Mom's {famous} Spaghetti!

It's "famous" because our most frequent wedding gift to give is the recipe and dry ingredients for my mom's spaghetti sauce! Yep, its that good! It's also really, really easy.

Again, I have a family of four, so you may need more, or you might have more leftovers than I do. *grin

ETA 8/31/19: Here's a more clear list of ingredients. Instructions follow.

1 pound ground beef
1 14.5oz cans of stewed or diced tomatoes
2 8oz can tomato sauce
1 tbsp dehydrated onion
salt
black pepper
add the following spices to your liking: (at least half a tsp, as much as a tbsp)
oregano
basil
rubbed sage
ground thyme
parsley
bay leaves (2)
minced garlic or 1-2 garlic cloves, or granulated garlic or garlic powder
onion powder
brown sugar (about 2 tbsp)
*add tomato paste to thicken the sauce, add up to 8oz water to thin the sauce and stretch it for a crowd.

Get out your skillet and get it hot.
Sprinkle in salt, black pepper and a little dehydrated onion.
We usually freeze 1/2 lb globs of ground beef so I put one of those globs in the pan. (you can add more meat if you're feeding a crowd!) Brown the meat and drain off the grease.
I put in a can of stewed tomatoes, and personally, I use a stick blender and puree it. My kids nor I like to chew bites of tomatoes in my spaghetti. Then two cans of tomato sauce.
If I'm in the mood for thicker sauce, I put in a can of tomato paste. If my mom needs to feed more people, she fills one of the tomato sauce cans with water and adds that now.

Now for the seasonings. I love oregano and basil so there's a lot of that. Add thyme, sage, minced garlic, a dash of parsley, 2 bay leaves (remove before eating and definitely before you store the leftovers), onion powder, and a little brown sugar (a couple tablespoons or so). Stir it all up and let it simmer while you begin the spaghetti noodles!

Drain the noodles, scoop it on a plate, slather on some sauce, sprinkle with a little Parmesan, serve next to your favorite garlic bread and vegetables and tada! you have a yummy dinner ready to go!

mmmmm!

My MIL loved this recipe because all the sauce recipes she's seen require it to simmer all day. I don't know how this recipe was designed, but it has always been a quick dinner at our house.