Wren's bargain guide, week beginning May 14th:

Very occasional disclaimer:  I am Wren and this is my hobby.  I am not Weight Watchers, nor is this.  I go through every week's grocery flyers and type up the healthier options, along with what information on the culinary front seems interesting or potentially useful.  This blog, and the handout I print up for the meetings, are in every conceivable way the OPPOSITE of an official Weight Watchers Thing.  So very not.

With county- and state-fair season in the offing, AlterNet presents an article that can only be classified as a warning:  a graphically, not to say hideously, photoillustrated list of the “15 Most Horrifying Deep-Fried Foods in America”.  This is worse than a nightmare, this is a gastronomic night terror.  Fried jellybeans.  Fried White Castle Sliders.  “Fried Picnic On a Stick” – this last a sort of kebab of fried chicken, tater tots, and pickles, skewered and batter-dipped and fried.  Fried sugar cubes. 

I'm … really not very hungry any more.

Marion Nestle explores exactly what it means when a package of chicken is labeled “USDA Process-Verified”.  Mark Bittman looks at a poll comparing what “organic” actually means and what shoppers think it means.  Nutrition Diva touches on cholesterol, and whether honey really is as “bad” as sugar.  And Yoni Freedhoff offers the latest in his series of videos on myths of modern-day dieting:  #11, “There Are Bottles Full of Weight Loss”.  (If there were, he points out, the world would be slim.)

Recipes!  At Chow.com chicken chipotle chili, a curry of cauliflower with chickpeas and tofu, and a tasty-looking Salade Niçoise.  Sprouted Kitchen has veggie quinoa burgers (someday I must get around to trying quinoa), PBS offers a radish salad.  And from Snack Girl we have Thai hummus – an interesting combination involving chickpeas, coconut, peanut butter, and jalapeño peppers – and a healthier and light take on pancakes!

This third week in May is Pickles Are PointsPlus-Free Week.  Well, no, actually it's International Pickle Week, but it's worth remembering that non-sweet pickles are PointsPlus-free.  Next Tuesday is National Pick Strawberries Day, and the day after is appropriately National Strawberries and Cream Day. 

May 14th:  National Buttermilk Biscuit Day
May 15th:  National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day
May 16th:  National Coquilles St. Jacques Day
May 17th:  National Cherry Cobbler Day
May 18th:  National Cheese Soufflé Day
May 19th:  National Devil's Food Cake Day, World Baking Day
May 20th:  National Quiche Lorraine Day, Pick Strawberries Day
May 21st:  National Strawberries and Cream Day


Albertson's:

    Beef petite sirloin steaks, boneless, $9.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef chuck/crossrib/bottom round steaks, thin cut boneless, $8.49/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef ribeye/t-bone/New York steaks, bone in, family pack, $8.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, $2.99/lb
    Center cut pork chops, boneless, $7.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    Assorted pork chops OR country style ribs, bone in, family pack, $2.49/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.88/lb
    Cod, wild caught, 5 oz portions, 2/$5
    Ahi tuna, wild caught, 5 oz portions, $3.99
    Sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $9.99/lb
    Albertson's milk, gallons, $1.99
    Albertson's eggs, AA large, dozens, 2/$3
    Tillamook cheeses, 8 oz chunk/shreds/shingle, 2/$6
    Deli:    Dietz & Watson chicken breast varieties, $5.99/lb
        Dietz & Watson cheeses, $7.99/lb
        Signature rotisserie turkey breast, $5.99/lb
        Healthy Ones oven roasted turkey/honey turkey/chicken breast/honey ham, $6.99/lb
        Margherita hard or Genoa salami OR pepperoni, $5.99/lb
    Ro*tel tomatoes, 10 oz cans, 10/$10
    Hunt's tomato sauce, 15 oz cans, 10/$10
    Hunt's pasta sauces, 24 oz cans, 10/$10
    Essential Everyday pasta, 12-16 oz boxes, 10/$10
    Essential Everyday tomatoes, 28 oz cans, 10/$10
    StarKist chunk light tuna, 5 oz cans, 10/$10
    Bumble Bee solid white tuna, 5 oz cans, 2/$3
    Herdez salsa, 16 oz jars, 2/$5
    Great American tilapia or cod fillets, 1 lb IQF bag, $9.99, buy 1 get 2 free
    Gorton's “Grilled Fillets”, salmon or tilapia, 2/$7 – still only 2 PointPlus per serving!
    Healthy Choice frozen entrees, 2/$5
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, 2/$5
    Apricots, from California, $2.99/lb
    Large kiwifruit, 99¢
    Sweet corn, 2/$1
    Baby heirloom tomatoes, 8 oz boxes, $3.59
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, OR iceberg, $1 ea
    Spinach, $1/bunch
    Hass avocados, $1 ea
    Red bell peppers, $1 ea
    Roma tomatoes, $1/lb
    English cucumbers, $1 ea
    Broccoli crowns OR cauliflower, $1/lb
    Zucchini, $1/lb


