Lasagna - Macey's Ad

In the Macey's grocery store food ads I cut out the Crock Pot Lasagna recipe and tried it out. This is one that I tried to play with a little bit and wish I didn't. It was still good but would have been better if I had followed all the ingredients as directed. Doesn't really matter on what brand you use, but the amounts would have made a difference.

Actual Recipe:

1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 - 29 oz Western Family Tomato Sauce
1 - 6 oz Western Family Tomato Paste
1 - 16 oz Western Family Cottage Cheese
1 - 5 oz BelGioioso Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 - 8 oz Western Family Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 - 16 oz American Beauty Lasagna Noodles (uncooked)

Directions:

-Brown ground beef, chopped onion and smashed garlic in frying pan
-Add tomato sauce, tomato paste, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp dried oregano
-Cook until meat sauce is warm
-Spoon a layer of meat sauce onto the bottom of the crock pot
-Add a double layer of uncooked lasagna noodles (break to fit) and top with a layer of the cheeses
-Repeat with sauce, noodles and cheeses until all are used up
-Add 1/2 cup water around the outside edge of the lasagna
-Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours
-Serves 6

Ready to cook.

Done.

My Changes:

-I used a package of frozen beef I had in the freezer which I had already cooked up with minced onions, so I didn't worry about the garlic
-I didn't have a 29 oz can of tomato sauce so I used 4-6oz cans which equals 24 oz - I now wish I had a 29 oz can or at least one more 6 oz can to use...It needed a little more sauce.
-I was planning on just creating 3 combo layers but ended up with a few extra noodles, so I tried to spread the sauce out at the end to create one more layer - I should have just been more generous with them in the beginning or just left them out. They weren't quite done on the top because there weren't enough toppings on them.
-I used 1/4 cup of water around the edges instead of 1/2 cup. I shouldn't have adjusted this. The noodles needed the extra moisture, especially since I didn't have enough sauce. I was just worried about adding too much water because of a previous recipe that I had done that had a pool of water at the end.
-I thought it would be good with chopped up mushrooms - and I was right about that change. It was delicious and I wish I had chopped up and added a lot more than I did.

Opinion:

Don't play with this recipe too much if you can avoid it. Doesn't matter what brand of items you use, I just copied the recipe as it was written. Keep in mind that it will serve at least 6 people. It created a lot of left overs for my family of 5 (3 of which are under 5). But, it was delicious and the next time I do this, it will be done correctly.