Bargain guide, week beginning February 8th

Per Fooducate, Wal-Mart is launching a new Front-Of-Pack nutrition labeling system: starting in the Spring, a small assortment of “Great Value” brand products will be decorated with the “Great For You” icon. (The ever-wary Fooducators point out that private-sector initiatives – like this one, or the Food Marketing Institute's “Facts Up Front” scheme, or cereal manufacturers' “Smart Choices” program – could enable food companies to deflect the FDA's efforts to mandate FOP labels based on Institute of Medicine recommendations: “Oh, that's not necessary, Mr/Ms FDA – we already have such labeling!”)

Chow.com has a selection of “Weeknight Dinners that Freeze Well”, including a tasty-looking split-pea-and-veggie soup made in the slow cooker, a fast vegetarian chili, and a vegetable soup recipe that actually includes as an ingredient “2 cups of whatever vegetables you happen to have in the house”.

In the news, UCSF's Robert Lustig quite seriously recommended that sugar should be subject to governmental controls, just as alcohol and tobacco are. (Even Marion Nestle, who strongly advocates food industry regulation, thinks this is going a bit far.)

Valentine's Day is next Tuesday, so this entire week features heavy promotions on anything red or pink, anything heart-shaped, anything with reputed aphrodisiac products, and chocolate.

February is Hot Breakfast Month, and researchers in England have found starting the day with a filling and relatively high-fat meal can boost your metabolism for the rest of the day, so bring on the eggs and sausage. This second week of February is both the Great American Pizza Bake – nutritionally very variable, depending on what you put on your pizza – and National Kraut and Frankfurter Week, which can be very good if you pick the reduced-fat franks. Tomorrow is National Bagels-and-Lox day, and also would be the 103rd birthday of Carmen Miranda, in whose memory eat fruit.

February 8th: National Molasses Bar Day; feast of St. Meingold, patron of bakers
February 9th: Pizza Pie Day, National Bagels and Lox Day; 1894, Hershey's Chocolate Company formed as a subsidiary of Milton H. Hershey's Lancashire Caramel Company; 1909, Carmen Miranda born
February 10th: National Cream Cheese Brownie Day; 1944, birthday of Frances Moore Lappe, author of Diet For a Small Planet
February 11th: National Peppermint Patty Day, Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day; 1963, Julia Child's The French Chef premieres on TV
February 12th: National Plum Pudding Day; 1976, Red Dye No. 2 banned by the FDA, resulting in the 11-year vanishing of red M&Ms although they did not contain this dye
February 13th: National Tortellini Day
February 14th: National Cream Filled Chocolates Day; 1886, California oranges first shipped East by rail
February 15th: International Gumdrop Day



Albertson's:

Beef ribeye steaks, bone in, family pack, $4.77/lb (regular pack, $6.77/lb)
Beef tenderloin steaks, boneless, $12.99/lb
Beef tenderloin, whole thing in a bag, $9.99/lb, cut & wrapped free
Beef top sirloin steaks, boneless, $6.77/lb
Ground beef, 93/7, $3.29/lb
Pork tenderloin, whole in bag, $3.99/lb
Boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.29/LB
Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
Alaskan cod fillets, wild caught, $7.99/lb
Albertson's milk, gallons, $1.57
Yoplait yogurts, 10/$5
Crystal Farms cheeses, 8 oz chunk/shreds/slices, 2/$5
Deli: All Dietz & Watson hams/turkey breast/roast beef/cheeses, $7.99/lb
Jennie-O smoked turkey, $3.99/lb
Eckrich “super lean” ham, $3.99/lb
Sara Lee wide-pan bread, 24 oz loaves, $2.99
Ragu pasta sauces, 16-24 oz bottles, 99¢
Barilla pasta, 12-16 oz boxes, 99¢
Hunt's tomato sauce, 15 oz cans, 79¢
Fresh Aisle olive oil, 16.9 oz bottle, $3.99 (healthy)
Kellogg's Nutri-Grain bars, 8 ct, $2.99
Strawberries, 2 lb box, buy 1 get 1 free
Fuji apples, 3 lb bag, 2/$5
Clementines, 3 lb bag, $4.99
Seedless grapes, green or red, $2.49
Asparagus, $2.99/lb
Vine tomatoes, $1.99/lb
Red bell peppers, 99¢ ea
Fresh Express bag salads, 2/$5
Earthbound Farms organic box salads, 1 lb, $4.99


Bashas':

Beef New York steak, boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
Beef chuck/crossrib/bottom round roasts, boneless, $3.99/lb (steaks $1 higher(
Ground beef chuck, fat content not listed, value pack, $2.49/lb
Center cut pork chops, boneless, value pack, $3.49/lb
Sanderson Farms chicken drums/thighs/leg quarters, 99¢/lb
Steelhead fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
Alaskan salmon fillets, wild caught, $8.99/lb
Tillamook cheeses, 12 oz slices OR 1 lb chunk, $4.99
Nature's Own wide-pan bread, 24 oz loaves, $1.99
Barilla pasta, 12-16 oz boxes, 4/$5
Del Monte pasta sauces, 26 oz cans, 4/$5
Strawberries, 6 oz pkg, 2/$3
Seedless grapes, green or red, from Chile, $1.99/lb
Navel oranges, 99¢/lb
Peaches or nectarines, $2.49/lb
Red or black plums, $2.99/lb
Cucumbers, 3/$1
Roma or slicing tomatoes, 99¢/lb
Green or red bell peppers, 2/$1
Organic grape tomatoes, 10 oz box, $1.99
Earthbound Farms organic mixed baby kale, 5 oz box, $2.99


