Crock Pot Wednesday-- Crock Pot Lasagna

Two crocks filled with lasagna!

I recently got a new recipe off of Pinterest for crock pot lasagna. (Unfortunately, there wasn't a link--just a recipe on what looks like a cell phone face, so I can't give credit.)

Anyway, I made up two large crock pot inserts of the tasty recipe given below--and stuck them both in the refrigerator to cook (1) on Sunday while we were at church; and (2) for my "Crock Pot Wednesday" lunch that I make for my kids and teachers at our house on our "cottage class" teaching day (Wednesdays). 

First, the good news. This recipe was super easy. My teenage assistant and I whipped two crocks full in fifteen minutes (with precooked ground beef from my freezer). It feels easier than regular lasagna (even though I do not precook the noodles in either recipe). I think it was just a mental thing though--I felt like it didn't matter if it was neatly layered in the crock pot whereas when I make them in pans for the freezer, it feels more structured and time consuming. (Again, it was probably all in my head!)

I love assembling crock pot entrees, sticking the crocks in my fridge and having them ready to use in the next few days. It is similar to freezer cooking except it is in the fridge and ready to turn on the slow cooker and go. 

I have two identical crock pots--this one with three sizes of "crocks." Thus, I have six removable crocks in three sizes (two of each size) to do this multiple-crock cooking I am describing in this post.

Now the bad news: both times I cooked this dish, the lasagna noodles became very soft, almost dissolving type of soft. I like my pasta al dente, so I wasn't thrilled with the texture. Also, it is much soupier than traditional lasagna. However, my guys liked it (not as well as traditional), but enough for me to keep it in my repertoire and use it again for "Crock Pot Wednesday"! 

(I have wondered if refrigerating the crocks of lasagna and keeping them for a while before cooking them might have added to the soft noodles. I will update this after trying this recipe again with cooking it as soon as it is made as opposed to storing it and cooking it later. However, I have frozen pans of lasagna for twenty-three years now, and it has never affected the texture of the noodles.)

I did this recipe four times for two huge crock inserts. (Each crock fed eight to ten people.) As it is given below, I think the recipe would fit in a six or possibly even four quart crock pot and would likely feed four or five people. Be sure you keep it on low. (My kids turned it on high for an hour to rush it along, and it burned the sides and bottom. However, my slow cooker is extremely hot. My high is more like super high; my low is like high; and my warm is like low!) 

Ingredients--

1 lb ground beef

Lasagna noodles

1 regular jar spaghetti sauce 

1 1/2 cup cottage cheese (or ricotta)

1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 to 4 eggs (I like to stick extra eggs in everything!)

1. Mix ground beef and sauce in large bowl, reserving 1/2 cup or so of sauce by itself.

2. Mix cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese and eggs in large bowl.

3. Spray crock pot with cooking spray. Pour the reserved 1/2 to one cup of sauce in bottom of crock.

4. Place two uncooked lasagna noodles (broken in half to fit in the crock) over the sauce.

5. Spread 1/3 of meat mixture over noodles.

6. Spread 1/2 of cottage cheese mixture over meat mixture.

7. Spread 1/3 of mozzarella cheese over cottage cheese.

8. Add another layer of uncooked lasagna noodles (two again, broken in half).

9. Pour the other half of the cottage cheese mixture over the lasagna noodles in this layer.

10. Add 1/3 of mozzarella cheese.

11. Add another layer of uncooked lasagna noodles (two again, broken in half).

12. Add remaining meat mixture.

13. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese.

14. Cook on low for four hours; do not overcook.

I get very confused about the order and amounts in lasagna recipes, so here is a quick recap of the order:

a. 1/2 cup to 1 cup sauce alone

b. Two uncooked lasagna noodles

c. 1/3 of the meat mixture

d. 1/2 of cottage cheese mixture

e. Two uncooked lasagna noodles

f. 1/2 of the cottage cheese mixture

g. 1/3 of the mozzarella

h. Two uncooked lasagna noodles

i. Rest of meat mixture

j. Rest of mozzarella

A is for AFFIRMATION

A is for AFFIRMATION!

