PREP They are back #10 cans of diced tomatoes

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
Well it has been at least 6 months since I have seen a can of diced tomatoes in the #10 can size. We use a lot of them each year in Salsa as it is not productive for us to grow / peel / dice / etc the amounts needed.

So we buy the cans. Normally we buy them at $3.10ish per can.

Now they are $6.19 each.... twice what they were.......
 

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Can you do canned salsa with those? How is the flavor if you do?
I ask because, honestly, salsa and ketchup are about the only things I make with tomatoes. So if I can make them with canned diced tomatoes, I probably would. It would save a whole bunch of canning steps. But at the same time, flavor is a thing. I did salsa with store bought tomatoes one year. I even sprung for the expensive, on the vine tomatoes. That was the blandest salsa I every made.
 

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
I have a few 10# cans. Now that it's just me once DD moves, maybe I'll meal prep some pasta. It's so hard. I love to cook and bake but I'm the only one who eats it LOL. Hard to cook for just one person. I'm sure many of you an understand...

One idea: find someone local who is also single and whose cooking you like. Trade some meals. It doesn't have to be every week! Maybe once a month.

Another idea: make portions for two and freeze one for later in the week.

Right now, I make a one pound meatloaf and 2 - 3 pork chops. Those appear in a number of combinations for seven days. The meatloaf can be sliced and go directly into a sandwich or get crumbled into a pasta dish or over mashed potatoes. The chops can be eaten as is or cut up into very quick cooking stir fries. They are already cooked, so I just need to warm them up.

When I buy #10 cans, I add them to several dishes that will be frozen.

Hope that helps!

Added: my real problem is cakes and pies. I crave them periodically but in no way to I want a whole pie hanging around. Here is where I spend the bucks and get one slice from the HyVee bakery. It's just an occasional treat and one slice every few weeks won't blow my entire eating plan.
 

annieosage

Inactive
One idea: find someone local who is also single and whose cooking you like. Trade some meals. It doesn't have to be every week! Maybe once a month.

Another idea: make portions for two and freeze one for later in the week.

Right now, I make a one pound meatloaf and 2 - 3 pork chops. Those appear in a number of combinations for seven days. The meatloaf can be sliced and go directly into a sandwich or get crumbled into a pasta dish or over mashed potatoes. The chops can be eaten as is or cut up into very quick cooking stir fries. They are already cooked, so I just need to warm them up.

When I buy #10 cans, I add them to several dishes that will be frozen.

Hope that helps!

Added: my real problem is cakes and pies. I crave them periodically but in no way to I want a whole pie hanging around. Here is where I spend the bucks and get one slice from the HyVee bakery. It's just an occasional treat and one slice every few weeks won't blow my entire eating plan.

I do meal prep a lot to help solve the issue. Otherwise I would eat spaghetti for a week straight. I could if I had to but who wants to eat the same thing for a week? When forced, yes but not there yet
 

annieosage

Inactive
I have done it before, with something like a large pot roast, but it appeared in different forms, including with a sauce over noodles at one point.

I cooked 2 large chicken breasts in the crock pot today. Making one into 2 teriyaki chicken bowls and the other into a mini chicken enchilada casserole. Will eat one of each now and freeze the others. Boneless skinless chicken breast are so huge anymore each one is 2 meals worth. I have some of the chicken and dumplings frozen and beef stroganoff also in the freezer. Stocked up well...
 

anna43

Veteran Member
I will make two main meals per week and eat one every other evening. I also do a lot of redesigning of leftovers for the next meal. Having different sides for the main dish the next time its served helps avoid food fatigue. I also make pots of soup which are frozen in single serving size for lunches. Cooking from scratch as well as S-T-R-E-T-C-H-I-N-G is key to saving food dollars along with zero waste. This is good practice for SHTF times when every bit of food much be carefully planned and utilized.

Improvising is also helpful. This week I put two chicken legs in the bottom of my crockpot, added a quart of leftover broth (homemade), two carrots, 4 small potatoes, a summer squash, 4 Roma tomatoes (all from garden) and the last bit of a bunch of celery plus seasonings. Had for supper #1 with muffins, #2 with French bread and applesauce (homemade), #3 with saltines and applesauce with #4 yet to be determined.
 

Kathy in FL

Administrator
_______________
Can you do canned salsa with those? How is the flavor if you do?
I ask because, honestly, salsa and ketchup are about the only things I make with tomatoes. So if I can make them with canned diced tomatoes, I probably would. It would save a whole bunch of canning steps. But at the same time, flavor is a thing. I did salsa with store bought tomatoes one year. I even sprung for the expensive, on the vine tomatoes. That was the blandest salsa I every made.

