For me, it is sugar. LEAVE THE *&%$ing sugar out of entrees and savory side
dishes, people! (Salt is a problem too, but at least too salty food is still
edible most of the time.)

This is a cooking group (kind of lol) but we all use prepared foods
sometimes. Due to work, family activities and house renovation (not kitchen,
unfortunately) I have not been cooking much, instead grabbing a sandwich,
salad or soup. So I see this store brand tomato soup that looks really
good--it is not condensed, and it is called "Tomato Basil," and the brand is
Harris Teeter, which has a rep for pretty good quality. I make the grilled
cheese, add some red pepper to the soup, taste it, and just want to pour it
down the sink. It was all sugar. Dead sweet. Sweet as tomatoes are, the
third ingredient in this stuff is sugar, and then there is a "Contains less
than 2% of the following" and what follows included high fructose corn
syrup. And it also has 960 mgs of sodium in half the can. Bleah.

"cybercat" > wrote in message ...
| For me, it is sugar. LEAVE THE *&%$ing sugar out of entrees and savory side
| dishes, people! (Salt is a problem too, but at least too salty food is still
| edible most of the time.)
|
| This is a cooking group (kind of lol) but we all use prepared foods
| sometimes. Due to work, family activities and house renovation (not kitchen,
| unfortunately) I have not been cooking much, instead grabbing a sandwich,
| salad or soup. So I see this store brand tomato soup that looks really
| good--it is not condensed, and it is called "Tomato Basil," and the brand is
| Harris Teeter, which has a rep for pretty good quality. I make the grilled
| cheese, add some red pepper to the soup, taste it, and just want to pour it
| down the sink. It was all sugar. Dead sweet. Sweet as tomatoes are, the
| third ingredient in this stuff is sugar, and then there is a "Contains less
| than 2% of the following" and what follows included high fructose corn
| syrup. And it also has 960 mgs of sodium in half the can. Bleah.

It is not exactly "prepared foods" but I would love to see a halt to the
villainous process of adding brine and other salty water to fresh meats.
This month the normal supermarket packagings of corned beef had an
added "up to 35%" of brine or other crap. Target and Wal-Mart are
notorious for adulterated beef of this type. Almost all hams have stuff
added. It's just crap, I tell you. Crap!

pavane

On Mar 30, 5:04*pm, "pavane" > wrote:
> "cybercat" > wrote in ...
>
> | For me, it is sugar. LEAVE THE *&%$ing sugar out of entrees and savory side
> | dishes, people! (Salt is a problem too, but at least too salty food is still
> | edible most of the time.)
> |
> | This is a cooking group (kind of lol) but we all use prepared foods
> | sometimes. Due to work, family activities and house renovation (not kitchen,
> | unfortunately) I have not been cooking much, instead grabbing a sandwich,
> | salad or soup. So I see this store brand tomato soup that looks really
> | good--it is not condensed, and it is called "Tomato Basil," and the brand is
> | Harris Teeter, which has a rep for pretty good quality. I make the grilled
> | cheese, add some red pepper to the soup, taste it, and just want to pour it
> | down the sink. It was all sugar. Dead sweet. Sweet as tomatoes are, the
> | third ingredient in this stuff is sugar, and then there is a "Contains less
> | than 2% of the following" and what follows included high fructose corn
> | syrup. And it also has 960 mgs of sodium in half the can. Bleah.
>
> It is not exactly "prepared foods" but I would love to see a halt to the
> villainous process of adding brine and other salty water to fresh meats.
> This month the normal supermarket packagings of corned beef had an
> added "up to 35%" of brine or other crap. *Target and Wal-Mart are
> notorious for adulterated beef of this type. *Almost all hams have stuff
> added. *It's just crap, I tell you. *Crap!
>

Prepared foods should come with a little side package of TNT so that
you can blow them up real good.
Now having said that, I found one small little/supermarket which sells
a pretty good deli roast beef. Not too salty. That's not the norm
however.

