Wren's bargain guide, week beginning October 15th:

Fooducate points to an alternative for those of us who are considering having a violent reaction if we see one more damned “pumpkin spice” flavored product:  pumpkin seeds.  Buy them in bulk, and get the shelled ones (green).  Also Bulgarian yogurt, and PepsiCo's newest soft-drink options:  “Pepsi True” (green cans, sweetened with stevia extract as well as sugar), and “Caleb's Kola”, named for the inventor of Pepsi-Cola and not marketed as a PepsiCo product.

At the Washington Post, lessons from the farmer's market, and an article about milk labeling – specifically about whole milk, which hardly contains the “rivers of cream” we often suspect it of harboring (it's only 3.5% fat).  Grist (h/t Bloomberg) forecasts – due to a drought in Brazil – the worst coffee harvest in decades, which means prices will skyrocket.  Cocoa futures are already up due to Côte d'Ivoire's closing of its border with Guinea and Liberia, and that's all on that subject as I'm sure you're all as tired of hearing or reading about Ebola as I am.

Recipes!  Chow.com has noodle breakfasts, homemade Halloween candy (including DIY candy corn), eleven things you can make from a pumpkin, and a list frankly headed “5 One-Dish Thanksgivings You Don't Have The Guts To Make”.  I assure you I have not the slightest intention of attempting a turkey layer cake frosted with mashed potatoes and topped with sweet potatoes and marshmallows.  Not Eating Out In New York has black beans with two homemade salsas and a poached egg.  At Simply Recipes I find butternut-squash-and-apple soup, honey mustard chicken and homemade applesauce.  From Smitten Kitchen, an autumnal fattoush salad involving delicata squash and Brussels sprouts.  Simple Nourished Living has buffalo chicken bites in phyllo shells, and turkey breast from the slow cooker.  And Snack Girl has pumpkin gingerbread, a non-shredded carrot salad (Sprouts has “rainbow carrots” on sale this week), and a really quite extraordinarily purple PB&J protein smoothie. 

Tomorrow is National Oatmeal Day.  EVERYWHERE ELSE IN THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE it is cool enough for oatmeal. 

October 15th:  National Roast Pheasant Day, National Chicken Cacciatore Day
October 16th:  World Food Day, National Liqueur Day, National Oatmeal Day
October 17th:  National Pasta Day, Four Prunes Day (I'm not going to pretend I have the vaguest idea what that's about)
October 18th:  National Chocolate Cupcake Day
October 19th:  National Seafood Bisque Day
October 20th:  National Brandied Fruit Day
October 21st:  National Candied Apple Day, National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day
October 22nd:  National Nut Day


Albertson's:

    Beef top sirloin steaks, boneless, family pack, $4.77/lb
    Beef chuck, crossrib, eye/bottom round, sirloin tip roasts, boneless, buy 1 get 1
    Beef petite sirloin steaks, boneless, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef ribeye/t-bone/NY strip steaks, bone in, family pack, $8.99/lb
    80/20 ground beef, $2.79/lb (3 lbs or more)
    Assorted pork chops, bone in, family pack, $2.49/lb
    Pork loin chops, center cut boneless, family pack, $3.49/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.77/lb
    Sanderson Farms whole roasting chickens, $1.49/lb
    Keta salmon fillets, wild caught, $4.99/lb
    Mahi mahi fillets, wild caught, $11.99/lb
    Cod or ahi tuna, wild caught, 5 oz portions, $2.99
    Albertson's milk, gallons, $1.97
    Albertson's eggs, AA large, 18 ct, $1.97
    Essential Everyday cheeses, 1 lb chunk or shreds, $4.99/lb
    Deli:    Dietz & Watson black pepper or homestyle turkey OR maple honey ham, $8.99/lb
        Dietz & Watson cheddar or lacy Swiss, $7.99/lb
        Healthy Ones oven roasted or honey turkey, chicken breast, honey ham, $5.99/lb
    Hunt's tomatoes, 14 oz cans, 10/$10
    Hunt's pasta sauces, 24 oz cans, 10/$10
    Ro*tel tomatoes, 10 oz cans, 10/$10
    Bertolli pasta sauces, 14-24 oz jars, 2/$5
    Essential Everyday fruit, 15 oz cans, 4/$5
    Bumble Bee chunk light tuna, 5 oz cans, 10/$10
    Apples, Gala/Fuji/Granny Smith/Red Delicious, 77¢/lb
    Organic HoneyCrisp apples, $4.99/lb
    Seedless grapes, green or red, $1.99/lb (organic $1/lb higher)
    Kiwifruit, 2/$1
    Clementines, 2 lb bag, $4.99
    Whole cantaloupes, 2/$5
    Roma tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Kale, 99¢/bunch
    Earthbound Farms organic box salads, 1 lb, $5


Bashas':

