Mellow Monday: Crockpot Pizza Casserole

Mellow Monday is in full effect in our nest.  With vacation Bible school every day last week and Brother Goose going back to school this Thursday, we need all the mellow-"ness" we can stand today.  Other than the normal housekeeping chores, we are going to play low key games, drink plenty of water and replenish our bodies from the crazy week and get ready for the crazy week ahead.

We love pizza!  Before our goslings, Daddy Goose and I used to eat it at least once a week. Our favorite toppings are pepperoni, black olives and pineapple.  These days, between growing pot bellies (or ponch, as Daddy Goose says) and a smaller budget, pizza once a week is not in our menu.  I'm always looking for healthier, cheaper ways to enjoy the yummy taste so we can save our bellies and budget.  This is one of those types of recipes.

Today's pizza style recipe is from Big Oven.  I recently found BigOven.com through ZipList.com.  The tools available on the site are great!  It gives you plenty of menu planning options and boasts that it holds more than 250,000+ recipes.  Make sure you check it out.

Crockpot Pizza Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground meat (I use lean ground turkey)
• 3 ounces turkey pepperoni
• 1 can fat free cream of mushroom soup; undiluted
• 1 large onion; chopped
• 12 ounces parmesan cheese; shredded
• 8 ounces rigatoni pasta; cooked 5 minutes and drained
• 14 ounce pizza or spaghetti sauce
• Other pizza ingredients such as mushrooms, black olives or bell peppers

Instructions:

Brown meat and onion.  Cook pasta.   Mix together meat/onion and pizza or spaghetti sauce.  Layer ingredients into crockpot in this order: half the meat mixture, half the cooked pasta and half of the canned soup, 6 ounces of cheese, half the pepperoni slices and top with any other pizza ingredients you'd like to add, such as mushrooms, black olives or bell peppers.  Repeat layers.  Cook on low for 4 hours.

Do you have any other ways that you enjoy pizza ingredients?  Share them - we're always up for new "pizza" recipes.

Here are some of our other meals for the week.

Monday:  Crockpot Pizza Casserole with green salad and bread sticks
Tuesday:  "Pigs" in a Blanket (turkey hot dogs wrapped with cheese in crescent rolls) with corn
Wednesday: Chicken BLT's Wraps and fresh fruit
Thursday:  Tuna Noodle Casserole (Kraft Homestyle mac-n-cheese with a can of tuna and hidden veggies*) with green beans or snap peas
Friday:  Breakfast for Dinner - Breakfast Burritos
Saturday: Chicken Ceasar Salad with bread sticks
Sunday:  Lake Day - left overs!

*Sometimes I "hide" extra veggies into meals by using baby food.  Like for this recipe I'll add a baby food jar of squash or carrots.  Something that's the same color so Brother Goose won't notice.

Do you like to menu plan?  It helps me to stay on budget, stay on track with food choices and frankly, just makes life easier.  If you'd like to see more menu plans, head over to OrgJunkie.com.

Always ~ Momma Goose