CROCKPOT CHEESE TORTELLINI

~ Little Fellows

19 oz. frozen cheese tortellini 

3-5 oz. spinach 

2 14.5 oz cans of Italian style diced tomatoes, drained

8 oz. cream cheese, cut into chunks

1 lb. ground sausage 

4 c. chicken broth 

Brown the sausage and put all ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Notes: I sometimes use refrigerated tortellini and put it in the crockpot for the last two hours, rather than using frozen, and it works fine that way.  I don't measure the spinach, but just dump a bunch in, and I've also used Italian sausage, which we all really like. I've also used chopped kale from the freezer and liked the way it turned out.

CROCKPOT ZITI

~ Finding Joy in My Kitchen

2 c. spaghetti sauce
8 oz. penne
12 oz. cottage cheese
5 oz. spinach
6 oz. mozzarella, shredded
2-3 T. parmesan

Put cottage cheese in food processor and blend until smooth. Add spinach and blend until thoroughly combined.

Spread about 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the crockpot. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the noodles. Spread 1/3 of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles, then sprinkle with 1/3 of the mozzarella. Pour 1/3 of the remaining sauce over the cheese. Repeat layers two more times, switching the order of the mozzarella and sauce on the top layer if you want a cheesy top.

Cook on low 4-6 hours.  Sprinkle with parmesan and allow to melt before serving.

Notes: The site I got this from said it filled their 4 qt. crockpot. I double it in a 5.5 qt. crockpot with plenty of room at the top. Ours is done in four hours, but cooking time could vary depending on your crockpot, so just keep an eye on it the first time. While this is good as is, we like it with pepperjack instead of mozzarella or a little bit of crushed red pepper mixed in with the cottage cheese and spinach.

RICE COOKER MAC & CHEESE

~ Sonlight forums in 2008, but don't recall the specific person

2 c. noodles
1 c. stock or water
1 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 c. grated, mixed cheese
2 T. butter
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
pinch cayenne

Place pasta and all liquids in rice cooker and start cooking. When the cooker switches to “warm” add the remaining ingredients and stir.

Notes: I never use the butter, often use regular cream instead of heavy, and skip the cayenne when we use pepperjack. We’ve used various combos of cheddar, mozzarella, jack, swiss, and pepperjack. Our favorite noodle to use is wagon wheels and we double the recipe in our 14 cup rice cooker.