I know others will share their "gravy" recipes, but here's one for the mix to get max flavor. This will make a lot: 2 lg cans crushed tomatoes; 1 lg can tomato sauce; saute a diced medium onion (I like yellow, or you can just get the pre-chopped frozen bag and use about a cup) in a lot of oil (veg or olive) until translucent, add about 4 cloves crushed garlic towards the end; strain the onions and garlic, reserving the oil, and add to the tomato sauce. Add fresh basil (a little) OR dried (a lot, cover the sauce), salt and pepper (be generous with the pepper), a dash of red pepper flakes, and heat. Put the reserved oil into a pan and brown the ground beef (about 1 lb. Also, beef/pork would be a nice, lighter-tasting alt). Strain the beef and add to the sauce. You only really need to give it about ten minutes at that point. It will cost more than $1, but you will have so much to freeze and take out when you want a quick meal, plus no added sugar that may be in a jarred sauce. Also, when you have leftover sauce, but not enough for a full meal, you can use it for eggs in purgatory. yum.