Crockpot Lasagna???

We had this last week. It was wonderful. My whole entire family loved it. Why do I feel like that is such an accomplishment? Of course...most families love lasagna.

Three reasons: 1. Crockpot 2. whole wheat 3. I used up TONS of my tomatoes (which I diced and threw in on the top, but that is not in the recipe).

This recipe incorporates two "unique" ways to incorporate whole wheat into foods that don't normally have it and where people wouldn't usually like it. If you look closely you can see the cracked wheat...but believe me, no one will taste it. That's the magic of this meal.

To make the puree...first follow these instructions: How to make Wheat Berries

Then follow these: How to make the wheat berry puree

To make the cracked wheat that you cook with the ground beef, follow these instructions:

How to Make Cracked Wheat

This recipe is straight out of my cookbook on page 101:

On-the-Go Delicious Lasagna **V** (CR)

Either make or buy whole wheat lasagna noodles (if you can't find them, don't worry, there is wheat in the sauce and the meat!!!) Note: If you are making the noodles, use one of your thicker settings. I use the setting right before the thickest setting for my home-made lasagna noodles.

1 lb. ground beef

2-3 C water

1⁄2 C cracked wheat

1 large jar spaghetti sauce

11⁄2 C mozzarella cheese

3 T Parmesan cheese

1 lb. ricotta cheese mixed with 1⁄2 C wheat berry puree

11⁄2 C cheddar cheese

black olives (as many as desired) (I don't actually add these because I don't like olives)

Brown hamburger and drain off grease. Add water and cracked wheat and cook for about 20-30 minutes until wheat is no longer hard or crunchy and water is evaporated. Add more water if you need it. Combine hamburger/cracked wheat mixture and spaghetti sauce.

Layer ingredients as follows:

hamburger spaghetti sauce

uncooked lasagna noodles

1⁄4 C water hamburger sauce

ricotta cheese/wheat berry puree

uncooked lasagna noodles

1⁄4 C water

hamburger spaghetti sauce

cheddar cheese

uncooked lasagna noodles

1⁄4 C water

hamburger spaghetti sauce

olives

mozzarella cheese

Parmesan cheese

Cook on low for 3 hours.

Variations:

You can substitute cottage cheese for ricotta cheese to make it a bit cheaper. Note: If using home-made noodles...omit the water on top of the noodles **V** Substitute ground beef with 11⁄2 C grated zucchini and 1 C sliced mushrooms added to sauce. Add 2 Cups fresh steamed spinach (squeeze to remove water) to the ricotta. You can also substitute with 2 C TVP sausage for those of you with meat-loving family members...this would be the closest vegetarian match.