Sorry, all --

I can't make tonight's meeting, but here are the bargains.

PepsiCo is introducing a new Mountain Dew breakfast drink, “Kickstart” – “orange citrus” and “fruit punch” flavors, carbonation, 5% juice (just enough that they can legally label it a “juice drink”), ester of wood rosin, and more caffeine than Mountain Dew itself although less than most energy drinks.  Just in case you needed soda pop for breakfast.  I will stick with my morning cup of tea thank you.

Two interesting articles at Fooducate touch on what they call “Misadventures in Labeling”:  one is specifically about a brand of gluten-free granola with some very inventive material on the “Nutrition Facts” label (salted cashews as an ingredient, but “no sodium”?), the other a cautionary tale about calorie counting.  Did you know that calorie information on food labels must be accurate ... with a 20% margin of error?  Good thing WW doesn't work from calories any more, because a “500-calorie serving” that actually contained 600 calories could throw Points Classic counts way off.

Speaking of mislabeling, Marion Nestle at Food Politics has an article – with a link to another at the Guardian – on the “horsemeat scandal” in Europe, how horsemeat got into the hamburgers, and how this connects to food laws (and cultural identity) in the US.  Over at Weighty Matters there's a fascinating review of Melanie Warner's new book, Pandora's Lunchbox:  How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal.  Any book by an author who collects processed food (“9 month old only slightly brown around the edges guacamole … cereals older than 2 of my children that still look and taste like new … chicken 'nuggets' that rather than being immortal, liquefied within ten days”) cannot fail to entertain.

Recipes!  Snack Girl has a cherry tomato gratinée, and a healthy makeover of jalapeño poppers.  Smitten Kitchen provides Italian stuffed cabbage leaves;  Simply Recipes has refried black beans, pasta puttanesca, and something regrettably titled “celery root mash” which must be better than it sounds.  And Chow.com is piling things on, as always:  healthy fish tacos, whole-grain salads, elegant – not to say pretentious – refreshments for your Oscar party (really, now:  smoked-salmon-crème-fraîche-and-caviar potato skins?), stews for chilly nights, making your own Girl Scout cookies, and 7 things to do with I swear I could not make this up this is a real thing in the world bacon jam.

The 23rd of this month is both National Banana Bread Day and Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day.  Perhaps I'm insufficiently appreciative, but as a dog owner I've tried several different dog biscuits and never found one that was a patch on a decent banana bread.

February 20th:  National Cherry Pie Day;  1829, D.G. Yuengling (formerly Jüngling) opens a brewery in Pennsylvania.  It's still open, oldest continuously operating brewery in the US
February 21st:  National Sticky Bun Day
February 22nd:  National Margarita Day
February 23rd:  National Banana Bread Day, Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day;  World Sword Swallowers' Day, so head out to the Renaissance Faire and say hello to Thom Sellectomy!
February 24th:  National Tortilla Chip Day
February 25th:  National Clam Chowder Day, National Chocolate Covered Peanuts Day
February 26th:  National Pistachio Day;  1852, John Harvey Kellogg born (opened the Battle Creek Sanitarium;  his brother Will Keith invented cornflakes)
February 27th:  National Strawberry Day, National Kahlua Day

Albertson's:

    Beef New York or top sirloin steaks, boneless, family pack, $4.97/lb
    Beef petite sirloin steaks, boneless, $8.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef chuck or bottom round roast, boneless, $3.99/lb
    80/20 ground beef, $1.99/lb (3 lbs or more)
    85/15 ground beef, $2.49/lb (3 lbs or more)
    Pork sirloin chops, boneless, $1.99/lb
    Assorted pork chops, $1.57/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.67/lb
    Ahi tuna/mahi mahi/swordfish/sockeye salmon/cod loins, wild caught, 5 oz portions, $3.99
    Atlantic salmon/trouth/steelhead, farm raised, 5 oz portions, $3.99 ea
    Albertson's milk, gallons, $1.79
    Kraft cheeses, 7-8 oz chunk or shreds, $2.99
    Essential Everday cheeses, 8 oz chunk, $1.99
    Deli:    Charlie's Pride corned beef/Italian roast beef/beef pastrami, $5.99/lb
        Margherita hard or Genoa salami OR pepperoni, $5.99/lb
        Jennie-O “honey smoked” or “oven brown” turkey breast, $5.99/lb
        USA Gold honey or baked ham, $5.99/lb
        Stella Swiss/Provolone/Muenster, $5.99/lb
    Hunt's pasta sauces, 24 oz cans, $1
    Essential Everyday pasta, 12-16 oz boxes, $1
    Hunt's diced tomatoes, 14 oz cans, $1
    Ro*tel tomatoes, $1
    PictSweet “Steam'ables” frozen veg, 10 oz pkg, $1
    Bonne Maman fruit preserves, 13 oz jars, 2/$7
    StarKist chunk light tuna, $1
    Weight Watchers ice-cream singles, 5-6 oz, $1
    Fuji apples, $1/lb
    Navel oranges, $1/lb
    Seedless grapes, green or red, $2.99/lb
    Blood oranges, $1.49/lb
    Kiwifruit, 2/$1
    “Cuties” clementines, 3 lb bag, $4.99
    Grape tomatoes, 12 oz box, $1
    Large hothouse tomatoes, $1.59/lb
    Asparagus, 87¢/lb
    English cucumbers, $1 ea
    Red/yellow/orange bell peppers, $1 ea
    Earthbound Farms organic bag salads, 5 oz, 2/$5
    Baby bok choy, 99¢/lb


