There are some stores that people are embarrassed to shop at; Sav-A-Lot is one of them. It’s a discount food store that sells off-name brands and things that are discontinued by companies. I have never seen any expired products or had any problems with anything that I have bought there. Think of it as a Big Lots type of store for food. Every once in a while you come across something that seems too good to be true; Tony’s Pouches is a great example.
They were in the freezer section with the pizza rolls, garlic bread and hamburger patties and I might have missed them if the price didn’t catch my eye. $1.19 for a package of two. I had never had them and wasn’t sure if they were any good but for that price, I couldn’t pass it up. They aren’t like other microwavable pizza pockets, there is no crisper sleeve to place them in but they do turn out perfectly.
Each pocket is individually wrapped in plastic so if you only want to cook one at a time, you don’t have to find some way to keep the other from getting freezer burn. To cook a pouch simply place it on a microwave safe plate and cook it for two minutes. This isn’t an exact science, you many need to adjust the time depending on the power of your microwave. You do need to let this set for a couple minutes before you eat it though, otherwise it’s blisteringly hot.
You can cook this in a regular oven; set it to 350 degrees and place the pouch or pouches on a cookie sheet. This takes about twenty to twenty five minutes. My normal routine is to microwave it for 90 seconds then pop it in the toaster oven. I like them extremely crispy so I don’t mind waiting an extra five minutes. Even if you go the microwave route, they still come out perfectly cooked and have an incredible taste.
You can get these in five flavors: Pepperoni, Cheeseburger, Cheesy Meatball, Ham & Cheese and Philly Steak & Cheese. I have had all of them except the Cheesy Meatball and have to say that they all exceeded my expectations. The dough used for the crust doesn’t get rock hard but it is firm. The cheese is plentiful and the sauce doesn’t give you heartburn. Each pouch is 4.5 ounces so it’s great for a snack or if you want to make a meal out of it, have a salad or some soup with it.
Nutritionally these aren’t bad; I’ll give you the stats on the Pepperoni as an example. Each pouch contains 120 calories, 13 grams of fat, 43 grams of carbohydrates (4 grams from sugar), 660 mgs of sodium and 13 grams of protein. The carbohydrates are what kill me but if I am only having one of them every couple days, it’s not that bad.
When I went to my grocery store I saw that these were selling for $3.29 a pack; I double checked to make sure they were the same size and that there were no changes to them. They were identical to the ones that I purchased for $1.19. Needless to say, I went back and bought about twenty of them to have in the freezer for snacks, football games and when I’m just too lazy to order a pizza!
