Homemade spaghetti sauce

A couple weeks ago I wrote a story about how much sodium we, as Americans, eat.

I try very hard to eat a healthy diet. Part of that is limiting how much packaged food I eat. Because I don't eat gluten, a lot of packaged food is out anyway. But as I was reporting my sodium story, I realized one spot I could probably cut back on my salt in take is canned spaghetti sauce. It's not like I eat it every day, but I usually have a jar or two in the pantry because it makes a quick easy meal.

I was telling my mom about all this, and she suggested making a batch of this recipe from Cooking Light. It makes a bunch of marinara sauce, which I then froze in smaller quantities -- pretty much like having a jar of sauce in the cupboard.

BASIC MARINARA SAUCE

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 cups chopped yellow onion (about 3 medium)

1 tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons minced garlic (about 6 cloves)

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons dried basil

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

3 (28-ounce) cans no-salt-added crushed tomatoes (I couldn't find crushed, so I used diced and one can of sauce)

Heat oil in a large pot oven over medium heat. Add onion; cook 4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add sugar and next 6 ingredients (through black pepper); cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Stir in vinegar; cook 30 seconds. Add broth and tomatoes; bring to a simmer. Cook over low heat for 55 minutes or until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally.