Mom's Best Healthy Meat Sauce

This was one of my favorite recipes that mom made while I was growing up. I make it all the time now for my husband and I. Since I like to eat healthy, I normally make the sauce with lean ground turkey, but mom always made it with ground beef. The chili sauce is THE secret ingredient--don't leave it out!! It tastes great over spaghetti with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. It freezes very well and makes great leftovers.

• Ready In: 40 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 -1 1⁄2 lb lean ground beef or 1 -1 1⁄2 lb ground turkey
• 1 -2  tablespoon olive oil
• 1  small onion, diced
• 1  medium green bell pepper, diced
• 1 (6 ounce) package  sliced white mushrooms
• 2  garlic cloves, minced (can also use garlic powder)
• 1 (26 ounce) jar  pasta sauce (I like Classico Tomato & Basil)
• 1 (12 ounce) bottle chili sauce (I prefer Heinz)

Directions

1. In a large saute pan with cover, brown meat in olive oil over med-high heat; drain any fat or juices that have accumulated in pan.
2. Add onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, and garlic.
3. Saute with meat until onions start to become translucent and veggies are becoming slightly tender (approx. 5 minutes).
4. Add whole jar pasta sauce& whole bottle of chili sauce to pan.
5. Stir to combine all ingredients.
6. Bring to low boil, then cover& turn down heat so that sauce is simmering (normally low to med-low heat).
7. Simmer for approximately.
8. 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender.
9. If sauce has too much liquid, simply remove cover and simmer until the desired amount of liquid has cooked off.
10. Serve over hot cooked spaghetti with sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, garlic bread, and green salad.