Wren's bargain guide, week beginning November 13th:

Fooducate has a set of tips on portion control:  most of them we've run across before, but a reminder is always handy.  They also provide a guide to USDA beef grading:  what's the difference between “choice” and “select”?  With Thanksgiving coming up, Darya Rose puts forward the notion that food's greatest health benefit is social connection, and that “a shared meal with real conversations” is a self-reinforcing habit.  And per Grist, “Salt & Straw”, an ice-cream shop in Portland, Oregon, has introduced five limited-edition Thanksgiving flavors:  salted caramel Thanksgiving turkey (“turkey fat caramel ice-cream with fried turkey skin brittle”), mincemeat (“a heady punch of brandy-soaked fruits with an aggressively spiced ice cream base”), apple cranberry stuffing, sweet potato and candied pecan, and pumpkin custard and spiced chevre.  They mail order!

Recipes!  Chow.com has a stack of recipes for latkes (including celery-root and sweet-potato variants) and sufganiyot (traditional, marshmallow stuffed, apple cider, and orange-pumpkin buttercream).  Also an “Essential Guide to Thanksgiving”, a green bean casserole that's actually worth eating (“Thanksgiving is the one time of year I eat green bean casserole, so if I’m going to spend hours preparing the rest of the meal, this dish has to measure up to the other sides on the table, not come out of cans”), seven cranberry sauce recipes, and a butternut-squash polenta lasagna that should nicely fill out the Thanksgiving table for your vegetarian family members.  Smitten Kitchen has “perfect, uncluttered chicken stock”;  from Simply Recipes we have an intriguing combination, broccoli apple soup.  And Snack Girl has a very basic roasted turkey breast, DIY peppermint mocha, and a banana bread made with buttermilk instead of butter!

Tomorrow is National Pickle Day (PointsPlus-free) and National Guacamole Day (not);  the day after is Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day.  The 17th is National Homemade Bread Day, I may give it a try.


November 13th:  National Indian Pudding Day
November 14th:  National Pickle Day, National Guacamole Day;  1863, birth of Leo Hendrik Baekeland, inventor of Bakelite (telephones used to be made out of it;  so did jewelry, in the 1930s;  the handles on Revere Ware pans still are)
November 15th:  Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day, National Raisin Bran Day
November 16th:  National Fast Food Day
November 17th:  Homemade Bread Day, National Baklava Day
November 18th:  National Vichyssoise Day
November 19th:  Carbonated Beverages With Caffeine Day
November 20th:  National Peanut Butter Fudge Day, Beaujolais Nouveau Day


Albertson's:

    Beef t-bone or New York steaks, bone in, $5.97/lb
    Beef roasts or family pack steaks: chuck, crossrib, eye/bottom round, sirloin tip, buy 1 get 1
    Beef top sirloin steak OR tri tip roast, boneless, $4.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, $2.79/lb
    93/7 ground beef, $2.97/lb
    Assorted pork chops OR country style ribs, bone in, $1.79/lb
    Pork shoulder roast, $1.99/lb
    Pork loin, boneless, whole in bag, $1.97/lb
    Hormel “Cure 81” spiral cut hams, bone in, $1.99/lb
    American Chef hickory or brown sugar hams, bone in, 4 lbs, $19.99, buy 1 get 1 free
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.99/lb
    Honeysuckle White turkey breast, bone in, $1.79/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Albertson's milk, gallons, $1.87
    Land O Lakes butter, 2/$5
    Albertson's eggs, AA large, 18 ct, $1.88
    Tillamook cheeses, 8 oz chunk/shreds/shingle, 2/$6
    Deli:    Dietz & Watson ham, turkey, chicken breast, $7.99/lb
        Deli Fresh hard or Genoa salami OR pepperoni, $5.99/lb
        Deli Fresh Provolone/Muenster/pepperjack/mild Cheddar, $5.99/lb
        Dietz & Watson cheeses, $7.99/lb
    Libby's veggies, 14-15 oz cans, 2/$1
    Birds Eye “Steamfresh” veg, 10-12 oz bags, 88¢
    Morningstar Farms meatless entrées, 2/$7
    Lean Cuisine frozen entrées, 4/$10
    Gala apples, $1.99/lb
    Honeycrisp apples, $2.99/lb
    Red grapefruit, $1.49/lb
    “Cuties” clementines, 3 lb bag, $2.99
    Pomegranates, 2/$4
    Slicing tomatoes, $1.69/lb
    Hass avocados, large, 4/$
    Summer squashes, zucchini/yellow/grey, $1.49/lb
    Beets, $1.49/bunch
    Rappini, 2 bunches/$3
    Red bell peppers, 2/$3


Bashas':

