Spaghetti Sauce

Growing up my dad's mom lived with us. She raised my dad in Atlanta where she worked as a beautician. In fact, my parents met (41 years ago) when my grandma was doing my mom's hair and my dad came into the salon to see his mom. How cute is that? She gave us home perms, frosted my mom's hair, cooked, cleaned, and took care of us. She would make buttermilk biscuits any time of day, whenever we asked. To this day they are the best biscuits I've ever had and I have never been able to make them properly. She never used a recipe and always used her hands to mix them. Maybe that was the secret. She also made this spaghetti sauce recipe. The only thing I have changed is that I don't add celery. Even though I don't need my recipe card to make this sauce anymore I always get it out because my grandmother wrote it down for me and seeing her handwriting makes me smile.

(I double this recipe for two nights worth of meals. It freezes beautifully--just pour the leftovers into a freezer bag, pat it flat, and freeze for up to 6 months.)

You will need:

2 lbs extra lean ground beef
1 large green pepper
1 large onion
2 cloves or 1T crushed garlic
2 beef bullion cubes
2 small cans tomato sauce
2 small cans tomato paste (I love the roasted garlic flavor)
2 cans tomato soup



I use a 96% lean ground beef, so I like to add a tablespoon of oil to the pan before browning the meat. I use a mini food processor to chop the onion and green pepper until they are in super tiny pieces--to hide them from the Goose. Feel free to have adult size pieces in your sauce. :) Put the ground beef, onion, green pepper, garlic, and bullion cubes in a large pot and brown until the beef is done.





Then add the 2 cans of sauce, paste, and soup. I really, really recommend the tomato paste with the roasted garlic flavor added.



Stir. (Did I mention that this sauce is super simple?)



Bring the sauce to a boil and then reduce to the heat to barely a simmer. Cook for at least an hour, but the longer the better. I usually give it at least four hours, stirring often. If you don't want to wait on the sauce, make it the night before, and then stick it in the fridge. You will actually get a better, more fully developed flavor this way. This sauce is always better the next day!



I use Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta, angel hair. They add fiber, calcium, and Vitamin D to it, which makes it a bit healthier than regular white pasta. I don't like to eat whole wheat pasta with this sauce, too grainy.


I was really busy one day and had not planned dinner, so I stopped at the grocery store and got a jar of sauce and some noodles. My family was not having it! Now every time I say we're having spaghetti for dinner I get these panicked looks from Bubba and the girls. This last time Tink asked, "you're not using that store bought junk are you?" I guess I'll never live that down. :) This is the only sauce for my family.



Enjoy!!


The past week I also made Burgers and Shredded Beef Tacos.