As a Couponer, 5 Things I Wish Were Kosher

Most of the time, I don’t even pay attention to the amazing deals on products that I know aren’t kosher. It’s like why torture myself, you know?

But every now and again, I see brisket on sale for $1.99 a pound — $1.99 people!!!! — and I kinda sorta want to cry.  Beyond the obvious insanely inexpensive beef and chicken (oh, but for the $.99/lb ground beef), here are five other things I so wish were kosher because they are always free-after-coupon!

1. Rotel – You know, that canned tomato stuff people use to make nachos or salsa. The Pioneer Woman is constantly using it in her recipes. This stuff is free-after-coupon every week, it seems!

2. Campbell’s Cream of ___ Soups – Once the temperatures start to drop, the deals seem to heat up on Campbell’s soups. I’ve noticed them free or just a few pennies at several stores this fall already. Of course, most of them probably have MSG in them, so maybe it’s better I can’t get them.

3. Gum – CVS and Walgreens often have gum for free after coupons and ECBs. But even if you pay retail, the difference in price between the kosher Elite and the non-kosher Trident is night and day. The really frustrating thing is that Trident is kosher in Israel. Why is that???

4. Pillsbury Freezer Rolls – Like the ones that pop up into muffins or cinnamon rolls. I’ve even seen these as money-makers a few times in the last year! If they were pareve, that would be even better – I bet you could use this stuff instead of puffed pastry to make deli roll. Oh well.

5. Dannon yogurts – Darn that “naked” K. I guess I shouldn’t complain, because I’ve gotten some great deals on Stonyfield yogurt this year (which is even organic!), but it just seems that Dannon goes on sale every other week!

Manufacturers: Are you listening? There’s at least one kosher-keeping couponer out there who’d really like you to see about becoming kosher and getting a hechsher, okay?

Am I the only one who suffers from wish-it-was-kosheritis? Whether its for taste, price or some other reason, entirely, what products do you wish were kosher?

Comments

  1. Okay, this won’t help with couponing, but my grocery store has a generic version of Rotel’s — with hashgacha. It’s a must for my chicken tortilla soup (which is a time-saver and money-saver, as well as an entire meal in itself).

  2. Caroline – which grocery store?

    And can you share the recipe?

    Thanks!

    BTW, Mara – Pillsbury has a new line of OU-D buttermilk rolls-type-thingy’s! They are in the freezer aisle and I have seem coupons for them.

  3. I agree with all of your list except gum but that is only because i don’t chew gum. I would love to eat those yummy looking Pillsbury freezer breads! I am a bread girl. I wish Gogurt was kosher because there are alway coupons for them but never for the kosher tube yogurt.

  4. Regular Dannon yogurt IS kosher, or at least it is in New Jersey. One of my children lives on Dannon coffee yogurt. It goes in his lunch, and he usually eats on first thing in the morning. When he was younger, we even had a verb for giving him yogurt before bed so that he wouldn’t wake up hungry in the middle of the night. “Hey, Dan, did you yogurt the baby yet?”

    • All the flavors / varieties? I so hope this is the case here! For some reason, I recall hearing it was just the plain flavor in the big tub. And I want those cool flavors for my kiddos lunches.

      Love “did you yogurt the baby”!

  5. Mara, not to brag, but the publix brand cream of mushroom soups are kosher! OU, even! we don’t use them often, but its nice when a recipe calls for it.

    I do long for the prices of meat in the supermarket. so jealous!

    I just started making my own yogurt. so much cheaper than buying! I got the how-to from ‘the frugal girl.’ I was a little scared to do it at first, but it was really easy. REALLY!

    • Good to know it’s doable. I’ve toyed with the idea, but haven’t taken that plunge. Did you get a contraption? Or do you just do it in a pot? That line between convenience and frugality is one I struggle with.

