Dinner for four comes in under $20

Image via Wikipedia
Live fluke from Jeju Island in Korea are sold in Fort Lee.

Editor's note: Today's bill of fare includes an inexpensive meal at home, good buys in Target's grocery section and a sale on free-range, grass-fed beef at ShopRite.

The cost difference between dining in and dining out is dramatic, and when you eat at home, you have a lot more control over the quality of the ingredients.


This afternoon, I stopped at the H Mart Fresh in Fort Lee and purchased fresh and prepared items that will feed four at dinner for only $17.35. 


The fresh fish at this small Korean market is always displayed on plenty of ice, so the wild-caught porgy at $1.99 a pound caught my eye. The fish monger said they came in earlier in the day. 


I asked him to clean five porgy, leaving the heads and tails on. The total was $7.22. 


A tank held live fluke from Jeju Island in Korea -- at $17.99 a pound. But this flat fish is wonderful raw as sushi or sashimi, allowing you to avoid all the mercury you'd consume with tuna. Maybe next time.


Fresh Chinese broccoli was on sale for 58 cents a pound, so for $1.13 I bought just under 2 pounds to blanch, drain and drizzle with sesame oil and a little soy sauce. 


I also picked up two prepared items -- a seaweed, rice and vegetable roll called kimbap or gimbap ($4.99 for 20 ounces) and a trio of pan-fried kimchi pancakes ($3.99).

Image via Wikipedia
Kimbap and kimchi.

How do you say, "Dinner's ready," in Korean?


H Mart's discount coupon book hasn't been issued for about two months, but there are plenty of in-store sales. Employees say they don't know why the supermarket chain stopped issuing its own coupons.


H Mart Fresh, 1379 16th St.,Fort Lee; 201-944-9009.
Metered spaces in front of store are free after 12 p.m.


Target's stealth discounts


I drove to the Target in Hackensack on Saturday to pick up lactose-free milk and eggs, and they rang up for much less than the shelf price. I didn't see anything about a sale.


A half-gallon of Market Pantry lactose-free milk usually is $3.19 -- about 20 cents less than at ShopRite. I bought two half-gallons of 2% lactose-free milk, and they rang up at $2.89 each.


A dozen large white Nearby Eggs from Pennsylvania were on a shelf with a price of $1.49, but I paid only 79 cents for them. I saved another 5% or 33 cents by charging the items to a Target credit card.


Sale on free-range beef


Nature's Reserve Whole Beef Tenderloin for Filet Mignon is on sale again at ShopRite for $7.99 a pound or $5.99 a pound with a store card through Feb. 4.


This beef, from Australian cattle, is described as grass fed and free range. You usually have to buy 4 to 6 pounds of beef.


When you get it home and trim it, you can cut it into filet mignon steaks or slice it thin for Korean barbecue. 


The same cut of conventionally raised, USDA Select beef is on sale for $9.99 a pound or $7.99 with a store card. 


Two 59-ounce clear-plastic containers of Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice are on sale for $5 with a store card (limit of 4).

Many food claims don't hold water

Image via Wikipedia
If you want pure juice, don't buy Trop50.

Have you seen the TV ad for Trop50, which Tropicana calls "fabulously refreshing with 50% less sugar and calories"?


How do they do that, I wondered as I watched the ad from the maker of 100% pure orange juice on Monday night.


I found out when I looked at Trop50 labels at the Hackensack ShopRite this morning.


It is only 10% to 43% juice, depending on the variety (not 30% as I wrote earlier ). It is labeled a "fruit-juice beverage" and sweetened by PureVia -- called an all-natural plant extract.


McDonald's beef


Another TV ad from McDonald's seems to suggest the fast-food giant is using naturally raised beef in its hamburgers.


The ad shows a rancher, who says he supplies McDonald's, in a field where cattle are grazing -- what you'd see if the animals are grass fed 

Image via Wikipedia

and free range.


But the ad tells you nothing about whether the cattle are raised on antibiotics and growth hormones, and whether they spend most of their lives eating grain in the confines of a feed lot with hundreds of other animals.


Shrinking boxes


I've been buying mostly 100% whole wheat pasta, but many brands come in a box that is less than a full pound.


ShopRite, Barilla and other brands offer whole wheat or whole grain pasta in boxes that are about 13 to 14 ounces. Dreamfields Pasta boxes also hold less than 16 ounces.


Even on sale, they are not a good buy.