I LOVE TO WATCH YOU...


Article from blog:

Affirmation. Words of encouragement. Words of praise. Words of confirmation. Words of affection. Words of pride. Words of belonging. These all describe that one word--affirmation.

I recently read an article about a study of hundreds of college athletes that lasted over three decades. In this article,  “What Makes a Nightmare Sports Parent and What Makes a Great One.” these college athletes described two things that are poignant for parents of all children, including non-athletes.

The first question they answered was "What is your worst memory from playing youth and high school sports?"

The majority of those surveyed said, "The ride home from games with my parents."

(If you have read much of what we have written or heard us speak often, you know that we focus on riding with our children in the van or car as one of the key opportunities to teach, affirm, talk, love, and train. It breaks my heart that this "sacred time" is remembered as one of the most dreadful times for these hundreds of athletes.)

Of course, we can all imagine why--because there probably isn't a parent reading this (author included) who hasn't come down on a child on the drive home from something about his performance--teacher conferences, speech contest, debate tournament, soccer game, swim meet, even pick-up basketball games are all opportunities to "teach" our child what he did "wrong" in the aforementioned event. 

My husband, who is truly the best dad I know, one who talks to his kids on the phone and in person quite literally hours every day, even does this, so I know it is hard to conquer. And it isn't always the parent's fault either--as I know our kids usually probe on the way home from a performance, sermon, or song. They ask us questions that make us feel like we should be "teaching" at that time. 

However, we really need to resist the urge to teach at that time. My experience has been that they ask and ask, but they really don't want a lesson. They really just want to hear the positive at that time. I have to remind myself that there will be time for teaching and lessons later--when the performance, sermon, or song isn't so fresh.

The study went on to prove this point further by telling how the kids described their joy over grandparents attending their sporting events. It seems that grandparents are more likely to watch, cheer, and then praise--with no lessons or strings attached. 

Turning from the negative and what not-to-do, to the positive, these same athletes were asked what their parents did right--what made them feel good about themselves and their performances. The majority of them said that they were filled with joy when their parents simply said six little words:

 "I love to watch you play."

No lessons, lectures, or analyses. Just six simple words that made hundreds of college and professional athletes look back on their time following sporting events with their parents fondly.

And six little words that we can use to affirm our children all the time. 

I was happy to read this article because one of my favorite buzz lines after my kids perform is 

I could watch you _________________ forever. 

I could watch you dance forever. I could watch you sing forever. I could watch you preach forever. I could watch you teach forever. I could watch you act forever. I could watch you direct forever. I could watch you lead forever. I could watch you play forever. I could watch you study forever. 

The thing about these lines---I love to watch you.... or I could watch you ..... forever---is that our child doesn't have to be the best to say these things. He doesn't have to have just played a perfect game. He doesn't have to have just scored the winning run. He doesn't have to have given a flawless performance. 

He is our child. We love to watch him grow, do, be, become. We are saying that the child is so amazing to us--without being the gold medal winner. We are saying that he is important. That we want to be with him. That we love to watch him do what he loves to do.

We are affirming. With six little words.

I love to watch you....

 

Link for original article:
http://raising-kids-with-character.blogspot.com/2013/07/i-love-to-watch-you.html





A is for AFFIRMATION!

New Favorite "Hot Mexican Dip"---Has Sausage and Cream Cheese...Much Creamier Than Old Recipe!

1 large block of Velveeta
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 block ceam cheese
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 lb sausage (or hamburger or combination)
chili powder to taste

1. Fry meat and drain thoroughly. (Note: If you keep meat fried up in your freezer like I do, a pound is roughly 2 1/2 cups.)

2. Cube Velveeta and cream cheese.

3. Combine all except chili powder and heat in microwave, crock pot, or stove top. (If using micro or stove top, be sure to stir often as things start to heat up and melt.)

4. Add chili powder to taste.

Note: I use half sausage and half hamburger. I like the taste better than plain hamburger.

