Wren's bargain guide, week beginning January 22nd:

At Fooducate, guest blogger Yoni Freedhoff on “The Top 10 Whys and Hows of Keeping a Food Diary” – or tracking.  Also yet another rant on the alleged connection between diet sodas and overweight (correlation is not causation), the skyrocketing rate of eating away from home (in 1977, 3.1% of calories consumed in the US were eaten at fast-food restaurants;  today that fraction is 13.1%), and a close look at the nutrition labels on ramen noodles and imitation bacon bits.  Marion Nestle tells me that Wal-Mart has agreed to pay its tomato pickers in Florida 1¢/lb more – meaning that a 32-lb basket of tomatoes that previously earned its picker 50¢ will now pay 82¢, which can mean a single worker's wage of $50/day will jump to $90/day.  Power to the people! 

Via Grist, a podcast interview with Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma, Cooked) about the paleo diet and the realities of what our ancestors ate.  And courtesy of Andrew Weil, a new study from Spain revealing that eating chocolate – in reasonable quantities – “is associated with lower body fat and less abdominal fat”.  To which I can only say !!!!!!!!!!

Recipes!  Chow.com's abandoned it's-the-New-Year-and-here's-how-to-lose-weight for it's-the-dead-of-winter-and-here's-how-to-stay-warm.  A pile of vegetarian recipes that serve to point up the hazards of mentally equating “vegetarian” with “healthy” (there may be a way to make chile rellenos PointsPlus-friendly, but the recipe here is not it), another of nice stew recipes that could be modified, and a set of utterly bizarre things to do with ramen.  Ramen waffles.  Chocolate ramen bark.

More recipes!  From Simply Recipes, a coleslaw made from broccoli stems, peeled and shredded;  from Smitten Kitchen, a warm salad of potatoes and lentils.  At Fooducate, a casserole of spinach, lentils, and wild rice which the contributor admits is “not very photogenic”.  (Well, lentils aren't too, really.  And I speak as someone who likes lentils.)  And Snack Girl has DIY fruit-and-nut bars, her top 10 healthy game-day party snacks (including a “three-layer seven-layer dip”), and a weight-loss Q&A.  (Asked the best way to start losing weight, she can only come up with a list of worst ways, including wearing a diving suit and “intestinal parasites”.)

Fourth week of January, National Meat Week and National Irish Coffee Week.  Tomorrow, the 23rd, is National Pie Day, not to be confused with Pi Day which is in March.  The 25 is Burns Night and also National Soup Swap Day.  Haggis soup not mandatory.

January 22nd:  National Blonde Brownie Day
January 23rd:  National Pie Day
January 24th:  National Peanut Butter Day
January 25th:  Burns Night, National Soup Swap Day
January 26th:  National Pistachio Day, National Peanut Brittle Day
January 27th:  Chocolate Cake Day
January 28th:  National Blueberry Pancake Day
January 29th:  National Corn Chip Day


Albertson's:

    Beef ribeye or NY strip steak, bone in, $5.97/lb
    Beef roasts, chuck, crossrib, eye/bottom round, boneless, $4.29/lb
    Beef steaks, top/bottom/eye round, chuck, crossrib, sirloin tip, thin cut boneless, $8.49/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef petite sirloin steaks, $8.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    85/15 ground beef, $2.79/lb
    Pork sirloin chops, boneless, $1.99/lb
    Pork loin chops, center cut boneless, $7.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.67/lb
    Tilapia or swai fillets, $2.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb (bone in steaks, $1/lb higher)
    Albertson's milk, gallons, 2/$5
    Albertson's eggs, large, 18 ct, $1.88
    Albertson's sour cream, 16 oz tub, $1
    Essential Everyday butter, half pounds, $1 (full pounds, $2.79)
    Essential Everyday cream cheese incl. Light, 8 oz blocks $1
    Crystal Farms cheeses, 8 oz chunk or shreds, 2/$5
    Deli:    Signature Virginia smoked ham, $3.99/lb
        Dietz & Watson ham, turkey, chicken breast, $7.99/lb
        Dietz & Watson “lacy Swiss” cheese, $7.99/lb
        Stella Swiss, Provolone, Muenster, $5.99/lb
    Oroweat bread, 24 oz wide-pan loaves, $2.99
    La Moderna pasta, 7 oz bags, 25¢
    Hunt's tomato sauce, 8 oz cans, 25¢
    Wild Harvest organic olive oil, 17 oz bottles, $4.99
    Essential Everyday tomatoes, veg, variety (non-baked) beans, 14-15 oz cans, 50¢
    Birds Eye “Steamfresh” veggies, 10-12 oz boxes, $1
    Essential Everyday frozen veggies, 14-16 oz bags, $1
    Morningstar Farms entrees, 2/$7
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, 2/$3
    Navel oranges, $1/lb
    Pomelos (here spelled “pummelos”), $1.99 ea
    Minneola tangelos, $1.49/lb
    Cara Cara oranges, $1.69/lb
    Fuji apples, $1.49/lb
    Roma tomatoes, $1.29/lb
    Organic broccoli, $1.99/lb
    Baby eggplant, 10/$10
    Iceberg, $1


Bashas':