> pavane

"cybercat" > wrote in message
...
> For me, it is sugar. LEAVE THE *&%$ing sugar out of entrees and savory
> side dishes, people! (Salt is a problem too, but at least too salty food
> is still edible most of the time.)
>
> This is a cooking group (kind of lol) but we all use prepared foods
> sometimes. Due to work, family activities and house renovation (not
> kitchen, unfortunately) I have not been cooking much, instead grabbing a
> sandwich, salad or soup. So I see this store brand tomato soup that looks
> really good--it is not condensed, and it is called "Tomato Basil," and the
> brand is Harris Teeter, which has a rep for pretty good quality. I make
> the grilled cheese, add some red pepper to the soup, taste it, and just
> want to pour it down the sink. It was all sugar. Dead sweet. Sweet as
> tomatoes are, the third ingredient in this stuff is sugar, and then there
> is a "Contains less than 2% of the following" and what follows included
> high fructose corn syrup. And it also has 960 mgs of sodium in half the
> can. Bleah.

Require a permit to buy prepared foods
:-)

Dimitri

cybercat wrote:
Sweet as tomatoes are, the third ingredient in
> this stuff is sugar, and then there is a "Contains less than 2% of
> the following" and what follows included high fructose corn syrup.
> And it also has 960 mgs of sodium in half the can. Bleah.

It really pays to read the ingredients before buying - soup is
notorious for its high sodium content and you've seen the
sugar/fructose content. I *have* to watch the ingredients and it's
often a shocker.

"Dora" > wrote in message
...
> cybercat wrote:
> Sweet as tomatoes are, the third ingredient in
>> this stuff is sugar, and then there is a "Contains less than 2% of
>> the following" and what follows included high fructose corn syrup.
>> And it also has 960 mgs of sodium in half the can. Bleah.
>
> It really pays to read the ingredients before buying - soup is notorious
> for its high sodium content and you've seen the sugar/fructose content. I
> *have* to watch the ingredients and it's often a shocker.
>
I expected high sodium, but not the sugar. I will read labels more
consistently now.

"pavane" > wrote
> It is not exactly "prepared foods" but I would love to see a halt to the
> villainous process of adding brine and other salty water to fresh meats.
> This month the normal supermarket packagings of corned beef had an
> added "up to 35%" of brine or other crap. Target and Wal-Mart are
> notorious for adulterated beef of this type. Almost all hams have stuff
> added. It's just crap, I tell you. Crap!
>
It is. I had been using the "enhanced" as they call it pork for a while,
then had some natural pork and I won't buy the saline injected stuff any
more.

The prepared foods I eat are crackers and chips, and yes, they are way
too salty.


Becca

cybercat wrote:
> "Dora" > wrote in message
> ...
>> cybercat wrote:
>> Sweet as tomatoes are, the third ingredient in
>>> this stuff is sugar, and then there is a "Contains less than 2% of
>>> the following" and what follows included high fructose corn syrup.
>>> And it also has 960 mgs of sodium in half the can. Bleah.
>>
>> It really pays to read the ingredients before buying - soup is
>> notorious for its high sodium content and you've seen the
>> sugar/fructose content. I *have* to watch the ingredients and it's
>> often a shocker.
> I expected high sodium, but not the sugar. I will read labels more
> consistently now.

Not only sugar, but HFCS. Gotta do something with all that subsidized
corn...

I'm finding it hard to pick just one. I agree about the sugar, I agree about
the injected meats. Does anyone else remember when it used to be possible to
buy a lovely on-the-bone loin pork roast where the exterior had a decent
coating of fat and the interior turned white and delicious when you cooked
it?

cybercat > wrote:

>For me, it is sugar. LEAVE THE *&%$ing sugar out of entrees and savory side
>dishes, people! (Salt is a problem too, but at least too salty food is still
>edible most of the time.)

My vote would be for way less salt.

Almost miraculously, there is now a jarred green salsa on the
market that it sufficiently low salt that one can make at
quick chile verde from it, without it being overly salty.
(It has 1.2 grams of sodium in a 16 oz. jar). The brand is Carillo's.
I have made two chile verdes this way, one lamb, the other chicken.
It's a real time saver, and fresh chiles are not in season this
time of year anyway.

Steve

On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:43:50 -0500, Becca > wrote:

>The prepared foods I eat are crackers and chips, and yes, they are way
>too salty.

