Meat-Lover's Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce (Slow Cooker)

I have to admit, I'm a spaghetti sauce snob. I was raised on the best of the best. My mom had her own recipe, perfectly simmered for hours and full of meat and veggies. My grandma had her own recipe, and so did all my aunts. Each and every one was fantastic, although I'm biased towards my mom's. None of those wimpy, thin sauces you often see in restaurants.

I love making her sauce, but I don't always have the time to devote to it, so I found a recipe for Meat-Lover's Slow Cooker Spaghetti Sauce on allrecipes.com. My interest was immediately peaked, given the great reviews and the "Meat Lover" part of the title.  Being raised on meat-heavy meals, I expect my spaghetti sauce to be pretty hearty. 

I personally didn't think there was enough meat in here to warrant a Meat Lover title, so I upped the amount of sausage to a half pound. It still could have used more. Next time I will add in another full pound of ground beef/pork mix, shaped into meatballs and cook them in the simmering sauce to absorb all the flavors.

Here are the changes I made to the recipe. I added in:

• 1 shredded zucchini
• 2 shredded carrots
• 1/2 diced green pepper
• 8oz sliced fresh mushrooms

Because the veggies were cut so small, they were barely noticeable (not that that's a good or bad thing), but they added a whole other dimension of flavor.  I also didn't really see a need to use both Italian Seasoning, then later on use each of those herbs individually. I'd recommend just skipping the Italian Seasoning altogether, and just adding in about 1/2 - 3/4 tsp of whatever herbs you'd like, be it basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, and/or thyme.

Because I am watching my calories and carbs, I chose to serve this over spaghetti squash. Did you know that 1 cup of spaghetti squash only has 31 calories and 7g of carbs VS 1 cup of pasta which has 221 calories and 43g of carbs!!!

Although I prefer my mom's recipe for sauce, I'd definitely make this again. It makes 8 servings, and it's perfect for dinner and a couple lunches, and freezing half for later use.