    Beef NY steak, bone in, value pack, $4.97/lb
    Beef top sirloin steaks, value pack, $4.99/lb
    Beef crossrib roast, $5.49/lb
    Ground beef chuck, fat content not listed, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Assorted pork chops, value pack, $1.99/lb
    Center cut pork chops, value pack, $3.49/lb
    Chicken drums/thighs/leg quarters, bone in, 98¢/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $7.99/lb
    True cod fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb “weather permitting”
    Food Club butter, $3.79
    Yoplait conventional yogurts incl. Light, 10/$10
    Food Club cheeses, 10-16 oz chunk/shreds/sticks, $4.49
    Del Monte fruit, 14-15 oz cans, 99¢
    Del Monte tomato sauce, 8 oz cans, 2/$1
    Del Monte pasta sauces, 24 oz cans, 99¢
    Prego pasta sauces, 15-24 oz jars, 2/$4
    Food Club pasta, 13-16 oz pkg, 10/$10
    Chicken of the Sea solid white tuna, 5 oz cans, $1.49
    Chiquita bananas, 39¢/lb
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, $1.77
    Gala/Fuji/Red Delicious apples OR Bartlett pears, 77¢/lb
    Green or red seedless grapes, regular or organic, $1.99/lb
    Winter squashes, acorn/butternut/spaghetti, 88¢/lb
    Vine tomatoes, 2 lbs/$3
    Sweet onions, 99¢/lb


Fry's:

    Beef roasts:  chuck, shoulder, top/eye/bottom round, sirloin tip, boneless, 50% off
    Beef petite sirloin steaks, boneless, $5.99/lb
    80/20 ground beef, $3.49/lb (3 lb chub, $10.47)
    Foster Farms chicken drums or thighs, bone in, OR whole chickens, 88¢/lb
    Keta salmon fillets, wild caught, $4.99/lb
    Fry's milk, gallons, $1.97
    Fry's eggs, AA large, dozens, 2/$3
    Kroger cheeses, 6-8 oz chunk/shreds/shingle, $2.29
    Del Monte fruit, 14-15 oz cans, 4/$5
    Kroger pasta, 12-16 oz pkg, 87¢
    Classico pasta sauces, 8-24 oz jars, $1.79
    Fuji apples, 75¢/lb
    Gala, Granny Smith, Red/Golden Delicious, 99¢/lb
    Bartlett pears, 99¢/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $2.49/lb
    Green bell peppers OR cucumbers, 2/$1
    Hass avocados, 99¢
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, OR iceberg, 99¢
    Broccoli or broccoli crowns, 99¢/lb   
    Vine or slicing tomatoes, $1.99/lb
    Red or yellow bell peppers, 4/$5


Safeway:

    Beef chuck roast, boneless, $5.49/lb
    Beef London broil, boneless, $6.49/lb
    Open Nature beef NY steak, boneless, $9.99/lb
    80/20 ground beef, value pack, $3.99/lb
    Assorted pork chops, bone in, $1.99/lb
    Pork loin chops, bone in, $2.29/lb
    Pork shoulder roast, bone in, whole in bag, $2.49/lb
    Eating Right boneless skinless chicken breast, value pack, $1.99/lb
    Alaskan pollock fillets, wild caught, $3.99/lb
    Alaskan cod fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb
    Pantry Essentials milk, gallons, $1.97
    Lean Cuisine “Simple Favorites”, 5/$10
    Peaches, $1.99/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $2.99/lb
    Bartlett or D'Anjou pears, 99¢/lb
    “Fall Glo” tangerines, $1.99/lb
    Honeycrisp apples, $2.99/lb
    Organic Gala apples, $1.99
    Vine tomatoes, $1.99/lb
    Winter squashes, acorn/butternut/spaghetti, 99¢/lb


Sprouts:

    Beef sirloin tip roast or steak, boneless, $3.99/lb
    Beef ribeye steak, boneless, $12.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, value pack, $3.99/lb
    Assorted pork chops (“2 center and 2 end”), bone in, $2.99/lb
    Pork or chicken sausage, sweet or hot, bulk or link, $3.99/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken thighs, value pack, $1.99/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders, $3.99/lb
    Pacific salmon fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb
    Tilapia fillets, “wild species”, $6.99/lb
    Sprouts cheeses, 8 oz shreds, 2/$6
    Sprouts canned pumpkin, 15 oz cans, 99¢
    Sprouts pumpkin spice salsa, 16 oz jars, 2/$5
    Sprouts pumpkin pasta sauce, 24 oz jars, $2.99
    Sprouts pumpkin spice instant oatmeal, 8 pk, $2.99
    Sprouts pumpkin soup, 17 oz … I can't tell what the hell kind of container this is, 2/$5
    Sprouts frozen veggies, 1 lb bags, 2/$3
    HoneyCrisp apples, 99¢/lb
    Strawberries, 1 lb boxes, 3/$5
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, 2/$3
    Bartlett or Bosc pears, 99¢/lb
    Organic D'Anjou pears, 2 lbs/$3
    Organic Gala or Red Delicious apples, 99¢/lb
    Organic grape tomatoes, dry pint, 2/$5
    Large tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Winter squashes, acorn/butternut/spaghetti/kabocha, 88¢/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 99¢ ea
    Organic heirloom rainbow carrots, 2 lb bag, 2/$3