Crockpot Lasagna?

Who would have thought?

Admittedly, as much as I enjoy Italian food, the classic dish of lasagna has never been one of my favorites.  So when a bunch of us were getting together for a party and multiple people signed up for lasagna, I planned on having lots of room for dessert...ha.

When the night finally arrived and dinner was served, it was hard to resist trying a little bit of everything.  I served myself some of someone's lasagna...Um, was I just ravenous or was this the best lasagna I'd ever tasted?!  I think "B"!

Several weeks later, having obtained a copy of the recipe from my friend Heather, I HAD to break out the really nice wedding Crockpot!

By the way, we are just about all unpacked! Thanks for sticking with me!  I hope to be slightly more active on here again...

We had our first guests over a few days ago.  Needless to really say on this particular blog, I LOVE feeding people. :)  Plus, it was my family so I was really looking forward to having them over.  We'd only spent the last 8 months living in their basement, but I guess I wasn't too tired of them!  Nor they of us...heh.

Okay, all that to say - I plumb forgot to take final pictures.  I was just chatting away with my mom, planning to play a freshly unpacked game with my dad and sister and I was very distracted!

You will need these ingredients:

Chopped Onion (I used more than what the recipe called for just because I love it)

Minced Garlic

Ground Beef & Italian Pork Sausage (I used a little more than a pound of each)

S&P, Tomato Paste, Crushed Tomatoes

Lasagna, of course!  I used half whole wheat and half enriched "regular"

And one of the best ingredients...Cheese!

Like I said, I was too excited (or something..."spacey" comes to mind...) to take any more photos.  Now you will just HAVE to make this easy recipe that, so far, everyone I know has enjoyed.

Click here for the printable recipe.

Time for Some Hawaiian!

For those of you who do not live in an area with Hawaiian restaurants, I am very sorry.  It is one of our favorite types of food!  The most popular one here in Eugene (or at least the one with the most locations) is Hawaiian Time.

One thing I've never been a huge fan of is macaroni salad.  Or cold pasta salad in general.  Yet, something magical happens when I put a bite of theirs in my mouth!  Most of the dishes are served with this mac salad and rice.  We were told once (and who knows if it's really true - any Hawaiians out there to verify??) that it's tradition to either mix it all up together with the teriyaki meat or to make sure you have all 3 (meat, rice, macaroni) in each bite.  Didn't sound all that great to me...until I tried it, of course!

We have tried a few different items on the menu, but never ever get tired of eating their #2 Honolulu Plate.  It includes "thin sliced beef, marinated in a Korean style sauce." Sharing the large size is not only plenty for Husband and me, but we are both stuffed afterward.  But don't forget my favorite part - Sriracha!  We affectionately call it "Rooster Sauce."  It's very spicy for most people but we shovel it into every bite.

Service (speed, friendliness, etc.): 4 out of 5 stars
Ambiance (in relation to theme of restaurant): 4 out of 5 stars
Food (tastiness!): 5 out of 5 stars
Bathroom (cleanliness, comfort): 4 out of 5 stars
Music (volume, theme appropriate): 4 out of 5 stars

Oniony Spaghetti

Being home for less than a week, I continued to try to buy as little food as possible.  Luckily, we had all the ingredients in the house for spaghetti (except for my favorite – parmesan cheese).  Last Saturday morning, I was running around doing lots of things and Mike offered his services to help me be less busy.  I listed off a thousand cleaning items he could do (hehe), but he didn’t look too happy!  Long story short, I got him to cut up an onion for me – the last one in the house.  Unfortunately, I forgot to tell him I didn’t want to use all of it in this dish.  But after he had done perfectly, just as I asked, I didn’t feel like scooping any back out to save for later.  So, alas, we had a very oniony spaghetti sauce, but it was really yummy.

Chicken Alfredo

Mike and I are finally home for a few days and, praise the Lord, the week fell on Holy Week so our office is closed today.  I am getting some much needed rest, laundry is finally caught up, fish tank is clean, house is getting cleaned, and I can actually cook something!  (See last post for traveling woes hehe.)

When we're only home for a week at a time, we try to buy as few groceries as possible.  I had one more chicken breast in the freezer so I rummaged through my cabinets and thought I'd make some Alfredo sauce with pasta and add the chicken.

Here's what I found:

And here it all is cooking:

Don't forget to soak the fruit in Kilol!

And it turned out to be a nice little lunch: