Wren's bargain guide, week beginning January 8th:

And, as probably through the balance of January, the ongoing spate of Start The New Year By Losing Weight And Here's How tips on all sides.  Fooducate has a set of “Five Ways to Eat Slowly”, since slow eating is strongly linked with losing weight.  One tip is that the more highly processed a food is, the easier it is to gulp down:  white bread chews faster than wholemeal, most fast food is designed to be consumed as quickly and easily as possible.

Summer Tomato has a minor philosophical treatise on eating half a doughnut.  She touches on a number of issues, including willpower, experience stretching (once you've tried the really good doughnuts, are you going to waste the calories or PointsPlus on rubbish doughnuts from the supermarket?), cauliflower that tastes like French fries, and the crucial awareness that this is not the last doughnut you will ever have the opportunity to eat in your entire life.  Mark's Daily Apple has “17 Reasons to Walk More This Year”:  as he points out, it requires no investment in equipment.  “See those bizarre appendages underneath you?  That's what you walk with.  See that horizontal surface stretching into the horizon?  That's what you walk on.”  And Andrew Weil writes of a study from the University of Missouri which strongly suggests that protein-rich snacks keep you from getting hungry longer than other kinds.  It's a very small study group but still might be worth a try.

Recipes!  Chow.com follows up last week's stack of soups with one of “quick and easy” soups, this being National Soup Month and (in the Northern Hemisphere at least) intrinsically a lovely time of year for soup.  Also kale chips, recipes for winter root veggies, and winter salads – there may be some overlap in these last two categories.  At Simply Recipes I find Dijon chicken and an intensely green smoothie of bananas, pineapple, spinach, and Greek yogurt.  De gustibus &c.  And Snack Girl has an ice-cream dessert consisting entirely of peanut butter and “those bananas that no one wants to eat because they look disgusting”, and an analysis of Weight Watchers:  she mentions accountability, support (“having a group of people who are in the same boat rowing with you”), and the advantage of having to pay for membership.  “I don't know about you,” she says, “but if I am paying for something I pay attention.”

The 11th, this Saturday, is both National Milk Day and National Hot Toddy Day.  This second week of January is National Pizza Week, exercise caution! 

January 8th:  National English Toffee Day
January 9th:  National Apricot Day
January 10th:  National Bittersweet Chocolate Day
January 11th:  National Hot Toddy Day, National Milk Day
January 12th:  National Marzipan Day, National Curried Chicken Day
January 13th:  National Peach Melba Day
January 14th:  National Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day
January 15th:  National Strawberry Ice-Cream Day, National Fresh Squeezed Juice Day


Albertson's:

    Beef t-bone/ribeye/New York steaks, bone in, family pack, $7.99/lb
    Beef tri tip OR top sirloin steaks, boneless, $4.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, $2.79/lb
    93/7 ground beef, $3.29/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.67/lb
    Sanderson Farms whole frying chickens, 98¢/lb
    Assorted pork chops, bone in, $1.88//lb
    Center cut pork loin chops, bone in, $2.99/lb
    Pork St Louis-style ribs, $6.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $5.99/lb
    Rockfish or Dover sole fillets, wild caught, $6.99/lb
    Essential Everyday cheeses, 1 lb chunk, $2.99
    Laughing Cow cheese wedges, buy 1 get 1 free
    Deli:    Dietz & Watson ham, chicken, turkey, $7.99/lb
        Unbranded (store) hard or Genoa salami OR pepperoni, $5.99/lb
        Unbranded (store) Muenster/Provolone/pepperjack/mild Cheddar, $5.99/lb
    Oroweat breads, 24 oz wide-pan loaves, $2.99
    Francesco Rinaldi pasta sauces, 23-24 oz jars, 99¢
    S&W variety (non-baked) beans, 15 oz cans, 88¢
    Carbonelli olive oil, 25 oz square tins, $5.99/lb
    Essential Everyday olive oil, 24 oz bottles, $5.99/lb
    Bertolli pasta sauces, 15-24 oz jars, 2/$5
    Blackberries OR blueberries, 6 oz boxes, 2/$3
    Jazz apples, $2.49/lb
    Cara Cara oranges OR Minneola tangelos, $1.49/lb
    Seedless grapes, green or red, $2.99/lb
    Grape tomatoes, 12 oz boxes, 2/$3
    Fresh Express bag salads, “Premium Romaine” or “Green & Crisp”, OR spinach, 2/$3
    Organic cauliflower, $1.99 ea
    Organic iceberg, $1.49/lb
    Organic romaine hearts, 1 lb pkg, $2.99


Bashas':

    Beef New York steak, boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb (first 2)
    Beef crossrib, eye/bottom round, sirloin tip roasts, boneless, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef crossrib, bottom round, sirloin tip steaks, boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
    Beef t-bone steaks, $8.99/lb
    “Assorted” pork chops, value pack, $1.99/lb
    Center cut pork chops, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Chicken drums/thighs/leg quarters, 99¢/lb
    Tilapia fillets, farm raised, $4.77/lb
    Dover sole fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb “weather permitting”
    Cod fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb
    Challenge butter, $2.99
    Daisy sour cream OR cottage cheese, 16 oz tubs, 2/$4
    Food Club cheeses, 6-8 oz chunk/shreds/cubelets, $1.88
    Food Club drinking water, half litre bottles, 24 pk, $2.27
    Food Club veggies or tomatoes, 14-15 oz cans, 69¢
    Valley Fresh white chicken, 10 oz cans, 2/$5
    Hunt's pasta sauces, 24 oz cans, 99¢
    Food Club pasta, 13-16 oz boxes, 99¢
    Smart Ones frozen entrees, 5/$10, buy 5 get 1 free
    Navel oranges OR Minneola tangelos, 88¢/lb
    “Texas Red” grapefruit, 2/$1
    Apples:  Fuji, Braeburn, Red Delicious, 99¢/lb
    Mangos, 10/$10
    Slicing tomatoes, 77¢/lb
    Slicing tomatoes, 77¢/lb
    Broccoli OR cauliflower, 77¢/lb (organic, 2 lbs/$3
    Dole bag salads, buy 1 get 1 free
    Summer squashes, zucchini/yellow/grey, 99¢/lb


