Wren's bargain guide, week beginning July 24th:

From Fooducate and Marion Nestle:  Taco Bell is discontinuing “Kid's Meals”, not for nutritional reason but in an effort at “positioning the brand for Millennials”.  Also reasons to eat watermelon and strawberries AS IF WE NEEDED ANY.  From Grist, a “guide to sustainable liquor”.  Science Daily has scientific proof of what we've known for so long:  that proper seasoning can make even reduced-fat meals taste good.  And from Weighty Matters, Yoni Freedhoff's terrific talk on “Normalizing The Abnormal”:  how consumers, and especially children, are being constantly and inescapably bombarded with sugary and salty and fatty junk food, and as well with the message that this is normative – that getting a Pizza Hut coupon for attending the library's reading club, McDonald's advertising slogans being used as part of a kindergarten reading-readiness lesson (“I'm Lovin {sic} Sight Words”), a 450-calorie-15-teaspoons-of-sugar grab bag awarded for completing a “Kids of Steel Triathlon” (a 25-metre swim, 1-kilometre bike ride, and 200-metre run), free french-fries for playing penalty-free hockey (“something perhaps they should aspire to do anyhow”), is the way things should be.

Recipes!  At Chow.com 26 “Summer Side Dishes”, twenty peach recipes, and eight ways with barbecued chicken.  Sprouted and Smitten are both doing salsa:  one from roasted ingredients with serranos, one with shrimp and avocado.  Simply Recipes has grilled cilantro-and-lime chicken, spatchcocked game hens (I don't know who decided it was necessary to introduce the word “spatchcocked” to our culinary lexicon, but I salute them), and that lovely Tuscan salad made with stale bread.  And at Snack Girl we find replacements for potato chips, homemade Spaghetti-Os, a highly skeptical take on DreamFields allegedly low-carb, low-PointsPlus pasta, and a fridge-stable and vegan-friendly substitute for Cool Whip which has the added benefit of not being made of, as her source tastefully put it, “sugar, wax, and condom lube”.

Many of Chow.com's summer side dishes are hearty salads, appropriate for the fourth week of July which is both National Salad Week and Don't Eat Meat Week.  My sources, in their ongoing effort to confuse me, inform me that the 27th is the second National Crème Brûlée Day in a week.  And on the 29th we have, once again, National Cheese Sacrifice Purchase Day and once again I cannot for the life of me figure out what the hell that is supposed to mean.

July 24th:  National Tequila Day
July 25th:  National Hot Fudge Sundae Day
July 26th:  National Coffee Milkshake Day
July 27th:  National Scotch Day, National Crème Brûlée Day
July 28th:  National Milk Chocolate Day
July 29th:  National Lasagna Day, Cheese Sacrifice Purchase Day;  feast of St. Martha, patroness of butlers, waitresses, cooks, innkeepers, and people trying to lose weight
July 30th:  National Cheesecake Day
July 31st:  National Raspberry Cake Day, Cotton Candy Day, Jump for Jelly Beans Day (hey, don't blame me, I don't make these things up)

Oh, and there's an alternative grocery-bargains listing available from http://neighborside.com/ -- sign up and get it emailed to you every week!  Kudos to the member who suggested this!



Albertson's:

    Beef t-bone/ribeye/New York steaks, 50% off
    Beef tri tip roast OR top sirloin steak, $4.99/lb
    Beef petite sirloin steaks, boneless, $8.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    85/15 ground beef, $2.79/lb
    Assorted pork chops, bone in?, $1.79/lb
    Center cut pork chops, bone in or boneless, buy 1 get 1 free
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.88/lb
    Sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $7.99/lb
    Tilapia fillets, 1 lb IQF bag, $9.99, buy 1 get 3 free
    Albertson's milk, gallons, $1.89
    Albertson's eggs, AA lg, 18 ct, $1.99
    Essential Everyday butter, $1.99
    Essential Everyday cheeses, 7-8 oz shreds, $1.99
    Essential Everyday cheeses, 8 oz shingle pack, 2/$5
    Deli:    Dietz & Watson classic or honey ham, regular roast beef, Black Forest turkey, $7.99/lb
        Dietz & Watson baby Swiss, $7.99/lb
    Oroweat bread, 24 oz wide-pan loaves, $2.99
    Ragu pasta sauces, 15-24 oz jars, 2/$3, buy 2 get 1 Essential Everyday pasta (16 oz) free
    Chicken of the Sea chunk light tuna, $1
    Smart Ones frozen entrées, $1.99, buy 5 get 1 24-pk of Albertson's drinking water free
    Green Giant “Valley Fresh Steamers”, 12 oz pkg, $1.88
    Boca veggie burgers, 10 oz box, $3.49
    Blueberries, 11 oz pkg, 4/$5
    Blackberries/raspberries, 6 oz boxes, $2.99
    Honeydew melons, 49¢/lb
    Whole cantaloupes, 2/$4
    Black plums, 99¢/lb
    Nectarines, 99¢/lb
    Kiwifruit, 1 lb pkg, $1.99
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $1.99/lb
    Red cherries, $3.99/lb
    Vine tomatoes, $1.99/lb
    Portabella mushrooms, 2/$3 – brush with olive oil and grill like a burger
    Grape tomatoes, 12 oz box, 2/$4
    Sweet corn, 4 pk, $2.99


