Chunky Spaghetti Sauce

• 1 lbs. of ground beef (pictured is 2 lbs - I halved it)
• 1 can of Rotel diced tomatoes with green chiles(I used a spicier version)
• 1 large can of peeled crushed stewed tomatoes (in tomato puree)
• 1 large can of sliced stewed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 green pepper
• 1 medium onion
• 1-2 tablespoons of minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons each of 
• dried thyme
• dried basil
• dried parsley
• dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 2 teaspoons of pepper
• 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of crushed red pepper flakes(your preference)
• 1 box of desired noodles (we use spaghetti)
• (if you want more of a sauce consistency) 1 can of tomato sauce (we only had tomato soup)

Preheat the 4 quart sauce pan.  Once heated, add the meat and begin browning. While the meat is browning, dice the vegetables (plus garlic if using fresh).  Add all the diced vegetables to the meat once it's browned (don't drain).   As the vegetables are cooking in the meat, open all the cans of tomato ingredients. This makes it easier not to be rushed. 

At this point, I literally sprinkled just a little bit of the measured dry ingredients (I didn't do the crushed red pepper or sugar yet), including salt and pepper, on top of the meat.  Saving the majority of the seasoning for when the sauce is in the pan.  

Add all the tomato ingredients to the meat mixture. Add the rest of the dry ingredients.  In picture, starting from the top: Parsley, basil, oregano, (thyme is on the bottom of the parsley) and then I sprinkled the red flakes around the pan.  Mix in the seasoning. 

Bring it to a boil.  Continue to stir it on a regular basis.  Boil for 10 minutes (half way through the water for the noodles should be boiling).  After the sauce is boiling, add the sugar to the sauce.  Stir it in.  Turn down the burner to simmer and simmer until the noodles are ready. 

Serve it on top of your fresh noodles and with a freshly buttered piece of bread --- don't forget a good sprinklin' of grated Parmesan cheese!