Wren's bargain guide, week beginning June 25th:

Kraft Foods is recalling Velveeta sold at Wal-mart stores in 12 states, ours not one of them:  pass the news on if you have friends or family in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, or Wisconsin. 

If you've been following the news at all this past week, you've heard about the Senate subcommittee that's all but commanded Mehmet Oz to stop making wildly overstated claims about weight-loss supplements.  At my blog I've got links to two excellent pieces about this, one from The Atlantic, one (decidedly NSFW) from John Oliver.

Monica Reinagel has a nutritional overview of shellfish:  are they as good for you as finned fish?  (Many are.)  Consumer Reports has started a campaign to get the “misleading, confusing, and deceptive” word natural banned from food labels.  And Darya Rose at Summer Tomato (for some reason I printed this as “Weighty Matters” in the handout -- how embarrassing!) wonders about a hitherto undiscovered human subspecies, Homo nutritiocus or “Nutricons”.  These are the mythical beings that “eat for one reason and one reason alone:  optimal health and nutrition.”  These are the people who eat three balanced meals every single day, whose favorite foods are “green leafy vegetables and lean protein”, who always carry food scales although they can flawlessly estimate portion sizes, who on the vanishingly rare occasions they do become overweight simply (and effortlessly) eat-less-and-exercise-more.  The only problem with Nutricons is that they aren't real, and certainly aren't us.  “So why,” she wonders, “is virtually all health and diet advice directed at Nutricons and not real humans?  Why are we treated as if we are even capable of eating solely for fuel or optimal health, when getting dinner on the table at all is a challenge for most of us?”

Recipes!  Fooducate has okra in tomato sauce, a healthier alternative to breaded-and-deep-fried, if you're into okra, and the Well suggests interesting things to do with broccoli stems.  Darya Rose has a dish of cabbage and eggs, which might be worth trying if you can very quickly scroll past the illustration which is to say the least not the most appetizing she's ever used.  Chow.com has veggie tacos and a lovely and ultra-simple heirloom tomato salad recipe;  Simply Recipes has a watermelon gazpacho, salmon lettuce wraps, and a chicken rice casserole from the slow cooker.  Also from the slow cooker, Simple Nourished Living has a 4-PointsPlus Italianate chicken, and Snack Girl has slow-cooker vegetarian baked beans.  Lovely thing, the slow cooker, especially in summer.

June 25th:  National Catfish Day, National Strawberry Parfait Day
June 26th:  National Chocolate Pudding Day
June 27th:  National Indian Pudding Day, National Orange Blossom Day
June 28th:  National Ceviche Day, National Tapioca Day
June 29th:  National Almond Buttercrunch Day
June 30th:  National Ice-Cream Soda Day
July 1st:  Creative Ice-Cream Flavor Day, National Gingersnap Day
July 2nd:  National Anisette Day


Albertson's:

    Beef petite sirloin steaks, $10.99/lb, buy 1 get 2 free
    Beef ribeye/t-bone/New York steaks, bone in, family pack, $7.99/lb
    Beef roasts:  chuck, crossrib, eye/bottom round, sirloin tip, London broil, boneless, $3.99/lb
    80/20 ground beef, $2.49/lb
    Pork loin chops, center cut bone in, $6.99/lb, buy 1 get 2 free
    Pork sirloin chops, boneless, family pack, $2.49/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.77/lb
    Essential Everyday butter, 2/$5
    Essential Everyday cheeses, 6-8 oz chunk/shreds/shingle, 2/$6
    Deli:    Dietz & Watson turkey and ham, $8.99/lb
        Dietz & Watson sharp Cheddar or baby Swiss, $7.99/lb
    Essential Everyday veggies or tomatoes, 14-15 oz cans, 69¢
    Essential Everyday pasta, 12-16 oz boxes, 75¢
    Pam cooking spray, 5-6 oz cans, $3.49
    Green Giant “Steamers” frozen veggies, 12 oz pkg, $1.99
    Red seedless grapes, 77¢/lb
    Red cherries, $3.99/lb
    Yellow nectarines, $1.99/lb
    Whole cantaloupes, 2/$5
    Honeydew melon, 99¢/lb
    Casaba/canary/Crenshaw melons, 89¢/lb
    Sweet corn, 4 pk, 2/$5
    Vine tomatoes, $1.99/lb
    Earthbound Farms organic box salads, 5 oz, $3 ea
    Summer squashes, zucchini/yellow/grey, 99¢/lb


Bashas':