I switched to munching on dried breakfast cereal,

On Mar 30, 6:02*pm, brooklyn1 > wrote:
> On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:43:50 -0500, Becca > wrote:
> >The prepared foods I eat are crackers and chips, and yes, they are way
> >too salty.
>
> I switched to munching on dried breakfast cereal,

Have you finished the bucket of bow-tie pasta with buckwheat kasha
that you proudly showed to us in the Fall? Or are you letting it
ferment further, kim-chee style?

On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:35:00 -0400, "cybercat" >
wrote:

> I expected high sodium, but not the sugar. I will read labels more
> consistently now.
>
The place I don't expect added sugar is in canned products like stewed
or diced tomato. I never pinpointed the brand, but occasionally I'd
get one and it ruined whatever I was making.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

In article >,
sf > wrote:

> On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:35:00 -0400, "cybercat" >
> wrote:
>
> > I expected high sodium, but not the sugar. I will read labels more
> > consistently now.
> >
> The place I don't expect added sugar is in canned products like stewed
> or diced tomato. I never pinpointed the brand, but occasionally I'd
> get one and it ruined whatever I was making.

Every can of stewed tomatoes I've ever had contained sugar. Although
tomatoes naturally contain some sugar, I've never seen diced tomatoes
with added sugar.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

Less salt and preservatives. Oops, that's two. Oh well, saved a post.

Steve

"Dan Abel" > wrote in message
...
| In article >,
| sf > wrote:
|
| > On Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:35:00 -0400, "cybercat" >
| > wrote:
| >
| > > I expected high sodium, but not the sugar. I will read labels more
| > > consistently now.
| > >
| > The place I don't expect added sugar is in canned products like stewed
| > or diced tomato. I never pinpointed the brand, but occasionally I'd
| > get one and it ruined whatever I was making.
|
| Every can of stewed tomatoes I've ever had contained sugar. Although
| tomatoes naturally contain some sugar, I've never seen diced tomatoes
| with added sugar.

Del Monte Diced Tomatoes with Basil, Garlic and Oregano:
Ingredients: tomatoes, tomato juice, high fructose corn syrup, salt, garlic
powder, spices, onion powder, calcium chloride, citric acid.

Although their regular Diced Tomatoes have no added sugars. I'm really
just quibbling on this, but beware the seasoned tomatoes.

pavane

Dan Abel wrote:

> sf > wrote:

>> The place I don't expect added sugar is in canned products like
>> stewed or diced tomato. I never pinpointed the brand, but
>> occasionally I'd get one and it ruined whatever I was making.
>
> Every can of stewed tomatoes I've ever had contained sugar. Although
> tomatoes naturally contain some sugar, I've never seen diced tomatoes
> with added sugar.

Wow, thanks for the heads up. I don't use stewed tomatoes often
but I never noticed the sugar. I'll certainly look next time.

nancy

On Mar 30, 3:51*pm, "cybercat" > wrote:
> For me, it is sugar. LEAVE THE *&%$ing sugar out of entrees and savory side
> dishes, people! (Salt is a problem too, but at least too salty food is still
> edible most of the time.)

I agree. Too darned much sugar. If people want to muck up their own
cooking,
fine. We choose frozen pizza based on the (lack of) sugar content in
the sauce.
I can't even eat canned soup anymore. Bleah. Luckily, homemade soup
is easy.

Cindy Hamilton

On Mar 30, 6:56*pm, "Dora" > wrote:
> cybercat wrote:
>
> *Sweet as tomatoes are, the third ingredient in
>
> > this stuff is sugar, and then there is a "Contains less than 2% of
> > the following" and what follows included high fructose corn syrup.
> > And it also has 960 mgs of sodium in half the can. Bleah.
>
> It really pays to read the ingredients before buying - soup is
> notorious for its high sodium content and you've seen the
> sugar/fructose content. *I *have* to watch the ingredients and it's
> often a shocker.

I'd like to see zero sodium canned broth. I can then salt to taste.
I think most people are capable of doing that. I tend to like
Campbell's Beef Consome once in a while. However, it's too salty.

