Wednesday Flier Highlights and Soft Pretzels

Hello again,

Yesterday just for fun I made a batch of soft pretzels. Whenever I make them I remember how easy they are and then I wonder why I don't make them more often. A bit time-consuming but nothing difficult. I used this recipe, http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/pretzels-recipe/index.html, but I modified it. I needed more flour than it called for, and I added the boiling step (most pretzel recipes call for it, and it helps the crust taste more pretzel-like, less like French bread.)

Make the dough, and rest it for an hour. Cut off equal pieces and shape by making a snake then twisting the legs twice and pressing the toes on. Let rise another twenty minutes (seen here).

Boil them for a minute in a baking soda bath.

Drain on a kitchen cloth (not terry cloth).

Brush with honey butter (shown here) or egg wash. Sprinkle with kosher salt. 

Hot and fresh! Good with mustard or more honey butter.

I have the Publix and Winn Dixie flier. Via Foods is out of fliers today, but I'll check back with them and report their sales. They've been consistently low on many meats. We called a friend who owns a BBQ restaurant last week, because we knew he'd know the cheapest price in town on pork shoulder (Boston butt), and he said he's been getting his at Via Foods. We went to Wal-mart with the Via Foods flier and bought pork shoulders from them at the Via Foods price, .98 lb.

Publix has asparagus for $2.49 lb., green grapes .99 lb., pears .99 lb., and their summer vegetables are once again $1.29 lb. They have a lot of buy-one-get-one-frees (bogofs): tuna, chicken broth, canned tomatoes, fruit cups, canned fruit, canned vegetables, juice, snack crackers, granola, Hebrew Nat'l hot dogs, mac & cheese, kraft mayo, pasta, juice boxes, brownie mix, V8 fusion, granola bars, oats, peanut butter, Bull's-eye BBQ sauce, Ken's dressings, Fuze, Orville's popcorn, Thomas' bagels, Arnold bread, Eclipse gum, Doritos, EB organic baby food, Klondikes, "All" brand soap, 9 Lives dry, and more. And on Saturday and Sunday only, their Kellogg's cereals are all 50% off.

Winn Dixie has a bunch of bogofs as usual, too. It's one of the ways they compete with Wal-mart, because Wal-mart doesn't honor bogofs, they just match the lowest price of area grocery stores. WD's bogofs: strawberries and blackberries, mac & cheese, Sargento cheese, Dole salads, Little Sizzlers, center cut pork chops, boneless chicken breasts, country style ribs, Luzianne tea bags, WD spices and extracts, canned tomatoes, yellow rice, various Cover Girl, taco shells, Stonyfield yogurt, Hefty trash bags, PF bread, olive oil, PF cakes,  Blue Bunny and Starbucks ice cream, Juicy Juice boxes, and more. If you buy three of their General Mills cereals, you'll get a bag of Folger's coffee, a gallon of milk, a bag of powdered donuts, and a dozen eggs free. A 4 lb. bag of sugar is $1.48, and that's a stock-up price. Whole beef brisket is $3.49 lb. Pears are .99 lb.

Save-a-Lot has chicken thighs, .88 lb.

If you want to make meals out of the items on sale this week, here are a few ideas:

To use the bogof boneless chicken (WD) and pasta bogof (Publix) and vegetables (Publix):
Chicken Scallopini (For a good recipe, http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/03/chicken-scallopine/ )
Chicken Primavera with Parmesan Pasta (http://www.publix.com/aprons/meals/AllRecipes/SimpleMeal.do?mealId=2369&mealGroupId=1000 )

To use Publix tuna bogof and pasta bogof:
Tuna Noodle Casserole (http://pinchmysalt.com/2008/09/19/serious-comfort-tuna-noodle-casserole-recipe/)

To use thighs from Save-a-Lot, bogof chicken broth from Publix, and bogof rice from WD:
Chicken and Rice (Arroz con Pollo)

To use bogof pork chops from WD:
Smothered Pork Chops (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/smothered-pork-chops-recipe/index.html) . You might serve rice (WD) and vegetables from Publix.

To use the bogof peanut butter and bogof oatmeal (both Publix), how about some Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins? http://bakingbites.com/2009/03/banana-peanut-butter-oatmeal-muffins/

To use eggs and Winn Dixie's Little Sizzler's bogof, how about a big frittata--Italian oven omelet--with sausage links arranged as spokes? Here's a recipe that uses potatoes and Italian sausage, but you can substitute the ones on sale. http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art37214.asp

If you do any extra holiday cooking, it might be a good time to stock up on WD's spices and extracts (bogof).
Thanks for reading!