Bashas':

    Beef London broil, value pack, $2.97/lb
    Beef top round steak, $3.97/lb (roast 52¢/lb higher)
    Ground beef round, fat content not listed, value pack, $2.87/lb
    “Pork Loin Country” – that's what it says but it looks like bone-in ribs, value pack, $1.99/lb
    Pork sirloin chops, bone in, $2.99/lb
    Bashas' boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.99/lb
    Bashas' chicken breasts or leg quarters, bone in, 99¢/lb
    Cod fillets, wild caught, $4.99/lb
    Swai fillets, farm raised, $2.99/lb
    “Silver Brite” salmon, wild caught, $3.77/lb “weather permitting”
    Bashas' milk, gallons, $1.89
    Food Club cheeses, 8 oz chunk or shreds, $1.79
    Food Club pasta sauces, 24 oz jars, 88¢
    Food Club pasta, 13-16 oz pkg, 88¢
    Food Club veggies or tomatoes, 15-16 oz cans, 69¢
    Flav-R-Pac frozen veg, 16 oz pkg, 5/$5
    Lean Gourmet frozen entrées, 5/$5
    Smart Ones frozen entrées, 2/$5
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, 87¢/lb
    Yellow peaches or nectarines, red or black plums, 87¢/lb
    White peaches or nectarines, $1.49/lb
    Blackberries/raspberries/blueberries, 6 oz boxes, 2/$5
    Slicing tomatoes, 87¢/lb
    Roma tomatoes, 99¢/lb
Fry's:

    Beef top sirloin, boneless, whole in bag, $3.77/lb, sliced & wrapped free
    Beef chuck/shoulder/top round roast, boneless, 50% off
    Beef New York strip steak, bone in, family pack, $6.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, $3.29/lb (3 lb chub)
    Assorted pork loin chops, bone in, family pack, $1.59/lb
    Kroger chicken thighs or drumsticks, bone in, $1.39/lb
    Sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $9.99/lb
    Fry's milk, gallons, $1.89
    Kroger cheeses, 12-16 oz chunk or shreds, $2.99/lb
    Kroger frozen veg, 10-12 oz, 10/$10
    Red seedless grapes, 75¢/lb
    Yellow peaches, 99¢/lb
    Red or black plums, $1.49/lb
    Whole cantaloupes, AZ grown, $1.99
    Red cherries, $2.99/lb
    Roma tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Organic “mini peeled” carrots, 1 lb bag, 2/$3


Safeway:

    Beef bottom round roast, boneless, $2.99/lb
    Beef London broil, boneless, $3.99/lb
    Beef crossrib steak OR country style ribs, boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
    90/10 ground beef, value pack, $2.79/lb
    Pork shoulder country style ribs, bone in, value pack, $1.39/lb
    Pork sirloin chops, boneless, value pack, $1.99/lb
    Sanderson Farms whole chickens, 88¢/lb (cut up, 51¢/lb higher)
    Safeway Farms chicken drums/thighs/leg quarters, bone in, value pack, $1.19/lb
    Swai fillets, farm raised, $2.99/lb
    Lucerne OR Open Nature cheeses, 24-32 oz chunk or shreds, $6.99
    Bertolli olive oil, 25 oz bottles, buy 1 get 1 free
    Bush's variety (non-baked) beans, 15-16 oz cans, 5/$5
    Red cherries, $2.99/lb
    Peaches or “Red Lion” nectarines, $1.99/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $2.99/lb
    Cantaloupes, 2/$5
    “Mini seedless” watermelon, $3.49 ea
    Roma tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Safeway Farms grape tomatoes, 10 oz box, 2/$4
    Broccoli crowns OR cauliflower, $1.49/lb
    Sweet corn, white or yellow, 2/$1
    Hatch chiles, 2 lbs/$1
    Hass avocados, 99¢ ea



Sprouts:

    Beef rump roast, boneless, $2.99/lb
    93/7 ground sirloin, $4.99/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken thighs, value pack, $1.88/lb
    Chicken or turkey breast tenders, boneless, $2.99/lb
    99/1 ground chicken or turkey breast, $3.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $4.99/lb
    Alaskan cod fillets, wild caught, $7.99/lb
    Baja halibut fillets, wild caught, $9.99/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, 98¢/lb
    White peaches or nectarines, 68¢/lb
    Bartlett pears, 48¢/lb
    Pluots, 2 lbs/$3
    Blueberries, dry pint, 4/$5
    Roma tomatoes, 98¢/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 98¢ ea
    Cherry or grape tomatoes, dry pint, 2/$3
    Artichokes, 2/$3