Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce

This recipe was given to me by my friend, Stacy.
Sad that I had it a year or so before I ever tried it!
It's too easy ... after you've put all the ingredients in the crock pot, walk away ... & in 8 hours,
you've got delicious, homemade spaghetti sauce!

Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce
1 lb. ground beef or bulk italian sausage
1 med. onion, chopped
2 cans {14.5 oz each} diced tomatoes, undrained
1 {8 oz} can tomato sauce
1 {6 oz} can tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tsp. dried basil
1-2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 - 1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. salt

Hot cooked spaghetti

In a skillet, cook beef & onion over medium heat til meat is no longer pink.
Drain & transfer to a crock pot.
Add the remaining ingredients {except spaghetti}.
Cover & cook on low for 7-8 hours, or until thoroughly heated through.
Discard bay leaf & serve over spaghetti.

Now for my variations:
I use fresh tomatoes during garden season ... a great way to use up lots of them.
I also add green pepper & sometimes add mushroom.
You can switch these veggies out according to your taste.

Also, I added my ground beef in about 1/2 way through the cooking time.
That's why it's not pictured above.

I leave my tomatoes kinda chunky ... cause we like a chunkier sauce.
If you'd prefer it otherwise, you can use crushed tomatoes ...
or 1 less can of tomatoes & 1 extra can of sauce.

As you can see, this is a very flexible recipe.
It would be pretty hard to mess it up.

Oh, & for the biggest bonus of all, your house will smell a-mazing all.day.long.

**On Wednesday, I showed you how to skin a tomato.
This technique makes quick work of removing the skin for recipes just like this.
That's exactly how I got my crock pot full of tomatoes in no time at all.
{I also do this to my tomatoes when I make salsa ... & for my all-time favorite salsa recipe, click HERE .}

~Buon appetito