Spaghetti

I believe spaghetti is the first thing that I ever learned to make on my own. I think it all started with my mom leaving me directions on how to cook it because she was going to be getting home late that night and wanted to make sure my dad ate dinner. Spaghetti was a staple in our house growing up because it was quick, easy, and fed the kids for a few days. Leftover spaghetti is good, hot or cold, depending on how hungry you are! My friends would always come over when I was in high school living at my parents house on the nights that I would make spaghetti... I guess I've always kind of been good at it! Recently, I have been getting more experimental with my spaghetti sauce, and I think last night I perfected it! I finally wrote down the ingredients that I used to create said spaghetti sauce so that I would have a recipe to share! It is kind of a lot of ingredients, but you can find most of them in your refrigerator/spice cabinet!

What you need:

1.5 lbs ground hamburger meat 
2 small zucchini, chopped into cubes
1 yellow squash, chopped into cubes
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large can / 1 small can tomato sauce
1 large can / 1 small can diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons ketchup
3 tablespoons mustard
2 tablespoons Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons dried basil (will add more to taste later)
4 tablespoons dried oregano (will add more to taste later)
2 tablespoons onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
1/2 tablespoon cumin
2 tablespoons garlic salt / 2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons seasoned salt
Salt & pepper to taste
1 bay leaf (*remove when sauce is finished cooking)
2 tablespoons Louisiana Hot Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil

Take a 2 quart pan and add 1 1/2 quarts of water, some oil and salt. Bring to a boil. Put your spaghetti noodles in when you are about 15 minutes out from your sauce being finished. 

Brown, drain and rinse your hamburger meat. Set aside in colander.

Chop up your onion, garlic and bell pepper and place in large pot with olive oil. Saute. Add your meat to this mixture after 5 minutes.

While your meat is cooking, chop up your zucchini and squash. Add this to your pot. 

Next, season your meat with your basil, oregano, onion powder, cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper, cumin, garlic salt, garlic powder, season salt and salt and pepper. Add your large can and small can of diced tomatoes. Mix well. 

Let cook for about 5 minutes. Add your large can / small can of tomato sauce. Add in your ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, hot sauce and bay leaf. Mix well.

Let boil on medium high heat for 45 minutes, stirring frequently. You may need to add more basil/oregano for that added Italian flavor,  but it is entirely up to your personalized taste. Add your noodles in the boiling water and boil for about 8 minutes, until al dente. Once the meat and veggies have cooked down and the sauce has thickened, you are ready to eat! 

Top with some grated Parmesan cheese & voila! Easy spaghetti dinner! Enjoy!:)