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Here's the recipe I use for a tomato meat sauce using canned tomatoes. The meat could easily be left out:

1 cup onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef
2 (or more!) cloves garlic, crushed
2 14 ounce cans crushed tomatoes
1 6 ounce can tomato paste
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano*
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme*
1 bay leaf

*I've also used Italian Seasoning in place of these two separates.

Directions:
Brown ground beef with garlic and onion. Drain and return to pan. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until the flavors come together, at least an hour. Serve with your favorite pasta, with breaded chicken and cheese as chicken parmesan, etc.

We have also made this without meat, too. Great with beef/sausage/spinach stuffed shells.

Hi, I'm Jamie. I'm a 36 year old mother of two living in Tucson, Arizona. We moved here one year ago after spending 15 years in the Dallas area (grew up in the SF Bay Area for the most part). I was a very picky eater growing up but I've tried to branch out a bit as I've gotten older. I still don't like cheese, which people usually have a hard time understanding. I'll eat light mozzarella on pizza (can't really taste it with the sauce and toppings) and parmesan on pastas, but that's about it.

I would say that I love baking over cooking, but that's changing, too, as we try to eat healthier. When we lived in the Dallas area, I used to enter the cooking/baking contests at the State Fair of Texas and had great fun doing so. My grandmother was a big influence on my cooking as are the thousands of hours of cooking shows I've watched going back to my pre-teen years. I work in the finance industry, so cooking and baking are both hobbies and necessities for me.

In order to get out of a dinner-time rut, we've agreed to try at least one new recipe a week this year to work some more variety into the rotation. One of my 2008 goals is to build an online recipe website to have an electronic archive as well as share recipes with my friends, family and everyone else. I think I've been around SE since late last year - not long, but it's been great so far!

Jon Stewart or Oprah. If my husband were attending too, it would definitely be Jon. Menu - something tasty but simple in both cases, nothing too stuffy.

Ugh, trying to pick just one is so hard! Chocolate cake with chocolate butter cream frosting - cold. Can't be room temperature.

So many great tips above. We keep an organized and well stocked pantry, which provides great basics for most meals. We also buy meat in bulk and freeze it in smaller portions to thaw/use easily.

Is it okay to add dried basil when making this? Or dried oregano?

I'm not going to get into the discussion about what to add to the sauce veggie-wise because y'all may come looking for me to scalp me. I just want to ask if anyone has ever tried Cento Tomatoes? I find these really tasty and if you ever see them in your store you should pick some up and give them a try, you may be surprised. Good luck with your sauce. I hope it turns out fine for you. You can find out more at www.cento.com

I always was told that oregano made the difference of pasta sauce and pizza sauce. (it being for pizza sauce)

My mom's sauce had green peppers, so I expect that flavor. She never used carrots, so that was a new idea for me. Sometime I make mom's sauce, sometimes I venture into strange lands.

As for the sugar, I was watching an Italian chef on PBS and he was saying that in Italy, you'd never add sugar, but the tomatoes they use aren't as acidic. If you want the same flavor, particularly when you're using canned American tomatoes, the sugar balances the acid.

I think the key is to know what flavor you want, and knowing what to add to get there.

I also know some people who use honey instead of sugar in the sauce. Okay, they're beekeepers. But it does the same thing. It shouldn't make the sauce sweet, it should just cut the tartness a bit. Carrots might do the same thing. But it depends on the carrots, And the tomatoes.

I start with an onion, olive oil, whole bay leaf and sometimes a small amount of meat. I make a base and then deglaze with some red wine or red wine vinegar. (the smell is what I woke up to every Sunday morning for my entire life). I add pepper and a little salt, canned tomatoes, can of plain tomato sauce and 2 cans of tomato paste w/ water. Then my fresh garlic, fresh parsley and dried basil go in. (I like the garlic to just cook in the sauce). Lastly I add a handful of parmesan cheese and let the whole thing cook for about an hour or so on low. The longer it cooks, the better.