Wren's bargain guide, week beginning February 26th:

Dateline:  Wells, Nevada.  Don't ask.  Don't BLOODY ask.

Fooducate covers the South-American-market product “Coca-Cola Life”, sweetened with stevia replacing half the sugar (that's still four teaspoons of sugar per can);  veggie pasta as compared with whole-grain pasta;  and where the mushrooms you buy at the supermarket come from (not the woods).  Two new studies indicate that consuming full-fat milk and butter (as distinguished from skim milk and margarine) can actually help to keep weight off!  And No One Knows Why!  Another study, this one in the journal Appetite, shows that people eat less when they eat off red plates.  And Brazil has issued the most sensible set of dietary guidelines I've ever seen.

Pretty veggies!

Chow.com has kale-and-mushroom stroganoff and a pile of Indian preparations:  chicken tikka masala, apparently the ideal introductory Indian dish;  how to make your own garam masala;  and Indian condiments in all their wondrous variety.  Simply Recipes goes Indian too, matching last week's aromatic coconut rice with a coconut-shrimp curry, and then rushes back to European-derived cooking for mashed-parsnips-and-potatoes.  Smitten Kitchen has stuck-pot rice with lentils and yogurt, including tips on how to adapt it for brown rice;  Sprouted has a “power green salad”.  And Snack Girl has a tomato tortellini soup, something described as (God help us) “black bean blender brownies”, and the question:  how essential are “Carnation Breakfast Essentials”?  (Her answer:  not very.  As she points out, 240 calories in eight ounces of liquid is not a substitute for breakfast.)

Friday is National Chili Day.  Hard on its heels comes March, National Frozen Food Month.  (This is the only food holiday I've been able to find an actual rationale for:  frozen-food companies want to unload last year's pack before the new crops come in, so they're going to dump it into your freezer.)  The 4th is Shrove Tuesday, National Pancake Day;  traditionally this was a day for eating pancakes and waffles, to use up all the eggs and milk in the house before the Lenten fast begins on Ash Wednesday. 

February 26th:  National Pistachio Day
February 27th:  National Strawberry Day, National Kahlua Day
February 28th:  National Chili Day, National Chocolate Soufflé Day
March 1st:  National Peanut Butter Lovers' Day
March 2nd:  National Banana Cream Pie Day
March 3rd:  National Mulled Wine Day
March 4th:  National Pound Cake Day, National Pancake Day
March 5th:  National Frozen Food Day;  Ash Wednesday


Herewith, all the supermarket bargains I've been able to track down with my mad internet skillz.  See you all next week:

Albertson's:

    Beef petite sirloin steaks, boneless, buy 1 get 2 free
    Beef ribeye/t-bone/New York steaks, $7.99/lb
    Beef top sirloin steak OR tri tip roast, $4.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, $3.19/lb
    93/7 ground beef, $3.29/lb
    Pork loin chops, center cut boneless, buy 1 get 2 free
    Pork sirloin chops, boneless, $3.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    Pork assorted chops or country-style ribs, bone in, buy 1 get 1 free
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.49/lb
    Cod, wild caught, 5 oz portions, 2/$3
    Ahi tuna, 5 oz portions, $2.99 ea
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $7.99/lb
    Sockeye salmon portions, wild caught, 5 oz, $3.99 ea
    Albertson's milk, gallons, $1.99
    Deli:    Signature Virginia smoked ham, $3.99/lb
        Healthy Ones oven-roasted turkey, honey turkey, chicken breast, honey ham, $5.99/lb
        Margherita hard or Genoa salami OR pepperoni, $3.99/lb
    Nature's Own “Honey Wheat” bread, 20 oz loaves, 2/$5
    Essential Everyday veggies, beans, tomatoes, 14-15 oz cans, 69¢
    Chicken of the Sea chunk light tuna, 5 oz cans, 10/$10
    Strawberries, 3 lb flat, $3.99
    Minneola tangelos, $1.49/lb
    Gala OR Red Delicious apples, 3 lb bag, $2.99
    Roma tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Broccoli crowns OR cauliflower, 99¢/lb


Bashas':

