Good Spaghetti Sauce? And other US substitutions for Canadian foods?

[Stuart and Thea 95]

I loved President's Choice, both the taste and the price, but can't find a good spaghetti sauce down here, except for one that cost 7$ a jar, and that's way out of my budget. Any suggestions?

On a plus not, I found a sweeter runnier sauce that kinda tastes like HP called Country Bob's. It's too sweet for eggs, but it's good on corned beef hash and on grilled cheese. No sub for Shreddies yet, but I do like Smuckers Natural peanut butter maybe more than the PC just peanuts, cause they roast them first...

So... (I know our other thread just says what we miss, but I want one to say what to try here instead)

Heinz Beans.... I just buy Busch's Baked Beans, they're expensive but just as good. (maybe better)

Good beers: Boulevard, Blue Moon, Mother's, Schafly, Ska Brewing... oh I keep finding more every week.

Anyone else can chime in and help with the sauce issue?

[Anh map 2,098]

How about making sauce from scratch? It can be as sweet or savory as you like it.

[Marilyn. 340]

I make my own. I use a can of diced tomatoes and fresh Roma tomatoes if I have any. I fry up some onion and garlic and add the tomatoes and whatever spices I want to add, usually oregano, basil and thyme. And then I just let it cook for awhile

[KTandTommy 31]

I was just gonna suggest scratch too! Tomato sauce is one of the easiest things to make

Here's my family's recipe (we're southern Italian, so this is a typical basic sauce recipe from the south - it differs by region, and you can experiment)

Directly from my mom:

Stir fry onion in olive oil until softened.

Add tomato puree (if using plum tomatoes, put them through the blender first)

Add salt and pepper

Simmer

Amounts are always eyeballed... so, if I were to guess, I'd say about 1 tbsp olive oil, one medium onion, 1 can of puree (or if you're using fresh tomatoes, probably at least 5-6 - we can our own tomatoes in the fall, and I usually do just a jar).

Simmer for at least an hour or two for the best flavour.

You can also add a bit of tomato paste, if you want it thicker.

You can add spices like oregano, basil, etc - some people also use garlic instead of onion.

[Stuart and Thea 95]

Oh, I do that myself, especially when I have time, but I like to have sauce on hand for when my kid wants to make his own, and while he's 13 now, I still don't see him going to that kind of trouble, which means I will have to do it. I also like to have stuff on hand for just in case... I don't have the room to can my own or I would!

[Marilyn. 340]

you could freeze the homemade sauce if you wanted to. Portion it out into single servings that your son could just pop into the microwave to warm up...

[twitchy 2]

For jar sauce, my go to is Barilla, they have a lot of different versions, but I usually get the marinara, as I can add what I want, like red pepper flakes, or veggies, etc.

They aren't the cheapest, but they aren't outrageously expensive either, especially if you can catch a sale

[S and P 9]

The "Newman's Own" line of sauces are reasonably priced and according to my husband pretty close to the flavor of the President's Choice stuff he used to buy.....we love the Sockarooni sauce.. tastes good and is such fun to say .

Maranatha has awesome peanut butter..again.. according to my husband... who is a peanut butter addict.... it's organic... but it is a bit pricey.

[Krikit 1,164]

Here's an old spreadsheet on it. Looks like it's time to do some updating.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/106427-grocery-items-unavailable-in-the-us/page__view__findpost__p__1515300

[bsd058 296]

Come on! Make your own!! I love making spaghetti sauce! Get tomatoes (crushed and stewed), tomato paste, red peppers, beef, onions, Italian herbs and spices, sugar, etc.. It is SO much better than the stuff made in a factory! And when you make a whole bunch you can store it in the freezer and save it for a cold day that you want a nice warm plate of spaghetti! Or if your kid wants some ready-to-go sauce.

I like Ragu when I don't feel like cooking. Newman's Own is great, too! Probably better than Ragu, but it's also a little more expensive.

Edited September 19, 2012 by bsd058

[Udella&Wiz 325]

I have 2 totally different needs. I use Rragu for pizza sauce and when we need to have dinner quickly. I like the Chunky Garden Vegetable or the Tomato, Onion and Garlic version (no HFCS either)

If I am making a nicer dinner (aka Sat or Sun when we have time) then I make my mum's recipe from scratch. It takes about 20 minutes to brown the meat and add the remaining ingredients and then it simmers on the stove for 3 hours with an occasional stir. We freeze leftovers with spagetti in individual portions for our lunches or quick kid snacks