Easy-Does-It Spaghetti

Easy-Does-It Spaghetti

(adapted from a recipe in the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook)

2 pounds ground beef, browned and drained
1 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
26.5-oz. can spaghetti sauce
3 14.5-oz. cans Italian diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
16-oz. dry spaghetti broken into 4-5" pieces
grated Paremsan cheese

Combine all ingredients except spaghetti and cheese in a 4-quart (or larger) slow cooker. Cover. Cook on Low 6-8 hours, or High 3-5 hours. Turn to High during last 30 minutes and stir in dry spaghetti. (If spaghetti is not fully cooked, continue cooking another 10 minutes, checking to make sure it is not becoming overcooked.) Sprinkle individual servings with Parmesan cheese.

Karla's note: Lyle rated this a 2, because he said, "It needed something." I had to laugh at him. What it needed was salt! I had added salt to my plate and thought it was delicious. It doesn't occur to him that salt enhances the flavor and is usually "the thing it needs." He almost always adds pepper to his plate, but rarely salt. I think he thinks if he adds salt then it will taste salty. Next time I would probably use 2 teaspoons of salt rather than 1 1/2.

Slow-Cooker Pizza

Slow-Cooker Pizza

(adapted from the Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook)

1.5 lbs. bulk sausage
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
half a box rigatoni, cooked
3 oz. sliced pepperoni
16-oz. jar pizza sauce
10 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
10 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded

Brown sausage in saucepan. Drain.

Layer half of each of the following, in the order given, in a slow cooker: sausage, onions, green pepper, noodles, black olives, pepperoni, pizza sauce, cheddar cheese, and mozzarella cheese.

Cover. Cook on Low 3-4 hours.

Note: Keep rigatoni covered with sauce so they don't become dry and crunchy.

Karla's Notes: First of all, I used "salad macaroni" instead of "rigatoni" because that's what I had. As far as I know, the only difference is the shape, right? And, then, I had no idea how much "half a box" was since the pasta I had was in a bag. I just guessed and used half a bag and that seemed to be about right...

We had this tonight. Lyle rated it a 4 also. He's just pretty easy to please!