Bargain guide, week beginning July 27th

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has proposed rules for proper labeling of raw meat and poultry containing “added solutions”. Many packers inject poultry with what’s described as “a saltwater broth and binders that enhance its flavor” – but labels aren’t required to say so. So not only are you often paying chicken prices for water, buy you may be getting six times the amount of salt in unprocessed chicken! It may be some time before labels are revised: for now, you can at least keep an eye out for labels that say “enhanced with broth” or anything similar – you could be buying up to 15% water.

At Consumerist I found a link to Center for Science in the Public Interest’s latest, and highly entertaining, list of the most calorically appalling menu items. Included are Cheesecake Factory’s “Farmhouse Cheeseburger” (with “smoked pork belly cheddar” and a FRIED EGG) and Coldstone Creamery’s “PB&C Shake” (which CSPI compares to “drinking two 16-ounce t-bone steaks plus a buttered baked potato”).

(Of course one does not visit Cheesecake Factory primarily for lean-and-healthy items. The last time they tried to institute a lean-and-healthy menu item, it was their” Weight Management Asian Chicken Salad”, which made Consumerist’s list of “7 Restaurant Dishes Too Embarrassing to Order”.)

Tomorrow is National Milk Chocolate Day. This Friday, the 29th, is – as inexplicably as ever – National Cheese Sacrifice Purchase Day. I have never been able to find any reasoning behind this except for speculations that it may have something to do with buying cheese to sacrifice in mouse traps. This Sunday, the 31st, is National Jump For Jelly Beans Day. And now you know why newspeople call this “the silly season.”

July 27th: National Crème Brûlée Day, National Scotch Day
July 28th: National Milk Chocolate Day
July 29th: Cheese Sacrifice Purchase Day, National Lasagna Day
July 30th: National Cheesecake Day
July 31st: National Raspberry Cake Day, National Cotton Candy Day, Jump for Jelly Beans Day
August 1st: National Raspberry Cream Pie Day
August 2nd: National Ice-Cream Sandwich Day
August 3rd: National Watermelon Day, Grab Some Nuts Day



Albertson’s:

85/15 ground beef, $1.99/lb (5 lbs or more)
Beef top sirloin steaks, boneless, family pack, $2.99/lb
Beef bottom round/shoulder/chuck/sirloin tip steaks or roasts, family pk, $2.99/lb
Pork loin back ribs, $2.99/lb
Pork assorted chops, bone in, $2.49/lb
Pork center cut loin chops, bone in, $2.99/lb
Boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders, $1.99/lb
Sanderson Farms drums/thighs/leg quarters, family pack, 88¢/lb
Sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $6.99/lb
Tilapia OR cod OR flounder fillets, farm raised, 1 lb IQF, $7.99, buy 1 get 1 free
Weight Watchers yogurts, 10/$6
American Beauty pasta, 16 oz pkg, 77¢
Herdez salsa (fat free), 16 oz jars, 3/$5
Smart Ones “Classic Favorites” frozen entrées, 5/$10
Cantaloupes, 69¢/lb
Red cherries, $2.99/lb
Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $1.99/lb
Large black plums, $1.49/lb
Blackberries/raspberries/blueberries, 6 oz box, $2.99/lb
Fuji apples, 99¢/lb
Cut up cantaloupe, 20 oz bowl, $2.99
Cut up apples, 14 oz bowl, $2.99
Roma tomatoes, 96¢/lb
Fresh Express bag salads, 2/$5
Earthbound Farms organic box salads, 1 lb, $4.99
Iceberg, 96¢ ea



Bashas’:

Beef round steak, boneless, value pack, $1.87/lb (regular pack $1 higher)
Assorted pork chops, bone in, value pack, $1.67/lb
Center cut pork chops, bone in, value pack, $2.67/lb
Pork tenderloin, $4.99/lb
Sanderson Farms frying chickens, 67¢/lb
Coho salmon fillets, wild caught, $6.99/lb
Dover sole fillets, wild caught, $4.99/lb “weather permitting”
Red trout, $7.99/lb
Bashas’ milk, gallons, $1.59  Best price
Food Club cheeses, 12-16 oz chunk/shreds/snacks, $3.99
Food Club cheeses, 8 oz “deli slices”, 2/$5
Rainier cherries, $2.77/lb  Best price
Red cherries, $2.97/lb
Yellow peaches, 47¢/lb
Red or black plums, 77¢/lb
Nectarines, $1.77/lb
Bananas, 57¢/lb
Vine tomatoes, $1.99/lb
Green bell peppers, 2/$1
Cucumbers, 2/$1
Italian squash, 87¢/lb



