For Jennifer Joslin, the idea for starting her Mattapoisett-made pasta sauce Summit 6 began when her three children refused to eat vegetables.

To give them all the nutrients they would need, Joslin says she had to get a little creative.

“I thought if I could sneak as many different color vegetables into the sauce without them knowing that would be a great idea,” Joslin said. “Getting vegetables in their diet is not easy, but they loved it. It became a staple that I would give to friends.”

Her trick, she said, is to puree the carrots, green beans, garlic, tomatoes, eggplant and mixed greens into a low-sodium sauce so there would be no signs of chunky vegetables.

For the past two years, Joslin has trademarked her Summit 6 sauces and expanded her company, Joslin Foods.

In addition to her kids’ sauce, Joslin created two “adult sauces,” with chunkier vegetables and more seasoning.

Due to the low-sodium component, Joslin says she has received a lot of positive feedback.

“People think a low-sodium option is a great idea because a lot of adults have underlying health issues,” she said. “I try to take something that everyone uses a lot of and make it more versatile. Typically pasta sauces are loaded with sodium and it’s total crap.”

Joslin, a former lab technician, says because her company is fairly new, she does everything herself.

Joslin uses kitchen space at How on Earth in Mattapoisett to make 90-gallon batches, package and send out her sauces.

“Being one single person with a limited income it’s difficult,” she said. “It’s especially hard when you’re competing with huge companies that can throw commercials out there.”

Besides the constant traveling, just making the sauce can be time consuming. The whole process takes four hours to prepare.

Despite the hard work, she said she wouldn’t do anything else.

“It’s been great to have something that’s mine,” she said. “It’s crazy but I hope I can continue to grow it. I really do like it and I’m always finding new things to make.”