Canning Tomatoes, Lots of Tomatoes

Whether you say tomato or  tomahto we have both!  As an avid canner, I keep a tally of what I need to can next.  We seem to go through tomato products the most.  I love to can everything from salsa, BBQ sauce, Rotel, bruschetta, Tomato-Basil soup, chili, you name it!

Sprouts Farmers Market has Roma tomatoes for $0.50 per pound! Fifty cents per pound! 

For around $35 I purchased 75 lbs of Romas.  Romas are ideal for canning because they have a lot of meat and not too much water in them.

I have onions, jalapenos, bell peppers, basil and oregano from our garden so there was really no other cost except the tomatoes for today!

I got busy washing, coring and peeling the tomatoes.  Jon ran batches through the Food Strainer and Sauce Maker.  Frankie helped dicing onions and bell peppers.  

By the end of the day 75 lbs of tomatoes yielded 19 quarts of spaghetti sauce, 11 pints of diced tomatoes, and 12 half pints of roasted tomato sauce for less than the cost of dinner for 2 at Olive Garden! 

On a side note, I usually close the blog with a scripture that I hope the kids take away or keep in mind as they go through their day.  It may be a lesson we learned, or a lesson I hoped we would learn but sometimes it is just to point out that there is really nothing new under the sun.  But today it's more tongue and cheek, I laughed that this begins with 'she brings her food from afar' well, in my case, she brings her food from Sprouts! 

She brings her food from afar.

15 

She rises while it is yet night

    and provides food for her household

    and portions for her maidens.

Proverbs 31:14-15