Food City:

Beef bottom round steak or roast, boneless, value pack, $2.28/lb
Beef stew meat, boneless, value pack, $2.99/lb
Sirloin cut pork chops, bone in, value pack, $1.69/lb
Chicken thighs or drumsticks, bone in, value pack, 68¢/lb
Swai fillets, $2.99/lb
Chicken of the Sea chunk light tuna, 69¢
Peaches, 4 lbs/96¢
Golden Delicious apples, 2 lbs/98¢
Kiwifruit, 5/99¢
Large tomatoes, 3 lbs/99¢
Iceberg, 2/99¢
 Jicama, 3 lbs/99¢


Fry’s:

93/7 ground beef, $1.98/lb (2 lb chub)
Beef top sirloin OR tri tip steaks, boneless, $4.99/lb
Beef ribeye steaks, boneless, $7.99/lb
Beef sirloin tip steaks, boneless, family pack, $3.69/lb
Half pork loin, boneless, whole in bag, $1.88/lb, cut & wrapped free
Center cut pork chops, bone in, family pack, $3.19/lb
Sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $7.99/lb
General Mills cereals OR Nature Valley cereal bars, 4/$10;
buy 4, get 2 gallons of milk free
Kroger cheeses, 6-8 oz chunk or shreds, $1.99
Kroger canned fruit, 15 oz cans, 88¢
Bumble Bee chunk light tuna, 79¢
Kroger pasta sauce, 26 oz jars, 4/$5
Smart Ones frozen entrées, $1.88
Kroger frozen veggies, 9-12 oz bags, 88¢
Navel oranges, 88¢/lb
Green seedless grapes, 88¢/lb
Red cherries, $2.99/lb
Peaches/plums/nectarines/pluots, $1.98/lb
Tangerines, $1.69/lb
Strawberries, 1 lb box, $1.98
Blackberries OR raspberries, 6 oz box, 2/$5
Blueberries, dry pint, 2/$5
Fresh Selection OR Dole bag salads, 2/$5



Safeway:

80/20 ground beef, value pack, $1.99/lb
Beef top sirloin steaks, “restaurant cut”, boneless, value pack, $2.99/lb
Beef round tip roast, boneless, $2.99/lb
Beef crossrib steaks, boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
Pork loin, boneless, whole in bag, $1.99/lb
Pork top loin chops, boneless, value pack, $2.99/lb
Boneless skinless chicken breast, IQF, $1.99/lb (4 lb bag)
Alaskan cod fillets, wild caught, $3.99/lb
Tilapia OR swai fillets, farm raised, $3.99/lb
Lucerne cheeses,2 lb chunk or shreds, $5.99
Open Nature breads, 1.5 lb loaf, 2/$5
Smart Ones frozen entres, 5/$10
Strawberries, 1 lb box, 77¢  Best price
Yellow peaches, 77¢/lb
Mangoes, 2/$1
Red cherries, $3.99/lb
“Red Lion” nectarines, $1.99/lb
Green or red seedless grapes, organic, $2.49/lb
Broccoli crowns OR cauliflower, 99¢/lb
Vine tomatoes, $1.99/lb
O Organics box salads, 2/$6



Smart & Final:

Beef top sirloin steaks, boneless, $4.99/lb
First Street boneless skinless chicken breast, 4 lb bag IQF, $9.99
Jennie-O ground turkey/links/patties, 14-20 oz pkgs, 2/$5
Bananas, 2 lbs/$1



Sprouts:

“Extra lean” ground beef (fat content not listed), value pack, $2.99/lb
Beef rump roast OR stew meat, boneless, $3.99/lb
Boneless skinless chicken breast, value pack, $1.88/lb
California sea bass, wild caught, $6.99/lb
Alaskan sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $9.99/lb
Blueberries, 4.4 oz box, 77¢/lb
White peaches or nectarines, 88¢/lb
Red or black plums, 88¢/lb
Red mangos, 3/$1
Cantaloupes, 77¢ ea
Red cherries, $2.99/lb
Green or red seedless grapes, $1.99/lb
Strawberries, 1 lb box, $1.99
Blackberries, 6 oz box, $1.99
Organic bananas, 69¢/lb
Seedless watermelon, 3 lbs/$1
Roma tomatoes, 77¢/lb
Red or gold bell peppers, 88¢ ea
Asparagus, $2.99/lb