    Beef London broil, $3.49/lb
    Beef crossrib roast, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef crossrib steak, value pack, $3.99/lb
    Beef t-bone steaks, value pack, $7.99/lb
    Ground beef chuck, fat content not listed, $2.49/lb
    Pork loin country style, bone in, value pack, $1.79/lb
    Boneless pork roast, $2.99/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.77/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    True cod fillets, wild caught, $6.99/lb “weather permitting”
    Bashas' eggs, AA large, dozens, 99¢
    Land O Lakes butter, 2/$5
    Food Club cheeses, 8 oz chunk/shreds/cubelets, 5/$10
    Bush's variety (non-baked) beans, 15-16 oz cans, 88¢
    Flav-R-Pac veggies, 12-16 oz frozen bags, 88¢
    Applies, Fuji/Braeburn/Red Delicious, 99¢/lb
    Red seedless grapes, $1.99/lb
    Navel oranges OR Minneola tangelos, 99¢/lb
    Whole pineapples, 2/$5
    Vine tomatoes, 88¢/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, AZ grown, 99¢ ea
    Grape tomatoes, 12 oz box, 2/$4
    Organic “baby peeled” carrots, 1 lb bag, 2/$3
    Dole bag salads, 12 oz, 77¢ ea


Fry's:

    Beef petite sirloin steaks, boneless, family pack, $2.99/lb
    93/7 ground beef, $4.69/lb (2 lb chub)
    Pork loin, boneless, whole in bag, $1.99/lb
    Pork loin center chop, family pack, $2.99/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, $1.59/lb
    Atlantic salmon, 5 oz portions, $4.99 ea
    Swai fillets, farm raised, $2.99/lb
    Fry's milk, gallons, 2/$5
    Fry's eggs, AA large, dozens, 4/$5
    Kroger cheeses, 12-16 oz chunk or shreds, $3.29
    Lean Cuisine frozen entrees, 5/$10
    Blackberries or blueberries, 6 oz boxes, 2/$3
    Apples, Gala, Granny Smith, Red/Golden Delicious, 99¢/lb
    D'Anjou pears, 99¢/lb
    Minnola tangelos, 99¢/lb
    Pomegranates, 2/$5
    Roma tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/romaine, OR iceberg OR spinach, AZ grown, 99¢
    Red or yellow bell peppers, 4/$5
    Organic broccoli or cauliflower, $1.89/lb
    Organic kale, 99¢/bunch


Safeway:

    Beef chuck or bottom round steak, boneless, value pack, $3.49/lb
    Beef top sirloin steaks, boneless, value pack, $5.99/lb
    Beef NY strip steak, bone in, value pack, $7.99/lb
    Beef chuck crossrib steak, boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
    80/20 ground beef, value pack, $2.79/lb
    Half pork loin, boneless, in bag, $1.99/lb
    Pork top loin chops, boneless, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Cod fillets, wild caught, $4.99/lb
    Dover sole fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $8.99/lb
    Mahi mahi fillets, $4.99/lb
    Kraft cheeses, 6-8 oz shreds or shingle, buy 1 get 1 free
    Lucerne butter, $3.49
    Oroweat breads, 24 oz wide-pan loaves, $2.99
    Hunt's tomatoes or tomato sauce, 14-15 oz cans, 10/$10
    Del Monte veggies, 14-15 oz cans, 10/$10
    Near East rice or couscous, 4-10 oz boxes, 2/$4
    Smart Ones frozen entrees, 5/$10
    Pantry Essentials frozen veg, 2 lb bags, $1.99
    Green Giant frozen veg, 7-10 oz boxes, $1.99
    SeaPak seafood selections, 8-18 oz, $5.99
    SeaPak family size seafood selections, 18-30 oz, $9.99
    Navel oranges, 99¢/lb
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, 2/$5
    Gala apples, 99¢/lb
    Fuji apples, $1.99/lb
    Bartlett or Bosc pears, $1.49/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $2.99/lb
    “Texas Ruby Red” grapefruit, 99¢ ea
    Kiwifruit, 3/$1
    Vine tomatoes, $2.49/lb
    O Organics, box salads, 1 lb, $5
    Broccoli OR cauliflower, AZ grown, $1.49/lb
    “Baby-cut” carrots, AZ grown, 1 lb bag, 2/$3
    Zucchini OR yellow squash, $1.49/lb


Sprouts:

    Beef New York steak, boneless, $7.99/lb
    Beef chuck roast or steak, boneless, $4.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, value pack, $4.49/lb
    Center cut pork loin chops or roast, boneless, $2.99/lb
    Lamb shoulder chops, $2.99/lb (They're marketed as “fresh”, but also as “springtime lamb”.  In the Northern Hemisphere it is the dead of winter.  In the sheep country of Australia and New Zealand, it is high summer.  Nowhere on the planet is it currently “springtime”.)
    Chicken breast tenders, $1.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $5.99/lb
    Flounder fillets, wild caught, $6.99/lb
    Alaskan cod fillets, wild caught, $6.99/lb
    Swordfish steaks, boneless, wild caught, $6.99/lb
    Apples:  you bloody name it.  Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, Cameo, Jonagold, Piñata, Pink Lady, Braeburn, Red/Golden Delicious, all 88¢/lb
    Organic Braeburn or Red Delicious apples, 98¢/lb
    Red cherries, $3.88/lb
    “Texas Rio Star” grapefruit, 48¢ ea
    Navel oranges OR Minnola tangelos, 88¢/lb
    Red seedless grapes, 2 lbs/$5
    Roma tomatoes, 48¢/lb
    Italian or yellow squash, 98¢/lb
    Green bell peppers, 48¢ ea
    Red/yellow/orange bell peppers, 98¢ ea
    Celery, 88¢
    Cauliflower, 98¢/lb
    “Baby peeled” carrots, 1 lb bag, 88¢
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 88¢
    Grape tomatoes, dry pint, 2/$3