    Beef crossrib roast, boneless, $2.49/lb
    Ground beef chuck, fat content not listed, value pack, $2.49/lb
    Pork chops, boneless, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Pork shoulder roast, whole in bag, $1.99/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.59/lb
    Steelhead fillets, farm raised, $7.99/lb
    Swai fillets, $2.99/lb
    Food Club butter, $1.99
    Kraft cheeses, 7-8 oz chunk or shreds, $1.99
    Food Club cream cheese, 8 oz block, 4/$5
    Bush's variety (non-baked) beans, 15-16 oz cans, 99¢
    Hunt's tomatoes, 14 oz cans, 99¢
    Veg-all canned mixed veg, 14-15 oz cans, 59¢
    Del Monte fruit, 14-15 oz cans, $1.39
    Apples:  Gala, Fuji, Red/Golden Delicious, 77¢/lb
    Pears:  Bartlett, Anjou, Bosc, 77¢/lb
    Navel oranges, 77¢/lb


Fry's:

    Beef petite sirloin steaks, boneless, buy 1 get 2 free
    Beef t-bone or NY strip steak, bone in, $6.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, $3.99/lb
    Pork loin, boneless, whole in bag, $1.99/lb
    Cook's ham, bone in, shank half, $1.47/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.67/lb
    Kroger frozen turkeys, 10-20 lb, 79¢/lb
    Swai fillets, $2.99/lb
    Tilapia fillets, farm raised $6.99/lb
    Coho salmon fillets, farm raised, $8.99/lb
    Fry's eggs, AA large, 18 ct, $1.67
    Apples:  Gala, Granny Smith, Red/Golden Delicious, 99¢/lb
    Bartlett pears, 99¢/lb (organic, 50¢/lb higher)
    “Halos” clementines, 3 lb bag, $4.99
    Honeycrisp apples, $1.99/lb
    Blackberries, 6 oz box, 99¢
    Organic seedless grapes, green or red, $2.99/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, OR iceberg, 99¢ ea


Safeway:

    Beef NY strip steak, bone in, value pack, $4.99/lb
    Beef chuck 7-bone pot roast, bone in, $2.99/lb
    93/7 ground beef, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Pork loin assorted chops, bone in, $2.99/lb
    Safeway smoked half hams, bone in, shank half, $1.69/lb (rump half 20¢/lb higher)
    Safeway spiral sliced half ham, bone in, $2.29/lb
    Hormel “Cure 81” half ham, boneless, $3.99/lb
    Chicken breast/drums/thighs/leg quarters, bone in, value pack, 99¢/lb
    Jennie-O ground turkey breast, 20 oz pkg, $6.49
    Safeway frozen turkeys, 8-22 lb, 79¢/lb with $25 purchase
    Butterball frozen turkeys, 10-22 lb, 99¢/lb with $50 purchase
    Honeysuckle White turkey breast, bone in, $1.99/lb
    Tyson Cornish game hens, twin pack, $1.99/lb
    Tilapia fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $8.99/lb
    Sargento cheeses, 6-8 oz shingle pack, 2/$6
    Lucerne OR Open Nature cheeses, 24-32 oz shreds, $6.99
    Mezzeta pasta sauces, 24-25 oz jars, buy 1 get 1 free
    Safeway Select olive oil, 25 oz bottles, buy 1 get 1 free
    Birds Eye “Steamfresh” or C&W veggies, 10-16 oz bags, buy 2 get 2 free
    Honeycrisp apples, $1.99/lb
    Envy apples, $1.49/lb
    Fuji or Gala apples, $1.99/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $2.99/lb
    Navel oranges, $1.49/lb
    Mangos, 10/$10
    Vine or hothouse tomatoes, $2.49/lb
    Red/yellow/orange bell peppers, 2/$4
    Organic winter squashes, “selected varieties”, 99¢/lb



Sprouts:

    Beef NY steaks, boneless, $9.99/lb
    Beef chuck roast or steak, boneless, $4.99/lb
    93/7 ground beef sirloin, $4.99/lb
    Pork loin chops or roast, center cut boneless, $1.99/lb
    Alaskan Coho salmon fillets, wild caught, $8.99/lb
    Cherrystone clams, $1.99/lb
    Black mussels OR littleneck clams, $3.99/lb
    4 oz lobster tails, wild caught, $6.99
    Seedless grapes, green or red, $1.48/lb
    Gala apples, 88¢/lb
    Bartlett pears, 88¢/lb
    Navel oranges, 88¢/lb
    Texas grapefruit, 88¢ ea
    Whole seedless watermelon, 4 lbs/$1
    Organic Bartlett/d'Anjou/Bosc pears, $1.49/lb
    Organic Gala/Granny Smith/Red Delicious apples, 3 lb bag, $2.99
    Roma tomatoes, 88¢/lb
    Asparagus, $1.88/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green or red, OR spinach, 88¢/bunch
    Cucumbers, 2/$1
    Eggplant, 88¢ ea
    Summer squashes, Italian/yellow/grey, 88¢/lb