Wren's bargain guide, week beginning April 10th:

Cool stuff at Fooducate this week:  how to work more broccoli into your life (not a problem for me as I have the good fortune to love the stuff) and a “cheat sheet” guide to cuts of beef, where on the steer they come from, and how best to cook them.

Per Grist, you may be forced to change your choice of beverages:  climate change is seriously affecting the worldwide wine industry, with a forecast 85% decline in grape production in Bordeaux, Rhone, and Tuscany.  And someone (or more likely some several) stole eleven thousand pounds of Nutella in Germany:  “The AP reports that the delicious, delicious haul was worth about $20,000, although realistically, you don’t steal 11,000 pounds of Nutella because you’re planning to sell it on the black market. You steal 11,000 pounds of Nutella because there’s 11,000 pounds of Nutella to steal.”

Marion Nestle touches on the use of the word “protein” as a marketing hook, with piles and piles of links as well as her own comment that Americans tend to consume protein “at levels greatly in excess of requirements”.  She's also got a column on the “Mediterranean” diet, exactly what the recent study lauding it involved, and what the diet itself is and is not.  “It does not mean supersize bowls of macaroni smothered in cheese,” she points out;  but also, “I think the best reason for following a Mediterranean diet is that its foods are terrific to eat. Pasta, vegetables, a fish, some good bread, and a glass of wine? Sounds good to me, any time.”  I'll nibble to that.

Recipes!  Chow.com has a swift Lemon Shrimp Pasta, spring-veggie side dishes, and how to make carrot chips.  Darya at Summer Tomato has “How To Make (And Eat) A Perfect Steamed Artichoke”.  She likes them with olive oil, lemon, and parsley:  now there's a way to work your Healthy Oils in!  Sprouted Kitchen has “bean bowls with poached eggs”.  Snack Girl has raw asparagus salad, meat substitutes, and “The Fool Proof {sic} Way To Cook Brown Rice”.  And Smitten Kitchen explores quick solo lunches – “What do you make yourself for lunch, if nobody else is around? I bet you’re hoping I’m going to say something ambitious, like 'a gently poached chicken breast, cooled and sliced across a vegetable salad with a hand-whisked vinaigrette,' because that happens, ever” – and proceeds to detail for us, in the “stuff on bread” category, Spinach And Smashed Egg Toast.  (This is, as she points out, a one-pan lunch because “a pot used only to boil an egg is, pffft, still totally clean, right?”)

The 15th is Glazed Spiral Ham Day.  The day after is both Day of the Mushroom and National Eggs Benedict Day, a commendable combination.  And the day after that being National Cheese Ball Day, I present once again Chow.com's inspiring, or horrifying, four-pound Turducken of Cheese Balls otherwise known as The Cheese Ball As Big As Your Head.

April 10th:  National Cinnamon Crescent Day
April 11th:  National Cheese Fondue Day
April 12th:  National Licorice Day, National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day
April 13th:  National Peach Cobbler Day
April 14th:  National Pecan Day
April 15th:  National Glazed Spiral Ham Day
April 16th:  National Eggs Benedict Day, Day of the Mushroom
April 17th:  National Cheese Ball Day


Albertson's:

    Beef New York steaks, bone in, family pack, $4.97/lb (regular pack, $1/lb higher)
    Beef London broil/crossrib/bottom round roasts or family pack steaks, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef petite sirloin steaks, boneless, $8.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    85/15 ground beef, $2.97/lb (3 lbs or more)
    Pork loin chops, boneless, $6.99/lb, buy 1 get 2 free
    Sanderson Farms chicken breast/thighs/drums/leg quarters, bone in, jumbo pack, 99¢/lb
    Unbranded (store) boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, $1.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $5.99/lb
    Mahi mahi fillets, $4.99/lb
    Alaska halibut, wild caught, 5 oz skinless portions, $6.99 ea
    Albertson's milk, gallons, $1.79
    Deli:    Unbranded (store) rotisserie turkey breast, $5.99/lb
        Unbranded (store) “double honey” ham, $5.99/lb
        Jennie-O “Honey Smoked” or “Oven Brown” turkey breast, $5.99/lb
        Signature ham, $5.99/lb
        Dietz & Watson medium roast beef OR London broil, $9.99/lb
        Joseph Farms pepperjack/Colby/Co-jack/mild Cheddar, $5.99/lb
    Nature's Own “Honey Wheat” bread, 20 oz long loaves, $1.99
    Hunt's pasta sauces, 24 oz cans, 88¢
    Essential Everyday pasta, 12-16 oz boxes, 88¢
    V-8 vegetable juice or V-Fusion, 46 oz bottles, 2/$5
    Healthy Choice frozen entrées, 4/$10
    Skinny Cow ice-cream novelties, 4-12 ct, 2/$7
    Strawberries, 3 lb flat, $2.97 (make jam)
    Cantaloupes, 2/$4
    Fuji apples, $1/lb
    Navel oranges OR Minneola tangelos, $1/lb
    Roma tomatoes, $1/lb
    EuroFresh Farms vine tomatoes, 14 oz pkg, 2/$5
    Broccoli crowns OR cauliflower, $1/lb
    Carnival cauliflower (in colors!  Green!  Yellow!  Purple!  Very festive!), $1/lb
    Green Giant “Sweet Baby Broccoli” (looks like broccolini to me), 1 lb bag, $3.99
    Earthbound Farms organic box salads, $2.99
    Zucchini squash, $1/lb


