Fish on Sale! What's the Catch?

I found a great deal on both Tilapia ($4.99) and Salmon ($3.99) at Kroger today! This time I stopped at the smaller Kroger on US 36 because I was in a bit of a rush and it was getting late (I was praying the meat counter stayed open until 9 PM...it was 8:52). Of course, the seafood had already been pulled from the display case so I thought I'd check out the pre-packaged items. I try and get my seafood from the meat guy -- I like being able to order just the right size for the meal I am making -- but I wasn't going to make my third trip to Kroger this week if I didn't have too -- and low and behold, I found better-than-advertised pricing on Salmon AND the Tilapia I needed.

Of course, there is a catch. There is always a catch. I would have to buy in bulk... These packages looked like they would serve an army -- or at least a family of 8. Seriously!^LOOK^ I checked out with my treasure, knowing that to get the 3.99 lb price I would have to stay focused and zip lock and freeze portions of two for Jordan and I the minute I got home. If I didn't it would sit in the fridge until I finally found time to cook this week, and by then it may not be fresh. I started with the Tilapia: 6 nice fillets, two in each zip lock. And, then on to the Salmon.And, I wasn't done just yet -- the Salmon had a surprise in store.... BONES! Luckily, I have dealt with de-boning Salmon a time or two --

Step 1: Dig through your tool box, closet, drawer, etc until you find a small pair of pliers with out those little grippy teeth. I prefer the kind that come in a computer repair kit -- but I couldn't find mine.

Step 2: Sanitize the tool (hot water and soap, or you could just use them as they are ... who knows where they have been)

Step 3: Run your fingers along the salmon ... WAIT - Wash your hands - you just dug around in a tool box... and then run your fingers along the salmon against the 'grain' of the bones -- AKA poke your self in the finger until you feel where they are.

Step 4: Grasp the bone firmly with the pliers (NOTE: Do not use wire cutters for this) and pull evenly and firmly with the 'grain' sliding the bone out like a splinter.

Step 5: Repeat step 3 and 4 until you are sure there are no bones, or you are so sick of pulling them that you no longer care if you or your husband choke on one.

Step 6: Cut fillets into portions for two, and place in zip lock freezer bags. Be careful to get as much air out as possible when sealing. (I like to seal the bag, all but and inch, and press the air out)

I ended up with 4 bags of Salmon (one a bit larger incase we have company) and 3 bags of Tilapia … all for under $25 dollars - and it is portioned and ready to go after about 15 minutes of searching for pliers and 5 minutes of pulling bones. ;)

Redbox and Salsa ...

Tonight, Jordan and I went on a mission to find the Sunday paper. We were just going to run to Marsh (which is about a half mile away)....an hour & a half later we returned with a red box movie and salsa from the new Kroger in Speedway.

Marsh had the Indy Star, but I had to dig a bit through a stack with copies of Thursday's edition and Saturday's "Sunday Early Edition" to find the real Sunday edition, which surprisingly had zero grocery ads (I later found out they were in the Thursday edition - can you say newly wed.) I snagged one of the Marsh ads from a pile near the door - and Unfortunately, I quickly noticed nothing I needed this week was on special... so off to Kroger we went to check out the seafood selection and their ad for this week. (Our real mission was to spend some time in air conditioning I made pizza tonight --http://tiny.cc/pizzayum & we really needed a break from our the heat in our house).

Kroger was completely re-vamped recently (the third I can remember) and it is now the second largest Kroger store in the state (second only to the one in Bloomington, as Jordan was quick to point out). It was about 10pm and of course the meat counter was closed (they have a fantastic seafood collection) so, we walked around and checked out the beer selection and the international aisle to find that they carry KOSHER foods!! I have spent a good 5 years asking grocery managers to order matzo meal special. NO MORE! They had a good selection of potato pancake mix, matzo's and matzo ball mix *(although they don't carry the large container, just the packets) -- my favorite part was the economy size container of chicken consummate which I haven't seen since my Grandmother was alive and cooking. If it wasn't so darn hot I might make some soup right now --

I will return tomorrow for some of the Salmon (on sale for 6.99 lb) and Tilapia fillets (4.99) Jordan mentioned trying a Pecan Crusted Tilapia -- anyone have a good recipe? Cooks Illustrated doesn't have anything on Tilapia :)