Welcome Fall

I can feel fall coming and I’m excited. I still keep out my capri pants, yet I swap my sandals for adorable canvas mary janes and pull out my beloved hoodie collection, which easily takes up a third of my closet. I own every imaginable color with the exception of sky blue. It keeps evading me somehow and forces me to long for it in the same way that I can slip into an endless vivid daydream about what kind of movies James Dean would have made had he grown old. Chicago in fall is amazing, and reflective of the people who live here. Relaxed and mild, with a very subtle breezy strength that reminds you to be grateful. Grateful for the fantastic summer you just had and gives you just a few more glimpses of it. Fall in Chicago is that “cool babysitter” that allows you an extra half hour of TV cause your parents will never find out. Every Saturday is filled with people strolling the sidewalks wearing college football jerseys and Sunday’s clothing is Bears orange and blue. The sky gets darker faster, and I have loving permission to wrap myself up in sweat clothes and cook things in a crock pot. For whatever reason, my love of cooking grows deeper in the fall. I like the heat, the heartiness. I love the warm feel of a bowl of soup when you cup your hands around it. When that rich, tomatoey liquid slides down your throat all the way into an empty stomach. The crunchy butteriness of the toast on a grilled cheese sandwich done right. All that, looking out the window into the dark and twinkling Chicago skyline, 7pm.....in sweatpants. Friends and I lately have been passing around recipes. I will be sharing more of my fall recipes, but I’ll start with my first favorite, Crock Pot Lasagna. The Crock Pot Lasagna is asked for and made once a month in our household. Enjoy!

CROCKPOT LASAGNA
INGREDIENTS
• 1 package ground turkey
• 1 onion
• 2 tlb minced garlic
• 1-2 jars of spaghetti sauce
• 1 container fat free cottage cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 package standard lasagna noodles (don’t cook them!)
• 1-2 8oz packages shredded mozzarella cheese
• Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, salt to taste

DIRECTIONS
• Brown turkey with onion - drain
• In one large bowl, combine turkey with spaghetti sauce and seasonings
• In another bowl, combine cottage cheese and egg. Beat till smooth. Add shredded cheese.
• Spray Crock Pot bowl with PAM spray throughout. Begin layering. 1st sauce, 2nd noodles, 3rd cheese.
• Repeat till near top of bowl

• Heat on LOW for 4 hours. Turn to OFF for 5th hour so that lasagna is still warm but perfect for eating.
• Scoop in bowl to serve. Enjoy!