Food City:

Beef crossrib steaks, $2.27/lb (roast, $2.49/lb
Chicken thighs/drumsticks, bone in, 67¢/lb
Navel oranges, 6 lbs/96¢
Red seedless grapes, 2 lbs/$3
Tomatoes, 4 lbs/96¢
Fry's:

Beef New York strip steaks, bone in, family pack, $4.67/lb
Beef tenderloin, whole in bag, $9.99/lb
Beef t-bone steaks, $7.99/lb
Beef chuck roast, boneless, $3.99/lb
Pork loin chops, boneless, family pack, $3.99/lb
Kroger Value boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.87/lb
Denmark ground chicken, 1 lb pkg, $3.99
Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $5.99/lb
Fry's eggs, AA large, dozens, buy 1 at $1.70, get 1 for 26¢ (the 1912 price)
Fry's milk, half gallons, buy 1 at $1.58, get 1 for 18¢
Kroger butter, buy 1 at $3.49, get 1 for 36¢
Kraft or Sargento cheeses, 5-8 oz chunk or shreds, 2/$6
Kroger cheeses, 12-16 oz chunk or shreds, $2.99
Ro*tel tomatoes, 94¢
Kroger pasta sauces, 26 oz jars, 4/$5
Kroger pasta, 1 lb boxes, 10/$10
Kroger tomatoes, 14 oz cans, 5/$3
Smart Ones frozen entrees, $1.88
Birds Eye frozen veggies, 10-12 oz or 4 ct, 2/$4
C&W frozen veggies, 14-16 oz, 2/$4
Ambrosia apples, 99¢/lb
Cara Cara navel oranges OR Minneola tangelos, 3 lb bags, $2.99
Conventional navel oranges, 99¢/lb
D'Anjou or Bosc pears, 99¢/lb
Kiwifruit, 3/99¢
Asparagus, $1/lb
Dole or Fresh Selections bag salads, 2/$5
Nature Sweet “Cherub” tomatoes, 10 oz box, 2/$5


Safeway:

Beef top sirloin, entire chunk of cow in a bag, $2.99, good luck
Beef top sirloin steaks, boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
Beef tenderloin, boneless, whole in bag, $8.99/lb
Beef New York strip steak, boneless, $4.99/lb
Beef ribeye steak, boneless, $4.99/lb
Beef chuck pot roast, boneless, $2.99/lb
Pork loin, boneless, whole in bag, $1.99/lb
Pork shoulder blade roast, boneless, whole in bag, $1.87/lb
Pork top loin chops, boneless, $2.99/lb
Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $7.99/lb
Swai fillets, farm raised, $3.99/lb
Dover sole fillets, wild caught, $7.99/lb “weather permitting”
Lucerne “Natural Slices” cheeses, 8 oz, 2/$6
Lucerne cheeses, 2 lb chunk or shreds, $6.99
Strawberries, 1 lb box, 2/$6
Blackberries or blueberries, small box, 2/$6
Gala/Fuji/Granny Smith apples, standard or organic, $1.49/lb
Whole pineapples, $2.99
Asparagus, 97¢/lb
Tomatoes, $1.69/lb
Red/gold/orange bell peppers, 2/$3
Safeway Farms or Fresh Express bag salads, 2/$4


Smart & Final:

Beef top sirloin steak, boneless, $3.49/lb
First Street boneless skinless chicken breast, value pack, $1.97/lb
First Street cheeses, 1 lb chunk, $2.99
Lean Cuisine frozen entreees, $1.99
Navel oranges, 5 lbs/$1


Sprouts:

Beef ribeye steak, boneless, $5.99/lb
5 oz lobster tails, wild caught, $5.99 ea
Strawberries, 1 lb box, 2/$3
Green or red seedless grapes, $1.99/lb
D'Anjou or Bosc pears, 99¢/lb
Cuties tangerines, 5 lb box, $4.99
Apples: Ambrosia, Fuji, Pink Lady, 99¢/lb
Organic apples: Cameo, Red Delicious, 99¢/lb
Navel oranges, 2 lbs/$1
Organic Valencia oranges, 4 lb bag, $2.99
Organic D'Anjou pears, 99¢/lb
Organic kiwifruit, 1 lb bag, $1.99
Tomatoes, 88¢/lb
Eggplant, 99¢ ea
Asparagus, 97¢/lb
Grape tomatoes, dry pint, 4/$5
Broccoli crowns, 99¢/lb
Orange or yellow bell peppers, 99¢ ea
Green or red bell peppers, 3/$1
Cucumbers, 3/$1
Avocados, 88¢ ea
Organic Romaine hearts, 3 pk, $1.99
Organic leaf lettuce, green or red, $1.29 ea