Wren's bargain guide, week beginning July 17th:

Definitely worth reading at Weighty Matters:  You've surely noticed the airtime and print-space given this past week to that “report” about artificial sweeteners and how they allegedly don't help with weight loss?  “Diet soda may do more harm than good” blared CNN, while NBC assured us that diet-soda drinkers “are at higher risk of weight gain, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and cardiovasuclar {sic} disease”.  Well, guess what?  The media have not been covering a study at all, but a press release about an opinion article – basically, an editorial, citing only studies supporting a connection between these diseases and artificial sweeteners (while ignoring those that suggested otherwise), and published in a journal that wants only articles reflecting “a personal viewpoint” and not “a balanced review”.

Fooducate treats a study which claims that people lose more weight by eating only two meals a day than by eating the same number of calories in five or six smaller meals.  The study, they point out, only had 54 participants, and it was in a controlled environment.  (Would you be able to eat breakfast, lunch, and then sit tight until the next morning's breakfast?)  And at Summer Tomato, “7 Reasons Keeping A Food Journal Is Better Than Counting Calories”.  Or in Weight Watchers terms, TRACK. 

Recipes!  Fooducate has shakshuka, eggs poached in a thick sauce of tomatoes and bell peppers.  Eggs, healthy oils, and everything else PointsPlus-free!  Chow.com has a dozen salsas (salsi?  salsae?), “The Easiest Way” to barbecue chicken so it's actually done but still tender, five vegetarian main dishes for the grill if you don't care for chicken, and sixteen skewers and kebabs as long as you've already got the grill heated up.  From Simply Recipes, couscous with pistachios and apricots, an intriguing combination.  And Snack Girl has DIY yogurt parfait, as well as a lightened potato salad made from real ingredients (as distinct from another well-known Hungry individual's “faux-tato salad” recipe which involves cauliflower, no potatoes at all, and what a more honest generation called “imitation mayonnaise” and “sour cream substitute”).

Tomorrow is National Caviar Day:  one tablespoon of caviar has nearly one-third of your recommended daily allowance of cholesterol.  So that OR shakshuka, but not both.  The 21st is National Junk Food Day, which perhaps let us honor in the breach rather than the observance, and Sundae Sunday.  The 23rd is National Hotdog Day – I don't care for hotdogs, but if you do check last week's blog entry for how to spiral-cut them.


July 17th:  National Peach Ice-Cream Day
July 18th:  National Caviar Day
July 19th:  National Daiquiri Day;  Flitch Day (in Dunmow, England, married couples can appear before a jury of unmarried men and women;  if the couple can satisfactorily prove they have never "wished themselves unwedded", they are awarded a flitch of bacon, or half a pig)
July 20th:  National Lollipop Day, National Hotdog Day, National Ice-Cream Soda Day, Fortune Cookie Day;  1969, Apollo XI lands on the Moon
July 21st:  National Ice-Cream Day, National Junk Food Day, National Crème Brûlée Day
July 22nd:  National Penuche Fudge Day, Maple Syrup Day
July 23rd:  National Vanilla Ice-Cream Day;  one of my sources gives this as National Hotdog Day
July 24th:  National Tequila Day

And the recipe for Greek-yogurt pancakes mentioned at tonight's meeting:

1 cup Greek yogurt, plain or vanilla (if you choose plain, it's suggested to add a bit of vanilla)
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
Milk, enough to thin the batter to the consistency you want

Makes four to five six-inch pancakes.  I must try this!



Albertson's:

    Beef chuck, crossrib, bottom/eye round steak or roast, boneless, fam pk, $6.99/lb, buy1get1free
    Beef ribeye/t-bone/New York steaks, bone in, $8.99/lb
    Beef petite sirloin steaks, boneless, $8.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    80/20 ground beef, $2.29/lb (3 lbs or more)
    85/15 ground beef, $2.79/lb (any size pkg)
    Pork back ribs or St Louis ribs, $2.77/lb
    Pork loin chops, center cut, bone in, $5.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    Sanderson Farms boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, $5.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    Unbranded (store) boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.59/lb
    Jennie-O 93/7 ground turkey, 20 oz pkg, $4.79
    Swai or tilapia fillets, farm raised, $2.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets or bone-in steaks, $6.99/lb
    Sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $8.99/lb
    Albertson's eggs, AA large, dozens, 88¢
    Essential Everyday cheeses, 2 lb shreds, $5.99
    Deli:    Signature ham/hard salami/Genoa salami/pepperoni, $5.99/lb
        Signature Provolone or Muenster cheeses, $5.99/lb
        Rotisserie turkey breast, $5.99/lb
        Jennie-O “Honey Smoked” or “Oven Brown” turkey breast, $5.99/lb
    Ranch Style beans, 15 oz cans, $1
    Ro*tel tomatoes, $1
    Chicken of the Sea chunk white tuna, $1
    Essential Everyday pasta, 12-16 oz boxes, $1
    Hunt's pasta sauces, 24 oz cans, $1
    Hunt's tomatoes, 14 oz cans, $1
    Bush's baked or “Grillin'” beans, 21-28 oz cans, $1.99
    Nabisco snack crackers, family size, $3.69
    Lean Cuisine frozen entrées, $1.88
    Bartlett pears, $1/lb
    Whole cantaloupes, $1 ea
    Black plums, $1/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $1.99/lb
    Red cherries, $3.99/lb
    Yellow peaches or nectarines, $1.99/lb
    Plumogranates (I have no idea), $2.99
    Roma tomatoes, $1/lb
    Red/yellow/orange bell peppers, $1 ea
    Asparagus tips, 8 oz pkg, $3.99
    Summer squashes, $1/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, $1
    Broccoli crowns, $1/lb


