Motherhood & Lifestyle Blog

Categories: Recipes, Meals

Easy Slow Cooker Lasagna

I love cooking for my family but I don’t always have the time to stand in front of the stove and cook a full meal, especially being pregnant right now. We have been relying on our slow cookers a lot lately and have been enjoying some tasty meals. One of my favorites make ahead meals for the week is Easy Slow Cooker Lasagna. it’s easy, has tons of flavor, is full of veggies and it’s so delicious.

  • Sautee bell pepper, onion, mushrooms & minced garlic
  • Add in chorizo & Italian sausage
  • Once meat is cooked add spinach
  • Add pasta sauce to mixture, season to taste and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes
  • Spray slow cooker, spread 1/4 sauce, add 3 lasagna noodles & cheese
  • Keep layering until all noodles have been used
  • Add a layer of sauce & cheese on the very top

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 3 C chopped veggies (mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, spinach)
  • 2 Cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 Cups marinara sauce (32 oz.)
  • 1 pound of Italian Sausage
  • 1 pound of Chorizo
  • Mozzarella cheese
  • 2 Cups shredded cheese (we love mild cheddar & 3 cheese blend)
  • 9 Lasagna noodles, uncooked

Directions

  1. Sautee the chopped veggies on the stove with olive oil and minced garlic for about 3-5 minutes. Add the Italian sausage & chorizo and cook thoroughly. Add the pasta sauce with the veggies & meat and mix. Remove from heat.
  2. Spray the Crock-Pot slow cooker with non-stick spray or if you have crockpot liners place liner, then spread 1/4 of the sauce mixture on the bottom. Add 3 of the uncooked lasagna noodles and break them apart to fit.
  3. Place a layer of mozzarella cheese on top of noodles and layer with sauce, shredded cheese & 3 more noodles broken to fit. Keep layering until all noodles have been used and add a layer of sauce and shredded cheese on the very top.
  4. Cover and cook on LOW 4 to 5 hours OR on HIGH 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until all liquid is absorbed.
  5. ENJOY

This is one of my husbands favorite meals. It’s easy to make and what I love is that it can also be frozen. To reheat you just place it in the oven or toaster oven.

Here’s another one of our favorite Slow Cooker Meals: Crockpot Italian Sausage Bison Meatballs.

Categories: Recipes

The Best Lemon Loaf

The Best Lemon Loaf

One of my favorite things to order when I visit Starbucks is their Lemon Loaf. It’s so moist and full of lemon flavor. Since we had been quarantined for about 2 months I hadn’t been able to get my weekly slice, so I decided to try and make it myself. I found the recipe here and honestly it tastes just as good as Starbucks & it really is The Best Lemon Loaf.

Ingredients

For The Loaf

  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 c. granulated sugar
  • 1 c. sour cream or greek yogurt ( I use greek yogurt instead of sour cream)
  • 1/2 c. canola oil
  • 2 tbsp. lemon zest
  • 1 – 2 tbsp. lemon extract
  • 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour ( we use gluten-free flour)
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/ tsp. of salt or to taste

Lemon Glaze

  • 1 c. confectioners sugar
  • 3 tbsp. lemon juice

How To Make It

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9×5-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan.
  2. In a large bowl, add the eggs, sugar, sour cream, and whisk until smooth and combined.
  3. Drizzle in the oil while whisking to combine.
  4. Add the lemon zest, lemon extract, and whisk to combine.
  5. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and stir until just combined, don’t overmix.
  6. Turn the batter out into prepared pan, smoothing the top lightly with a spatula.
  7. Bake for about 50 to 52 minutes, or until top is domed, set, and toothpick inserted in the center crack comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs but no batter.
  8. Allow loaf to cool in pan on top of a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before turning out onto rack to cool completely before glazing.
  9. In a small bowl, add the confectioner’s sugar and slowly drizzle in the lemon juice while whisking until smooth and combined.
  10. Evenly drizzle glaze over bread before slicing and serving.

This bread is so delicious and simple to make. The sour cream or yogurt makes it so moist and the lemon flavor throughout the loaf and icing isn’t overwhelming. I can’t wait to make this again.

Check out some other loafs I’ve made recently: Carrot Cake Bread & Banana Walnut Bread.

Categories: Recipes

Easy Carrot Cake Bread

Carrot cake bread

I’ve been doing a lot of baking lately and trying different recipes on my family. I love any kind of sweet bread from lemon loaf to banana walnut bread and everything in between. I’m also a lover of any kind cake, especially Carrot Cake. I make a 4-layer Carrot Cake with white chocolate buttercream icing that is AMAZING. So when I came across this recipe for Carrot Cake Bread I had to try it. It was so easy to make and because I love baking, all of the ingredients are things we have on hand in our home daily.

This was my first time making this and it came out AMAZING. I modified the original recipe a bit to our likening.