Discipline: Punishment/Chastisement VS Consequences/Reality Discipline

It has been important to us in our child training that we understand (or at least try to understand!) the difference between foolishness (willfulness) and childishness (underdeveloped character). The differences between these two types of behaviors in children are crucial in disciplining properly. This is truly one of the biggest mistakes that we see parents make. For example:

(1) A child who spilled his milk at the table is disciplined in the same manner as he was earlier in the day when he struck his brother

(2) A child who forgot to shut the door and the dog got in the house is disciplined in the same manner as he was when he talked back to his mother

(3) A child who didn't thoroughly clean his room is disciplined in the same manner as he was earlier when he lied to his dad about using one of this tools

In our child training, Ray and I have tried to determine whether a behavior was rebellion against us (as in outright disobedience or disrespect) or childishness (as in forgetfulness, procrastination, sloppiness, etc.):




1. Foolishness


   a. Rebellion


   b. Disobedience


   c. Disrespect

  d. Lying

2. Childishness


   a. Undeveloped or underdeveloped character


   b. Forgetfulness, procrastination, irresponsibility, etc.


   c. May turn into “foolishness” if left unattended




We do this because disobedience requires biblical discipline whereas childishness requires the second aspect of child training we have used: reality discipline (or consequences). 

I like what an attendee at a recent seminar told us that she heard about this topic: Punishment is only for the Four D's:

1. Disobedience (i.e. not forgetfulness or overlooking routine at first)

2. Disrespect (i.e. direct disrespect to parents or those in authority--not disagreeing with you respectfully or having their own thoughts!)

3. Deceit (lying, stealing, telling half truths, etc.)

4. Destruction (purposely hurting things or people)

                            Which Behavior Is This? 

Discerning between disobedience and childishness can be so difficult! Even after nearly thirty-one years of parenting, Ray and I still continuously ask each other which behavior a child is displaying. 

Difficult or not, we must do it. The Bible says that we are not to exasperate our children. Two sure ways to exasperate them are to punish incorrectly, as in anger, etc., and to punish something as disobedience, when we should be training through consequences.

 All parents are faced with this. A child dawdles when we call him to come get ready for bed, and we wonder whether this is just childishness or if it is real disobedience. When our son leaves the dog out of the kennel for the third night in a row, and the pooch potties on the new carpet, we ask ourselves if our little guy is disobeying or forgetting. 


In a nutshell , if a child is disobedient, disrespectful, or rebellious, we have a heart issue—and a serious discipline problem that needs handled in a serious manner—and quickly. That is, the Four D's need punishment/chastisement, not consequences or reality discipline.

If a child is forgetful, slow, unreliable, etc. (especially a younger child), it is usually childishness—and we can “train” that undeveloped or underdeveloped childishness out of a child through consequences and reality discipline.

Besides disciplining these two types of behaviors correctly, we also need to watch our response to these behaviors. Simply put, not putting the hose back in the garage after the child watered the garden should not be met with the same response by the parent as lying about putting the hose back in the garage!

It is like responding to a child's red streak in her hair in the same way as we do if that child uses God's name in vain. There is simply no comparison. And the same should be true in our response to childishness vs one of the Four D's.

For more information on this, please check out Discipline at our blog--or host a Raising Kids With Character seminar in your church or parenting group or homeschooling group. (Our RKWC seminar is a Christian parenting seminar for all Christian parents as opposed to our homeschooling workshops that we do for homeschool groups. All parents, homeschooling or not, can benefit from Raising Kids With Character!)

I Love to Watch You...

Affirmation. Words of encouragement. Words of praise. Words of confirmation. Words of affection. Words of pride. Words of belonging. These all describe that one word--affirmation.

I recently read an article about a study of hundreds of college athletes that lasted over three decades. In this article,  “What Makes a Nightmare Sports Parent and What Makes a Great One.” these college athletes described two things that are poignant for parents of all children, including non-athletes.

The first question they answered was "What is your worst memory from playing youth and high school sports?"

