Sunday Spaghetti Dinner

     This past weekend Twister and his girlfriend (the mare next door) got into a little lover's quarrel.
     The mare's mom didn't seem to care and was a good model for me.
     Since we had good weather I decided to take Hedgie outside for the first time and he seemed to enjoy his little adventure.
 
  This past weekend we had  family out at our house for Sunday Dinner. We expected about 15 1/2 (the 1/2 is for a 6 month old baby), but my cousin had to work so that cut out 2 people and then my dad's cousin and her family couldn't either so it was only 9.

  I couldn't decide if I wanted spaghetti and meatballs or meat sauce. I ended up choosing the meat sauce since my mom and I were busy Friday and Saturday and I was worn out. I found a few recipes online and in some magazines I had for both meatballs and spaghetti sauce so I decided to make up my own recipe. I used our favorite brand of sauce to make things a little easier and faster.  I also made it easier by adding everything (except the past, of course) to a big crock pot to keep it hot and let the flavor melt together.

  We decided to mix ground pork, Italian sausage, and beef. Since we have some picky eaters in the family (and children were attending) I decided to add in some carrots and zucchini which I diced so isn't noticeable.   Also we combined regular spaghetti with whole wheat pasta.

Sunday Spaghetti Dinner

Created by Rayna of Curious Country Cook

serves: 10-12

1 lb reduced fat ground pork
1/2 lb mild Italian sausage
1/2 lb ground beef (80/20)
1 tbsp reserved grease
3/4 large onion, chopped
1 cup zucchini, diced
1/2 cup carrots, diced
7 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 tsp dried oregano
1 1/4 tsp herbs de Provence
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
68 oz Spaghetti Sauce (your favorite brand)
1 cup water*

1. In a large skillet brown the pork, sausage, and beef -You may do this in batches. Drain the excess grease from the meat and place in a large crock pot bowl. Reserve 1 tablespoon of grease.
2. Saute the onions, carrots, and zucchini in the reserved grease for 6 minutes, Add in the oregano, herbs de Provence, salt, pepper, and the garlic; saute for 4 minutes. Stir  in the Worcestershire sauce.
3. Add the vegetable mix into the crock pot and pour in the spaghetti sauce and 1 cup water. Mix to combine and turn the crock pot on low for 6 hours or high for 4. - Our crock pot has a "warm" setting for after about 5 hours I switched it to that.
4. Serve over whole wheat pasta and a side salad.

*Depending on how thick you want your sauce you can add 1/2 cup of water in with the sauce and save the other half for later or add in the whole cup at the beginning.
.