Bargain guide, week beginning February 1st

At Fooducate, in preparation for The Caloric Event Of The Year coming up this Sunday, they have three recipes for snacks that are tasty, healthy, and (important) easy to make! There's one for “Crispy Chickpeas” (drain and rinse a can of chickpeas, roll them in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a teaspoon of cumin; bake on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes at 400°, stir, bake another 20 minutes. 4 servings, each with a Healthy Oil!), one for a mango-black-bean salsa (link at the blog), and one with the self-explanatory title “Salsamole” (equal parts guacamole and salsa, with a shot of lime juice and a bit of cilantro).

Chow.com has a series of “Dips For Any Chip”: some not quite PointsPlus-friendly (an artichoke dip made with Gruyere), some far better (salsa variants, Greek-yogurt-and-mint, a hummus made of white beans and edamame). Serious Eats has a stack of guacamole variants, ranging from roasted garlic to the improbable bleu-cheese-and-bacon. (I love bleu cheese, I love bacon. In guacamole … no.) And Summer Tomato explores how to break your sugar addiction!

Per Consumerist: beef prices are UP and likely to rise further, due partly to drought in the Plains states, partly to rising corn prices. Ground beef may rise another 4-5% this year. Turkeyburgers, anyone?

This is February. February is Berry Fresh Month, National Cherry Month, National Grapefruit Month, Sweet Potato Month and National Hot Breakfast Month. It's a LOT more things than heart-shaped-red-satin-boxes and the Super Bowl. Lots of healthy things, like Heart Healthy Month and Fiber Focus Month and, this first week of February, Shape Up With Pickles Time (they're tasty, crunchy, and PointsPlus-free).

Friday is Carrot Cake Day. Carrots are zero-Points, so carrot cake must be healthy, right … Right? Well anyway, Saturday is Homemade Soup Day, which can be very healthy. And also Stuffed Mushrooms Day, which depends on what you stuff in them.

February 1st: National Baked Alaska Day; 1960, Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr., and David Richmond sit down at a Woolworth's lunch counter and order coffee
February 2nd: National Heavenly Hash Day; 1880, SS Strathleven arrives in London from Australia with the first successful shipment of frozen mutton
February 3rd: National Carrot Cake Day; 1959, the day the music died
February 4th: National Homemade Soup Day, National Stuffed Mushroom Day; 1930, Frank W. Mars introduces the Snickers bar; 1941, Roy J. Plunkett receives a patent for Teflon
February 5th: National Chocolate Fondue Day, World Nutella Day
February 6th: National Frozen Yogurt Day
February 7th: National Fettuccine Alfredo Day
February 8th: National Molasses Bar Day



Albertson's:

Beef crossrib steak or roast OR London broil,, boneless, family pack, $3.99/lb
93/7 ground beef, $2.79/lb
Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.67/lb
Hormel spiral sliced half ham, bone in, 99¢/lb
Cod fillets, wild caught, $6.99/lb
Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
Deli: All Dietz & Watson sliced-to-order hams, turkey breast, roast beef, cheese, $7.99/lb
Jennie-O oven roasted turkey breast, $4.99/lb
USA Gold Virginia ham, $4.99/lb
Margherita hard/Genoa salami OR pepperoni, $4.99/lb
Stella Swiss/Muenster/Provolone/baby-Swiss cheeses, $5.99/lb
Laughing Cow wedges, $4.79, buy 1 get 1 free
Daisy sour cream, incl. Light, 16 oz tubs, 2/$4
Athenos hummus, 14 oz tub, $6.49, buy 1 get 1 free
El Pinto salsa OR green chile sauce, 16 oz jars, $2.99
Sadie's Salsa, 16 oz jars, $3.99
Classico pasta sauces, 15-24 oz jars, 2/$5
Albertson's fruit, 15 oz cans, 10/$10
Nabisco snack crackers (Triscuits and Wheat Thins), 5-10 oz boxes, $1.99
Dole bananas, 39¢/lb
Texas grapefruit, 69¢/lb
Pink Lady apples, 99¢/lb
Strawberries, 1 lb box, $2.99
Roma tomatoes, 99¢/lb
Broccoli crowns OR cauliflower, 88¢/lb
Hass avocados, 99¢ ea
Red bell peppers, 99¢ ea
Cilantro, 2 bunches/88¢
Fresh Express bag salads, 2/$4



Bashas':