The majority of those surveyed said, "The ride home from games with my parents."

(If you have read much of what we have written or heard us speak often, you know that we focus on riding with our children in the van or car as one of the key opportunities to teach, affirm, talk, love, and train. It breaks my heart that this "sacred time" is remembered as one of the most dreadful times for these hundreds of athletes.)

Of course, we can all imagine why--because there probably isn't a parent reading this (author included) who hasn't come down on a child on the drive home from something about his performance--teacher conferences, speech contest, debate tournament, soccer game, swim meet, even pick-up basketball games are all opportunities to "teach" our child what he did "wrong" in the aforementioned event.

My husband, who is truly the best dad I know, one who talks to his kids on the phone and in person quite literally hours every day, even does this, so I know it is hard to conquer. And it isn't always the parent's fault either--as I know our kids usually probe on the way home from a performance, sermon, or song. They ask us questions that make us feel like we should be "teaching" at that time.

However, we really need to resist the urge to teach at that time. My experience has been that they ask and ask, but they really don't want a lesson. They really just want to hear the positive at that time. I have to remind myself that there will be time for teaching and lessons later--when the performance, sermon, or song isn't so fresh.

The study went on to prove this point further by telling how the kids described their joy over grandparents attending their sporting events. It seems that grandparents are more likely to watch, cheer, and then praise--with no lessons or strings attached.

Turning from the negative and what not-to-do, to the positive, these same athletes were asked what their parents did right--what made them feel good about themselves and their performances. The majority of them said that they were filled with joy when their parents simply said six little words:

 "I love to watch you play."

No lessons, lectures, or analyses. Just six simple words that made hundreds of college and professional athletes look back on their time following sporting events with their parents fondly.

And six little words that we can use to affirm our children all the time.

I was happy to read this article because one of my favorite buzz lines after my kids perform is

I could watch you _________________ forever.

I could watch you dance forever. I could watch you sing forever. I could watch you preach forever. I could watch you teach forever. I could watch you act forever. I could watch you direct forever. I could watch you lead forever. I could watch you play forever. I could watch you study forever.

The thing about these lines---I love to watch you.... or I could watch you ..... forever---is that our child doesn't have to be the best to say these things. He doesn't have to have just played a perfect game. He doesn't have to have just scored the winning run. He doesn't have to have given a flawless performance.

He is our child. We love to watch him grow, do, be, become. We are saying that the child is so amazing to us--without being the gold medal winner. We are saying that he is important. That we want to be with him. That we love to watch him do what he loves to do.

We are affirming. With six little words.

I love to watch you....

 

Happy July 4th: Review "The American Patriot's Alamanac: Daily Readings on America"

Our favorite patriotic "devotional"! Our two sons, ages fifteen and eighteen, asked me to get this back out for this summer's reading since we haven't done it for two years now. I LOVE this book. Short readings--about 5 to 10 minutes each, plus "This day in history list" for each day. So inspiring!

You might be familiar with one of the authors, William J. Bennett, from his amazing story collection, "Book of Virtues" (a great read aloud book for families with multi ages of children and even older children!). He has done it again in this wonderful 365 excerpt patriotic book!

If you homeschool, you want this book! If you homeschool and you are doing American history this year, you definitely want this book! :)



"American History Parade" pg. 235 (Today in history)

1776 The Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence

1802  The US Military Academy opens at West Point, NY

1826 John Adams, age ninety, and Thomas Jefferson, age eight-three die

1831 James Monroe, fifth US President, dies at age seventy-three

1959 A forty-ninth star is added to the flat to represent the new state of Alaska

1960 A fiftieth star is added to the flat to represent the new state of Hawaii

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1595552677/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=3645543865&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=785661502302869156&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_43w248wo4x_e

Why We Have Wanted Our Teens and Young Adults Mentored by Adults

Thirty-three years ago this fall, my husband and I (he, a twenty year old college junior and I, a seventeen year old high school senior) went looking for a church to get married in the next summer only to find two crucial things in our lives: salvation and mentors. In short, we found the church we wanted to get married in (a little white, country church with a CENTER aisle), got born again, and discovered the joy of mentors in our lives. 

