In a large frying pan, brown the ground beef and Italian sausage. Add some olive oil as needed, if the meat has a lower fat content. Season with a bit of salt and pepper.

While the meat is browning, chop the onion and green pepper. Mince the garlic. Set aside for now.

Once the meat is browned, use a slotted spoon to drain any oil from the meat while transferring it to the crockpot. Keep the oil in the pan.

Saute the veggies in the same pan and oil as the meat. Add a bit more olive oil, if there was not enough oil left over in the pan. Season with a bit of salt and pepper.

Be careful not to burn the garlic. Basically, once the veggies start to sweat down and soften, they are done. They will finish cooking in the crockpot.

Again, use the slotted spoon to transfer the veggies to the crockpot, draining any excess oil.

Add the canned tomato and dried herb ingredients, along with the tapioca, to the crockpot. Stir to evening combine all ingredients.

Set the crockpot to the High setting, and let cook for about 6 hours.
In a pinch, the sauce can probably be used in as little as 4 hours, but the flavors get better at they cook longer.
If you plan on cooking it longer then 6 hours, consider lowering the setting to Medium or Low instead.

The sauce should be stirred a couple times during cooking, but don't stir more than 3 or 4 times (opening the cover of a crockpot inhibits its cooking effectiveness).

Before removing from the crockpot, taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary.

Serve over your favorite pasta! It can be eaten straight from the crockpot, or saved for later (this sauce holds up to freezing and reheating really well)! Remember there are whole bay leaves in the sauce - remove these at you encounter them.