Spaghetti Meat-Sauce [Paleo Friendly]

Greetings folks, I know it's been a while, so I thought I would post a recipe of mine. My famous Cheap & Easy Spaghetti Meat-Sauce recipe. It's not quite ‘from scratch’ as it uses sauce packets, making it easy for those of you getting started in your adventures in cooking. Keep in mind, this is a thick meat sauce (almost like a chili), and is hearty enough to be eaten alone for those of you on low-carb diets, such as Paleo or Primal.
Here's what you'll need:

• A large pot to cook it in
• Italian Seasoning — found on spices aisle
• salt — preferably kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper
• Chili Powder — yes, I'm aware we're making spaghetti sauce, but trust me
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Spaghetti Sauce Packet
• 1–1½ lb Ground Beef — or ground venison/turkey/veal/bison/etc.
• 1 28oz can of diced tomatoes — ‘petite diced’ is even better
• 1 12oz can of tomato paste
• 2–3 large bell peppers ­— the more colours the better
• 1 large onion ­— I typically use a sweet yellow, but any onion works

All right, here's what you do now that you have your stuff.

1. Put your ground beef (or whatever ground meat you have) in the pot. If it's frozen, add some water (enough that you have about half an inch of water in the bottom of the pot) and it will thaw as it browns.
2. Shake in some of the Italian seasoning and some salt and pepper to taste.
3. Chop your peppers and onions and add these, as well as the garlic, to the pot as well.
4. Brown the meat and strain the grease off (optional depending on meat, and amount of fat desired)
5. Add Sauce packet, additional salt & pepper to taste, additional Italian Seasoning, and about a teaspoon of chili powder
6. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 paste can of water (order doesn't matter as long as you add the dry before the wet
7. Stir really well as you heat to boiling
9. Reduce to simmer, stirring occasional.

Tips

• If you have plenty of time, you should bring it to boil slowly over medium-low to medium heat; this decreases the chance of sauce sticking/burning to the bottom of your pot, as well as makes for crisper peppers.
• Don't put your noodles on until you reduce the heat to let the sauce simmer. The time it takes cold water to come to a boil and then cook the pasta is about the minimum time you should let your sauce simmer.
• The longer you let the sauce simmer, the better it is.
• Add mushroom (slices) for extra body/flavour if you enjoy them
• If making a double batch, use 1 packet of plain spaghetti sauce seasoning, and let the other packet be something like ‘Zesty Italian’
• Seriously, the more colours of bell peppers, the better the sauce.
• Enjoy and share. We typically make a double batch using 3lbs of ground meat and share it with friends, then eat the leftovers the next day
• Speaking of leftovers, don't be afraid, this sauce tastes even better the next day.
• For those of you on a low-carb diet, this sauce is thick and hearty enough (almost like a chili) to eat by itself, without the pasta.