New Lisbon Christian Church, Union City, IN (pic taken 2013 when we visited it for our anniversary)

For the next year prior to marriage, as well as in our first several years of marriage and child-bearing, we had three couples in our lives who helped us grow in our faith, showed us how to live the Christian life, and even taught us how to get along with each other at times! These couples were ten, twenty, and thirty years older than we--they were adults who had been "doing the stuff" of Christianity for many years. They took us under their wings and helped us grow in the faith. 

Several years later, we moved away from the safety of our hometown nest, but we continued to find mentors. Some of these we saw only once  a year or so. Others were close friends whom we did life with, had children with, and homeschooled with. Still others were "distant mentors"--those people whom you may or may not ever meet, but they impact you through their writing, speaking, and teaching--and you realize one day after many, many years, that your life would have been completely different (probably not for the best) if you had not "met" these mentors. 

So when our children entered their teen years, we weren't interested so much in peer or even "a few years older than our kids" mentors for them. We wanted them to have what we had, had. We already knew that our kids' first--and longest-lasting--mentors would be us. We would make
 the hard choices to give up other things to mentor and disciple our kids. 

Then the older kids started to grow up and find mentors of their own--adults who had been doing the very things our kids wanted to do with their lives. And it was glorious to watch them have adults in their lives to show them things that we couldn't show them or hadn't experienced ourselves.

Our oldest child spent two school years (his high school senior year and his college freshman year interning at two different state capitols. His mentors were professionals, but he learned a lot and grew as a public servant during this time.

Our next two kids, two daughters who both wanted to go into ministry (one as a missionary and eventually a college professor of theology and/or church history and one as a disability ministry director)  found an amazing mentor in our associate pastor who directed a two year ministry school at our church and oversaw the girls' ministries. We credit him for our dyslexic daughter's confidence to go all the way to a doctorate program (he told her countless times that with her skills and intelligence, she should never shoot for anything short of a doctorate degree in order to serve God fully with her whole self). 

We also credit him with our other daughter's successful disability ministry that she founded while still in high school under his mentoring/college program. When that daughter came to him after she had served at Joni and Friends and talked to Joni Ereckson Tada about her desire to  serve the disabled (Joni told her to go home, talk to her pastor, and do it!), he led her through the correct channels to make it happen and oversaw and encouraged her every step of the way.

Our fourth child, third daughter, got involved in a drama ministry, The Academy of Arts in Greenville, SC, while she was still in high school. Before we knew it, she was being mentored and encouraged by the founder's daughter and her husband (the current directors of the program) and spent three years interning there under that couple.To this day, every word that couple speaks to our daughter is like a balm to her soul, encouraging and deepening her in faith and in utilizing her giftings.

Here we are with our fifth child (second boy, age 20) and sixth child (third boy, age 18) who both found themselves in our new church's praise team after a couple of months of attendance at this church. We, after only six months, are already seeing them encouraged by the worship pastor week after week and watched their ministry skills grow in the process.

Now you can see a glimpse into why adults mentoring our kids has been so important to us. We grew in leaps and bounds spiritually thanks to many people who saw potential in us, believed in us, and helped us grow into the parents, family ministers, and spouses that we are today. We wanted that same type of grown-up mentoring for our own kids.

Peer mentoring and encouragement is fine. Single young adults just a few years older than our kids themselves is also helpful to many. But for our kids to have grown, successful, dedicated adults take an interest in them and invest them has been absolutely priceless. 

Recently, the aforementioned twenty year old who is a junior studying pastoral ministry came home from his first meeting with our preaching pastor bubbling over with excitement. He spent an hour recounting everything that he and the pastor said during their time together. I, too, was excited about his excitement, but my heart warmed most of all when Jonathan told me the question our pastor asked him: "Jonathan, how can I, as your pastor, help you become the pastor you want to be?"