Review of Ajinomoto Pork and Chicken Gyoza

 

With this on sale until Sunday 9/1, we thought we would try them.  They come 60 to a box.

They then come wrapped in sub-packages.

They do cook up as quickly as described on the package.  My lovely wife made a pretty presentation and kept with the Asian theme by serving them with green peas and mandarin oranges.

We liked these and they are tasty enough and made for a good meal.  But we also definitely enjoy the beef mandu significantly more. The Ling-Ling Potstickers are also somewhat better and even at the current full price are a better value.  

Let me be clear, they were okay, but simply put, other similar products at Costco taste better and/or are a better value so my assumption is we will never buy these again.

New link posted-Cooking the Costco Way Facebook page

 While browsing Facebook for Costco related pages, I found a fine new cooking site.  

Cooking the Costco Way.

I have added it to our list of links.

He seems to be a pretty good cook with a different focus than what we do so I thought he deserved a solid shout out.

Jarlsberg and Gouda Penne with Chicken Sausage.

 Jarlsberg is on sale this week so we wanted to try something cheesy and different than our previous dinners by making a pasta dish. The Sabatino sausages were also on sale for some added punch to the dish.

I grated Jarlsberg and Smoked Gouda (about 2 cups total).

I added a couple tablespoons of corn starch and distributed it to allow the cheese sauce to thicken and to avoid clumping.

In a Dutch oven, I added a cup of Pinot Grigio and started slowly adding the cheese after it came to a simmer. We will admit we bought the wine from Aldi but Costco has plenty of affordable quality wines that we could have used.  

After all the cheese was melted, four sausages were cut up and added. The dish was seasoned with freshly ground nutmeg and black pepper and finished by adding a half pound of cooked penne.

In the end, this was a very satisfying and easy to make dish which we will surely replicate.  The cheeses worked well together with the simple white wine sauce.  Adding the sausage gave some variety and lent a meat portion to the dish.  The cost for six servings was probably less than the cost of one meal at a restaurant and it took about the same if not less time than going to a restaurant or getting delivery.

A good home cooked meal like this is satisfying, tasty and quick.  And shopping at Costco makes it an absolute bargain.

Review of Rana Beef and Short Rib Lasagna on sale at Costco

 Like many people, we love lasagna but it is a dish that takes some time and effort to prepare so something that you can just put in the oven has a lot of appeal.  And it being on sale made it easy to try.

It comes refrigerated, so that definitely makes it a bit more upscale than frozen.

You take it out of the cardboard box and is pretty much ready to go into the oven.

Since it is refrigerated, it only takes 20 minutes to bake and you are all set for dinner!

My lovely wife and I both enjoyed it. It has good texture and flavor. It also had solid portions of meat and cheese- it wasn’t all tomato sauce and noodles.  While not as good as the best homemade or restaurant lasagna, it was tasty and a good value. And at 20 minutes of baking time, it is faster than ordering out.

It also has a really good shelf life so you can stock up.

Go ahead and indulge in some lasagna, it’s easy, quick and affordable.

A Review of Kevin’s Paleo Thai-Style Coconut Chicken at Costco

 

With it being on sale for $3.50 off this month, we definitely thought this was worth a try. It comes in a 32 oz total package with the sauce and the chicken packed separately.

It can be heated up on the stove top or in the microwave which does increase its versatility. In either case, the prep is pretty easy.

The heated chicken and sauce came together quickly and looked tasty and smelled good.

We are big fans of the Lotus Foods Millet and Brown Rice  Ramen Noodles at Costco. The big bag of them is pretty affordable about at Costco and they are more flavorful and and have more fiber than your standard ramen.

Being ramen noodles, they cook up in just a few minutes.

As we expected, the noodles paired very nicely with the chicken and the sauce.

This is not the best coconut chicken you will ever have but it is certainly tasty and a  good value at full price. On sale it is definitely a bargain.  My lovely wife did suggest the next time we get it that we throw in some frozen vegetables, most likely frozen peas. We also might try it with rice.

If you enjoy curries, this an affordable, easy to prep option that will save you lots of time and money over getting takeout.

Summary of Some Food Deals at Costco from 7/31-8/24 2024

 I felt some commentary on this months deals might be useful. I do realize that the numbers are going to be different, but since all food has gone up, Costco is still clearly a leader in value.

This month they have the Frito-Lay Classic Mix 54 pack on sale for $5 off.  I have previously written about the Baked Lays saving you calories and money.  While the Classic Mix pack won't save you calories, it will save you a lot of money over vending machine or the overpriced bags at the store checkout.

Save yourself some money and have some portion control and buy these at Costco!

While not a food item, the Ziploc Variety Pack is also on sale.  While reusable containers are have a lot of advantages, at this price the occasional use of disposable bags makes some sort of financial sense.

The Ocean Spray Craisins are again on sale. Over the years we have done a number of posts about them:

An Apple Compote.

Homemade Trail Mix. 

Pork Loin with Cranberry Relish and Mixed Grain Salad.

Bacon and Tomato Ravioli with a Salad of Romaine, Almonds and Cranberries. 

The Ling Ling Potstickers are again on sale. Here is a review of them we did.

The Columbus Reduced Sodium Sliced Italian Dry Salami is also on sale again.  This is a great product just as a snack, on a charcuterie board, in sandwiches and on pizza. We have done a variety of posts about this lovely product. 

We are thinking about trying the Coconut Chicken and the Lasagna that are on sale. Hopefully we will be reporting back with reviews.

Cinnamon Breadsticks with Glaze

 

It has been a long time but things have happened in my life that I have thought of restarting the blog again. I found this mostly completed post so I thought why not?

Readers of this blog are probably familiar with our enjoyment of pizza and cheesy breadsticks.  It is something that works really well for us.  I make a couple of pizzas using Tyler Florence's very reliable pizza dough recipe and set aside some dough in the refrigerator for breadsticks later.

The cheesy breadsticks do certainly rock but my wife suggested that we branch out into cinnamon breadsticks and I thought that was an awesome idea.

I started out with some dough I set aside in the fridge and rolled it out to about the same thickness I use for   pizza.  I think slathered it with some melted Kerrygold butter.

Then we give it a hearty sprinkle of a mix of 1 part cinnamon/3 parts sugar.  We use the wonderful and affordable Saigon Cinnamon from Costco

My lovely and smart wife suggested instead of slicing and then moving the breadsticks to the cookie sheet that we just slice it on the cookie sheet and pull the pieces apart later.

My wife is a very smart woman and it made the job much easier and made the breadsticks prettier.

These are very tasty, very easy and very affordable. They are great as a treat or for breakfast.  If you like cinnamon these are definitely worth making.

Enjoy!

Rana Gnocchi Skillet Kit Review-A Quick, Tasty and Affordable Side Dish

 

The Rana Gnocchi Skillet Kit is on sale at Costco unit 8/30, so you still have a few days to buy it.  The regular price on it is definitely okay but on sale it is a pretty solid deal for a yummy side dish.  It comes in about a 1 and a half pound bag, it serves six and it is refrigerated.

It is really well organized and packaged.  That certainly helps speed up the prep which takes 10 minutes or less.

You start out by melting the butter and then cooking and browning the gnocchi.

Then you add the cheese sauce, mix and warm the sauce and you are ready to go!  We made a very light supper out of this by serving it with the Normandy Blend Vegetables that we keep in the freezer.

This was a great light supper since we wanted something less heavy that night.  But if you are doing a complete meal of a vegetable, a side dish and a meat this is a fabulous choice for something chicken or pork based. I am thinking we might serve this along with some other side dish options to go with some grilled chicken sausage on Labor Day. 

You could also stir in some cooked Italian sausage or some chicken and turn it in a main course pretty easily.  

So indulge yourself affordably and easily and pick up some of the Rana Gnocchi Kits while they are on sale. After trying it out we bought two more bags of it!  It has a great shelf life of well over a month so you can keep it around for when you need it.

They are not to be passed up.

Be safe and be well.

Summary of Food and Related Items on Sale at Costco From 8/5 to 8/30

 Costco has a number of food, beverage, pet food and related items on sale this month.  Here is a summary:

FoodSaver Multi-Use Food Preservation System $50 off, $99.99 after discount, Limit 5

FoodSaver Vacuum Sealing Combo Pack, $10 off, $29.99 after discount, Limit 5

Snapware Platic Food Storage Set, 38 piece, $4 off, $15.99 after discount, Limit 5

Pyrex Mixing Mixing Bowl Set, 8 piece (4 bowls with matching lids), $3 off, $11.99 after discount, limit 5. This is a favorite of ours. We love them.  They are functional, affordable, attractive and they store easily stacked inside of each other. Aside from mixing, these are also nice serving bowls for casual use.  We also use one of these bowls for making our weekly batch of oatmeal.

