Bargain guide, week beginning October 24th

At Fooducate.com, we're reminded that today is Food Day, “a nationwide celebration and a movement for healthy, affordable, and sustainable food.”  Chow.com has a video on things to do with pressure cookers (they don't explode any more, honest).  Summer Tomato provides a very useful list of “9 Tricks to Make Halloween a Treat”, whether you're celebrating with kids or adults, including “Eat what you want, but not any more than that” and “Have a healthy, satisfying dinner”.  (As Darya points out, “You would be surprised how easy it is to skip the third mini-Snickers if you are not hungry.”)  Andrew Weil cites a study on weight loss among menopausal and post-menopausal women, which I'm going to mention even though I'm surely the only one of those at our meeting, because the study found that “the women who successfully lost weight … the winning strategy was replacing meats and cheeses in the diet with fruits and vegetables.”

Recipes!  Smitten Kitchen provides a “Butternut Squash Salad with Farro and Pepitas”.  Simply Recipes has a stir-fry consisting primarily of celery which might be good if you're into celery qua celery (I'm not).  And Snack Girl has an odd but quite good dip of garbanzo beans and spinach:  it sounds a bit like hummus (“it has a mediterranean hummus thing going on but it is lighter than regular hummus because it doesn’t contain nut butter”) and looks extraordinarily green.

Tomorrow is National Greasy Foods Day, which let us honor in the breach rather than the observance.  (I have not the remotest idea who came up with the idea of a Greasy Foods Day or why.)  The 27th is American Beer Day, not to be confused with National Beer Day which was in September or New Beer's Eve which is in April.  The 28th is Wild Foods Day – don't look at me that way, if you've ever picked a blackberry off a bush you've eaten wild food.  And of course the day before Halloween is Candy Corn Day.  I have the good fortune not to care much for candy corn but if you do your bonus PointsPlus are yours to spend.


October 24th:  National Bologna Day, Feast of Good & Plenty;  1955, the Tappan Stove Company introduces the first microwave oven for home use.  It costs about $1300, which would be roughly $11,000 today
October 25th:  National Greasy Foods Day
October 26th:  National Pumpkin Day, National Pretzel Day, Mincemeat Pie Day
October 27th:  National Potato Day, American Beer Day
October 28th:  National Chocolate Day, Wild Foods Day
October 29th:  National Oatmeal Day
October 30th:  Buy a Doughnut Day, National Candy Corn Day
October 31st:  National Candy Apple Day, Trick or Treat for UNICEF Day



Albertson's:

    Beef New York steak, bone in, family pack, $4.97/lb (boneless $1/lb higher)
    Beef petite sirloin steaks, boneless, $8.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef crossrib roast or steaks, family pack, buy 1 get 1 free
    80/20 ground beef, $1.99/lb (3 lbs or more)
    Assorted pork chops, bone in, $1.27/lb
    Pork loin chops, boneless, thick/thin/butterfly, $6.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    Pork half loin roast, whole in bag, $5.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.49/lb
    Sanderson Farms chicken drums/thighs/leg quarters OR whole chickens, 99¢/lb
    Atlantic salmon OR catfish fillets, farm raised, $5.99/lb
    Albertson's milk, gallons, $1.59
    Deli:    Jennie-O “Deli Style” turkey breast, $4.99/lb
        USA Gold Virginia ham, $4.99/lb
        Deli Fresh Provolone/pepperjack/Muenster/mild Cheddar, $4.99/lb
        Margherita hard or Genoa salami OR pepperoni, $4.99/lb
        Charlie's Pride pastrami OR corned beef, $4.99/lb
    Dole bananas, 39¢/lb
    Grapefruit, 2 lbs/$1
    Apples, Gala/Granny Smith/Fuji/Red Delicious, 3 lb bag, $2.99
    Red seedless grapes, $2.49/lb
    Vine tomatoes, $1.99/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 99¢ ea
    Earthbound Farms organic mini carrots, 1 lb bag, $1.49
    Green Giant fresh green beans, 12 oz bag, $2.99


Bashas':