      • I do not have a yogurt maker. I followed her technique which involves heating milk on the stove to about 180 then cooling it (in the same pot) in a sink full of cool water, stirring in a container of yogurt and then pouring it into jars that sit in a cooler full of hot water for 3 hours. all you need is a cooler, a thermometer, and some jars. hands-on time could not have been more than 15 or 20 minutes during the ENTIRE process.

        it was not a struggle at all. I didn’t have to buy anything to make it work.

        and it could not have been more delicious
        here is the link to the recipe. I used a container of stonyfield as the starter.http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2009/10/how-to-make-homemade-yogurt-2/

        you should totally do it.

  6. I long for kosher fresh mozzarella cheese. Every time I am in Costco I check just to see if it has changed. I also eye the blue cheese.

  7. Chicken Tortilla Soup
    1 chopped onion
    1/2 chopped green pepper
    1 16oz can chili beans
    1/2 bag frozen corn (or 1 15 oz can whole kernel)
    1 8oz can tomato sauce
    1 box chicken broth
    1 can Rotel’s diced tomatoes and green chilis (FYI: this brand is not kosher, but the grocery store brand (Jewel/SuperValu/Albertson’s) that’s right next to it on the shelf IS kosher. Can’t remember the exact hechsher right now.)

    1 pkg taco seasoning
    3 frozen chicken breasts (frozen! best part!)

    Mix all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on low for 4-5 hours (or longer). Chop or shred chicken. Cook on low for another 1-2 hours (longer=better).

    The original recipe that I used also calls for 1 16oz can black beans, an additional can of Rotel’s and 4-5 total chicken breasts. Our latest batch probably could have used a bit more chicken. You can also substitute some beer for the chicken broth.

    the tortilla part — I serve with corn chips that can be broken up and put into the bowl. Also, I dice a couple avocados for people to add to their bowls… it cools the soup both in temperature and in spiciness.

    one last thing — the way i serve this, it’s a full meal for 6ish people or more. seriously. no other food. not even dessert. it’s soooo filling. Yum. Yum. Yum.

    • I can’t wait to try this!!!

    • This looks wonderful! I just picked up some crushed tomatoes with chilis – the Red Gold brand – which are what I use to sub for Rotel. I am so making this!! And I love that we’re sharing recipe spontaneously. Gosh, I have the best readers <3.

  8. also regarding chicken tortilla soup — it’s an awesome last-minute shabbat dinner, especially on a cold winter night!

  9. I guess i am kind of spoiled living in NJ, but a lot of Shop Rite generic stuff as well as Wegman’s is kosher. So getting cream of mushroom or cream of celery kosher is realtively easy. Also we have access to kosher cheese products such as fresh mozzerala and blue cheeses. That said i too long for Pillsbury and lower meat prices. As a side note, Soby’s (SP?) which is the Canadian supermatket chain does have kosher biscuits/cinnamon buns/crescent rolls and i try and get those when i can.

    • Yeah, truth be told, the Walmrt brand of cream of mushroom soup is OU as well. But it’s got MSG. And it’s not free after coupon 🙁

      Those Pillsbury things — mmmmmm — how hard can it be to make that plant kosher? Come on, Pillsbury!

  10. Trader Joe’s carries fresh, kosher marinated mozzarella logs. I think they’re actually OU-D, but don’t quote me on that.
    Unfortunately, I think most of the stuff I wish was kosher (and neither my husband or I grew up keeping kosher) is the stuff that, no matter how much you slice and dice it, isn’t kosher. That being said, I wish Pop-Tarts or some generic equivalent were kosher, although those kind of things are expensive, and I probably shouldn’t buy them anyway. Also, cheese. All those tasty looking spreadable cheeses…yum! Although I live in Philadelphia, so I really shouldn’t complain too much since the supermarket I shop at does have a pretty good selection (I can get feta and brie, although I haven’t actually looked for blue cheese).

    • Jackie – We got those TJs logs before. They have a spicy sort of coating around them, right? Yes, those were delicious. KC friends – don’t forget, TJs is coming soon!!

