Slow Cooker Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce

One of the best comfort foods is spaghetti with meat sauce, in my opinion! But, it is made even better with homemade pasta sauce instead of the canned, pre-made stuff. Now, in the middle of winter you may have to rely on canned tomatoes to make this (unless you have a bunch canned from your garden last summer), but I still think it tastes better then the jarred sauce. And I am most definitely going to grow more tomatoes this year to make my own garden-fresh sauce! I made a double batch of this a few weeks ago and froze most of it to enjoy yet this winter. It's very versatile to use in other ways, too, like for lasagne or manicotti. Also, I did a mixture of italian sausage and ground turkey to cut the calories a bit. Tweak as you wish, as always!

Slow Cooker Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce

• 1-1/2 lbs bulk italian sausage
• 1 cup diced onions (about 2 medium)
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 1 can (28oz) diced tomatoes
• 2 cans (8oz) tomato sauce
• 2 cans (6oz) tomato paste

Brown up the italian sausage, drain, and pour into slow cooker. Then add all remaining ingredients. Use at least a 4 qt slow cooker. I doubled it and it fit fine into my 6 qt cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Crock Pot Chili

Hi all! I apologize for the late posting of the Crock of the Week this week, I enjoyed a few days off with my family for my birthday! This week, I am giving you a traditional recipe that you can easily throw together in your crock pot. For years, I used a dutch oven on the stovetop for making chili, but the crock pot is a great way to make it too, since you don't have to pay as much attention to it once you throw it together.

Crock Pot Chili

- 2 lbs ground beef, browned and drained
- 1 green or yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1 large onion, diced
- 3 15-oz cans diced tomatoes (I use the chili-ready kind, but plain is fine too)
- 1 15-oz can of tomato sauce
- 3 tbsp chili powder
- 2 tbsp cayenne pepper
- Salt/pepper to taste
- 2-3 15-oz cans pre-cooked pinto beans, light red kidney beans, or dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

In a large skillet, saute onion until soft. Add in the ground beef and brown that up. Drain, and then transfer mixture to the crock pot. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, stir. Mix in diced peppers and spices. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6. Then add your beans (I use 3 cans because my 2 year old son LOVES beans! I use 1 can of each of the beans listed in the ingredients to make the chili pretty, haha!), and cook on high for another hour or low for another 2.

Garnish with shredded cheese and sour cream when serrving, and I also enjoy some cornbread with chili. YUM! Freezes well and leftovers taste even better, in my opinion.

This week, I decided to do a photo of my son's chili plate :)