Wren's bargain guide, week beginning May 21st:

Fooducate tells us, finally, everything we've wanted to know about pink Himalayan salt!  (It's not Himalayan, for one thing.  And the pink is iron.)  A new paper published in JAMA suggests that it may be overweight that leads to overeating, rather than the commonly accepted model of t'other-way-round.  “Anabolic drive” – your body's urge to store calories as fat, rather than burning them – can be decreased by, among other factors, “low refined sugar intake … high omega-3 and low trans-fatty acid intake, adequate protein, high micronutrient and phytochemical content” as well as getting adequate sleep and physical activity.  Tell me you're surprised.  I dare you. 

It turns out that “exercise snacks” – ten-minute bursts of intensive activity repeated several times per day – can be effective in keeping blood sugar under control.  Yoni Freedhoff presents the last entries in his “Myths of Modern Day Dieting” video series:  “The last 10 lbs are the hardest” and “There's an Ideal Weight:  everyone the same height should weigh the same”.  And the most highly recommended article this week is at Lifehacker:  a long piece on “Why There's So Much Confusion Over Health and Nutrition”.  If you don't click through on anything else this week, click on that link.

Recipes!  Chow.com has a veggie-laden slow-cooker soup of butternut squash and red bell pepper with a garnish of roasted garbanzos.  Simply Recipes has cauliflower chickpea curry, a basmati rice salad with peas and mint and lemon and raisins, and Mediterranean potato salad dressed with a mustard vinaigrette instead of mayo.  And Snack Girl has rosemary oven chicken, baked fishsticks that even her kid will eat, and a rant with which we can all sympathize:  the cascade of Less Wise Choices at the supermarket checkout.  (Food companies, she points out, pay grocery stores for that prime display space.  It's a form of paid advertising, but with no sign reading, “Massive elaborate display of Oreos paid for by Nabisco!”)

Memorial Day weekend is the opening of Grilling Season, so brace for the promotions on burgers, steaks, hotdogs, sweet corn, and anything that can be cooked on a backyard barbecue.  Which these days includes just about everything short of peas (or snails, celebrated the 24th, National Escargot Day).  And if you don't care to grill this weekend you can still enjoy a meal outdoors:  Sunday, the 25th, is Brown Bag It Day.  Also National Wine Day although brown-bagging your wine will not necessarily enhance your reputation. 

May 21st:  National Strawberries and Cream Day
May 22nd:  National Vanilla Pudding Day
May 23rd:  National Taffy Day
May 24th:  National Escargot Day
May 25th:  National Wine Day (Not to be confused with Drink Wine Day, which is in February), National Brown Bag It Day
May 26th:  National Blueberry Cheesecake Day, National Cherry Dessert Day
May 27th:  National Grape Popsicle Day
May 28th:  National Brisket Day, National Hamburger Day


Stay cool and enjoy your weekend.


Albertson's:

    Beef petite sirloin steaks, bonelesss, $10.99/lb, buy 1 get 2 free
    Beef ribeye/t-bone/New York strip steaks, bone in, $8.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, $2.99/lb
    Pork loin back ribs, $8.99/lb, buy 1 get 3 free
    Center cut pork chops, boneless, $3.49/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Albertson's eggs, AA large, 18 ct, $1.99
    Sargento cheeses, 5-8 oz shreds or shingle, 2/$5
    Tillamook cheeses, 12 oz slices, $3.99
    Essential Everyday cheeses, 8 oz shingle pack, 2/$7
    Deli:    Signature rotisserie turkey breast OR Virginia smoked ham, $5.99/lb
        Margherita hard or Genoa salami OR pepperoni, $5.99/lb
    Nature's Own “100% Whole Wheat” bread, 20 oz loaves, $1.88
    Bush's baked beans, 21-28 oz cans, $1.99
    Bertolli pasta sauces, 15-24 oz jars, $2.99
    Essential Everyday variety (non-baked) beans, 15 oz cans, 88¢
    Pam cooking spray, 5-6 oz cans, 2/$5
    Whole seedless watermelons, $1.88 ea
    Peaches, $1.99/lb
    Apricots OR nectarines, $2.99/lb
    Honeydew melon, 99¢/lb
    Cut up watermelon/cantaloupe/pineapple, 24 oz bowls, 3/$10
    Slicing tomatoes, $1.69/lb
    Organic vine tomatoes, $2.99/lb
    Sweet corn, 4 pk, 2/$5


Bashas':

