Falling for tasty meals hook, line and sinker

Organic whole wheat shells in marinara sauce with Moroccan sardines, organic baby spinach, organic diced tomatoes and fresh garlic. Ingredients are from Whole Foods Market in Paramus, Costco Wholesale in Hackensack and Fattal's in Paterson.

A multi-fish platter with Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix and Sunset-brand English Cucumbers, both from Costco. From left, canned pink-salmon and yellow-fin tuna salad with Dijon mustrard, ground cumin and lime; Kirkland Signature smoked wild sockeye salmon slices from Costco and Alaska Smokehouse wild sockeye salmon fillet. 

Editor's note: When you have a bad restaurant meal, as I did this week at P.F. Chang's China Bistro, a chain restaurant in Hackensack, you learn to appreciate food you buy and prepare at home. Even if you go organic, you'll save plenty of money over dining out on mystery ingredients -- VICTOR E. SASSON.

Costco sells frozen Norwegian mackerel fillets that are processed in South Korea, prepared here with sweet pepper, garlic and onion, and served with Chinese takeout brown rice and breadfruit from Jamaica. The fillets aren't well trimmed, and I found a few small bones in them.

Two organic eggs with Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, all from Costco Wholesale, served with leftover whole wheat shells.

On Tuesday morning, I loaded up my car with recycled plastic shopping bags, dry cleaner bags, food wrapping and other bits of plastic packaging and packing material, and recycled them at the ShopRite in Paramus. ShopRite is the only chain I know that recycles plastic bags and gives shoppers 5 cents back for every reusable bag they bring with them.

On the way home from a doctor's appointment on Tuesday afternoon, I stopped at Whole Foods Market in Paramus, above, where there were few signs of the panic shopping I saw at other supermarkets before a Jan. 2 snowstorm that dumped 7 inches on Bergen County.

My purchases at Whole Foods included about 2 pounds of Organic Lacinato Kale at 40% off (two long bunches for $4). I fried chopped Christopher Ranch California Garlic from Costco until it was fragrant, placed the washed pieces of kale into the pan to cook -- covered -- with a couple of ounces of inexpensive sake, and ate it with our dinner of ackee and salted codfish. 

A simple Kirkland Signature Egg Whites omelet with two reduced-fat cheeses, all from Costco, served with leftover Chinese takeout brown rice moistened with Valentina Mexican Hot Sauce (Black Label).