Bashas':

    Beef chuck/crossrib/bottom round/sirloin tip steak or roast, boneless, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef t-bone steaks, value pack, $6.99/lb
    Pork loin, boneless, whole in bag, $1.88/lb, cut & wrapped free
    Center cut pork roast or chops, boneless, $2.99/lb
    Chicken breast or leg quarters, bone in, 97¢/lb
    Flounder fillets, $1.99/lb
    Tilapia fillets, $2.99/lb
    True cod fillets, wild caught, $4.99/lb
    Dover sole fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb “weather permitting”
    Steelhead fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Bashas' eggs, AA large, dozens, 99¢
    Bashas' “Homestyle” bread, 24 oz wide-pan loaves, $1.99
    Bumble Bee chunk light tuna, 69¢/lb
    Kellogg's Nutri-Grain OR Fiber Plus bars, 2/$5
    Pompeian olive oil, 16 oz bottles, $3.99
    Flav-R-Pac frozen veg, 12-16 oz pkg, 5/$5
    Trident salmon/cod/tilapia, 11 oz frozen boxes, $3.99
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, 2/$3
    Navel oranges OR Minneola tangelos, 99¢/lb
    Yellow peaches or nectarines, red plums, black plums, $1.99/lb
    Apples:  Fuji, Ambrosia, Braeburn, Golden Delicious, 99¢/lb
    Vine tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Broccoli, 99¢/lb


Fry's:

    Beef petite sirloin steaks, boneless, family pack, $3.99/lb
    93/7 ground beef, $2.99/lb (2 lb chub)
    Half pork loin, boneless, whole in bag, $1.97/lb
    Pork loin chops, boneless, family pack, $2.99
    Cook's ham steaks, bone in, $3.99
    Kroger chicken thighs/drumsticks, bone in, 98¢/lb
    Kroger 85/15 ground turkey, $2.99/lb (3 lb pkg)
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $4.97/lb
    Fry's milk, gallons, $1.79
    Kroger cheeses, 6-8 oz chunk/shreds/shingle pack, $1.99
    Kraft cheeses, 7-8 oz chunk or shreds, 2/$5
    Chicken of the Sea chunk light tuna, 79¢
    Smart Ones frozen entrees, $1.88
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, $1.28
    Navel oranges, 88¢/lb
    Blackberries OR blueberries, 6 oz boxes, 2/$5
    Bananas, 57¢/lb
    Mangoes, 88¢ ea
    Roma tomatoes, 88¢/lb
    Cauliflower, 88¢/lb
    Mini sweet peppers, 2 lb bag, $3.99


Safeway:

    Beef chuck crossrib roast, boneless, $2.49
    Beef ribeye or NY strip steaks, bone in, value pack, $7.99/lb
    Beef top sirloin steak, boneless, value pack, $5.49/lb
    93/7 ground beef, value pack, $3.29/lb
    Pork sirloin country style ribs, boneless, value pack, $1.49/lb
    Pork top loin chops, boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
    Jennie-O Turkey Store 85/15 ground turkey, 3 lb pkg, $7.99
    Alaskan cod fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon filllets, farm raised, value pack, $5.99/lb
    Safeway Kitchens yellowfin sole fillets, 24 oz pkg, $8.49
    Land O Lakes butter, $3.49
    Safeway Kitchens breads, 24 oz wide-pan loaves, $1.99
    Star olive oil, 25 oz bottles, buy 1 get 1 free
    Prego pasta sauces, 23-24 oz jars, 2/$4
    Safeway chunk light tuna, 99¢
    Lucerne or Open Nature cheeses, 24-32 oz chunk or shreds, $6.99
    Fuji or Red Delicious apples, OR D'Anjou pears, 88¢/lb
    Whole cantaloupes, 2/$3
    Blood or Cara Cara oranges, OR Minneola tangelos, $1.49/lb
    Campari tomatoes, AZ grown, 1 lb box, $2.99
    Broccoli OR cauliflower, $1.49/lb


Sprouts:

    Beef rump roast, boneless, $2.99/lb
    Beef filet mignon steaks, “grass-fed”, $9.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, value pack, $3.99/lb
    Pork sirloin chops or roast, boneless, $2.99/lb
    Boneless chicken breast tenders, $1.99/lb
    Turkey tenders OR ground turkey breast, $3.99/lb
    Alaskan cod fillets, wild caught, $4.99/lb
    Mahi mahi fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $7.99/lb
    Blueberries, dry pint, $1.88
    Braeburn or Fuji apples, 88¢/lb
    Organic apples, Braeburn/Fuji/Cameo, 4 lbs/$5
    Organic D'Anjou pears, 2 lbs/$3
    Cuties clementines, 5 lb box, $3.99
    Navel oranges, 88¢/lb
    “Texas Rio Red” grapefruit, 88¢ ea
    Organic Red Delicious apples, 99¢/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, 2 lbs/$5
    Large slicing tomatoes, 88¢/lb
    Asparagus, 2 lbs/$5
    Green or red bell peppers, 3/$1
    Leaf lettuce, green or red, 88¢ ea