Summer Meat Sauce

Summer Meat Sauce

Woah! Today at least a few of my muscles reminded me they haven't been used in a bit!  Two days ago we drove east on the Mass Pike (I-90) & visited our son & his family.  Another way to phrase that is that two days ago we had so much FuN playing games & reading to our young grandsons before the busy month of September & school begins in Massachusetts.  There's a few aches here.  Who am I kidding they're everywhere!  It's my normal- 2 days later, and so worth it, too!  :)

Today was the perfect day to take out my Slow Cooker!  Green Peppers, Eggplant, & Zucchini were in the fridge & easy to wash/ dry/ cut up for the Slow Cooker's pot.  A quick trip to our grocery store for the 3/4 pound of Ground Beef & to my pantry made for an easy dinner preparation.

Making a Meat Sauce in a Slow Cooker (Crock Pot) using fresh local vegetables is ideal for this time of year.  During our colder winter months it's always so handy to pull out a frozen container of sauce to enjoy over pasta.  Much less salt in a sauce prepared this way, too.  Whenever possible I use canned tomato sauce & tomatoes that contain less salt when preparing recipes!  Chunks of fresh veggies taste so good!    

Summer Meat Sauce

Ingredients:

2 Green Peppers, cut into chunks or strips
(3/4 lb.) Ground Beef - Brown in skillet, removes fat
(1) large Eggplant - Cut into slices, then into chunks.
(3) small Zucchini - Cut in slices, then in half.
Dehydrated Onion, Parsley - as desired
1/4 teaspoon each Garlic Powder, Oregano & Basil
(1) can Tomatoes - drain, can be whole & cut in quarters or diced
About 28 oz. Tomato Sauce
(1) 6 oz. can Tomato Paste

Method: 

1. Spray Slow Cooker pot with PAM.
2. Brown Ground Beef in skillet.
3. Rinse all vegetables under cold running water, dry.
4. Cut Green Peppers into strips & then in halves. Place in Slow Cooker's pot.
5. Add browned Ground Beef.
6. Add Eggplant pieces & halved sliced Zucchini pieces.
7. Sprinkle on Onions, Parsley, Garlic Powder, Oregano & Basil. 
8. Add drained cut/diced Tomatoes.
9. In small bowl mix Tomato Paste with Tomato Sauce until smooth.
10. Add Tomato Sauce/Paste to pot.
11. Cover with lid.
12. Cook on High (#5) Setting for 4 hours.
13. Stir & serve over Pasta of choice.

After dinner when the extra sauce cooled, portions were placed in freezer containers & dated/ labelled.  On a snowy winter evening nothing beats an easy "take out" dinner when you can just visit your freezer.

Enjoy!
Yummy!