Keurig K-Duo Plus Coffee Maker, $40 off, Limit 5

NutriBullet Blender Combo, $20 off, $79.99 after discount, Limit 5

Kirkland Signature K-Cup Pods, 120 count, $5 off, $31.99 after discount, Limit 5

Red Bull Energy Drink, 24 count / 8.4 fl oz, Save $7, Limit 2

Folgers Ground Coffee Classic Roast, 51 oz, $2 off, Limit 5

Sambazon Organi Acai Superfruit Juice, 64 fl oz, Save $3, Limit 3

S. Pellegrino Essenza Sparkling Water Variety Pack, 24 count / 11 fl oz, $4 off, Limit 5

Perrier Sparkling Water, 24 count / 16.9 fl oz, $4.50 off, Limit 5

Perfect Hydration Water, 24 count / 20 fl oz, $4 off, Limit 10

Hint Flavored Water Variety Pack, 15 count  16 fl oz, Limit 5

GoGo SqueeZ Organic Blastz Fruit Pouches Variety Pack, 16 count / 3.9 ox, $3.50 off, Limit 10

Capri Sun 100% Juice Variety Pack, 40 count / 6 fl oz, $4 off, Limit 5

Starbucks Pike Place K-Cup Pods Medium Roast, 72 count, $7 off, $29.99 after discount, Limit 5

Skinny Pop Popcorn, 28 count / 0.65 oz, $4 off, Limit 5

Sensible Portions Sea Salt Garden Veggie Straws, 25 oz, $2 off, Limit 10

Black Forest Organic Gummy Bears, 65 count, $4 off, limit 4

Meiji Hello Panda Chocolate Creme Filled Cookies, 32 count, $2.50 off, Limit 5

Oberto or Pacific Gold Original Beef Jerky, 16 oz, $4.20 off, Limit 4

Edward Marc Coconut Almonds with Dark Chocolate, 32 oz, $3.90 off, Limit 10

WildRoots Trail Mix Coastal Berry, 26 oz, $2.70 off, Limit 10. While we enjoy making our own trail mix this certainly looks like a tasty alternative.

Pepperige Farm Goldfish Crackers, 45 count / 1 oz package, $3 off, Limit 5.  Where I work we bring in treats for our birthday and I brought these in last year. They were very popular.  Now with Covid-19 they make even more sense for a safe and tasty indulgence.

Nature Valley Granola Bars Oats 'N Honey, 49 count, $3.80  off, Limit 10

Kellogg's Rice Krispie Treats Original Flavor, 60 count, $3.50 off, Limit 6.  A few years ago I had to provide refreshments for a training session for Toastmasters and I used these are desert. They worked  well since they were safe for people with food allergies and they are individually packed.

Pure Protein Bar Variety Pack, 21 count, $5 off, Limit 10

Premier 30g Protein Shakes 18 count / 11 fl oz, $7 off, Limit 2 each of four different flavors

RXBAR, 16 count / 1.83 oz, $5.50 off, Limit 4

Frito-Lay Classic Mix Variety Pack, 54 Count, $3.60 off, Limit 5. While these aren't the baked versions that I wrote about some years ago, the cost savings for buying these over the vending machine are real and have only gotten more substantial where I work. And now with Covid-19 they have shut down our break room  so we can only bring in our own snacks.

Kellog Eggo Waffles Homestyle, 72 Count, $3 off, Limit 6.  While we prefer homemade waffles these are definitely convenient for school/workday breakfast.

Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats, 2/35 oz boxes, $3 off, Limit 10.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch, 2/ 24.75 oz boxes, $2.10 off, Limit 5

Chobani Non-Fat Greek Yogurt Variety Pack, 20 count/ 5.3 oz, $4 off, Limit 8

Hellmann's or Best Foods Mayonnaise, 64 fl oz, $2 off, Limit 6

Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, 2 / 40 fl oz bottles, $3 off, Limit 2

Marinara Sauce, White Linen and/or Organic, 2 / 40 oz jars, $3 off, Limit 10

Hillshire Farm Lunch Meat Variety Pack 3 packages / 1 pound each, $4 off, Limit 1

Columbus Antibiotic Free Seasoned Sliced Chicken Breast Nitrate Free, $4 off, Limit 3

Season Skinless & Boneless Sardines in Olive Oil, 6 count / 4.375 oz, $3 off, Limit 10. These are an easy way to add fish to your diet.

Sandwich Brothers Chicken Melts Flatbread Pocket Sandwiches, 15 count, $3 off, Limit 3

Don Lee Farms Organic Chipotle Black Bean Burger, 12 count, Save $5, Limit 3. We have previously enjoyed other brands of black bean burgers at Costco and I have full confidence that these are also a quality product. 

