Spaghetti

I'm back on the crock pot wagon after falling off for a week (!) while I recovered from whatever nasty virus my husband got from the sick kids in the pediatric clinic. Therefore, this dish was admittedly unambitious, and there are many things I would do differently if the commissary were open on Mondays. The commissary not being open may or may not be a convenient excuse to hide the fact that I was feeling yucky and didn't want to go outside in the chilly, drizzly rain. You decide :)

Anyways, the spaghetti sauce turned out alright. It would've been better if I had the following to add to my recipe: freshly chopped onion, fresh basil, dried oregano, and fresh garlic.

Under the circumstances, however, this is how it went:

1 lb 97% lean ground beef
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
Sea salt (to taste)
2 cans no salt added diced tomatoes
1 can no salt added tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1/2 cup merlot
Parmesan cheese, finely shredded

Combine all ingredients together in a crock pot, stir and cook on low for at least 4 hours. Serve over spaghetti noodles with a little parmesan cheese. I used fresh noodles because I thought they would be easier to cook. I was right... They were MUCH better than the other outcomes from the pasta boat.

We now have a lot of leftovers in our little fridge, which means I probably won't be cooking in the crock pot for awhile. Again :)