and tastes a lot better too!

I've been digging through recipes and making copies of some easy favorites for a friend. So it's got me thinkin' about some things I haven't made in a while.

One of the things I used to make quite often is a homemade spaghetti sauce with meat. It is soo good and its homemade.. AND it's got no high fructose corn syrup or any of the other nasties that come in jar sauces.

Just some good taste! And you can say "yes, I made the sauce" because everyone will ask since it tastes a lot better than out of a can or jar!

And the smell in the house will make everyone count the minutes til dinner's ready!

Ya ready?! Here goes:

1 pound hamburger meat, browned and drained
2 cans chopped tomato 14 ounces each
2 cans tomato sauce 8 ounces each
1 cup water
1/2 cup chopped onion or 2 tablespoons dried onion
2 cloves garlic or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf

Brown the meat. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Note: I have a set of 1/c cup sized Rubbermaid containers and I get out all the ingredients and measure into each one. This way, I only have to get all of that stuff out and measure the ingredients for it every 4th or 5th time. Pretty smart, huh?! Then when it's time to make spaghetti, I brown the meat, add the dry stuff from my little container, the tomato stuff and water, stir and go.

It's easier than Hamburger Helper and tastes a lot better, too!

For more tasty recipes, go to www.ithrowlikeagirl.com