Wren's bargain guide, week beginning July 30th:

Fooducate touches on high-protein chips, Rainier cherries (if you have not tried them do so AT ONCE), and mustard, especially Dijon mustard.  A condiment with zero fats and zero sugars!  Jane Brody at the Well has a basic what-you-need-to-know about probiotics, informative and healthily skeptical.  Also at the Well, a comparison guide to activity trackers although it does not include the ActiveLink, and a video-enhanced guide to what the activity tracker notices and what it ignores, and why.

At AlterNet I find a listing “5 Healthy Foods You Can Easily Overeat”, definitely worth reading not only for its cautions about foods but for some very good tips on estimating portion sizes!  (An ounce of nuts?  An Altoids tin.  Two tablespoons of hummus?  A walnut in a shell.)  And Monica Reinagel investigates the new food-replacement product called, and I really think they should have given this just a bit more consideration, Soylent.

Recipes!  Ruth Reichl has how to cook a perfect piece of salmon.  Chow.com rebuts with salmon kebabs, other shish kebabs, picnic dishes, and toppings for sweet corn.  Smitten Kitchen has a three-ingredient salsa;  Simply Recipes answers with a rather pretty “Confetti Cucumber Salsa” and a zucchini-turkey burger that might overcome my dislike for turkey.  At thekitchn.com I find five tips for making a week's worth of salads on Sunday!  Simple Nourished Living has, as usual, slow-cooker everything – taco fillings, sesame chicken, a berry cobbler – a green smoothie and some thoughts on juicing and Weight Watchers.  And Snack Girl has a six-minute marinara sauce, and an eggplant recipe that doesn't open with “Salt the eggplant, let sit for ½ – 1 ½ hours, rinse off the salt under running water, and then dry the eggplant.”  (As she says, who has time for that?)

Almost August – we're on the home stretch, soon we'll have survived another Arizona summer.  Focus on the fact that it's National Peach Month and National Watermelon Month.  The 3rd is National Watermelon Day.  Also Grab Some Nuts Day.  Changing topics with remarkable suddenness, next Tuesday is National Oyster Day.  I'll never turn down a half-dozen on the half shell, even if eating raw oysters is (in the immortal words of Nanny Ogg) like having a bad cold and no handkerchief.

July 30th:  National Cheesecake Day
July 31st:  National Raspberry Cake Day, National Cotton Candy Day, National Jump For Jelly Beans Day
August 1st:  National Raspberry Ice-Cream Pie Day, IPA (India Pale Ale) Day
August 2nd:  National Ice-Cream Sandwich Day
August 3rd:  National Watermelon Day, Grab Some Nuts Day
August 4th:  National Chocolate Chip Day, National Champagne Day
August 5th:  National Oyster Day
August 6th:  National Root Beer Float Day


Albertson's:

    Beef ribeye/t-bone/New York steaks, bone in, $8.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, $2.99/lb
    Pork loin chops, center cut boneless, $7.99/lb, buy 1 get 2 free
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.67/lb (3 lbs or more)
    Sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $7.99/lb
    Albertson's milk, gallons, $1.88
    Albertson's eggs, AA large, 18 ct, 2/$5
    Essential Everyday butter, 2/$5
    Deli:    Signature rotisserie turkey breast, $5.99/lb
        Dietz & Watson ham, turkey, chicken breast, $6.75/lb
        Dietz & Watson cheeses, $6.75/lb
    Hunt's tomato sauce, 15 oz cans, 88¢
    Hunt's pasta sauces, 24 oz cans, 88¢
    Ro*tel tomatoes, 10 oz cans, 88¢
    S&W variety (non-baked) beans, 15 oz cans, 69¢
    Chicken of the Sea sardines, 79¢
    Red cherries, $2.99/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $1.99/lb (organic, $1/lb higher)
    Yellow peaches, $1.99/lb
    Whole cantaloupes, 2/$5
    Honeydew melon, 49¢/lb
    Bartlett pears, 99¢/lb
    Cut up watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, 24 oz bowls, $3.99 ea or 3/$10
    Sweet corn, 8/$1
    English cucumbers, 99¢ ea
    Summer squashes, zucchini/yellow/grey, 99¢/lb


Bashas':

