Spaghetti is so yummy!!!

My mom has the most amazing spaghetti sauce. I have the recipe and have made it a few times, but because of the time consuming recipe that she makes along with the ump-teen million ingredients she puts in it. I tweeked it a bit. I have found a packet of seasoning that works and makes it taste just like moms. Plus depending on my mood I'll add this or that but, the basic part of it is all the same. It starts off as just a basic marinara sauce that can be used for anything including chicken  parmesan. I start it in the morning in the crock pot, and just let it sit on low all day long, stirring it when ever I go into the kitchen.

3-4 - 15 oz cans of tomato sauce
2-3  15 oz cans of diced tomatoes
2 packets of a thick and zesty speghetti seasoning
1 onion chopped small
nice pinch or salt
liberal on the pepper
sprinkle in some garlic powder

and there you go. That's the marinara part of it. I use this on my chicken parmesan, or if I just want a non meat sauce on some pasta. Good for a vegitarian friend or family too. Now, for the speghetti sauce part of it, which I also use in my lasagne, too:

1-1 1/2 lbs of ground beef
1/2 lb of mushrooms (which of Candy or Bri you don't have to do this!)

And then depending on my mood and what I have left over in the fridge, like today, I had 1/2 a  green bell pepper and only 1/2 an onion. So, I chopped both of those up finely and added those instead of the whole onion. I also had some olives I needed to use up, so I chopped those up finely and added those. See with my kids, I have to hide some of the healthy stuff. What better way then to chop it all up so finely and hide it in the sauce. I also use this with the lasagne. It stores great and freezes great. I always make a huge crock pot full of the marinara sauce, then just take out what I need for chicken parmesan, then add the rest to it. I can freeze it for quite some time, and just pull it out and heat it up later.

Hope you all enjoy!!