Sugar is added to many commercially prepared sauces. To help to keep the fresher taste, the tomatoes could be run through a Villaware/Roma food strainer to extract all the pulp and bypass the seeds and skins. I also cut them in half and dig out most of the watery liquid befoore ruuning through the food strainer. This will yield a thicker sauce without a lot of cooking to reduce it down. When serving, the meat would be sauted with onions and peppers beforehand, and then added to the sauce. I think this would be the best of both worlds. Fresh flavors can't really be obtained by home canning, but this method gets quite close. You could also freeze sauce too.

This is good! Spaghetti Sauce 3 onions, finely chopped 1 green pepper, finely chopped 2 large cans tomatoes, mashed Salt ½ tsp black pepper 2 small cans tomato paste 1 can dry red wine or water tomato paste can) 3 cloves garlic, minced ½ tsp oregano leaves ½ tsp rosemary ¼ tsp thyme 4 tsp marjoram 1 tsp tarragon leaves ½ tsp basil 1 tsp fennel seeds 3 mint leaves, crushed 2 bay leaves ½ tsp cayenne 2 chilies, finely chopped 1½ Tbsp Romano cheese 1½ Tbsp brown sugar 1 tsp lemon juice In a large pot over low heat, fry onions and green pepper in a little olive oil until onions are translucent. Add garlic and chilies and cook for about 1 minute; do not let garlic brown or it will become bitter. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for several hours. You can add browned ground beef, cubed chicken, sausage, pepperoni, pork hocks, spareribs, etc., or any combination. *If adding pork hocks or spareribs, skim off some of the fat that has accumulated at the top before serving.

I too have a heart condition and I love meatballs in sauce. I thought I was doing OK with one of the jar sauces until I woke up with an extra 7 pounds of fluid according to my scale. I had made sauce from scratch before and it was fantastic, but it takes all day to make. So, when the great summer tomatoes are ripened, I buy 2 bushels and use a recipe from an old 35 CENT Kerr canning book that belonged to my mother and I cook away all day. A medium fresh tomato has 10 grams of sodium naturally so it is not sodium free but it is as close as I can get. I freeze mine because I don't know if it would jar up without the added salt. Last summer was not a good year for tomatoes so I have been making it small batch at a time with store bought Roma tomatoes,peppers,onions and garlic. I use lots of fresh basil.

I thought you'd be swamped in recipes so I didn't post. I think Italian sausage will be MUCH better than ground beef. Here's a recipe I've used for years. It came off a Creamette spaghetti package. I'll give you the correct recipe with my changes. Spaghetti Italiano 1 lb. ground beef 7 oz. pkg spaghetti 1 medium onion chopped 1/2 green pepper chopped (I don't add peppers) 1 1 lb. can whole tomatoes, cut up 1 can 6 oz. tomato paste 1 can 6 oz. water 1 can 4 oz. mushroom stems & pieces (these are like rubber, use fresh if you use them) 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 1 bay leaf 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp oregano 1/4 tsp. pepper Saute meat, onion and green pepper until tender. Drain off fat. Add all other ingredients and simmer about 1 hour. Remove bay leaf. Serve over buttered pasta. I usually put in more spices than they say, some garlic, and a grated carrot for sweetness. I heard the carrot idea from Melinda Lee on the radio. It cooks down and you cannot see it especially if you grate fine. Good luck. Susan