Good things come to those who wait.

I believe this just got serious. I've invested in a kitchen appliance - A Crock Pot: The Original Slow Cooker. Meet little red:

And today's recipe is straight out of one of the Weight Watchers books: Slow Cooker Lasagne.

I have never heard of such a thing, but I figured it could work and decided to give it a try.

Here is the ingredients list; pretty straight forward and everything is easy to find at the local grocery store:

	1 pound(s) uncooked lean ground beef (with 7% fat)
	1 small onion(s), chopped
	1 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), minced
	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

And the preparation 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.

Not the best pic here, but it's possible that I purchased the largest crock pot ever made and so it looks like there's barely anything in there.

Overall, this dish was pretty easy to prepare and tasted good. The part-skim cheeses are a better alternative to fat free cheese because they actually melt! If you don't know what I'm talking about - this may be a science experiment you'd like to try for yourself.

As a kid, I watched my brothers put a piece of fat free cheese on a hot griddle and nothing happened to it--scary. If anything burned that day, it was the image in my mind of all three of us gathered around the stove in the kitchen staring at the piece of cheese that defied natural laws of science. But it seems food science has come a long way.

The last time I made lasagna, 'no-cook' noodles did not exist, so I was a bit suspicious about using these but it turned out fine. I liked making this dish because after the prep work, my time was freed up. For my WW pals, this yields about six servings and is 10 points on the new points plus plan. Pair it with a green salad and steamed veggie and you're good to go!

Sidenote: I've been receiving several culinary gifts over the past couple of months, so a quick shout out to E. for my veggiechop and K. for my merry measuring spoons. You know how I love gifts; I'll be putting them to good use for sure!

Source: http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeId=135321