    Beef top sirloin steak, value pack, $3.88/lb (regular pack, $1/lb higher)
    Beef crossrib or bottom round roast, $4.99/lb
    Ground beef round, fat content not listed, $3.99/lb
    Pork loin country style, bone in, value pack, $1.39/lb
    Center cut pork chops, boneless, $3.99/lb
    Chicken drums/thighs/leg quarters, bone in, 99¢/lb
    Bashas' milk, gallons, $1.99
    Bashas' cottage cheese, 16 oz tubs, $1.69
    Bashas' sour cream, 16 oz tubs, $1.29
    Food Club cheeses, 8 oz chunk/shreds/cubelets, 5/$10
    Food Club cheeses, 6-8 oz shingle pack, 2/$5
    S&W variety (non-baked) beans, 15 oz cans, 59¢
    Veg-All veggies, 14-15 oz cans, 59¢
    Flav-R-Pac frozen veggies, 12-16 oz bags, 3/$3
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, 4/$5
    Blackberries OR blueberries, 6 oz boxes, 4/$5
    Green or red seedless grapes, $2.99/lb
    “Texas Red” grapefruit, 2/$1
    Roma or slicing tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, OR iceberg, AZ grown, 99¢ ea
    Zucchini, 99¢/lb


Fry's:

    Beef top sirloin, boneless, whole damn thing in a bag, $3.97/lb, sliced & wrapped free
    Beef top sirloin steaks, family pack, $4.97/lb
    Center cut pork chops, boneless, family pack, $2.99/lb
    Tyson boneless skinless chicken breast, buy 1 get 2 free
    Jennie-O 85/15 ground turkey, 1 lb pkg, $2.79
    Atlantic salmon, 5 oz portions, $4.99
    Steelhead fillets, farm raised, $8.99/lb
    Tilapia OR corvina fillets, farm raised, $5.99/lb
    Kroger cottage cheese, 16 oz tubs, 10/$10
    Progresso soups incl. Light, 10/$10
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, 2/$3
    Minneola tangelos, 88¢/lb
    Green or red seedless grapes, $2.99/lb
    Apples:  Gala, Granny Smith, Red/Golden Delicious, 99¢/lb
    D'Anjou pears, 99¢/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, OR iceberg, AZ grown, 99¢
    Fresh spinach, AZ grown, 99¢/bunch
    Vine tomatoes, $1.99/lb
    Broccoli OR cauliflower, AZ grown, $1.29/lb
    Organic kale, 99¢/bunch


Safeway:

    Beef NY strip steak, bone in, value pack, $4.99/lb (boneless, $2/lb higher)
    Beef chuck roast, boneless, $3.99/lb
    Beef round tip roast, boneless, $4.99/lb
    80/20 ground beef, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Pork sirloin chops OR country style ribs, boneless, value pack, $1.69/lb
    “All natural” pork loin assorted chops, bone in, $2.99/lb
    Eating Right boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.99/lb
    Alaskan cod fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb
    Classico pasta sauces, 15-24 oz jars, $1.99
    Libby's veggies, 14-15 oz cans, 99¢
    Safeway Kitchens fruit, 15 oz cans, 4/$5
    Progresso Light soups, 2/$3
    Birds Eye “Steamfresh” frozen veg, 10-16 oz pkg, 2/$5
    Safeway Farms family-size frozen veg, 2 lb bags, $5 ea
    Skinny Cow ice-cream novelties, 4-6 ct, $3.99
    Healthy Choice “Baked” frozen entrees, 5/$10
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, 2/$5
    Green or red seedless grapes, $2.99/lb
    Personal mini seedless watermelons, $3.99 ea
    “Sumo” mandarins, $2.99/lb
    Bananas, 59¢/lb
    Vine/hothouse/vine-ripe tomatoes, $2.99/lb
    Hass avocados, 10/$10
    Asparagus, $2.99/lb
    Organic leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, $1.99


Sprouts:

    Beef Porterhouse steaks, bone in, value pack, $7.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, value pack, $3.99/lb
    Pork loin chops or roast, boneless, $1.99/lb
    Pork shoulder roast OR country-style ribs, boneless, $2.49/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken thighs or wingettes, value pack, $1.99/lb
    Mahi mahi fillets, wild caught, $3.99/lb
    Sea of Cortez halibut fillets, wild caught, $12.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $9.99/lb
    Sprouts sandwich bread, 18 oz loaves, $3.29
    Sprouts Irish soda bread, 1 lb loaves, $2.99
    Navel oranges, 88¢/lb
    “Texas Red” grapefruit, 88¢ ea
    Apples:  Braeburn, Granny Smith, Jonagold, 98¢/lb
    Yellow mangos, 88¢ ea
    Blackberries, 5 oz boxes, 2/$3
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, 2 lbs/$5
    Grapefruit OR Valencia oranges, organic, 4 lb bags, $2.98
    Organic Bosc pears, 3 lb bags, $2.98
    Vine tomatoes, 88¢/lb
    Asparagus, 88¢/lb
    Organic broccoli, 98¢/lb
    Earthbound Farms organic box salads, 5-7 oz, buy 1 get 1 free
    Brussels sprouts, 98¢/lb
    Cauliflower, 98¢/lb
    Baby carrots, 1 lb bag, 98¢
    Cucumbers, 2/$1