A 'sale' on pasta sauce, pricey Passover ingredient, wild sea bass

On Tuesday, I found 24-ounce jars of Victoria Vodka Sauce, one of the few that doesn't contain heavy cream, on sale for $2.99 each with a store card at ShopRite, 224 Route 4 east, Paramus. The store also had a rare sale on ShopRite Lactose Free Milk for $2.99 a half-gallon, a discount of 50 cents.

A 40-ounce jar of the same vodka sauce was on sale in late January for $3.99, but on Tuesday, the price was $8.49.

You probably couldn't get one of the dozen tables at Rao's, the Italian-American restaurant in the East Harlem section of Manhattan, so why pay an outrageous $8.49 for a 32-ounce jar of the joint's marinara sauce at the Paramus ShopRite?

A 2-pound jar of kosher for Passover Tamarind was $17.99 at the Paramus ShopRite. The concentrated sweet-and-sour fruit , from Thailand, is used in many Sephardic Jewish dishes, including stuffed vegetables.

The $3-plus price spike for Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon at Costco Wholesale didn't stop me from buying this wonderful fish, but the price has settled back to $15.99 for two half-pound portions. Here, I used a few slices to stuff a whole egg and egg-white omelet with fresh spinach, a slice of reduced-fat Swiss cheese and Mateo's Gourmet Salsa, all from Costco.

On Sunday, Fresh wild-caught black sea bass were $5.99 a pound at H Mart, 25 Lafayette Ave., Englewood. My wife pan-fried them and dressed them in sweet and hot peppers, and onions cooked in vinegar. At the Little Ferry H Mart, 260 Bergen Turnpike, a box of 14 Ataulfo Mangoes was $9.99 with a store card.

-- VICTOR E. SASSON

At IHOP in Teaneck, hold the pancakes, cheese, butter and more

A 55+ Omelet at IHOP in Teaneck with added tomatoes and fresh spinach (79 cents each), and a side of hash browns, top.

Editor's note: Today, I discuss sticking to my diet at IHOP; simple cooking at home; and purchases at H Mart, Whole Foods Market, Starbucks, ShopRite and Costco Wholesale.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

When a group of friends wanted to stop for lunch at IHOP on Cedar Lane in Teaneck last week, I went along.

But I wasn't about to break my diet.

I ordered a 55+ Omelet ($5.49), which usually is made with cheese and comes with pancakes, toast and hash-brown potatoes on the side.

Hold the cheese, pancakes and toast, I told the waitress, who looked like she was 85 and would understand my diet restrictions, and add tomatoes and fresh spinach (79 cents each).

I also asked her if the kitchen could make my omelet with oil instead of butter. 

That's pretty much the way I eat at home to maintain my weight loss from a no-bread, no-pizza, no-meat diet, and avoid artery clogging butter and cream.

I liked the IHOP omelet, which had as much fresh spinach in it as Greek diner omelets I've had in Paramus and River Edge at nearly twice the price.

IHOP calls the omelet 55+ or Senior, but I didn't find any senior discount on my receipt. 

IHOP, 610 Cedar Lane, Teaneck; 201-836-6500. Open every day at 7 a.m. 

Organic whole wheat pasta corkscrews from Whole Foods Market in bottled Paesana Organic Tomato & Basil sauce with added organic diced tomatoes, chopped fresh garlic and  black olives.

Keeping it simple at home

I don't have the inclination, time or skill to make my own red sauce for pasta, and rely on terrific bottled sauces without added sugar.

I do add red wine, extra-virgin olive oil, dried Italian herbs, red-pepper flakes and a can of drained and rinsed anchovies to give bottled sauce a special, robust flavor without any hint of fish.

You can also stretch a 25-ounce bottle of sauce with Costco Wholesale's Organic Diced Tomatoes, sold under the Kirkland Signature house label.

I found 25-ounce bottles of Premium Organic Paesana Tomato & Basil sauce at Costco Wholesale, which also sells Kirkland Signature Marinara and 40-ounce jars of Victoria Marinara.

Grated Pecorino Romano, a sheep's milk cheese from Costco, adds an Italian accent to pasta, salads, eggs and soup.

Grated Pecorino Romano over two organic brown eggs from Costco. I plated them for breakfast with mashed and baked sweet potatoes and leftover okra.

Organic eggs with Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon from Costco and za'atar thyme mixture from Fattal's Bakery in Paterson.

The 6.8-ounce Protein Bistro Box from Starbucks Coffee in Hackensack can stand in for a full breakfast or lunch ($4.95). I brought this one home last week as a reward for regularly using a Starbucks Card. The box contains a cage-free hard-boiled egg, white Cheddar cheese, multigrain Muesli bread, honey peanut butter spread and fruit.

Discount Mondays at Starbucks

On Monday between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., I went to Starbucks at 360 Essex St. in Hackensack to take advantage of a 30% discount for members of My Starbucks Rewards.

I purchased two 1-pound bags of coffee beans, normally $12.95 and $11.95, for a total of $17.42.

