Bargain guide, week beginning January 4th

To all our new and returning members: welcome! And a brief but important disclaimer: what you are reading is my hobby. I go through each week's supermarket sale flyers and type up what strikes me as being healthy, having a low PointsPlus count, or anything otherwise useful. Not every sale item or promoted item is in here: to the extent I can, I emphasize the “edges of the store”, the less processed items. The point in this case being that this blog, and the handout I give out at the meetings, are not in any way, shape, form or fashion official Weight Watchers publications. Not even remotely. Noop.

That said: Fooducate this week has a list of nine foods to eat in 2012, including sardines (they're cheaper than salmon, do not accumulate mercury in their bodies, and we're not going to run out anytime soon), nuts rather than salted-nut-mix, and homemade granola. They've also got a list of common drinks and their caffeine content – I was startled to learn that my morningly cup of tea has more caffeine than my can of Mountain Dew – and a head-to-head combat comparison between Hamburger Helper and Velveeta Cheesy Skillets. News flash: neither of them is precisely what could be called a nutritional bonanza.

Chow.com has dived head-first into the regular January-resolution thing: they've got healthy chicken recipes, healthy homemade energy bars, a selection of “recipes for healthy cooking”, how to roast vegetables, and a terrific visual guide to how much of various fruits or vegetables makes a serving! (32 grapes are one cup. So are four spears of asparagus – not nearly enough for me – or a quarter of a cauliflower.) Darya Pino, at Summer Tomato, has a very useful list of tips for starting an exercise routine and sticking to it. And even Serious Eats, my favorite super-indulgent food blog, has “9 Light and Delicious Ways to Eat Fruit for Dessert”.

And still on the healthy-eating subject: January is National Oatmeal Month, National Prune Breakfast Month, Fiber Focus Month and National Wheat Bread Month. It's also National Soup Swap Month, so swap some good soup with a friend. This Friday is Bean Day – every reference I can find to this is loaded with baked-bean recipes although Bean Day is actually about finding a bean in the cake – and the day after is Fruitcake Toss Day. I do not invent these.

January 4th: National Spaghetti Day
January 5th: National Whipped Cream Day
January 6th: Bean Day, National Shortbread Day
January 7th: National Tempura Day, Fruitcake Toss Day
January 8th: English Toffee Day
January 9th: National Apricot Day
January 10th: National Bittersweet Chocolate Day
January 11th: Hot Toddy Day, National Milk Day



Albertson's:

Arrowhead water, 24 pk of half-liter bottles, $3.99
Aquafina water, 24 pk of half-liter bottles, 2/$7
Beef top sirloin steaks, boneless, family pack, $4.99/lb
Beef chuck/London broil/crossrib/bottom round roasts, boneless, $3.99/lb
93/7 ground beef, $2.99/lb
Assorted pork loin chops, bone in, family pack, $1.77/lb
Pork center loin roast, bone in, $1.99/lb
Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.99/lb
All Sanderson Farms tray pack chicken, buy 1 get 1 free (same item)
Alaskan cod fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb
Swai fillets, farm raised, $3.99/lb
Albertson's eggs, AA large, dozens, $1
Albertson's milk, half gallons only, $1
Albertson's cheeses, 2 lb shreds, $6.99
Deli: Jennie-O “Honey Smoked” or “Oven Brown” turkey breast, $5.99/lb
USA Gold honey or baked ham, $5.99/lb
Stella Provolone, Muenster, or Swiss cheeses, $5.99/lb
Ro*tel tomatoes, 10 oz cans, $1
Chicken of the Sea chunk white tuna, $1
Better Oats instant oatmeal, 5 ct, $1
Birds Eye “Steamfresh” frozen veg, 10-12 oz pkg, $1
Lean Cuisine frozen entrees, 5/$10
Weight Watchers ice cream, single serve cups, $1
Sunkist navel oranges, 3 lb bag, $1
Fuji apples, $1/lb
Texas grapefruit, $1/lb
Cut up pineapple, 20 oz bowl, $3.99
Red/yellow/orange bell peppers, $1
Roma tomatoes, $1/lb
Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, $1 ea



Bashas':

Beef New York steak, boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
Beef crossrib steak, $4.49/lb (roast 50¢/lb higher)
Beef London broil, $4.99/lb
Beef stew meat, $4.49/lb
Pork shoulder steak, value pack, $3.49/lb
Sanderson Farms boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders, $1.77/lb
Atlantic salmon, farm raised, $4.99/lb
Cod fillets, wild caught, $4.99/lb
Chicken of the Sea chunk light tuna, 69¢
Prego pasta sauces, 23-24 oz jars, $1.99
Barilla pasta, 8 oz manicotti/9 oz lasagne/16 oz wavy lasagne, 2/$3
Food Club honey, 12 oz squeeze bottle shaped like a bear, $2.99
Nature's Own bread, $1.99
Food Club oatmeal, 42 oz round box, OR Food Club instant oats, 11-15 oz pkg, $1.99
Food Club cold cereal, 16 oz box, $1.99
Food Club granola bars, $1.99
Lean Cuisine frozen entrees, $1.88
Flav-R-Pack frozen veggies, 16 oz bags, 3/$5
Fuji apples, 99¢/lb
Bosc pears, 99¢/lb
Organic Gala apples, $1.59/lb
Minneola tangelos, 99¢/lb
Navel oranges, 99¢/lb
“Cuties” clementines, 3 lb bag, $4.99
Red cherries, $2.47/lb
Whole pineapples, $2.99
Red grapefruit, 79¢/lb
Blueberries, dry pint, $1.97
Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 99¢ ea
Roma tomatoes, 99¢/lb
Vine tomatoes, $1.99/lb
Earthbound Farms mixed baby kales, 5 oz box, $2.99



