Friday, December 17, 2010

Family Dinner with Weight Watchers: Part VIII











Here we go…
Another installment of Family Dinners with Weight Watchers: Part VIII
A friendly battle of the Weight Watcher recipes between my Mother and I.

Basically we take turns preparing and serving Weight Watchers recipes to one another and our family in an effort to step outside of the box (we all get in food ruts on this journey), eat healthy, and to eat as a family at least once a week despite a bevy of INSANE schedules and life in general.

Sometimes it’s a huge success
And sometimes it’s a total flop…
This time around it was my turn and Slow Cooker Lasagna was the recipe of choice.
I have heard a lot of good things about this particular recipe plus anything I can prep in the morning and forget about until dinner time scores MAJOR points for me!
I followed the recipe below as instructed minus using ground turkey in lieu of lean ground beef and I added frozen chopped spinach and canned mushrooms to the sauce.
The results…
LOVED IT!!!
Flavorful, filling, ooey-gooey, robust and just overall a crowd pleaser! I would make this recipe again in a heartbeat and would even serve it to my non-Weight Watcher friends just to prove that all *diet/healthy* food isn’t boring; quite to the contrary!
This dish will knock your socks off!

SLOW COOKER LASAGNA

Course: main meals
PointsPlus™ Value: 9
Servings: 6
Preparation Time: 20 min
Cooking Time: 360 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy

No need to cook the noodles first or stay home while it bakes. Just let it sit a few minutes before serving so it can firm up a bit.


Ingredients
1 pound(s) uncooked lean ground beef (with 7% fat)
1 small onion(s), chopped
1 clove(s) garlic clove(s), minced (medium)
28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
15 oz canned tomato sauce
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 cup(s) part-skim ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cup(s) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheeses, divided
6 item(s) dry lasagna noodles, no-cook
1/2 cup(s) shredded parmesan cheese, strong-flavored like Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano





Instructions
• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef, onion and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon as it cooks, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, oregano, basil and red pepper flakes; simmer 5 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together ricotta cheese and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.
• Spoon 1/3 of beef mixture into a 5-quart slow cooker. Break 3 lasagna sheets in half and arrange over beef mixture; top with half of ricotta mixture. Repeat with another layer and finish with remaining 1/3 of beef mixture.
• Cover slow cooker and cook on low setting for 4 to 6 hours. Remove cover; turn off heat and season to taste, if desired.
• In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese; sprinkle over beef mixture. Cover and set aside until cheese melts and lasagna firms up, about 10 minutes. Yields 1/6th of dish per serving.





Notes
• To boost your vegetable intake, add a can of zucchini in tomato sauce to the meat mixture. You can also add 2 cups of sliced shiitake mushrooms to the beef mixture
.

Blessed Be...
♥Cyn♥

2 comments:

  1. Sounds yummy and a crowd pleaser. I don't get all those women at meetings who talk about feeding their families different meals than what they eat. WHY? I make one meal and here's the peanut butter.

    ReplyDelete
  2. HAHAHAHA love it -- and so true! I have always told my kids that I am NOT a short order cook! Thankfully minus one recipe that NO ONE liked -- they have enjoyed all of the *diet food*!

    ReplyDelete

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