    Beef New York/ribeye/top sirloin steaks, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef sirloin tip roast or value pack steaks, $3.99/lb
    Beef breakfast steaks, $4.99/lb
    Ground beef sirloin, fat content not listed, value pack, $2.99/lb
    Center cut pork chops, boneless, value pack, $3.49/lb
    Chicken drums/thighs/leg quarters, bone in, 88¢/lb
    Jennie-O 93/7 ground turkey, 20 oz pkg, $3.99
    Cod fillets, wild caught, $3.99/lb
    Catfish fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Food Club butter, $2.99
    Food Club cheeses, 8 oz chunk/shreds/shingle, $1.99
    Starkist chunk light tuna, 5 oz cans, 99¢
    Chicken of the Sea chunk white tuna, 5 oz cans, 99¢
    Del Monte pasta sauces, 24 oz cans, 10/$10
    Food Club pasta, 13-16 oz boxes, 88¢
    Flav-R-Pac frozen veggies, 12-16 oz bags, 3/$3
    Healthy Choice frozen entrees, 5/$11
    Red cherries, $1.27/lb
    Yellow peaches or nectarines, 87¢/lb
    Apricots OR red or black plums, 99¢/lb
    Green or red seedless grapes, $1.99/lb
    Roma tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Green cabbage, 49¢/lb
    Yellow onions, 49¢/lb
    OrganicGirl box salads, 5-8 oz, buy 1 get 1 free'






Fry's:

    Beef NY strip steak, bone in, $8.99/lb
    Pork loin chops, center cut boneless, family pack, $3.99/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, $1.77/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $7.99/lb
    Fry's milk, gallons, $1.88
    Kroger cheeses, 12-16 oz chunk or shreds, $2.99
    Kroger veggies (except peas), 14-15 oz cans, 3/$2
    Bush's baked or “Grillin'” beans, 21-28 oz cans, 3/$5
    Smart Ones frozen entrees, $1.88
    Green seedless grapes, 75¢/lb
    Yellow peaches or nectarines, 99¢/lb
    Apples:  Gala, Granny Smith, Red/Golden Delicious, 99¢/lb
    Cantaloupes OR mini seedless watermelons, 2/$5
    Mangos, 99¢ ea
    Red/yellow/orange bell peppers, 99¢ ea
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, OR iceberg, 99¢ ea
    Sweet corn, 2/99¢
    Mini sweet peppers, 1 lb bag, $1.99


Safeway:

    Beef London broil, boneless, $2.99/lb
    Open Nature beef chuck steak, boneless, $4.99/lb
    Beef tri tip roast, boneless, $7.99/lb
    80/20 ground beef, $2.99/lb
    Pork sirloin chops, boneless, $4.49/lb
    Assorted pork loin chops, bone in, $3.99/lb
    Eating Right boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.99/lb
    Safeway Farm chicken drumsticks, value pack, 99¢/lb
    Alaskan sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $12.99/lb “weather permitting”
    Ahi tuna steaks, wild caught, $9.99/lb
    Rockfish fillets, wild caught, $7.99/lb “weather permitting”
    Lucerne butter, $3.49
    Lucerne cheeses, 2 lb chunk or shreds, $8.49
    Tillamook cheeses, 1 lb chunk, $4.99
    American Beauty pasta, 1 lb pkg, $1
    Del Monte tomatoes or veggies, 14-15 oz cans, $1
    Bumble Bee chunk light tuna, 5 oz cans, $1
    Pam cooking spray, 5-6 oz cans, $3
    Safeway Select pasta sauces, 15-24 oz jars, $2
    Smart Ones frozen entrees, $1.99 ea
    Red seedless grapes, 99¢/lb
    Yellow peaches, $1.99/lb
    Red cherries, $3.99/lb
    Nectarines OR red or black plums, $1.99/lb
    Envy apples, $2.99/lb
    Whole seedless watermelons, $5.99 ea
    Whole cantaloupes, 2/$6
    Organic green or red seedless grapes, $2.99/lb
    Vine tomatoes, $1.99/lb
    Organic heirloom tomatoes, $3.99/lb
    Sweet corn, 6/$2
    Fresh green beans, $1.99/lb


Sprouts:

    Beef top sirloin steaks, $6.99/lb
    Beef rump roast/stew meat/carne asada, $5.49/lb
    85/15 ground beef, $4.99/lb
    Pork loin chops or roast, boneless, $2.98/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast or tenders, $2.99/lb
    Chicken drums OR leg quarters, value pack, 99¢/lb
    Halibut, wild caught, 6 oz portions, $7.99 ea
    Alaskan sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $11.99/lb
    Muir Glen organic pasta sauce, 25 oz jars, $3.49
    California Olive Ranch olive oil, half litre bottles, $7.99
    Blueberries, 6 oz boxes, 88¢
    Red cherries, $1.88/lb
    Mangos, 2/$1
    Yellow nectarines, 88¢/lb
    Apples, Granny Smith/Jonagold/Red Delicious, 98¢/lb
    Whole seedless watermelons, $3.98
    Navel oranges, 88¢/lb
    Organic cantaloupes, 2 lbs/$1
    “Dapple” pluots, $2.98/lb
    Vine tomatoes, 88¢/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, 88¢ ea
    Eggplant, 98¢ ea