    Beef t-bone steaks OR tri tip roast, $5.77/lb
    Beef crossrib roast or steak, $4.99/lb
    Beef ribeye or New York steak, boneless, $8.99/lb
    Ground beef chuck, fat content not listed, $2.99/lb
    Center cut pork chops, boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
    Pork roast, boneless, $3.49/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.88/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Dover sole fillets, $5.99/lb “weather permitting”
    Challenge butter, $3.29
    Food Club cheeses, 10-16 oz chunk/shreds/string, $3.99
    Francesco Rinaldi pasta sauces, 23-24 oz jars, 4/$5
    Flav-R-Pac frozen veg, 11-16 oz pkg, 3/$5
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, regular or organic, $1.99/lb
    Red or black plums, yellow peaches or nectarines, 2 lbs/$3
    Blueberries, 6 oz box, 99¢
    Bartlett pears, 77¢/lb
    Sweet corn, 8/96¢
    Vine tomatoes, 87¢/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 99¢


Fry's:

    Beef NY strip steak, bone in, $5.97/lb
    Beef chuck steak or roast, boneless, family pack, $3.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, $3.99/lb (3 lb chub)
    Pork loin back ribs OR St Louis style ribs, buy 1 get 2 free
    Foster Farms boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.99/lb
    Kroger 85/15 ground turkey, 1 lb pkg, $2.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $7.99/lb
    Orange roughy fillets, wild caught, $8.99/lb
    Catfish fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Fry's eggs, AA large, dozens, 99¢
    Kroger cheeses, 12-16 oz chunk or shreds, 2/$7
    Lean Cuisine “Culinary Collection” frozen entrees, 5/$10
    Raspberries, 6 oz box, 87¢
    Yellow peaches or nectarines, 99¢/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $1.99/lb
    Bartlett pears, $1.29/lb
    Sweet corn, 8/99¢
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, OR iceberg OR spinach, 99¢/bunch


Safeway:

    This is a bit confusing:  they have boneless beef top sirloin steaks listed at $4.99 and $5.99/lb, beef New York strip steaks at $5.99 and $7.99/lb.
    Beef chuck roast, boneless, $4.99/lb
    Pork shoulder blade country style ribs, bone in, $1.79/lb
    Whole pork tenderloin, $5.99/lb
    Keta salmon fillets, wild caught, $6.99/lb “weather permitting”
    Norwegian Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $9.99/lb
    Dover sole fillets, wild caught, $7.99/lb
    Tilapia fillets, farm raised, $4.99/lb
    Pantry Essentials milk, gallons, $1.88
    Tillamook cheeses, 8 oz shingle pack, $2.99
    Snyder's pretzels, 12-16 oz bags, 2/$5
    Prego pasta sauces, 14-24 oz jars, $1.49
    Smart Ones frozen entrees, $1.99
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $1.99/lb
    Whole seedless watermelons, $5.99 ea
    Yellow peaches or nectarines, $1.99/lb
    Whole cantaloupes, 2/$5
    Apples:  Envy, Fuji, Gala, $1.99/lb
    Navel oranges, $1.79/lb
    Red cherries, $2.99/lb
    Mangos, 10/$10
    Sweet corn, 4/$1
    Vine tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Hass avocados, 10/$10
    Organic leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, $1.99/bunch
    Hatch chiles, 99¢/lb


Sprouts:

    Beef NY steak, bone in, $6.99/lb
    Beef chuck or crossrib roast, boneless, $5.99/lb
    Beef stew meat OR London broil, $5.49/lb
    Pork sirloin chops or roast, boneless, $2.99/lb
    Pork or chicken bulk sausage, $3.49/lb
    Chicken leg quarters or drumsticks, value pack, 99¢/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Blueberries, 6 oz boxes, 98¢
    Green seedless grapes, 98¢/lb
    Whole cantaloupes, 98¢ ea
    Bartlett pears OR mangos, 2 lbs/$1
    Black plums OR Dapple pluots, 98¢/lb
    Red cherries, $1.98/lb
    Gala/Granny Smith/Red Delicious apples, 98¢/lb
    Apple pears, 2/$1
    Beefsteak tomatoes, 98¢/lb
    Italian or yellow squash, 98¢/lb
    Cucumbers, 2/$1