mg cholesterol, 283.8 mg sodium 18 g total carbs, 1.6 g dietary fiber, 24.8 g protein

OR

Another option for the sauce!

**We love this sauce! It makes A LOT! You can freeze it and use it for lots of different meals! It makes life easier to have the sauce all ready, and it's soo good!

Original recipe from the Fabulous Freezer Meals cookbook. (Only $12.21 on Amazon right now!) I modified the recipe a little.  

Yield 13 C. Lasts 4 months in the freezer

In a large stock pot mix:
2 onions, diced 
(I use Shelf Reliance freeze dried onions. They are awesome because you don't have to chop onions!!)
2 t garlic, minced
1 C crumbled bacon (Use turkey or chicken bacon)
2 lbs browned Italian sausage
(you could leave this out and buy double meat below to make it healthier, but if you decide to use it, buy Jimmy Dean brand in a tube. It's less expensive and you don't have to deal w/ a casing)
2 lbs. browned ground turkey or 96% LEAN ground beef (Use 4 lbs. if you leave the sausage out)

Drain the meat mixture and then add:

1 (106 oz.) can tomato sauce from Costco or 4 jars (28 oz) commercial spaghetti sauce
1 (106 oz) can of diced tomatoes or 2 (28) oz cans of Italian diced tomatoes
4 (2.4 oz) cans sliced black olives (optional)
3 T Italian Seasoning (or use oregano, garlic salt)
2 T dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste

** You can use this sauce for lasagnas, manicotti, ravioli, and can be frozen for spaghetti or pizzas. When defrosting it is OK and quite normal to pour off extra liquid.

Enjoy!