Pinto Bean Casserole (Yes, I'm serious)

I know it sounds weird, but it was actually really good. It's basically a meal in one dish, which is nice too! Think chili casserole. This is adapted from some ladies talking about it at school, and once again, I forgot the exact recipe, and made up my own :)

1 can of pinto beans
1 jar of salsa or canned tomatoes
1 - 2 lbs of ground beef or turkey (I used turkey)
1 bag of cheese (cheddar or mexican blend or something like that)
1 box of cornbread mix

Brown ground beef/turkey. Then put pinto beans on the bottom of a pan, and cover with meat. Then layer with salsa or canned tomatoes. Then sprinkle cheese. Mix cornbread according to directions and spread on top. Cook on 400 for 30 minutes until cornbread is done.

We enjoyed this meal... not our favorite meal in the whole world, but it was good and hearty!

Crock Pot Lasagna

Someone was recently telling me about a crock pot lasagna recipe, and I was half listening, so I didn't hear the full directions.  Here is my recipe, which I made up tonight, inspired by the one that my co-workers were talking about.


Brown 1 lb of Ground beef and then add a jar of sauce
Put a layer of that on the bottom of a crock pot (preferably an oval/oblong shaped one)
Then, put a layer of DRY lasagna noodles (an easy shortcut!)
On top of that, spread cottage cheese, then sprinkle with Parmesan and mozzarella.
 Repeat 3 or so times, and top the whole thing with a thick layer of mozzarella cheese.
Cook on low for 3 hours in crock pot.

It was delicious! Mine was a little soupy because I also added canned tomatoes (thinking it looked too dry), but turns out it was too wet, so I am going to omit the can o' tomatoes next time!

Nick loved it (or at least he pretended like he did :), and it took me less than 15 min to make lasagna!