Last week, Jerry's Gourmet in Englewood had 100% whole wheat capellini from Italy in a 16-ounce package for $1.49. Trader Joe's sells a 16-ounce package of organic 100% whole wheat spaghetti for $1.39.


Coupon madness


The ShopRite in Hackensack today refused to honor a Progresso Soup Super Coupon from its sales flier that said "10 for $10.88" unless I bought the full number of cans.


Nowhere on the flier or coupon does it say "Must Buy 10" to get the price of about $1.09 per can compared to the Can Can Sale price of $1.25.


I left a message at Bergen County Weights and Measures in Hackensack.

What the media don't tell you about Costco

Image via Wikipedia

The poor economy has been generating media stories about Costco Wholesale and other warehouse stores, where shoppers can save a lot of money on electronics, food, toilet paper and a wide variety of other essentials.


"Bargain Bonanza!" declared the July/ August 2011 cover of AARP The Magazine. "Save up to $1,000 a year on groceries, gas, meds and more."   


But when you turn to the story on Page 26, AARP's focus shifts to how warehouse shopping clubs can "drain your wallet."


"Then there's the so-called Costco effect," the story reports on Page 28, "familiar to every warehouse clubber who pulls up for a few essentials and drives home with a new flat-screen TV and enough prime rib for a football team."


Does AARP The Magazine really expect readers to believe shoppers make such purchases on impulse? Are we mere robots or under the influence of an all-powerful shopping elixir?


I've been a Costco Wholesale member since 1996, and in January 2005, I researched and wrote a story for a daily newspaper about all the great food available at the Hackensack store. The food offerings have only gotten better.


I would never make a major purchase there unless I needed it. And when I was eating meat, Costco's prime beef was never on my list, because it is raised conventionally with antibiotics and growth hormones.


The AARP story mentions Costco and Sam's Club "do not accept manufacturers' coupons," but doesn't tell readers that Costco sends members its own discount coupons every three weeks or so.


AARP readers also are told that if they spend more than $2,500 a year, "consider springing for a more expensive membership level -- you'll get money back in perks such as 2 percent rewards program offered at Costco and BJ's."


However, the story fails to mention the no-fee credit card from Costco and American Express available with a basic membership ($50, going up to $55 on Nov. 1) gives you a cash rebate of 1% on all purchases, including Costco, plus 3% back on gasoline, and 2% back on restaurants and travel.

Image via Wikipedia

Costco's 18-inch baked pizzas are only $9.95.

I've also seen stories about Costco recently on CBS 2 News. The reporters interviewed customers pushing shopping carts piled high with goods, but didn't seem to take the time to walk through the store and see the high quality of the food and the low prices.


And the TV reporters never mentioned Costco shoppers' cash rebates more than cover the annual membership fee.


The AARP story claims "product turnover is so fast that selection varies from week to week, which can be irksome if you're devoted to certain brands."


That's nonsense, and certainly doesn't apply to the Hackensack Costco, where I've been buying the same brands for years, including Earthbound Farm Organic Spring Mix ($3.99 a pound in 2005 and $4.99 a pound now -- at least $2 cheaper than most supermarkets).


Kirkland Signature, the Costco brand, has introduced many products that are as good as national, regional or store brands and cheaper, such as three 32-ounce bottles of Marinara sauce at $2.09 each.


And like the pasta sauce, many food items come in quantities that are manageable for a couple or small family.


Examples are four half-gallons of Tropicana orange juice, two dozen Eggland's Best Eggs, 2 pounds of Jarlsberg sliced reduced-fat Swiss cheese and three half-gallons of Kirkland Signature organic low-fat milk.


I do agree with one suggestion in the AARP story: "Don't swear off your local supermarket."


Starting Sunday, ShopRite supermarkets in northern New Jersey will be selling 59-ounce plastic containers of Tropicana for $1.88 each, a better buy per ounce than the four 64-ounce containers from Costco.


Also, Eggland's Best large white eggs will be $1.87 a dozen -- 12 cents cheaper than at Costco.


But Costco is closer to my home than the ShopRite in Hackensack. And the ShopRite often can't match Costco's quality, with the exception of Nature's Reserve free-range, grass-fed beef from Australia.


Costco doesn't sell Australian beef, but it does offer naturally raised lamb from Down Under at its usually low prices.


Still, you won't find free samples at ShopRite, such as the 7-cheese tortellini I sampled the other day at Costco, along with broccoli kugel, lobster spread and Greek yogurt with fruit.