Veggie Packed Meat Sauce

We love vegetables in our family, so anytime I can add a whole bunch to a meal, I'm all for it. I don't know many other families who aren't in the same boat as us - needing healthy, simple meals to nourish their families with. This recipe would be a great one to double and freeze half for later, and would also make a great simple meal for having friends over for dinner.

Ingredients

cooking oil (I prefer coconut oil)
1 onion, diced
3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper (I used orange), cored and diced
1 tablespoon herbs (rosemary, basil, parsley, thyme, etc.)*
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 pound ground beef
1 (15 ounce can) tomato sauce
1 tomato, roughly chopped

Instructions

Heat coconut oil in a large pot, and add onion, carrots, pepper and garlic. Sauté on medium-low heat for about 7-10 minutes, until they start to soften.
Season with herbs, salt and pepper and stir everything together with a wooden spoon.
Push vegetables to one side of the pan and add ground beef. Break up the beef with a wooden spoon and mix it in with the vegetables as it starts to brown.
When the beef is almost completely browned, add tomato sauce and tomato. Cover the pot with a lid and turn heat down to low, simmering for 20-30 minutes, or until the sauce has absorbed into the vegetables and meat.

The end result is a creamy, hearty meat sauce packed with veggies and so much flavor!

* Notes:

After sautéing your vegetables, you can pulse them in a blender and add them back to the pot as you cook your beef, if you want to disguise them for picky kiddos.
We used this sauce with some mozzarella and made calzones! You could serve it over vegetable noodles, pasta, spaghetti squash, roasted brussels sprouts or sautéed greens, or on homemade pizza! Here's the recipe for the calzone crusts we LOVE.
If you don't have fresh herbs or a pantry stocked with various dried herbs, try using herbs de provence. It's a blend of marjoram, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and other herbs.