Beef t-bone OR boneless top sirloin steaks, value pack, $4.47/lb
Beef top round roast, $3.99/lb
Beef ground chuck, fat content not listed, value pack, $2.99/lb
Sirloin cut pork chops, boneless, value pack, $1.77/lb
Center cut pork chops or roast, boneless, value pack, $2.99/lb
Sanderson Farms boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.77/lb
Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $4.99/lb
Tilapia fillets, farm raised, $5.99/lb
Clams OR mussels, 2 lb bag, $6
Kraft cheeses, 7-8 oz chunk/shreds/slices, 2/$5
Nabisco crackers (Triscuits & Wheat Thins), $1.99
Ragu pasta sauces, 16-24 oz jars, $1.99
Vlasic pickles, 24 oz jars, 2/$5
Red seedless grapes, 98¢/lb
Navel oranges, 99¢/lb
Blackberries OR blueberries, 6 oz boxes, 2/$6
Peaches OR nectarines, white or yellow, $2.48/lb
Red or black plums, $2.98/lb
Limes, 5/$1
Cilantro, 2 bunches/$1
Roma or slicing tomatoes, 88¢/lb
Asparagus, $1.28/lb
Broccoli OR cauliflower, 99¢/lb
Green or red bell peppers, 88¢ ea
Organic grape tomatoes, 10 oz box, $1.99
Apio Snap Pea veggie tray, 2.5 lbs, $9.99



Food City:

Beef chuck steak or roast, bone in, value pack, $1.99/lb
Beef stew meat, boneless, value pack, $2.49/lb
Sirloin cut pork chops, bone in, $1.79
Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.49
Swai fillets, $2.99/lb
Daisy sour cream incl. Light, 16 oz tub, $1.77
Herdez salsa, 16 oz jars, 2/$3
Kiwifruit, 8/99¢
Roma tomatoes, 4 lbs/96¢
Iceberg, 2/98¢
Red bell peppers, 2/98¢



Fry's:

Whole boneless ribeye, I mean the entire damn thing in a bag, boneless, $4.77/lb (but they will cut it up for free!)
Private Selection beef top sirloin steaks, boneless, $6.77/lb
Beef London broil OR top round roast, boneless, $3.99/lb
Kroger cheeses, 6-8 oz chunk/shreds/slices, 3/$5
Kroger sour cream incl. Light, 16 oz tubs, 3/$4
Pears, D'Anjou or Bosc, 99¢/lb
Cara Cara navel oranges OR Minneola tangelos, 3 lb bags, $2.99
Mandarins, 3 lb bag, $3.99
Strawberries, 1 lb box, $2.99/lb
Dole bananas, 57¢/lb
Private Selection organic bag salads, $2.99
Hass avocados, 99¢ ea
Roma tomatoes, 99¢/lb



Safeway:

Ranchers Reserve beef petite sirloin steaks, boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
Ranchers Reserve beef New York strip steaks, bone in, $4.99/lb
Ranchers Reserve beef ribeye steaks, bone in, $5.99/lb
Beef bottom round roast, boneless, value pack, $2.99/lb
90/10 ground beef, value pack, $2.99/lb
Assorted pork loin chops, bone in, value pack, $2.49
Pork top loin chops, boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
Jennie-O lean ground turkey, 20 oz pkg, $3.99
Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $5.99/lb
Dairy Glen or Pantry Essentials milk, gallons, $1.57
Bumble Bee solid white tuna, 4/$5
Nabisco snack crackers (Wheat Thins, Triscuit – face it, they're dip substrates), buy 1 get 1 free
Classico pasta sauces, 15-24 oz jars, 2/$4
Green or red seedless grapes, $2.49/lb
Kiku or Opal apples OR organic Braeburn apples, $1.99/lb
Vine tomatoes, $2.49/lb
Hass avocados, 2/$1
Green onions OR radishes, 2 bunches/$1
Broccoli crowns, $1.29/lb
Eating Right veggie tray, 54 oz (almost 3.5 lbs), $9.99


Smart & Final:

Foster Farms chicken breast, bone in, family pack, 99¢/lb
First Street cheese cubes, 2.5 lb bag, $7.99
Fuji apples, 3 lb bag, $2.99
Hass avocados, 2/88¢
Roma tomatoes, 39¢/lb


Sprouts:

85/15 ground beef, value pack, $2.99/lb
Beef rump roast or stew meat, boneless, $4.49/lb
Beef ribeye steak, boneless, $9.99/lb
Pork sirloin chops or roast OR ground pork, boneless, $2.99
Boneless skinless chicken breast, value pack, $2.99/lb
Alaskan cod fillets, wild caught, $7.99/lb
Barramundi fillets, $8.99/lb
Navel oranges, 49¢/lb
Apples: Braeburn, Fuji, Gala, 99¢/lb
Organic apples: Braeburn or Cameo, 99¢/lb
Organic Granny Smith apples, 3 lb bag, $3.99
Green or red seedless grapes, $1.99/lb
Whole pineapples, 2/$5
Pears: Bartlett, D'Anjou, Bosc, 99¢/lb
Blueberries, dry pint, 2/$5
Roma tomatoes, 3 lbs/$1
Avocados, 3/$1
Green or red bell peppers, 3/$1
Gold or orange bell peppers, 88¢ ea
Eggplant, 88¢ ea
Asparagus, $1.99/lb
Cucumbers, 49¢ ea
Green onions, radishes, cilantro, 49¢/bunch







Go Patriots!