Eggplant and Tomato Marinara Sauce

This recipe comes from a couple months ago when I had a plethora of eggplant and tomatoes in my CSA box.  I'm not a crazy tomato fan (although I do love tomato sauce and ketchup) and Jim isn't a big eggplant fan.  So as I was searching around Pinterest looking for recipes (like I do everyday) I stumbled upon a '100 no-processed crockpot meals' pin.  As I began searching around in the 100 recipes I found the perfect solution to my abundance of eggplant and tomatoes.  The solution was Eggplant and Tomato Marinara Sauce.  Plus as a bonus it is cooked in a slow cooker, basically a win all around.

Eggplant and Tomato Marinara Sauce
(Adapted from: http://www.stacymakescents.com/crock-pot-garden-marinara-sauce)

Ingredients:
-3 ½ lb of fresh garden tomatoes roughly chopped or 2 – 28-oz. cans.
-2 to 3 Tbsp of minced garlic
-1 onion, chopped into large chunks
-2 cups of chopped eggplant (I mostly peeled the eggplant but wasn't super concerned)
-1 ½ Tablespoons of brown sugar (to cut the acidity)
-1 ½ Tablespoons of Italian Seasoning
-2 bay leaves
-1 teaspoon salt (add more or less to taste)
-Freshly ground pepper, to taste

-1 lb of ground beef

Directions:

-Combine everything except for the meat in a crockpot.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

-When done process in batches in the food processor till a uniform sauce is formed.

-Now I would let this sauce sit in the fridge for a couple of days before eating.  I found that the flavor of the sauce was much better a few days after the initial cooking.  It's not terrible the first day but it's way better on the third.

-When ready to serve: brown meat and add sauce to combine.  Heat throughly and enjoy!

Also Tucker and I went for a walk at the town park today despite the dreary weather.  We clocked in 2.32 miles which is a good start to my 90 mile goal.  Plus I have a happy tired dog.  :)

I hope everyone had a nice relaxing Sunday!  Go Buffalo!