spaghetti and meatballs

i found this terrific recipe on allrecipes.com and spaghettisauceandmeatballs.com. however, i modified and made it my own. it takes a few hours to make, but you can always freeze the extras! enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
MEATBALLS
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 each tsp basil, oregano, thyme, onion powder, black pepper
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup milk
5 cloves of garlic - minced
1 small onion - chopped
salt to taste

SAUCE
3/4 cup chopped onion
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 bay leaf
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 teaspoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tsps oregano

directions
in a large bowl, combine (in order) ground beef, pork, parsley, egg, garlic, onion, cheese, bread crumbs, and seasonings. mix well (about 3 mins) and form into 15 balls. store, covered, in refrigerator until needed.

in a large saucepan (no heat yet), cover bottom with olive oil. add 5 cloves of garlic to oil and let sit. in the meantime, chop onion. then turn heat to medium. wait until bubbles form around garlic, then add onion. add 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp basil, salt, and pepper, and mix. simmer on low heat for 5 minutes. stir in diced tomatoes, 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, salt, and bay leaf. cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 90 minutes. stir in sugar, tomato paste, basil, and meatballs and simmer 30 minutes more. serve.