Bashas':

    Beef top sirloin steaks, value pack, $3.88/lb (regular pack, $1/lb higher)
    Beef crossrib roast, $4.49/lb (steaks, 50¢/lb higher)
    Beef t-bone/porterhouse/New York steaks, 50% off
    Ground beef sirloin, fat content not listed, 50% off
    Center cut pork chops, boneless, 50% off
    Sanderson Farms whole frying chickens, 88¢/lb
    Sanderson Farms boneless skinless chicken breast, 50% off
    Alaskan sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $9.99/lb
    Flav-R-Pac veggies, 1 lb frozen bag, $1.88
    Yellow or white peaches or nectarines, red or black plums, 88¢/lb
    Blueberries, 6 oz box, 88¢
    Large mangos, 2/88¢
    Green or red seedless grapes, $1.99/lb
    Roma or slicing tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Organic heirloom tomatoes, $1.99/lb
    Summer squashes, 99¢/lb
Fry's:

    Beef New York strip steak, bone in, family pack, 50% off
    Beef rib roast or “Texas broil”, boneless, $3.69/lb
    Pork loin chops, center cut boneless, family pack, $2.99/lb
    Kroger boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, $1.99
    Kroger chicken leg quarters, bone in, 99¢/lb
    Foster Farms chicken thighs/drumsticks, bone in, $1.79
    Jennie-O 99/1 ground turkey breast, $6.49
    Atlantic salmon fillets, $7.99/lb
    Kroger cheeses, 5-8 oz chunk or shreds, $1.79
    Yoplait yogurts, 20/$10
    Kroger cheeses, 12-16 chunk or shreds, $2.99
    Kroger veggies, 14-15 oz cans, 5/$3
    Bush's Best variety (non-baked) beans, 15-16 oz cans, 10/$10
    Ro*tel tomatoes, 10/$10
    Hunt's pasta sauces, 24 oz cans, 10/$10
    Healthy Choice regular or “Baked” entrées OR Lean Cuisine entrées, 6/$12 (must buy 6)
    Red cherries, $1.88/lb
    Yellow peaches, 99¢/lb
    Yellow or white nectarines, red or black plums, $1.88
    Organic green or red seedless grapes, $2.49/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, OR iceberg, 99¢
    Roma tomatoes, 99¢/lb


Safeway:

    Beef London broil, boneless, value pack, $2.59/lb
    Beef top sirloin steaks, boneless, value pack, $4.99/lb
    80/20 ground beef, value pack, $2.79/lb
    Pork sirloin country style chops or ribs, boneless, value pack, $1.69/lb
    Pork loin chops, bone in, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Eating Right boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, value pack, $1.99/lb
    Sanderson Farms chicken thighs/drumsticks, bone in, $1.79/lb
    Alaskan sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $9.99/lb “subject to availability”
    Tilapia fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Classico OR Bertolli pasta sauces, 15-24 oz jars, buy 1 get 1 free
    Barilla pasta, 12-16 oz boxes, 5/$5
    Green Giant canned veg, 14-15 oz cans, buy 1 get 1 free
    Bush's Best “Grillin'” beans, 21-22 oz cans, 2/$4
    Pantry Essentials milk, gallons, $1.89
    Lean Cuisine “Simple Favorites”, $1.85
    Pantry Essentials frozen veggies, 12 oz pkg, 99¢
    Red seedless grapes, 77¢/lb
    Red cherries, $3.99/lb
    Peaches or nectarines, $1.99/lb
    Seedless watermelons, $5.99 ea
    Organic cantaloupes, $3.49 ea
    White corn, 5/$1
    Heirloom tomatoes, $1.99/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 2/$3


Sprouts:

    Beef sirloin tip steak or roast, boneless, $4.99/lb
    Pork sirloin chops, boneless, $2.99/lb
    Pork shoulder roast, boneless, $2.49/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.99/lb
    Sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $12.99/lb
    Sea bass fillets, wild caught, $8.99/lb
    Red cherries, $1.98/lb
    Yellow peaches or nectarines, black plums, 88¢/lb
    Cantaloupes, 48¢ ea
    Blueberries, dry pint (11 oz box), 2/$5
    Bartlett pears OR Pink Lady apples, 98¢/lb
    Seedless grapes, green or red, $1.68/lb
    Roma tomatoes, 98¢/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 98¢ ea