I asked for a Turkish grind of the Willow and Veranda Blonde Roasts.

While I was there, I drank a Venti Jade Citrus Mint green tea for $1.85, plus tax, discounted from $2.65. 

On March 16 at Starbucks, you can get two teas for the price of one, and on March 23, you'll receive a free pastry with a drink purchase.

Part of the parking lot at the H Mart in Little Ferry.

Supermarket purchases

On Sunday, I drove through the flooded, potholed parking lot at H Mart in Little Ferry for a box of 16 Ataulfo Mangoes from Mexico, on sale for $9.99 with a store card (a discount of $5).

On Monday morning, I stopped at the ShopRite in Paramus for a 1-pound package of Luigi Vitelli-brand Organic Whole Wheat Fusilli for $1.25, and a 3-pound bag of sweet potatoes that weighed closer to 4 pounds ($2.99).

Also on Monday, my wife bought fresh whole red snapper at the H Mart in Englewood for $6.99 a pound, and seasoned and pan fried them at home, serving them with fresh okra for dinner.

Today, at Whole Foods Market in Paramus, I picked up two 1-pound boxes of 365 Everyday Value Organic Whole Wheat Shells for $1.49 each, and gizzards from naturally raised chickens ($3.99 a pound).

H Mart bargain hunting, Costco-inspired dishes, a new salad

Jun's Tofu is made with non-GMO soybeans and sold at H&Y Marketplace, a Korean supermarket at 1 Remsen Place in Ridgefield. I like the tofu with wild sesame and sea salt, eaten hot or cold. A 28-ounce package is $5.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

H Mart is the biggest chain of Korean supermarkets in New Jersey, but the North Jersey stores don't seem to be run by the same owner.

Last week at the H Mart in Englewood, a 15-pound bag of California-grown Kokuho Yellow Label White Rice was on sale for $9.99, a savings of $5.

The catch: You need the store's Smart Card coupon and must buy more than $30, excluding coupon items.

The next day, I stopped at the H Mart in Little Ferry and found the same 15-pound bag of rice for $10.88, with no strings attached.

This H Mart put the regular price at $15.99 -- not the $14.99 quoted in Englewood -- and my receipt showed a savings of $5.11.

I also found a large seedless watermelon in the Little Ferry store for $4.99, compared to $7.99 in Englewood.

The Englewood store did have Chinese broccoli on sale for 98 cents a pound.

Kirkland Signature Wild Alaskan Smoked Sockeye Salmon from Costco Wholesale in an open-face omelet of 100% Egg Whites, also from Costco, served with mashed sweet potatoes from Trader Joe's. 

Good ingredients from Costco

Cold-smoked wild sockeye salmon from Alaska, refrigerated basil pesto, salted pollock, pignoli nuts, organic quinoa -- the list of quality ingredients from Costco Wholesale is long.

Supplement them with a few key items from other stores, such as whole-wheat pasta, and meal preparation is a snap.

Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale is a wonderful dressing for whole-wheat pappardelle, mouth-filling pasta ribbons from Italy, with added pignoli nuts and fresh basil, two of the ingredients in pesto.

An egg-white frittata made with sweet peppers, garlic, shredded cheese and salted Alaskan pollock, a cousin of the cod. I served it with a mixture of organic brown rice and quinoa with salsa verde.

A salad of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix with organic beets, Campari tomato and pignoli nuts -- all from Costco -- dressed with extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

New salad from Earthbound Farm

I picked up a new organic salad from Earthbound Farm at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack.

The blend of tender baby kale, chard and spinach -- called "POWER" -- can be used in salads, smoothies and as a pizza topping.

A 1-pound bag is $5.99, compared to $4.49 for a 1-pound tub of Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix.

The resealable plastic bag is similar to the one the spring mix was sold in at one time, and it is easier to store in the refrigerator than the bulky plastic tub.

I tried the assertive greens in a salad with spring mix, reduced-fat Jarlsberg Swiss Cheese, Jersey blueberries and Campari tomatoes, all from Costco (photo below).

Shopper's fantasy: One food store that has it all

Wines from all over the world are sold in the liquor department of Costco Wholesale in Wayne, where you can buy bottles carrying the house label, Kirkland Signature, including a complex 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon for only $7.99 (1.5 liter) or less than $4 a bottle.

At home, I am pouring four wines for dinner on a rotating basis, including Costco's Cabernet, right, and two wines from Spain with screw tops, center.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

I drove a 40-mile loop today in search of a bottle of wine, and to re-stock my cupboard with Aleppo red pepper and inexpensive Moroccan sardines.

Wouldn't it be great if there was one store that carried all my favorites at the right price?

As it is, I stopped at three today:

ShopRite in Paramus for the store brand of 1% lactose-free milk; Costco Wholesale in Wayne, searching for a California wine, Kirkland Signature Old Vine Zinfandel; and Fattal's in Paterson, my source for crushed red pepper and sardines.