    Beef tenderloin, whole in bag, $6.99/lb, cut and wrapped free
    Top sirloin steaks, value pack, $2.99/lb (first 2)
    Ground sirloin, fat content not listed, $2.99/lb (first 2 pkgs)
    Pork chops, sirloin end, bone in, $1.49/lb
    Pork sirloin roast, bone in, $1.29/lb
    Sanderson Farms whole chickens, $1.29/lb
    Norbest turkeys, tom or hen, 10-24 lb, 79¢/lb
    Albacore tuna steaks, wild caught, $8.99/lb
    Steelhead fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Dover sole fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb “weather permitting”
    Yoplait yogurts incl. Light, 10/$5
    Green Giant “Steamers”, 11-12 oz frozen pkg, 2/$4
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, $2.99, buy 1 get 1 free
    HoneyCrisp apples, $1.47/lb
    Golden Delicious apples, 99¢/lb
    Seedless red or Red Globe (seedy) grapes, $1.99/lb
    Large tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Asparagus, $1.77/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 99¢ ea
    Red bell peppers, 88¢ ea


Fry's:

    Beef chuck roast, boneless, $3.99/lb
    Beef t-bone steaks, $7.99/lb
    Beef London broil, boneless, $4.29/lb
    85/15 ground beef, $3.29/lb (3 lb chub)
    Whole pork picnic, $1.49/lb
    Half pork loin, boneless, while in bag, $1.97/lb, cut & wrapped free
    Foster Farms chicken, buy 1 get 1 free (like item)
    Kroger frozen turkeys, 10-20 lb, 79¢/lb
    Kraft or Sargento cheeses, 5-6 oz chunk/shreds/shingle, $2.29
    Barilla pasta, 12-16 oz boxes, 99¢
    Hunt's pasta sauces, 24 oz cans, 99¢/lb
    Progresso “Light” soups, 2/$3
    HoneyCrisp apples, $1.27/lb
    Pears, Bartlett/Anjou/red/Bosc, 99¢/lb
    Simple Truth box salads, 1 lb, $3.99



Safeway:

    Beef bottom round roast, boneless, $2.99/lb
    Beef New York strip steaks, boneless, value pack, $8.99/lb
    Beef ribeye steaks, boneless, value pack, $8.99/lb
    Beef chuck or bottom round steaks, thin cut boneless, $3.99/lb
    90/10 ground beef, $3.99/lb
    Pork loin, boneless, whole in bag, $1.88/lb
    Pork top loin chops, boneless, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Chicken drums/thighs/leg quarters, bone in, 77¢/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $7.99/lb
    Lucerne or Open Nature cheeses, 24-32 oz shreds, $5.99
    Lucerne sandwich cheeses, 8 oz shingle pack, $2.19
    Safeway fire roasted tomatoes, 14 oz cans, 99¢
    Safeway variety (non-baked) beans, 15 oz cans, 89¢
    Safeway sliced water chestnuts, 5 oz cans, 75¢
    Del Monte fruit, 14-15 oz cans, 4/$5
    Del Monte stewed or diced tomatoes, 14 oz cans, 99¢
    Francesco Rinaldi pasta sauces, 23-24 oz jars, buy 1 get 1 free
    Smart Ones frozen entrees, 5/$10
    Pantry Essentials frozen veg, 12 oz pkg, 99¢
    Apples:  Gala/Red Delicious/Granny Smith, 77¢/lb
    HoneyCrisp apples, $2.49/lb
    Seedless grapes, red or “Pristine” green, $2.49
    Safeway Farms “baby-cut” carrots, 1 lb bag, 2/$3


Sprouts:

    All ground beef/sirloin/pork/lamb/chicken, 40% off
    Beef New York steak, boneless, $9.99/lb
    Beef rump roast OR stew meat, boneless, $4.49/lb
    Pork loin chops or roast, boneless, $2.99/lb
    Chicken breast tenders, $2.99/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken thighs, value pack, $2.49/lb
    Pacific salmon fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb
    Mahi mahi fillets, wild caught, $8.99/lb
    Apples:  Cameo, Jonathan, Granny Smith, Red/Golden Delicious, 88¢/lb
    Pears:  Bartlett, D'Anjou, Bosc, 88¢/lb
    HoneyCrisp apples, $1.49/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $1.88/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 88¢ ea
    Vine tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Summer squashes, Italian/yellow/Mexican, 88¢/lb