Meat Sauce for Spaghetti {Recipe}

Yesterday I promised I'd keep you posted on the freezer issue, so here ya go.

I went through and organized both freezers (the "starter" freezer and the freezer attached to our fridge) yesterday, and found a little bit of room, enough that I felt comfortable going ahead with my plan to make large batches of meat sauce and taco seasoned meat for the freezer, but not enough room to commence the long list of baking projects.  I have a list of some of the oddly shaped frozen things that don't stack nicely and take up a lot of room to try to use up next week, and then, hopefully, I'll be able to bake the 1st week of school.

Except the first week of school I'll be busy sitting on the couch and eating bonbons, recovering from the summer that wasn't.  So that's not going to work, either...

I realized that, even though spaghetti with meat sauce usually shows up on our menu 3 or 4 times a month, I've never shared my recipe.  It's a very easy, delicious recipe that uses just a few pantry staples.  And you can control what goes in it.  Win.

I like to sextuple this recipe, then when it cools, I ladle meal sized portions into quart size freezer bags, freeze them flat, and store them like file folders in the freezer.  Having this meat sauce in the freezer makes it so easy to whip together supper on nights when I'm squeezed for time.

Meat Sauce for Spaghetti

{Click here to print this recipe}

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Ingredients (About 6 servings (about 3/4 c.)

• 1 pound lean ground beef or other meat--I use a combination of lean beef and turkey, but use whatever you have. You could even substitute lentils or beans.
• 1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
• 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
• 1 can (16 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained OR 2 c. peeled, diced tomatoes
• 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
• 1 t. dried oregano
• 1 t. dried basil
• 1/2 t. dried marjoram
• 1 t. sugar
• 1/2 t. salt

Instructions

1. In a large skillet, cook ground beef, onion, and garlic, stirring occasionally, until beef is cooked through. Drain.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients.
3. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally.

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