Food City:

Beef crossrib steaks, boneless, value pack, $2.38/lb (roast 11¢/lb – go figure)
Beef short ribs, boneless, value pack, $2.99/lb
Chicken breast, bone in, 88¢/lb
Bosc pears, 2 lbs/98¢
Roma tomatoes, 3 lbs/99¢
Brown onions, 6 lbs/96¢
Cabbage, 3 lbs/99¢
Italian squash, 2 lbs/98¢



Fry's:

Beef New York strip entire thing, boneless, whole in bag, $4.97/lb, good luck
Angus beef chuck roast, boneless, $4.99/lb
Pork loin chops, boneless, $6.99/lb
Kroger boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.88/lb
Atlantic slamon fillets, $6.99/lb
Kraft or Sargento cheeses, 5-8 oz chunk or shreds, 2/$4
Nature Valley granola bars, 6-12 ct, $2.99
Lean Cuisine frozen entrees, 5/$10
Morningstar Farms frozen entrees, $3.49
Kasha frozen entrees, $2.99
Minneola tangelos, AZ grown, 88¢/lb
Lemons, AZ grown, 3/88¢
Navel oranges, 8 lb bag, $4.99
Bananas, 57¢/lb
Cauliflower, AZ grown, 88¢/lb
Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine/butter, AZ grown, 88¢ ea
Vine tomatoes, AZ grown, $1.98/lb



Safeway:

Refreshe water, 24 pk of half-liter bottles, 3/$10
Beef thin cut crossrib steak, boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
Beef top sirloin steaks, boneless, value pack, $4.99/lb
Beef bottom round roast, boneless, $4.49/lb
Assorted pork loin chops, boneless, value pack, $2.49/lb
Eating Right boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.67/lb
Safeway boneless skinless chicken breast, 4 lb bag, $6.68 ($1.67/lb)
Sanderson Farms boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.99/lb
Alaskan sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $7.99/lb
Dover Sole fillets, wild caught, $7.99/lb “weather permitting”
Dairy Glen or Pantry Essentials milk, gallons, $1.57
Lucerne butter, 2/$5
Lucerne sour cream incl. Light, 24 oz tubs, $1.99
Lucerne cottage cheese incl. Light, 32 oz tub, $3.69
Lucerne yogurts incl. Light, 6 pk of 6 oz cups, $2.59
Yoplait yogurts incl. Light, 10/$6
Kraft cheeses, 6-8 oz shreds or “Natural Slices”, 2/$6
Eating Right “sandwich slenders”, 2/$5
Ro*tel tomatoes, 10/$10
Safeway Select olive oil, 25 oz bottles, $6.99
Lean Cuisine frozen entrees, $1.95
Buy any 5 Gorton's frozen seafood products, save $5!
Amy's “Light & Lean” frozen entrees, 2/$6
Birds Eye OR C&W frozen veg, 11-16 oz bags, buy 2 get 2 free
Skinny Cow ice-cream novelties, 4-6 ct, $4.99
Red cherries, $2.99/lb
“Texas Ruby Red” grapefruit, 79¢ ea
Cara Cara navel oranges, $1.49/lb
Bananas, 57¢/lb
Green or red seedless grapes, $2.99/lb
Jazz apples, $1.49



Smart & Final:

Beef chuck steak or roast, $3.49/lb
Jennie-O ground turkey or turkey sausage, 14-20 oz pkg, 2/$6
First Street cheeses, 2 lb chunk, $4.99
Bananas, 39¢/lb



Sprouts:

All vitamins and body care products, 25% off
“Extra lean” ground beef, value pack, $2.99/lb
Atlantic salmon fillets, $4.99/lb
Strawberries, 1 lb box, 4/$5
Blackberries or blueberries, 6 oz boxes, 4/$5
Navel oranges, 49¢/lb
Braeburn or Jonagold apples OR Bartlett or Bosc pears, 88¢/lb
Organic Gala apples, $1.29/lb
Organic Cameo apples, 99¢/lb
Slicing tomatoes, 88¢/lb
Eggplant, 88¢ ea
Grape tomatoes, dry pint, 4/$5 (organic, 2/$5)