Mom's Spaghetti Sauce

We kids all celebrated every time we'd come home from school to the smell of this simmering on the stove. This spaghetti sauce has amazing flavor, freezes great, and makes your home smell heavenly and homey all day. You'll need to prepare it in the afternoon so it can simmer for a few hours before dinner, but the actual prep time doesn't take very long at all.

I used this stock pot for a triple recipe

1 C chopped onion
1 lb hamburger or ground turkey
1 clove minced garlic
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
14.5 oz can Italian style diced tomatoes
6 oz tomato paste
1/4 C snipped parsley (or 1 TB flakes)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp thyme
1 TB brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
1-2 C water

Brown meat with garlic and onion. Drain the fat, add the remaining ingredients with 1 C water. Simmer uncovered for about three hours, stirring occasionally. Add the additional 1 C of water as needed to reach desired consistency.