Vegetarian " Meat " Sauce With Veggie Me

My little one's been rebelling against eating meat, so I decided to indulge her with a Veggie Meat Sauce...and it came out wonderful! The seasonings in this sauce a very adjustable according to your tastes. My family tends to like their sauces on the sweet side. And the recipe makes plenty to freeze for next time! Could also be adapted for the crock pot.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 30 mins
• Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• 1  teaspoon olive oil
• 2  garlic cloves, sliced very fine and then minced
• 1  large yellow onion, diced
• 1  large green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1  lb vegetarian ground beef
• 1  lb vegetarian meatballs
• 6 -8  italian  vegetarian sausages
• 2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• 4 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  garlic salt
• 1  teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1  teaspoon dried thyme
• 1  teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• 1  teaspoon  italian seasoning
• 4  tablespoons sugar
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F and brown meatballs and sausage for about 10 minutes, or until heated through.
2. In large heavy sauce pot, warm olive oil on medium high heat.
3. Saute onions and garlic in the pot until translucent.
4. Add green pepper to pot, and heat until soft.
5. Add vegetarian beef crumbles to the pot, and heat through until starting to brown.
6. Add sausages and meatballs to the pot, and all other remaining ingredients. Mix well.
7. Lower heat to medium, stirring frequently until starting to simmer.
8. Reduce heat to low, and let simmer for at least an hour stirring occasionally, but several hours is fine as well, as the longer you simmer, the more the flavors of the herbs come. Just don't forget to stir from time to time!