      Do you belong to a Costco? By us, they have a Costco brand of organic poptarts that is kosher. Can’t remember which hechsher. I think they are a bit healthier than the Pop Tart kind, as there is no sugar on top. But yes, expensive per unit and we therefore got them only once.

      Thanks to the KC Kosher Co-op I can get a lot of specialty products, the problem is I can’t get them free-after-coupon! (Waaaah!)

  11. most Dannon yoghurt has an approved hekscher, at least where I shop. No way to any food called “cream of…..” anything. I always wonder what they’re hiding in that cream anyway. I can see the upside of the freezer rolls, but I imaging I would be 30 lbs heavier if I could wrap warm dough around any food I wanted at the drop of a hat.

    • I thought it was just the plain flavor? Any of the “fancy” ones weren’t okay… if I’m wrong, I’ll be thrilled. This week, Hen House (a Kansas City grocery store) has a great price on Dannon Activa. Would love to get them! Anyone?

  12. dannon activia is not hechshered. but the plain, vanilla, lemon, and coffee are all ou-d around here (kc). most places only have the plain, vanilla, and lemon. they are kosher in the large and small varieties.

    as for the marinated mozzarella…it’s not fresh like squishy fresh, but capiello has braided logs that are sold at price chopper and i just saw them at aldi this week too…but they are no bargain.

  13. Mara- when you get a TJ’s you will be happy. The prices, quality and products are great. I find that I can do my shopping there 3 out of the 4 weeks of each month, and by limiting my purchases to what they have there, I have a healthy menu and consistent spending. Then once a month I have to go to a regular store because we need plastic baggies or something. Yes, the regular stores take coupons, but it hurts me to have to buy any organic milk, butter, ice cream (and soy), nuts, yogurt, frozen veggies, crackers, chips, tortillas, bread, baking supplies including pareve chocolate chips, cleaning supplies, tomato sauce, spices, rice, kosher chicken, ground turkey, or juice at the regular stores. They are simply more expensive and usually filled with crap. The products at TJ’s are usually not filled with crap. You can’t use coupons at TJ’s (or can you? most products aren’t brand names, so its never relevant for me), but the prices are very good.
    [Looking at that list, i’ll admit its my usual weekly shopping list. they also have kosher goat cheese that we like. The fruits and vegetables are good too, and they have a lot of organics that are well priced. I usually buy all my potatoes, tomatoes, apples, broccoli, green beans, salads, and onions there as organics.]
    (They also have kosher refrigerated crescent rolls. A once a year Shavuot treat for us.)

    And please don’t buy any of those “cream of” soups in cans. Even if they don’t have MSG, they’re mainly just oil with a bit of cream or whey added for color. Read the ingredients in order- its a bit scary. Instead, buy some real cream or half n half and pour it into some flour and butter that have cooked for a minute, and you’ll have a much better, healthier sauce. To make it taste like cream of mushroom, pulse some mushrooms and a bit of onion in a food processor and add it to the butter mixture (or a tablespoon of osem mushroom soup mix). Very easy and much much better for you.

  14. I stave this off by reading way too many books like Michael Pollan’s about the artificially low prices of food, especially meat. That $0.99/lb. beef may be cheap, but it “costs” a lot in terms of animal welfare, environmental destruction, and human health. Of course, kosher meat may be no better in terms of those things. But realizing that cheap food is often cheap for a reason, and not such a good one, keeps me from wishing I could take advantage of factory meat especially.

    You know what drives me crazy, though? Stuff that could easily be parve instead of dairy (naturally has no dairy ingredients). Why would I want soy yogurt or ice cream that is ou-dairy?!

    • Totally agree on the ice cream thing! And on the $.99/lb beef. As a former vegetarian, I do often wonder what must have happened to that cow to make his beef so cheap 🙁

Leave a Comment

*