Salsa!!

On Monday the kids and I went to Jackson Farms for tomato's.

We were fully prepared to pick, but when I found out a 5 gallon bucket "u-pick" was $9 or a 5 gallon bucket of "they-picked" was $10, my choice was easy. I was more than happy to part with 2 extra dollars and save the time and effort it takes to pick them!! :)

I had every intention of making salsa on Tuesday, but Monday night I started getting a bad pain in my lower back. The only thing I can figure is that I did something when carrying the boxes of maters into the house.
 (I had a kind older gentleman help me load them in the van at the farm)

Tuesday morning, I woke up with some bad pain and after packing Dan's lunch, I went back to bed. I stayed in bed or reclined on the sofa for a good part of the day. Ice, heating pad, and pain killer was my friend and my kids did great at helping me get the wash done.
*They also told me they are glad that I am not that helpless more often :) :)

Wednesday morning I already had a Dr. appt. so I talked to the Dr. about the pain and after a brief examination and a few questions he determined that I had sprained my back. So he recommended I keep doing what I was, especially with using heat, and he also recommended Aleve instead of Tylenol.

Thankfully by Thursday morning I was nearly pain free!

So, salsa making day it was!!

The tomato's were so nice looking, not real big, but not tiny either! I only found two that had bad spots.

Washing them....

 and then scalding them to loosen the skins.

After removing the skins and stem area, we chopped them with my Tupperware Quick Chef.

I used Mrs. Wages salsa mix and added extra cilantro :) Mmmmm!!

Got 27 pints total! I'm thinking another 27 would be good, but I'm not sure if I'll do anymore. Dan would like me to go back for more next week and make canned tomato soup, too! So, we'll see! :)

I think we shall sample some tonight! :)