Metrokane-brand Rabbit Wine Bottle Stoppers provide an air-tight seal, allowing me to keep four opened bottles of red wine on the counter at one time. I found these on Amazon.con for about $7.50.

Crushed Aleppo red pepper is mildly spicy and a terrific garnish for eggs, above; fish and other dishes. I keep a container in my refrigerator, just a step or two from the stove.

Costco in Wayne

My Costco in Hackensack doesn't have a liquor department, only a liquor store that is not affiliated with the warehouse store and doesn't carry wine with a Kirkland Signature label.  

So, I drove to the Wayne Costco (about 20 miles from my home), where on an earlier visit, I picked up terrific bottles of Kirkland Signature Champagne from France and California Cabernet Sauvignon.

Today, I was in search of Kirkland Signature Old Vine Zinfandel from Sonoma County, California, that I read about in the February 2014 Costco Connection magazine.

But I couldn't find it among the hundreds of bottles of wine, and an employee couldn't help, either.

I cut my losses by picking up another 1.5-liter bottle of Kirkland Signature Cabernet for $7.99; Kirkland Signature Body Soap and Kirkland Signature Body Wash.

I also purchased a 30-roll package of Charmin toilet paper ($19.59 with $2 off), which carries an unforgettable slogan: "We all go. Why not enjoy the go?"

I hope this "ultra soft and absorbent" toilet tissue will help me forget the Scott toilet paper I bought at Costco that was so thin and narrow it looked as if it was used in prisons and mental wards.

Costco Wholesale, 77 Willowbrook Blvd., Wayne; 1-973-812-8661.

Fattal's

At Fattal's, I picked up two dozen cans of Al Shark Moroccan Sardines in Tomato Sauce, the variety that has the least sodium (99 cents each).

I will use two cans tonight to prepare 1 pound of organic whole wheat shells with garlic, vegetables and sardines.

I also bought two 1-liter bottles of Al Shark Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Syria for $4.99 each, one of the few sold at Fattal's with a label that shows the country of origin.

Aleppo red pepper was $6.99 a pound.

Fattal's includes a grocery with cheese and other dairy products, butcher, cafe, bread, prepared food and a jewelry store. 

Fattal's, 975-77 Main St., Paterson; 1-973-742-7125. Open 7 days. Free parking in lot.

"Living" basil reminds me of opening a bottle of red wine to let it "breathe." This sign was in the Paramus ShopRite's produce department this morning. Half-gallons of ShopRite lactose-free milk were $3.49 each; last week, they were on sale.

H Mart

My wife prefers shopping at the H Mart in Englewood, but that Korean supermarket doesn't always have sales that rival another H Mart, the one in Little Ferry.

On Tuesday, when we ran out of Kokuho Yellow Label White Rice from California, she asked me to go to Little Ferry, where I found 15-pound bags on sale for $8.99 or $6 off.

I saw a sign that warned of higher prices caused by the drought in California, and bought two bags.

I also picked up a 16-pack of Shin Ramyun, a spicy instant soup, for $9.99 or $7 off.

H Mart, 260 Bergen Turnpike, Little Ferry; 1-201-814-0400. Open 7 days.

This morning, I made a fresh-tomato-and-cheese frittata with Kirkland Signature Egg Whites from Costco, several kinds of reduced-fat and full-fat cheeses, pesto from Trader Joe's and Costco; and za'atar, a Middle Eastern thyme mixture available at Fattal's in Paterson.

Trader Joe's

Trader Joe's in Paramus is one of the few places I can find antibiotic- and preservative-free bacon and hot dogs for the meat eaters in the family ($4.99 and $4.49, respectively).

The store also carries terrific 100% juices in 64-ounce bottles, such as Garden Patch and Green Plant ($3.49 and $3.99, respectively).

Last Friday, I also picked up grass-fed Angus Beef strip loin steaks from New Zealand (frozen for $10.99 a pound).

But I didn't care for another item, Trader Joe's Organic Oats & Flax Instant Oatmeal (8 servings for $3.49), a sweetened product that wasn't very good made with 2/3 cup of water.

I'll try it again with 1/2 cup of low-fat milk.

Trader Joe's, 404 Route 17 north, Paramus; 201-265-9624. Open daily 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Jerry's

What do you do when Jerry's Gourmet & More in Englewood runs out of those wonderful restaurant-quality dinners available for takeout ($7.99 or $5.99 after 4 p.m.)?

On Wednesday afternoon, I couldn't find any Meals To Go when I stopped in at around 4:15 p.m., and comforted myself with several cheese samples.

I bought Jerry's Homemade Meat Lasagna ($6.99 a pound) and Jerry's Homemade Small Crabcakes (6 for $4.99), and my family demolished them.

For my dinner, I made baby spinach with garlic and sun-dried tomatoes, fried two organic brown eggs from Costco and ate them with leftover organic brown rice and red kidney beans.

Jerry's Gourmet & More, 410 S. Dean St., Englewood; 201-871-7108.