Bashas':

    Beef London broil, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Beef chuck roast or steak, boneless, $4.99/lb
    Beef top round roast or steak, $3.99/lb
    Ground beef round, fat content not listed, $3.99/lb
    Assorted pork chops, $1.87/lb
    Center cut pork chops, value pack, $3.49/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.87/lb
    Swai fillets, farm raised, $2.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $9.99/lb
    True cod fillets, farm raised, $5.99/lb “weather permitting”
    Challenge butter, $2.99
    Food Club cheeses, 2 lb chunk or shreds, $7.99
    Chicken of the Sea chunk light tuna, 5 oz cans, 88¢
    Bumble Bee solid white tuna, 5 oz cans, $1.99
    Hunt's pasta sauces, 24 oz cans, 10/$10
    Flav-R-Pac frozen veggies, 11-16 oz bags, 3/$5
    Green Giant “Steamers”, 11-12 oz pkg, 3/$5
    Red seedless grapes, 99¢/lb
    Cantaloupes, honeydew melons, seedless watermelons, 29¢/lb
    Apricots, yellow peaches, nectarines, $1.99/lb
    Vine tomatoes, 2 lbs/$3
    Sweet corn, 2/$1


Fry's:

    Beef chuck steak or roast, boneless, family pack, $2.99/lb
    Beef t-bone steaks, $8.99/lb
    Pork shoulder butt steaks OR country style ribs, bone in, $2.99/lb
    Pork sirloin, boneless, whole in bag, $1.79/lb
    Heritage Farm chicken drums/thighs/leg quarters, bone in, 99¢/lb
    Tyson boneless skinless chicken breast, 3 lb IQF bag, $4.47 ($1.49/lb)
    Kroger 85/15 ground turkey, 1 lb pkg, $2.99
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $7.99/lb
    Fry's milk, gallons, $1.88/lb
    Kroger cheeses, 6-8 oz chunk/shreds/shingle, $1.99
    Simple Truth organic variety (non-baked) beans, 15 oz cans, 10/$10
    Simple Truth organic quinoa, 1 lb bag, $6.99
    Navel oranges, 88¢/lb
    Cameo apples, 88¢/lb
    Raspberries, 6 oz boxes, 87¢
    Yellow peaches OR nectarines, $2.49/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $2.99/lb
    Whole seedless watermelons, $3.99 ea
    Strawberries, 1 lb box, 2/$5
    Blackberries OR blueberries, 6 oz boxes, 2/$5
    Vine tomatoes, $1.99/lb
    Red/yellow/orange bell peppers, 4/$5


Safeway:

    Beef London broil, boneless, $3.99/lb
    Beef NY strip steak, bone in, $9.99/lb
    Beef chuck roast, boneless, $4.99/lb
    80/20 ground beef, $3.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, “grass fed”, $5.99/lb
    Pork loin assorted chops, bone in, $3.99/lb
    Whole pork shoulder, bone in, single roast whole in bag, $2.49/lb
    Jennie-O Turkey Store 93/7 ground turkey, 20 oz pkg, $5
    Chicken drumsticks, value pack, 99¢/lb
    Lucerne cheeses, 32 oz chunk or shreds, $7.99
    Lucerne cheeses, 5-8 oz chunks, $2.99
    Lucerne butter, 2/$6
    Bush's baked (28 oz) or “Grillin'” (21-22 oz) beans, 3/$5
    Teasdale black beans, 29 oz cans, 2/$4
    Bertolli olive oil, 25 oz bottles, buy 1 get 1 free
    Herdez salsa, 24 oz jars, buy 1 get 1 free
    Safeway Kitchens frozen veg, 24-32 oz bags, $2.79
    Lean Cuisine “Simple Favorites”, $1.99
    Blackberries/raspberries/blueberries, 6 oz boxes, 2/$4
    Mini seedless watermelons, $2.99 ea
    Yellow peaches OR nectarines, $2.99/lb
    Gala apples, $1.99/lb
    Whole cantaloupes, 2/$6
    Red seedless grapes, $2.99/lb
    Sweet corn, 5/$2
    Nature Sweet cherub tomatoes, 10 oz box, $2.99


Sprouts:

    Beef rump roast, boneless, $2.99/lb
    Beef porterhouse steak, bone in, $9.99/lb
    93/7 ground beef sirloin, $5.49/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, value pack, $1.99/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken thighs, $2.99/lb
    Alaskan sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $8.99/lb
    Albacore tuna steaks, wild caught, $9.99/lb
    Alaskan cod fillets, wild caught, $7.99/lb
    Seedless grapes, green or red, 98¢/lb
    Yellow nectarines, 98¢/lb
    Navel oranges, 88¢/lb
    Red grapefruit, 88¢ ea
    Whole seedless watermelons, 2/$5
    Honey mangos, 2/$1
    Organic cantaloupes, 2 lbs/$1
    Vine tomatoes, 98¢/lb