Ingredients

For The Bread

  • Cooking spray
  • 1 1/4 c. gluten-free all-purpose baking flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 2 tsp. Allspice
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 c. granulated sugar
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar
  • 1 c. canola oil
  • 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 2 c. grated carrots
  • 1/2 c. raisins
  • 1 c. toasted chopped pecans

For The Frosting

  • 4 oz. cream cheese softened
  • 2 tbsp. butter softened
  • 1 c. powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 c. toasted chopped pecans

How To Make It

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9″-x-5″ loaf pan with cooking spray and line with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. 
  2. In a large bowl whisk eggs and sugar until light and fluffy. While whisking, slowly pour in oil until well combined, then add vanilla. Stir dry ingredients into wet until just combined. Fold in carrots, raisins, and 1 cup of the pecans. 
  3. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  4. Meanwhile, make frosting: In a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and ¼ teaspoon salt and beat until smooth. 
  5. Spread frosting over loaf and sprinkle with chopped pecans.

This bread is so delicious, moist & comes out light and fluffy and making it is less time consuming than an actual carrot cake. It’s perfect for an after dinner dessert and also gifting. You can even eat it as a breakfast bread by just omitting the frosting.

Categories: Recipes

Crockpot Italian Sausage & Bison Meatballs

These slow cooker meatballs are so delicious and healthy.

The original recipe is from Eatwell101 and I made a few modifications by using a different type of ground meat and adding mushrooms to our dish.

My husband and I have been trying to do better with our eating habits and we started KETO this past week. He did Atkins years ago and loved it and KETO is very similar to Atkins. The fact that he can have cheese is a plus for him.

Having my 10 month old and trying to cook is a challenge, so when I find crock pot meals like this I jump on them.

The prep time for this dish is literally 10 minutes and it cooks in the slow cooker for 4 hours. Easiest dinner ever!

What I love about this dish is that it is hearty, filling, delicious and good for us.

  • Italian sausage, ground bison , parmesan & Italian seasoning
  • Brown meatballs on all sides and transfer to slow cooker
  • Add remaining ingredients to slow cooker and stir to combine
  • Once done add salt to your liking
Serve & Enjoy!

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Italian Sausage
  • 1 lb Ground Bison
  • 1 1/2 Cups Grated Parmesan
  • 1 Can Crushed Tomatoes
  • 1 Cup Vegetable Broth
  • 1 Pack Sliced Mushrooms
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons Italian Seasoning
  • 1 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
  • 1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder
  • 1 Tablespoon Onion Powder
  • Sea Salt

Instructions

  1. In a large bowl, combine Italian sausage, bison, 1 cup of parmesan and 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning.
  2. Make golf-sized balls out of the mixture.
  3. In a skillet over medium-heat, add a tablespoon of avocado oil and brown the meatballs. Once browned transfer to the slow cooker.
  4. Add the crushed tomatoes, mushrooms, vegetable stock, remaining Italian seasoning, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, onion powder and remaining parmesan. Stir to combine.
  5. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
  6. Add salt to your liking, Serve and Enjoy.
  7. This can be served by itself or over cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles or butternut squash noodles.

*I use crockpot liners in my slow cooker for easy cleanup*


Categories: Recipes

Sweet Potato Breakfast Hash

When my husband and I did Whole30 2 years ago this was one of our favorite breakfast recipes.

He is a big breakfast person and I wanted to find something I could make ahead of time in bulk that would lasts us throughout the week.

My husband loves it because its full of meat, he’s a meat man, and its so hearty that it can be eaten at any time of the day and not just for breakfast.

This dish is so filling, delicious and effortless to make.

2 years later this this dish is still a favorite of ours and we make this at least once a month.

Whether you are doing Whole30, Paleo or just looking for a delicious breakfast recipe this dish is something that everyone in your home can enjoy.

Process:

Add avocado oil to a large skillet over medium heat and fry the sausage. After 5 minutes add the onions and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are soft.

Add the diced sweet potatoes and peppers to the mixture, turn the heat to low and cover skillet. Cook until sweet potatoes are soft.

Mix in the frozen spinach and cook for 5-7 more minutes.

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp avocado oil
  • 2 Large sweet potatoes diced
  • 1 Each orange, yellow, and green pepper, diced
  • 1 Large onion diced
  • 2 Bags frozen spinach
  • 2 Pints of mushrooms
  • 2 Pounds Italian sausage*
  • 1 Pound chorizo*
  • 1 Pound spicy breakfast sausage*

*We use Pederson’s Farms Sugar Free sausage.

Instructions

  1. Preheat avocado oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
  2. Add sausage and and saute’ for 5 minutes. Add in diced onions and mushrooms cooking for 10 minutes.
  3. Add in diced peppers and sweet potatoes and cook down until sweet potatoes are tender.
  4. Once sweet potatoes are soft stir in the bags of frozen spinach and cover and cook for another 5 minutes and Enjoy.

Do you have any delicious & effortless breakfast recipes that you would like to share?

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

ahalfbakedmom

Ashley Tutt ♡ Mom Blogger

Terms and Conditions