Bashas':

    Beef London broil, $3.99/lb
    Beef crossrib roast, $4.49/lb
    Ground beef chuck, fat content not listed, value pack, $2.39/lb
    Pork chops, center cut boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
    Sanderson Farms boneless skinless chicken breast, buy 1 get 2 free
    Sanderson Farms whole frying chickens, $1.19/lb
    True cod fillets, $6.99/lb
    Bashas' milk, gallons, $1.79
    Tillamook cheeses, 7-8 oz chunk or shreds, 5/$10
    Food Club butter, $2.49
    Bashas' cottage cheese incl. Light, 16 oz tubs, 2/$3
    Bashas' “Homestyle” bread, 24 oz wide-pan loaves, $2.79
    Healthy Choice frozen entrées, 2/$5
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, 99¢
    Cantaloupe, 39¢/lb
    Navel oranges OR Minneola tangelos, 99¢/lb
    Vine tomatoes, regular OR organic, $1.99/lb
    Cherub (10 oz) or grape (12 oz) tomatoes, $1.99
    Artichokes, extra large, 2/$4
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 99¢
    Zucchini, regular OR organic, 88¢/lb



Fry's:

    Beef NY strip steaks, bone in, 50% off
    Beef flat iron steaks, boneless, $6.99/lb
    Beef chuck or crossrib roast, boneless, $4.49/lb
    Pork loin chops, “assorted” bone-in, family pack, $2.39/lb
    Foster Farms boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders, $3.49/lb
    Jennie-O 99/1 ground turkey breast, 20 oz pkg, $6.49
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $7.99/lb
    Kroger cheeses, 6 oz shingle pack, $1.88
    Kroger cottage cheese incl. Light, 24 oz tubs, $1.99
    Bush's baked beans, 21-28 oz cans, $1.88
    S&W OR Del Monte tomatoes, 14 oz cans, 10/$10
    Lean Cuisine frozen entrées, 4/$10
    Apples:  Fuji, Gala, Red/Golden Delicious, 99¢/lb
    Blackberries OR blueberries, 6 oz boxes, buy 1 get 1 free
    Vine tomatoes, AZ grown, 99¢/lb


Safeway:

    Mix and match sale:  buy 1 get 1 free
        Beef chuck pot roast, boneless
        Beef crossrib roast, boneless
        90/10 ground beef, regular packs
        Pork loin chops, bone in
        Sanderson Farms boneless skinless chicken breast

    Beef ribeye steak, bone in, value pack, $7.99/lb
    Beef bottom round steak, thin cut boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
    Beef ribeye steak, boneless, value pack, $8.99/lb
    Beef chuck steak OR country style ribs, boneless, value pack, $3.49/lb
    Open Nature whole chickens, $1.99/lb
    Safeway chicken drums/thighs/leg quarters, bone in, value pack, $1.29/lb
    Alaskan cod fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon whole fillet, farm raised, $8.99/lb (cut up fillets, 50¢/lb higher)
    Lucerne cheeses, 16 oz chunk or shreds, $3.99
    Kraft cheeses, 6-12 oz shreds, shingle or “Singles”, $2.99
    Hunt's tomatoes or sauce, 14-15 oz cans, 10/$10
    Healthy Choice “Baked” frozen entrées, 5/$10
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, 99¢
    “Mini seedless” watermelons, $3.49 ea
    Apples:  Fuji, Red/Golden Delicious, $1.39/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $2.99/lb
    Whole pineapples, $2.99 ea
    Vine tomatoes, AZ grown, $2.49/lb



Sprouts:

    Beef London broil, boneless, $2.99/lb
    Beef top round steak or roast, OR extra lean stew meat, $3.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, value pack, $3.99/lb
    Pork shoulder roast OR country-style ribs, boneless, $1.49/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, value pack, $1.99/lb
    Halibut fillets, wild caught, $9.99/lb
    Tilapia fillets, farm raised, $6.99/b
    Seafood-stuffed salmon fillets, 6 oz portion, $3.99 ea
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, $1.48
    Navel oranges, 88¢/lb
    Braeburn or Golden Delicious apples, 88¢/lb
    Red mangos, 88¢ ea
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, 2 lbs/$5
    Cantaloupes, 2/$4
    Mini watermelons, 2/$5
    Organic Bartlett pears, 2 lbs/$3
    Organic apples:  Fuji, Cameo, Red Delicious, $1.49/lb
    Vine tomatoes, 88¢/lb (organic, $1.99/lb)
    Organic grape tomatoes, dry pint, $1.99
    Asparagus, 88¢/lb
    Summer squashes, Italian/yellow/grey, 88¢/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 88¢ ea