Ball's or a couple of other brands - can't remember - make "salsa" seasonings to use with commercially canned tomatoes that you then home can. I've made it. It isn't bad but I still prefer to make various salsa recipes and can them.
 

dawgofwar10

Veteran Member
How about the recipe for the Salsa, I could eat enough for two, unless you care to join me and make it up ahead of time :geek:
 

Griz3752

Retired, practising Curmudgeon
Well it has been at least 6 months since I have seen a can of diced tomatoes in the #10 can size. We use a lot of them each year in Salsa as it is not productive for us to grow / peel / dice / etc the amounts needed.

So we buy the cans. Normally we buy them at $3.10ish per can.

Now they are $6.19 each.... twice what they were.......
OK a retailer needs to make a profit so they're there if/when we need them but a bump like that sounds like someone's evening a score ....was that a major chain?

And yeah, posting salsa recipes is always good. My wife is pepper sensitive. I just got her into using what I consider an extremely mild 'spice' - turmeric.
One of he challenges/adjustments of marrying late in life after a decade plus of eating what I like, when & how ...you've heard it before I'm sure
 

annieosage

Inactive
Can you do canned salsa with those? How is the flavor if you do?
I ask because, honestly, salsa and ketchup are about the only things I make with tomatoes. So if I can make them with canned diced tomatoes, I probably would. It would save a whole bunch of canning steps. But at the same time, flavor is a thing. I did salsa with store bought tomatoes one year. I even sprung for the expensive, on the vine tomatoes. That was the blandest salsa I every made.

How about the recipe for the Salsa, I could eat enough for two, unless you care to join me and make it up ahead of time :geek:


I use diced tomatoes when I make salsa. They also have fire roasted tomatoes which add a little kick

If I am making pico de gallo- chunky salsa- then I use fresh everything:
1 large red tomato cut into chunks
1/2 white onion diced
1-2 jalapenos diced (use as many as you can handle, I use 2-3)
1/4 cup cilantro
Add to taste: garlic powder, salt, cumin, chili powder
You might have to try a few times to get it to your tasting

If I am making more of a liquid salsa it's basically the as above only add to blender and I use canned tomatoes. Sometimes the fire roasted. Some people prefer more onion or less, or more or less cilantro (can be overpowering)- it's really up to your taste buds.

Sometimes I'll add some red chili pepper flakes as well.

Have fun and experiment! I love salsa. You can also make chile verde salsa with roasted tomatillos, onions, garlic, and spices.

Mexican food is my favorite so I am always looking for good recipes. With DD moving this week I won't have a lot of time to cook so will go to my meal preps. Also especially during the holidays, I make plates for my coworkers and friends and then take one day and drive around and pass them out. A couple in particular single young men and they love my goodies!!
 

kyrsyan

Has No Life - Lives on TB
How about the recipe for the Salsa, I could eat enough for two, unless you care to join me and make it up ahead of time :geek:
When I get a minute today, I'll pull it from the Ball book.
One thing learned by accident is to make sure that you don't put in fresh raw garlic unless you like it insanely hot.
 

pauldingbabe

The Great Cat
At the current moment I do not want to hear the word tomatoes. I've canned, I've given away and my dining room table is still covered and I haven't picked for two days.

Wish I could lend you a hand.

Take some to the fire house and your Doctor. I will do that if I have bunches. The gesture is always appreciated.

How about some food banks?

You've probably already done all that so I'll just offer prayer.

Lol
 

lonestar09

Veteran Member
One idea: find someone local who is also single and whose cooking you like. Trade some meals. It doesn't have to be every week! Maybe once a month.

Another idea: make portions for two and freeze one for later in the week.

Right now, I make a one pound meatloaf and 2 - 3 pork chops. Those appear in a number of combinations for seven days. The meatloaf can be sliced and go directly into a sandwich or get crumbled into a pasta dish or over mashed potatoes. The chops can be eaten as is or cut up into very quick cooking stir fries. They are already cooked, so I just need to warm them up.

When I buy #10 cans, I add them to several dishes that will be frozen.

Hope that helps!

Added: my real problem is cakes and pies. I crave them periodically but in no way to I want a whole pie hanging around. Here is where I spend the bucks and get one slice from the HyVee bakery. It's just an occasional treat and one slice every few weeks won't blow my entire eating plan.
Walmart has single serve pies in pecan, apple, lemon, blueberry and pineapple flavors. Good and cheap, only 50 cents each. You might want to check them out. They can be found in the bakery section.
 

