outdoors and lasagna in the crockpot.

it has been fabulously beautiful outside these days.  every year around this time, justin and i reflect that this is why we live in austin.  in all honesty, we've got it really good where weather is concerned.  

we've been taking advantage of the slightly longer days and mild temperatures by taking strolls in the evening when jb and i get home from work.  sometimes one of us wears the little miss (she's recently been allowed to be forward-facing in her bjorn and she LOVES that) and we take the pups into the field by our house and let them run wild.  sometimes we plop the bunny in her stroller and we walk and talk and look at houses that have more than one bathroom....

anyway....we are having a great time these days, even though it feels like we are still learning how to adjust to everything.  justin summed it up well in an email this morning: we're still moving at the same pace as pre-emme and are having a hard time with it.  we will get there - i just have to manage my expectations of myself (particularly the orderliness of our house).  

one thing we're hoping to do better with is prepping easier meals in the crockpot during the week.  jb and i both love to cook (and eat) and in our earlier lives we would spend pretty much an entire evening on meal preparation.  this seems luxurious even without a bebe in the house, but overly decadent now.  however, we both think we can figure out a way to make food that is tasty that doesn't monopolize our night (isn't that the holy grail of meal time?).  

to that end, i made a spinach lasagna in the crockpot yesterday.  this was EASY and pretty fast.  it was also quite delicious and i am already planning modifications for next time - i think it would be really easy to do eggplant and ground turkey or zucchini and other veggies, etc etc.  i modified this from a recipe in real simple:  

- 2 packages frozen spinach, thawed and drained

- 1 small container part-skim ricotta cheese

- 1/2-1 cup of parmesan

- 3 cups of marinara sauce

- 6-7 whole wheat lasagna noodles

- 1 1/2 cups of grated part-skim mozzarella

- italian seasoning, salt, pepper to taste

* mix spinach, ricotta, and half the parm together in a bowl.  add about 1/2 cup of water to the marinara sauce in another bowl.  spread 3/4 cup of marinara on the bottom of your crockpot.  put down a layer of noodles then another 3/4 cup of marinara, 1/2 the amount of spinach mix, 1/2 cup of mozz.  put down another layer of noodles and repeat.  finish with final noodles topped with marinara, mozz, and half of the remaining parm.  cover and cook on low about 4 hours.  serve with a sprinkle of more parm and a side salad.  

it's not the prettiest lasagna, but it's yummy and fast.