    Beef t-bone steaks, value pack, $5.77/lb
    Beef tri tip roast, $5.99/lb
    Ground beef chuck, fat content not listed, value pack, $2.88/lb
    Pork loin country styles (sic), bone in, value pack, $2.39/lb
    Chicken breasts or leg quarters, bone in, 88¢/lb
    Sargento cheeses, 3-8 oz shreds/shingle/ultrathin/ “tastings”, 2/$5
    Kraft Cracker Barrel cheeses, 8 oz chunk, 3/$10
    Bush's baked or “Grillin'” beans, 22-28 oz cans, 2/$3
    American Beauty pasta, 1 lb pkg, 88¢
    Chicken of the Sea chunk light tuna, 5 oz cans, 79¢
    Libby's veggies, 14-15 oz cans, 69¢
    Food Club tomatoes, 15 oz cans, 69¢
    Weight Watchers ice-cream novelties, 6-12 ct, 40% off
    Seedless watermelon, 15¢/lb
    Blackberries/raspberries/blueberries, 6 oz boxes, 3/$5
    Strawberries, 1 lb boxes, 2/$5
    Whole pineapples, 2/$5
    Apricots, $1.77/lb
    Mangos, 2/$1
    Organic seedless grapes, green or red, $1.99/lb
    Vine tomatoes, 2 lbs/$3


Fry's:

    Beef ribeye steaks, bone in, family pack, $5.87/lb
    Kroger 80/20 ground beef, 3 lb chub, $11.37 ($3.79/lb)
    Pork ribs, loin back OR St Louis-style, buy 1 get 2 free
    Heritage Farm boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, $1.99/lb
    Jennie-O 93/7 ground turkey, 20 oz pkg, $3.99
    Atlantic salmon OR tilapia fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Kroger cheeses, 6-8 oz chunk/shreds/shingle, $1.99
    Bush's baked or “Grillin'” beans, 21-28 oz cans, 2/$3
    Simple Truth organic variety beans, 15 oz cans, 10/$10
    Ragu pasta sauces, 16-24 oz jars, $1.77
    Blueberries, dry pint, $1.77
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, 2/$5
    Blackberries or raspberries, 6 oz boxes, 2/$5
    Cantaloupes, AZ grown, 2/$5
    Whole seedless watermelons, $3.99
    White or yellow peaches OR nectarines, $2.49/lb
    Vine tomatoes, 75¢/lb
    Sweet corn, 3/99¢
    Vidalia onions, 99¢/lb


Safeway:

    Beef ribeye steak, bone in, $5.99/lb
    Beef back ribs, bone in, $2.49/lb
    Beef NY strip steak, $7.99/lb
    80/20 ground beef, $2.99/lb
    Half pork loin, boneless, whole in bag, $2.99/lb
    Pork top loin chops, boneless, $3.99/lb
    Pork sirloin chops, boneless, $4.49/lb
    Pork shoulder “for carnitas”, boneless, $3.49/lb
    Eating Right boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.99/lb
    Safeway Farms chicken thighs or drumsticks, bone in, value pack, $1.39/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $8.99/lb
    Lucerne cheeses, 2 lb chunk or shreds, $7.99
    Oroweat 100% whole wheat bread, 24 oz wide-pan loaves, $2.99
    Bush's baked beans, 28 oz cans, 3/$5
    Chicken of the Sea solid white tuna, 5 oz cans, $1.39
    Safeway Select salsa, 24 oz jars, 2/$5
    Safeway Kitchens variety beans, 15 oz cans, 99¢
    Bush's Best “Grillin'” beans, 21-22 oz cans, 3/$5
    Safeway Kitchens frozen veg, 14-16 oz bags, 2/$3
    Morningstar Farms frozen meatless, 5-12 oz, 2/$7
    Healthy Choice “Baked” frozen entrees, $1.99
    Whole seedless watermelons, $2.99
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, $2.99
    Peaches, $2.99/lb
    Whole cantaloupes, 2/$6
    Whole pineapples, $2.99 ea
    Blueberries, dry pint, $3.99
    Jazz apples, $1.99/lb
    Mangos, 10/$10
    Organic seedless grapes, green or red, $2.99/lb
    Sweet corn, 6/$2
    Vine tomatoes, $2.99/lb
    O Organics grape tomatoes, dry pint, $3.49


Sprouts:

    85/15 ground beef, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Pork baby back ribs, $2.99/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken thighs, value pack, $1.99/lb
    Swordfish or ahi tuna steaks, bone in, wild caught, $7.99/lb
    Sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $9.99/lb
    Alaskan cod fillets, wild caught, $6.99/lb
    Ethnic Gourmet frozen entrees, 25% off
    Blueberries, 4 oz boxes, 98¢
    Whole cantaloupes, 98¢ ea
    Honey mangos, 3/$1
    Yellow peaches, 98¢/lb
    Navel oranges, 88¢/lb
    Apples, Fuji/Granny Smith/Jonagold, 98¢/lb
    Green or red seedless grapes, $1.98/lb
    Organic Bartlett pears, 2 lbs/$3
    Red bell peppers, 3/$1
    Vine tomatoes, 98¢/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, OR iceberg, 88¢ ea
    Spinach, 88¢/bunch
    Yellow onions, 2 lbs/$1