February 4, 2011

Baby, it's cold outside!

♪♪♪I'm dreaming of a whiiiiite... February....♪♪♪

Okay, I'll stop. LOL It's been nasty cold here in Okieland for the last week, meanwhile, last weekend it was in the 70's and sunny. Bipolar weather for ya.

It's been good weather for making hot suppers! Today, I'm making spaghetti sauce in the crock pot.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground meat of choice (I'm using turkey, but whatever makes you happy)
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, juice and all
1 8 oz can tomato sauce (the plain kind without any spices or anything)
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 yellow onion, diced
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons basil
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I had only ground red pepper, so I used a bit less than 1/2 tsp)
1 bay leaf
3-4 cloves minced garlic (more if you're feelin' it)
handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Optional exciting ingredients: 1 de-seeded and diced bell pepper, handful of minced parsley, tiny can of tomato juice, a good "glug" of red wine

How-to:
Brown your meat until it's not pink anymore. Drain off excess fat and add to crockpot. Add all other ingredients, stir it up, and let it cook on low in the crockpot for about 6 hours.

Man, it's gonna start smelling really good in here in about an hour. Let's hope I can hold on that long!!! :)

**UPDATE** I felt this lacked a necessary robustness. I'll tweak it next time I make it and let you know. :)

Eat well!
<3 Jen

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