It would be great if stores would carry more single serving canned food. I hate having to open a larger can of something, then putting the unused portion in a plastic container and in the 'fridge. Later, my 'fridge becomes full of the little plastic containers of forgotten food, some with green fuzz growing in them.
What, you cant eat a whole can of peas? I'm small and can do it! I know what you mean though, but it will probably cost you more for a single serving. Only thing I buy canned anyway is tuna and I make the whole can for tuna salad.
Peas? Did someone refer to Canned Peas? Oh, the disgrace of the day when they started taking our most holy vegetable and started putting them in cans. They are so much better in clear jars so we can look upon them as the angels do. They are a constant reminder of the wonderful Christmas story when the angel came to the shepherds and announced the great promise of "Peas on Earth, Goodwill toward Men." To be serious, go frozen! You can take out what you might need at the time and save the rest for the next couple of months. Plus, frozen vegies are healthier because nothing has been cooked out of them and there is no brine in the mix to jack up the blood pressure.
Other than refried beans sometimes, and we usually make our own, and things like tomato paste, olives, and sometimes pie fillings, we don't buy a lot of canned foods, but I know what you mean. I was single until I was forty-eight years old and cooking for myself was too expensive, largely because of all of the waste involved. Along the same lines as large cans, I hate that grocery stores pre-bag fresh vegetables and fruit now, rather than allowing the customer to choose what to put in the bag. For one thing, there is usually more of whatever it is in the bag than we want. The other thing is that this seems to be used as a way for the stores to get rid of their old fruit and vegetables, as there seems always to be a percentage of bad grapes in the package, but not usually enough to warrant making a complaint.
Dunno about Maine Ken, but here in Alabama the bagged grapes are just treated as a suggestion. It's kind of like that road sign that tells you in yellow letters that it would be nice if you went around the curve going 30mph rather than 60. No one seems to like the suggestion and does what they please. I have learned, with much disdain, that it's okay to mix and match the grapes by removing the bunch you do not want and switching it with a bunch you want whilst feeding your face pretending to just "taste" to see if you want them. Normally, each bag is open and contains 3 or 4 bunches, depending on the type and size so switching is easy and considered prudent, or at least, so it seems. Want to have some real fun? Go to the loose mushroom bin and snap off the stems while bagging the caps. Again, they are charging by the pound and the stems, particularly portabellas, are not often the prefered part of the mushroom. Of course, one should be a tad discrete when doing so because unlike the juicy grape, culling is not looked upon with favor by the management of the stores. (please do not consider the above to be an honest suggestion. It's rather like stealing, is it not?)
When they first started doing it, they would have some pre-bagged, but would still have others there for customers who preferred to choose the grapes that they are going to buy. Over the past several years, there are only the pre-bagged ones. I suppose there's no reason why I couldn't open up a couple of them and choose the ones I want, but I am thinking that would be looked upon unfavorably. I do open any that I am going to buy, and pull out any obviously bad fruits or vegetables. We've been trying to greatly reduce the amount of food that we buy at grocery stores by patronizing local farms, and by growing some of our own during the spring and summer. This was a very bad growing year, though.
It used to be that canned goods are the large cans that has the capacity for at least 4 people. But lately, we have small cans of sardines and pork and beans that can be finished by one person in one sitting. My husband is fond of Hunt's pork and beans but he seldom buys because he is the only one to eat. But now we have a stock in the cabinet since he can open one can anytime and finish it by himself. I think that is one good thing about thinking small by those manufacturers of canned goods. There are also small cans of corned beef although what we buy are the traditional big cans.
Most of our vegetables are canned at home in either pints or quarts. We do buy a lot of other canned foods though. Mushrooms, refried beans, sardines, salmon, mackerel, tuna, and sometimes spam or Vienna sausage. Oh, yeah, evaporated milk, beef and chicken broth too. We keep our pantry well stocked.
I have never really given this much thought. But than I don't live alone, I live with four family members. So, one can is usually sufficient for us when it comes to soup, chili or vegetables.
I live alone, but don't mind the larger cans. Actually, sometimes I buy family sized, because I rarely let things linger in the fridge. If I have peas leftover from one meal, I'll toss them into a one pot dish I'm making, such as my tuna mac n cheese with peas, stir fries, or fried rice. I also mash a few in with the cat food, or eat some as a snack. I do find that smaller cans/portions are usually, but not always, more expensive.
Except for tomatoes and cannellini beans, I don't buy veggies in cans; those I get frozen or fresh. I do buy canned broths, tuna & evaporated milk in case I run out of milk for coffee.
We usually buy everything as fresh as we can; but I also stock up on canned food items, just in case we have another tornado, or any other kind of disaster that would stop the electricity, and leave us with no refrigeration , or a way to cook anything. Most of the food in cans can be eaten as it comes from the can, and cold if necessary; and it will keep fine even if we have no power. I like to have frozen veggies, and they are quick and easy to add to any soup or whatever meal I am making, and in the amount that I want. I love peas and cheese in my salads, and either the canned peas or the frozen ones work fine for that. Even when we grow a garden, we only grow things that we use up that summer, and nothing that we can; so we still have to buy most of the veggies that we eat. There are a couple of farmer's markets here, and I like getting the fresh veggies from there , too, and the homemade sorghum in the fall.
They do sell single portions of some canned foods like pouches of salmon by Bumble Bee, Vienna sausage, fruit cocktail and I guess you just got to take the time to look for them at your favorite stores. I see single serving canned goods at Walmart, supermarkets and Walgreens too. If it's too much of a bother maybe buying already cooked foods at like Wendy's is good they got a value menu where you can get chili beans for .99, 4 for $4 ad I just saw, or value meals at other fast foods in your area, but you got to watch your cholesterol it's going to go up unless you buy their salads. Good luck in finding single serving canned goods! image from: http://thecouponproject.com/wendys-4-for-4-meal-halloween-coupon-books-available/