Fry's:

    Beef ribeye steaks, boneless or bone in, 50% off
    Beef chuck OR crossrib roast, boneless, $3.99/lb
    93/7 ground beef, $3.49/lb (2 lb chub, $6.98)
    Entire selection of fresh pork, 50% off
    Cook's spiral hams, bone in, $1.27/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.99/lb
    Kroger chicken thighs/drumsticks, bone in, 99¢/lb
    Tilapia or corvina fillets, farm raised, $5.99/lb
    Alaskan cod fillets, wild caught, $4.99/lb
    Fry's milk, half gallons only, 10/$10
    Kroger cheeses, 6-8 oz chunk or shreds, $1.99
    Simple Truth organic pasta sauces, 25 oz jars, $2.99
    Lean Cuisine frozen entrees, 5/$10
    Weight Watchers OR Skinny Cow ice-cream novelties, 4-12 ct, $3.99
    Apples:  Gala, Granny Smith, Red/Golden Delicious, 99¢/lb
    D'Anjou pears, 99¢/lb
    Minneola tangelos, AZ grown, 88¢/lb
    Red cherries, $3.99/lb
    Blackberries, 6 oz boxes, 2/$5
    Strawberries, 1 lb boxes, $2.99
    Organic navel oranges, AZ grown, 99¢/lb
    Nature Sweet eeny ickle tomatoes, 10 oz boxes, 2/$5
    Dole OR Fresh Selections bag salads, 2/$5
    Simple Truth organic “Spring Mix” OR baby spinach, 16 oz boxes, $4.49


Safeway:

    Beef crossrib steak, boneless, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Beef NY strip steak, boneless, value pack, $5.99/lb (bone in, 50¢/lb lower)
    Beef London broil, boneless, $3.99/lb
    Beef chuck 7-bone steak, value pack, $2.79/lb
    Assorted pork loin chops, bone in, $1.79/lb
    “All natural” pork loin chops, bone in, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Sanderson Farms whole chickens, 88¢/lb
    Safeway Farms chicken drums/thighs/leg quarters, bone in, value pack, 99¢/lb
    Eating Right boneless skinless chicken breast, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Tilapia fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Alaskan sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $9.99/lb
    Yellowfin ahi tuna steaks, bone in, wild caught, $9.99/lb
    Bush's variety (non-baked) beans, 15-16 oz cans, 5/$5
    Progresso Light soups (with the WW logo), $1.79
    Kellogg's Nutri-Grain bars, 7-10 oz boxes, 2/$5
    Quaker Chewy Granola bars, 8 ct box, 2/$5
    Hunt's tomatoes, 14 oz cans, 10/$10
    Hunt's tomato sauce, 15 oz cans, 10/$10
    American Beauty pasta, 1 lb bags, 5/$5
    Birds Eye “Steamfresh” or “C&W” frozen veggies, 10-16 oz bags, buy 2 get 2 free
    Fuji apples, 99¢/lb
    Gala apples, $1.49/lb
    Navel oranges, 99¢/lb
    “Texas Ruby Red” grapefruit, 99¢ ea
    Peaches OR nectarines, $3.99/lb
    Honeycrisp or Envy apples, $2.99/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $2.99/lb
    Red cherries, $3.99/lb
    Vine tomatoes, $2.49/lb
    Peeled “baby-cut” carrots, 1 lb bag, 2/$3
    NatureSweet cherry or “Glory” tomatoes, 10 oz boxes, 2/$5
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, $1.29
    Broccoli OR cauliflower, $1.49/lb
    Fresh Express OR Safeway Farms bag salads, 2/$6


Sprouts:

    “Buffalo stampede” – prices start at $6.99/lb for buffaloburger and go up, asymptotically
    Beef sirloin tip roast or steak, boneless, $2.99/lb
    Beef top sirloin steak, boneless, $6.99/lb
    “Grass-fed organic” ground beef, fat content not listed, $6.99/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, value pack, $1.99/lb
    Halibut portions, 6 oz each, wild caught, $7.99
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $8.99/lb
    Albacore, cod, wahoo (??), mahi mahi, 6 oz portions, $3.99 ea
    Blackberries or blueberries, 5-6 oz  boxes, 2/$3
    Honeycrisp apples, $1.48/lb
    Red seedless grapes, 2 lbs/$5
    Red cherries, $3.98/lb
    Navel oranges OR Minneola tangelos, 88¢/lb
    Grapefruit, 88¢ ea
    Organic Valencia oranges, 4 lb bags, 2/$5
    Organic grapefruit, 4 lb bags, $3.99
    Organic Pink Lady apples, $1.49/lb
    Roma tomatoes, 48¢/lb
    Grape tomatoes, dry pint, 2/$3
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 88¢ ea
    Italian or yellow squash, 88¢/lb
    Eggplant, 88¢ ea
    Green beans, 88¢/lb