Don Lee Farms Organic Veggie Bites 28 oz, $3 off, Limit 3. I would think these would be good to dip in the Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing that is on sale this month. They are also an easy way to add a healthy fish to your diet. 

CJ Bibigo Steamed Dumplings Chicken and Vegetable, 36 count, $3.50 off, Limit 3.  These come in 6 trays of 6 each along with 6 sauce packs.  They make a great quick and easy lunch. I am very fond of these.

Snapdragon Vietnamese Pho Bowls, 9 count/ 2.1 oz, $3 off, Limit 10.  My lovely wife is particularly fond of these and this will be another item we purchase this month.

Rana Gnocchi Skillet Kit 23.6 oz, $2.50 off, Limit 3. I love gnocchi and I will definitely be buying this and hopefully doing a review before the sale is over.

And for our four legged friends, we have three Costco Canine Cuisine Items:

Jerky Treats Dog Snacks Beef Flavor 60 oz, $5 off, Limit 5

Nylabone Edible Dog Chews Grain Free with Real Bison, 48 count, $5.50 off, Limit 10

Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Adult Dog Food, Chicken & Brown Rice, 38 lbs, $13 off, Limit 10.  

I recommend checking with your local human society or animal rescue to see if they take donations of pet food and other products. It is a great way to help out homeless animals. There are also pet food pantries that help out by providing food to owners that are in financial need. Given the current unemployment rate I would certainly think there are plenty of pet owners that could use a helping hand.

Take care everyone and be safe and be well.

Peppers And Tomatoes Stuffed With Quinoa And Chorizo

I have been intrigued by the idea of stuffed peppers for a long time.  My mother's side of the family immigrated from Eastern Europe two generations ago and stuffed peppers are a favorite in those cultures. I thought the idea of using something hearty and healthy to stuff peppers with sounded like a great idea, but I thought I could put my own spin on it.  I have seen various quinoa stuffed veggies over the years and that seemed like a good start. After some further thought, I decided to use cooked chorizo as the meat in the dish.  Admittedly the sausage makes the dish way less healthy but I do feel less guilty since quinoa rocks as a superfood.  I do have to be honest I made the food more for taste than nutrition but there is at least some nutrition to it with the vegetables, the quinoa and the chia seed.

But that was not the only way I experimented with the dish. While discussing this idea with my wife, she suggested adding a poblano chili to the stuffing and I thought that was an excellent idea. Then, to round out the flavors, we added some chopped onion.  Finally, since my wife is not fond of cooked peppers, we stuffed some tomatoes to suit her tastes. The final dish was as follows:

1 small sweet onion chopped
1 pound chorizo
1 poblano, seeded and chopped
1 cup quinoa, cooked according to directions
About 1 tablespoon of chia seed(Available from Costco)

Peppers and tomatoes, tops cut off and centers cleaned for stuffing

Oven was preheated to 350 degrees.

The chorizo and onion were sauteed together, until the chorizo was cooked through. The chopped poblano was then added and cooked for a few moments. Finally, the cooked quinoa was added, along with chia.  The filling was mixed together and then the vegetables were stuffed.

The stuffed vegetables were placed in the oven and cooked until the tops were browned a bit, about 20 minutes. (Please feel free to cook these to your preference).

Aside from being good eats, I thought the results were attractive:

This was definitely a success and I highly recommend experimenting with stuffed peppers and tomatoes.

A Review of Costco's Beef Bulogi Korean BBQ

As readers of this blog know we like to cook but sometimes we like a tasty meal that is not a lot of work.  Costco's Beef Bulogi Korean Barbecue nails this for us.

It is sold in the deli section in a good family sized portion and as soon as you open it, it looks good!

Before cooking, my wife cut it up a bit and then put it in our red Tramontina skillet we got from Costco.  We have affectionately nicknamed this pan "Big Red" and it gets a lot of use in our house.  It is one of the few items we kept when we upgraded our cookware with that fabulous set of Calphalon from Costco.

After cooking it smells good and looks great.

We served it with brown rice and Costco's Quinoa Salad.  I imagine some people find the two side dishes redundant but the rice and the salad really have very different tastes and texture profiles so there is a lot of good variety in this meal.

This worked really well for us. The beef was a flavorful and quick meat dish, the rice was a nice compliment to eat with the beef and the salad was a tasty, brightly flavored side dish.

