Slow-Cooker Lasagna

All the ingredients!

This was the recipe we used for DUGGAR DAY! at work (the CCO office) The Duggars often find their way into our lunchtime conversations and we noticed some skepticism emerging among our coworkers regarding the size of the Duggar family, and we couldn't have that. We decided that two things would win over the hearts of our office friends; food and an episode of 19 Kids and Counting to introduce them to who the Duggars really are! With the help of Vince (a closet Duggar fan) we booked the CCO projector, emailed everyone in advance to tell them not to bring a lunch and started prepping the night before. Since we were serving lunch to at least 15 people, using Duggar quantities was actually an appropriate choice (and we didn't have any leftovers!). At the grocery store, Hailey felt like a real Duggar, but had to carry all the ingredients home on the bus (she fit the 4 jars of sauce in her purse) since she doesn't have a 15-passenger van! That night, Hailey cooked the 4 lbs of ground beef while Katie shredded 6 cups of cheese before bed.

Slow-Cooker Lasagna ready to serve

5:30 am on Duggar Day, we groaned our way out of bed, packed up all our ingredients and hopped on the bus to the office. We assembled the lasagnas in two slow cookers and worried slightly that the noodles wouldn't cook (because we hadn't bought the pre-cooked kind), so we just made sure to cover them in sauce. We plugged in the slow cookers at 7am and had time for morning prayer and Mass before coming back to the office to excitedly announce to everyone that it was Duggar Day!

Tiffany, a fellow Duggar fan!

Hailey and Cristina had to endure the smell of lasagna cooking in their office until it was finally 12:15 and everyone filed into the kitchen to begin Duggar lunch (even the workaholics who rarely come to lunch)! We set up the projector and showed them "Duggars at the Doctor" (Season 3, episode 16). Jackie was shocked that all the Duggars' names started with J while Tiffany happily recited the names of all the Duggar children along with Michelle.
The end of the episode brought a round of applause and then Katie asked, "who likes the Duggars more now than before lunch time?" There was a brief pause, but most people raised their hands - we deemed that a success! Maybe not everyone will be a Duggar fan right away, but we'll take it one person at a time!

Everyone in the kitchen, watching 18 Kids and Counting!