Bargain guide, week beginning September 19th:

Fooducate touches whether honey is really healthier than sugar (debatable:  honey is denser, so has fewer calories per gram, and does have some antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, but can harbor the Clostridium botulinum bacterium and so shouldn’t be given to babies;  also neither of them is precisely the ideal choice as a weight-loss foodstuff) and lists top fruits and vegetables by water content.  Darya Pino, at Summer Tomato, lists five things to think about before making a possibly-less-than-wise food choice, and provides a perfectly simple roasted delicata squash recipe. 

Yoni Freedhoff, at Weighty Matters, explores exactly what it means to “cheat” on one’s diet, and suggests that brown-bagging your lunch can help with weight management:  “I also have what I call a ‘go-to easy lunch’ which is the lunch I can assemble in less than 30 seconds if I forgot to put one together the night before.  It consists of two slices of whole grain bread, 30-45g {1 to 1.5 oz} of cheese, a tomato, an apple, and an orange.  It’s far from gourmet, but it does the job.”  One of his readers points out that even if a brown-bag lunch is high in calories, you know what you’re eating!

And Beef Products Inc, the makers of “pink slime” – or as they would decidedly prefer it be called, “lean finely textured beef” – are suing pretty much everyone who’s ever called it “pink slime”, including ABC, Diane Sawyer, Jim Avila, the former USDA employee who coined the name “pink slime”, a whistleblowing former employee of their own, and probably me now that I’ve called it “pink slime” too.  (Don’t even bother, BPI, I make no money from this flyer.)

The 20th is National Rum Punch Day, celebrate with caution and don’t forget the PointsPlus count of the alcohol!

September 19th:  National Butterscotch Pudding Day
September 20th:  National Rum Punch Day, International Banana Festival;  1842, Sir James Dewar born, inventor of the Dewar flask (the first Thermos bottle)
September 21st:  National Pecan Cookie Day
September 22nd:  National White Chocolate Day, National Ice-Cream Cone Day, National Hobbit Day (birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins)
September 23rd:  National Chocolate Day;  some sources put National White Chocolate Day on this date
September 24th:  National Cherries Jubilee Day
September 25th:  National Crab Newburg/Newberg Day
September 26th:  National Pancake Day;  1774, John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) born


Albertson’s:

    Beef New York strip steaks, bone in, family pack, $4.88/lb
    Beef crossrib/bottom round steaks or roast, boneless, family pack, $2.88/lb
    Beef petite sirloin steaks, boneless, $8.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    85/15 ground beef, $2.98/lb (3 lbs or more)
    Pork sirloin chops, boneless, $1.98/lb
    Pork country style ribs, bone in, $1.98/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, $2.48/lb
    Sanderson Farms whole chickens OR drums/thighs/leg quarters, bone in, 88¢/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $4.88/lb
    Swordfish steaks, wild caught, $7.98/lb
    Rockfish or Dover sole fillets, wild caught, $5.98/lb
    Tilapia fillets, 1 lb IQF bag, $7.99, buy 1 get 2 free
    Tillamook cheeses, 8 oz chunk/shreds/shingle, 2/$6
    Deli:    Jennie-O oven roasted turkey breast, $4.88/lb
        USA Gold Virginia ham, $4.88/lb
        All Dietz & Watson ham, turkey/chicken breast, cheese, $6.88/lb
        Stella Swiss/Muenster/Provolone/baby Swiss, $5.88/lb
    Albertson’s fruit, 15 oz cans, 88¢
    Essential Everyday beans, 15 oz cans, 88¢
    Prego pasta sauce, 23-24 oz jars, $1.88
    Chicken of the Sea chunk light tuna, 88¢
    Red seedless grapes, 68¢/lb
    “Gattie” peaches, $1.88/lb
    Apple pears, 88¢ ea
    Whole cantaloupes, $1.88 ea
    Vine tomatoes, $1.88/lb
    Bell peppers, red/yellow/orange, 88¢ ea
    Fresh Express bag salads, “Premium Romaine” or “Green & Crisp”, $1.88
    Broccoli crowns OR cauliflower, 88¢/lb
    Radishes OR green onions OR cilantro, 2 bunches/88¢


Bashas’:

    Beef petite sirloin, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef t-bone steaks, value pack, $7.99/lb
    Beef New York strip steaks, boneless, $9.99/lb
    Pork baby back ribs, buy 1 get 1 free
    Center cut pork chops, boneless, $2.99/lb
    Half pork loin, boneless, $2.49/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.67/lb
    Rockfish fillets, $5.99/lb “weather permitting”
    Food Club cheeses, 6-8 oz chunk/shreds/cubes, $1.88
    Bashas’ eggs, AA large, 18 ct, $1.98
    Challenge butter, 2/$5
    Bashas’ cottage cheese, 24 oz tubs, $1.99
    StarKist solid white tuna, $1.69
    Barilla pasta suce, 24 oz jars, $2.69
    Pompeian olive oil (healthy!), $3.69
    Healthy Choice frozen entres, 5/$10
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, 97¢
    Gala apples, snack size, 87¢/lb
    Organic bananas, 69¢/lb
    Vine tomatoes, 87¢/lb
    Asparagus, $1.77/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 87¢ ea
    Green or red bell peppers, 2/$1
    Full Circle organic box salads, $2.99
    Organic romaine hearts, 3 ct, $2.49
Fry’s:

    Beef chuck roast, boneless, family pack, $2.99/lb
    Beef t-bone steaks, family pack, $6.99/lb
    Beef London broil, boneless, $4.49/lb
    80-20 ground beef, $2.79/lb (3 lb chub)
    Pork loin back ribs OR St Louis spareribs, buy 1 get 2 free
    Pork shoulder roast, bone in, whole in bag, $1.89/lb
    Center cut pork chops, bone in, family pack, $2.29/lb
    Kroger boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.67/lb
    All Jennie-O ground turkey, 25% off
    King salmon fillets, wild caught, $9.99/lb
    Kroger cheeses, 6-8 oz chunk or shreds, $1.88
    Land O Lakes butter, $2.79
    Kroger sour cream OR cottage cheese, 16 oz tubs, 4/$5
    Hunt’s tomatoes, 14 oz cans, 99¢
    Del Monte vegetables, 11-15 oz cans, 99¢
    Bush's variety (non-baked) beans, 15-16 oz cans, 99¢
    Quaker chewy-granola bars, 8-10 ct, 3/$5
    Kroger fruit, 15 oz cans, 99¢
    Barilla pasta, 12-16 oz boxes, 99¢
    Green Giant frozen veg, 7-10 oz pkg, 99¢
    Kroger frozen veg, 9-12 oz pkg, 99¢
    Healthy Choice “Baked” frozen entres, 6/$10
    Mini seedless watermelons, $2.99 ea
    Honeydew melons, $2.99 ea
    Bananas, 57¢/lb
    Organic Gala apples, $1.99/lb
    Organic Bartlett pears, $1.49/lb
    Dole OR Fresh Selections bag salads, 2/$3
    Radishes OR green onions, 2 bunches/$1


Safeway:

    Beef chuck steak, boneless, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Beef New York strip steak, bone in, value pack, $7.99/lb
    Beef top sirloin, whole thing in a bag, $2.99/lb and good luck
    Beef crossrib or bottom round steak, thin cut boneless, $3.99/lb
    Beef top sirloin steak, boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
    93/7 ground beef, $3.99/lb
    “Assorted” pork loin chops, bone in, value pack, $1.49/lb
    Center cut pork loin chops, bone in, value pack, $2.49/lb
    Eating Right boneless skinless chicken breast, value pack, $1.99/lb
    Sanderson Farms chicken thighs or drumsticks, bone in, $1.69/lb
    Land O Lakes butter, $3.49
    Safeway variety beans, 15 oz cans, 89¢/lb
    Bush’s baked beans, 28 oz cans, 2/$4
    Bush’s “Grillin'“ beans, 21-22 oz cans, 2/$4
    Ro*tel tomatoes, 99¢
    Healthy Choice frozen entres, 5/$10
    “Pristine” green seedless grapes, 99¢/lb
    Red seedless grapes, $1.99/lb
    Fuji apples, $1.29/lb
    Bartlett pears, $1.29/lb
    Navel oranges, $1.29/lb
    Whole cantaloupes, 2/$4
    Vine tomatoes, AZ grown, $1.69/lb
    Fresh Express bag salads, 99¢
    Sweet corn, white or yellow, 3/$1
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 99¢


Sprouts:

    Beef bottom round steak OR rump roast, boneless, $3.99/lb
    Center cut pork chops or roast, boneless, $2.99/lb
    Pork tenderloin, boneless, $2.88/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.88/lb
    King salmon fillets, wild caught, $9.99/lb “weather permitting”
    Albacore tuna steaks, wild caught, $8.99/lb
    Alaskan cod fillets, wild caught, $6.99/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, 69¢/lb
    Gala apples, 99¢/lb
    Pears:  Bartlett, red, D’Anjou, 88¢/lb
    Navel oranges, 99¢/lb
    Vine tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 99¢