The beef bulogi also works well in a beef sandwich so you can leverage into a variety of different meals.

This is has definitely become one of our favorite deli items at Costco and we will definitely buy it again.

Our Best Pizza Ever-Chicken and Artichoke Hearts with Pesto Sauce and Fresh Mozzarella

We have made a lot of pizza at home over the years and with the current pandemic we have been make it about every other week lately.  We do a lot of pepperoni by itself or with a variety of toppings. But we do tend to make two pizzas at a time and we also go for some variety.  We had some chicken in the freezer that I pulled out for the meat on the second pizza.  For a crust, I made our extremely reliable and easy recipe from Tyler Florence.

For a sauce on the pizza we used the Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto.  

Here is the crust with the pesto on it:

I add some Artichoke Hearts from Costco.

After adding the chicken the pizza is starting to look pretty good!

Finally, I add the Belgioioso Fresh Mozzarella and it goes in the oven with its companion pepperoni based pizza.

Bake it until it is golden brown and delicious and you end up with this magnificent pizza.

The pesto sauce gives a very different cheesy, herbal flavor versus the more typical marinara sauce.  Chicken as a meat is a good match for the other major topping of the artichoke hearts.  Finally, the fresh mozzarella completes the profile of brighter, less heavy flavors.

As I said, we tend to make a lot of pizza.  We always have enjoyed what we have made but this one really stands out as the best pizza we have ever made.  And with all the quality ingredients we get from Costco at a great price it is really easy and affordable to make.

I absolutely recommend getting some pesto, cheese and artichoke hearts from Costco and making your own killer pizza like this.

I am really confident you will love it.

Enjoy!

Costco In Warehouse Hot Buys for 6/13 to 6/20

Costco is again running a weeklong Hot Buy Sale.  Below is a summary of food, beverage and cooking related items.

Kerrygold Salted or Unsalted Butter, $4 off, Limit 3.  Here is a link to various posts involving Kerrygold Butter.

Beyond Meat The Beyond Burger, 8/4oz patties, $3 off, Limit 3. While I have not had these burgers yet, we have enjoyed meatless burgers and burgers in general.

Trident Alaska Salmon Burgers, 12 count, $4 off, limit 3

San Pellegrino 24/15.9 fl oz bottles, $4.50 off, Limit 5

Cheetos Crunchy, 28.8 oz bag, $1.50 off, Limit 4

Mini Watermelon, Organic or Conventional, $1 off, Limit 10

Sonoma Creamery Bacon Cheddar Crisps, 10 oz, $2.90 off, No Limit

Kind Bars Nuts and Spices Variety Pack, 20 count, $5 off, Limit 5

Sabatier 10 Piece Cutlery Set with Acacia Wood Block, $15 off, Limit 5

GoGurt, 32/2.25oz, $3.20 off, Limit 10

Mini Chocolate Chip Cookie, 60 count, $1.50 off, No Limit

Raisin Bran Crunch, 2/28.3 oz bags, $2.40 off, Limit 10

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Keurig K-Cup Pods, Hazelnut Flavored, 54 count, $19.99, Limit 5

Review Of Hawaiian Style Chicken by Naples Kitchen On Sale At Costco Until 6/14

We saw this in the monthly sales flyer and I knew we had to try it and we are very glad we did.  It was normally $14.99 but with the coupon it was only $10.49 for the three pound package.

The directions were to warm up the chicken in the oven and the sauce separately in a pan on the stove but I was lazy and ignored the directions and just dumped it all into a 9 by 13 glass baking dish.

I put it in the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees F and it came out like this:

We served it with rice and some of the Normandy Style Vegetables we keep on hand in the freezer.

We really like this chicken.  It had a bit of tang and sweetness, but it was definitely not a Sweet and Sour Chicken.  It definitely had character, flavor and good texture.  Serving it with rice gave something to up soak up every little bit of the yummy sauce and the vegetables on the side made it a complete meal.

 My only comment is that I should have followed directions.  Heating up the sauce separately like the directions said would have made for a better temperature of the chicken and the sauce.  But that is completely my fault-next time I will follow the instructions!

Also, we found that this made six really nice servings with the meal as we served it.  The package says 10 servings but to do that you would probably want more on the side to make it a complete meal.  But even at full price at six servings per package that $2.50 a serving and on sale it is less than $1.80 per serving. You can use this as a foundation of a really nice meal and even with sides still come out at a less than the price of a Whopper Junior meal.



We will definitely buy this again and it gets a full and complete recommendation from me and my wife.