Dozdoats

On TB every waking moment
Can you do canned salsa with those?

Look at the recipe on a can of Rotel maters and green chilis. :D It's a start for restaurant style (food processor) salsa. If you like fresh fresh fresh, well, different deal.

I was in on a group that reconstructed the original recipe for Chili's Garden Salsa. The one that started with "Take a 40 pound box of Roma tomatoes."

They used a spice pack that was about a pound and a half or two pounds. Someone in the group who used to work for Chili's had a pack, and sent a sample off to a lab to get analyzed for ingredients and portions.

There are various lookalike versions of that recipe on the web ......... if you can beat Insanely Good Copycat Chili's Salsa - Half-Scratched (halfscratched.com) you are awesome. I do use a sweet onion (Vidalia or Peruvian) however. And I use Serrano peppers, when I can find them.
 
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Dozdoats

On TB every waking moment
Since it has been coolish of late, I made chili last night. As we too have a temporary abundance of maters, I used fresh tomatoes. Plopped them into a pot of boiling water briefly, then skinned and cored them before coarse chopping them on a cutting board.

Yummy!
 

jward

passin' thru
I'm working on sating my fried green maters craving;
..having a hard time staying ahead of the game, they
keep turning red on me :D
 

Meemur

Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
Walmart has single serve pies in pecan, apple, lemon, blueberry and pineapple flavors. Good and cheap, only 50 cents each. You might want to check them out. They can be found in the bakery section.

Too much sugar and almost always stale! Maybe your store is better.
 

Dozdoats

On TB every waking moment
This one sounds good too ....
==========
Best Homemade Salsa Ever! - Kim's Cravings (kimscravings.com)

BEST HOMEMADE SALSA EVER!
JUMP TO RECIPE
JULY 3, 2021 (updated August 17, 2021) 121 comments »
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Are you sitting down? Because I’m sharing the best homemade salsa recipe, with you today! If you’re a salsa person and I know you are, you have got to give this delicious salsa recipe a try. The bright, fresh salsa dip is absolutely irresistible! It’s loaded with delicious, vibrant flavor and it comes together so easy in less than 5 minutes.
homemade salsa served in a small white bowl with a spoon


///////snip

Best Homemade Salsa Ever! - Kim's Cravings (kimscravings.com)
 

Barry Natchitoches

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Aren't food increases left out of the COL for SS? Right ... it's the one thing that is doubling.
Yeah, but don’t worry - seniors don’t actually need much food.

They need to leave more food for the illegal migrants and legal refugees that we are allowing in in droves and then subsidizing on the taxpayer dime...

/sarcasm off
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
Too much sugar and almost always stale! Maybe your store is better.
I don't think those things are even food... not sure they are ever "fresh"! Really, if you crave pie, make pie dough (water, salt, butter or lard and flour. Simple!) Keep it in the freezer, and pull out a couple small balls of dough when needed. Roll them into 4" circles, put some chopped, sweetened apples or other fruit on half the circle. Fold over snd crimp the edges to seal. Bake at 400 degrees until golden- about 12 minutes.

Or buy frozen pie crust and a can of pie filling...

Summerthyme
 

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
Can you do canned salsa with those? How is the flavor if you do?
I ask because, honestly, salsa and ketchup are about the only things I make with tomatoes. So if I can make them with canned diced tomatoes, I probably would. It would save a whole bunch of canning steps. But at the same time, flavor is a thing. I did salsa with store bought tomatoes one year. I even sprung for the expensive, on the vine tomatoes. That was the blandest salsa I every made.
That is the sole reason we get the cans. Salsa. If they are diced they work perfectly.
We grow our own peppers and that is where we get the flavor from.

We also get ketchup in the #10 cans. Much cheaper and the quality is decent.
 

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
How about the recipe for the Salsa, I could eat enough for two, unless you care to join me and make it up ahead of time :geek:
Nothing fancy

Onions chopped about 5 pounds
#10 cans diced tomatoes 3 cans
Chilantro 2-3 bundles depending upon their condition
3 pints of chopped peppers from the garden
1 small bottle of lemon juice
2 small cans of diced tomatoes with jalenpeno flavoring if desired.

Makes about 12 quarts of salsa for canning. That lasts us about 3 months.

Basically you will need to flavor it to your liking. The salsa is usable once you mix it so if you do it will taste decent. We have found store bought peppers have no taste so that doesn't really work.
 
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