National Spaghetti Day and Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is National Spaghetti Day. 

Today would have been my Mom's Birthday. 

And we had my Mom's Meat Sauce with our spaghetti!

My Mom’s Meat Sauce

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground pork
1/2 lb. sweet sausage
1/2 lb. hot sausage
4- 16 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
tomato paste
1 tbsp. oregano
1 tbsp. parsley
1 tbsp. basil
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup red wine

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add garlic and chopped onions and saute for 5 minutes. Add all the meat. Cook over medium heat until browned. Add tomatoes and simmer covered for 1 to 2 hours. Add tomato paste to thicken, adding 1 tbsp. at a time as needed. Add herbs, salt, and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes. Add wine, cover, and simmer for 10 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely. Remove any grease from the top of the sauce. Freeze extra sauce in containers or zip log bags.

Tonight's Sous Chefs-

Shepherd's Pie

I knew I was going to be making this on Saturday when I made the mashed potatoes.
I thought ahead and made sure I had enough leftovers for this dinner. This is so simple to make. It's just browned ground meat and then add veggies. Usually I use frozen mixed vegetables but I did not have any! So I chopped up some carrots and those leftover green beans from Saturday night and the lonely zucchini.
Sauteed it, seasoned it and put it in a pie plate. Topped it with the mashed potatoes and baked. See I told you it was simple.
Today would have been my mom's 91st birthday. She often made Shepherd's Pie for me. When Chris and I were first married we ate her food at least twice a week. She would pack up "care packages" for us. She was too funny! And I do miss those "care packages".