Dan Abel wrote:

>> The place I don't expect added sugar is in canned products like stewed
>> or diced tomato. I never pinpointed the brand, but occasionally I'd
>> get one and it ruined whatever I was making.
>
> Every can of stewed tomatoes I've ever had contained sugar. Although
> tomatoes naturally contain some sugar, I've never seen diced tomatoes
> with added sugar.
>
"Stewed Tomatoes" are a prepared canned item I think? Don't they also
contain a bit of celery or something? I bet that's why they get away
with adding sugar.
I never buy them as if I want stewed tomatoes (such as with okra, yum!)
I start with either fresh or canned whole.

This thread title resurrects the old "Sex or death" dilemma
in....."Taxi", was it? (I'm rusty on old sitcoms.)

Salt or sugar, salt or sugar. My solution - make from scratch all you
can. Shop the periphery.

On Wed, 31 Mar 2010 07:22:41 -0700 (PDT), Kalmia
> wrote:

>
>
> This thread title resurrects the old "Sex or death" dilemma
> in....."Taxi", was it? (I'm rusty on old sitcoms.)
>
> Salt or sugar, salt or sugar. My solution - make from scratch all you
> can. Shop the periphery.

Sweet Jesus. Most of us use certain convenience items. Not everybody
has a huge freezer to store home made stock or tomato items. I don't
make my own pasta either.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

On Mar 30, 1:04 pm, "pavane" > wrote:
> "cybercat" > wrote in ...
>
> | For me, it is sugar. LEAVE THE *&%$ing sugar out of entrees and savory side
> | dishes, people! (Salt is a problem too, but at least too salty food is still
> | edible most of the time.) [snip]
>
> It is not exactly "prepared foods" but I would love to see a halt to the
> villainous process of adding brine and other salty water to fresh meats.
[snip]

The good thing about all this, at least in the U.S., is that
ingredients are listed. If I were king I'd make them use bigger type
so I could read it more easily, but at least it's there to inform my
decisions. Something to think about next time you hear a complaint
about Big Brother...... -aem

On Mar 31, 3:12 am, "Nancy Young" > wrote:
> Dan Abel wrote:
> > sf > wrote:
> >> The place I don't expect added sugar is in canned products like
> >> stewed or diced tomato. I never pinpointed the brand, but
> >> occasionally I'd get one and it ruined whatever I was making.
>
> > Every can of stewed tomatoes I've ever had contained sugar. Although
> > tomatoes naturally contain some sugar, I've never seen diced tomatoes
> > with added sugar.
>
> Wow, thanks for the heads up. I don't use stewed tomatoes often
> but I never noticed the sugar. I'll certainly look next time.
>
AFAIC stewed tomatoes are supposed to have sugar in them, that's what
makes them stewed. Though of course the amount can be overdone. I
remember from my childhood one of the grandmothers making them.
Ingredients were basically tomatoes, sugar, torn up pieces of bread
(probably an extender, as she often did with a lot of things when
money was tight), a little celery. -aem

On Wed, 31 Mar 2010 09:11:00 -0400, Goomba >
wrote:

>Dan Abel wrote:
>
>>> The place I don't expect added sugar is in canned products like stewed
>>> or diced tomato. I never pinpointed the brand, but occasionally I'd
>>> get one and it ruined whatever I was making.
>>
>> Every can of stewed tomatoes I've ever had contained sugar. Although
>> tomatoes naturally contain some sugar, I've never seen diced tomatoes
>> with added sugar.
>>
>"Stewed Tomatoes" are a prepared canned item I think? Don't they also
>contain a bit of celery or something? I bet that's why they get away
>with adding sugar.
>I never buy them as if I want stewed tomatoes (such as with okra, yum!)
>I start with either fresh or canned whole.

I buy a lot of canned "whole tomatoes", many different brands, I like
to eat them right from the can... I've never seen canned whole
tomatoes with added sugar... they usually contain added salt and
citric acid, some a little basil. However a product called "stewed
tomatoes" can contain anything. Stewed tomato recipes typically
contain canned whole tomatoes, s n'p, butter, and sufficient broken up
stale white bread to soak up the juice, served piping hot.