Wren's bargain guide, week beginning August 27th:

Lots at Fooducate this week:  the hazards of hotel and motel breakfasts (some of us could wish they'd published this at the beginning of summer, rather than the very end!), fresh pineapple, the health content – if one wants to call it that – of “natural” ketchup, Vitamin D, and Maraschino cherries. 

From Fooducate and Food Politics both, I hear that the FDA and Consumer Reports disagree on which tuna to eat, how much, and whether pregnant women should eat it at all.  Not my department, but I'd suggest it might at least be a good idea to go to the less mercury-laden – and less expensive! – light tuna rather than white.

The newest slow-down-your-eating tip:  count the number of bites you eat!  Try for 100 in a day, it says here (the average woman's bite is 11 calories, the average man's 17).  Someone's already working on a gadget to count them;  this will go with the fork that flashes and buzzes if your mouthfuls are less than 10 seconds apart, and the talking plate that measures how fast you're emptying it.  And at Grist, I find what seems to be a well-deserved poke at Blue Apron's raw-meal-delivery service.  Sign up and they send you, every day, for the trivial sum of $9.99 per person per meal, the components for your meals … all separately packed (“I mean, we are talking about individually bagged celery stalks here”).

Recipes!  I'm afraid you'll have to assemble your own ingredients, though.  Chow.com has a kale-feta-mint salad, a dukkah-encrusted salmon (and, since you're right now blinking and mentally going “Dukkah?  What the hell is dukkah?” a recipe for dukkah – it's a mixture of ground nuts and spices), vegetarian chili, and DIY granola.  David Lebovitz has a soup of sweet corn;  Sprouted Kitchen turn their corn into a salad with nectarines and peanuts.  Simply Recipes also has a nectarine fruit salad, this one with strawberries, and a nice-looking Spanish rice.  Simple Nourished Living is still in If You See It Juice It mode.  And Snack Girl has a super-low-PointsPlus taco filling, gazpacho soup, sources for WW-friendly recipes, and a set of “grab-and-go” healthy breakfasts for those mornings when you find yourself calling out to a child as he runs for the school bus, “Come back here!  You forgot your pants!”

Labor Day is in the offing, and with it the close of Grilling Season (the weight-loss year has only two seasons, the other being Chocolate Season), so big promotions this week on meat and sweet corn.  Also the opening of Oyster Season, which does not perceptibly affect us in Arizona, and Wine Season, which may.  Friday is More Herbs Less Salt Day, also National Lemon Juice Day which is another healthy alternative to salt.  The 31st, this Sunday, is both National Trail Mix Day and Eat Outside Day – except here, where we are looking at  107° that day.

August 27th:  Banana Lovers' Day, National Pots du Creme Day
August 28th:  National Cherry Turnover Day
August 29th:  National Whisk(e)y Sour Day, More Herbs Less Salt Day, National Lemon Juice Day, National Chop Suey Day
August 30th:  National Marshmallow Toasting Day
August 31st:  Eat Outside Day, National Trail Mix Day
September 1st:  National Cherry Popover Day
September 2nd:  National Blueberry Popsicle Day;  the Saturday before Labor Day, and thus International Bacon Day
September 3rd:  National Welsh Rarebit Day





Albertson's:

    Beef ribeye/t-bone/New York steaks, buy 1 get 1 free
    Beef top sirloin steaks, boneless, $5.99/lb
    Beef chuck/crossrib/bottom round/sirloin tip roasts or steaks, family pack, $5.49/lb
    80/20 ground beef, $2.49/lb (3 lbs or more)
    93/7 ground beef, $4.79/lb
    Pork loin back ribs, buy 1 get 3 free
    Pork loin chops, center cut boneless or bone in, buy 1 get 1 free
    “Assorted” pork chops OR country style ribs, bone in, $2.49/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.99/lb
    Sanderson Farms boneless skinless chicken breast/thighs/tenders, buy 1 get 1 free
    Sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $8.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Great American tilapia or cod fillets, 1 lb IQF bag, $9.99, buy 1 get 3 free
    Daisy sour cream incl. Light, 16 oz tubs, 2/$4
    Albertson's cottage cheese, 24 oz tubs, 2/$5
    Kraft Cracker Barrel cheeses, 8 oz chunk, 2/$6
    Deli:    Signature rotisserie turkey breast, $5.99/lb
        Dietz & Watson selected turkey and chicken breast, it's confusing, buy $8.99/lb
        Dietz & Watson medium Cheddar or baby-Swiss cheeses, $7.99/lb
        Charlie's Pride Italian roast beef, corned beef, beef pastrami, $7.99/lb
        Stella Swiss, Provolone, Muenster, $7.99/lb
        Stella hard or Genoa salami OR pepperoni, $5.99/lb
    Chicken of the Sea chunk light tuna, 5 oz cans, 10/$10
    Essential Everyday pasta, 12-16 oz boxes, 10/$10
    Ro*tel tomatoes, 10 oz cans, 10/$10
    Hunt's pasta sauces, 24 oz cans, 10/$10
    Bush's baked or “Grillin'” beans, 21-28 oz cans, 3/$5
    Healthy Choice frozen entrees, $1.99
    Gala apples, $1.49/lb
    Peaches or nectarines, $1.99/lb
    Whole cantaloupes, 2/$5
    “Sweet Emerald Beaut” plumcots, $1.99/lb
    Sweet corn, 8/$1
    Large tomatoes, $1.49/lb
    Organic vine tomatoes, $2.99/lb
    Earthbound Farms organic box salads, 1 lb, $5
    Organic kale, $1.49/lb


Bashas':

    Beef t-bone or boneless New York steaks, value pack, $5.77/lb (regular pack, $1/lb higher)
    Beef tri tip roast, $6.77/lb
    Pork loin back ribs, buy 1 get 2 free
    Pork country style ribs, boneless, $3.99/lb
    Sanderson Farms split chicken breast, bone in, buy 1 get 1 free
    Bashas' boneless skinless chicken breast, $2.99/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $5.99/lb
    True cod fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb
    Hebrew National, Nathan's, Ball Park, Oscar Mayer hot dogs, 11-16 oz, 50% off
    Sargento cheese, 5-8 oz shreds or shingle, 2/$5
    Daisy OR Shamrock Farms sour cream or cottage cheese, 12-16 oz tubs, $1.99
    Pompeian olive oil, 16 oz bottles, $3.99
    American Beauty pasta, 1 lb pkg, 99¢
    Hunt's pasta sauces, 24 oz cans, 99¢
    Pace salsa or picante sauce, 16 oz jars, $1.99
    Bush's baked or “Grillin'” beans, 22-28 oz cans, $1.69
    C&W or Birds Eye frozen veggies, 11-16 oz, 5/$10
    Peaches, nectarines, red or black plums, 98¢/lb
    Cantaloupes OR whole seedless watermelons, 19¢/lb


Fry's:

    Beef strip steak OR tri tip roast, bone in, $5.97/lb
    85/15 ground beef, $3.49/lb (3 lb chub, total price $10.47)
    Pork loin back ribs OR St Louis style ribs, bone in, $2.99/lb
    Pork loin chops, center cut boneless, family pack, $3.99/lb
    Sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $7.99/lb
    Foster Farms boneless skinless chicken breast/thighs/tenders, buy 1 get 2 free
    All Shamrock Farms dairy, 40% off
    Challenge or Land O Lake butter, 2/$7
    Kroger cheeses, 6-8 oz chunk or shreds, $1.97
    American Beauty pasta, 16 oz pkg, 99¢/lb
    S&W tomatoes, 14 oz cans, 99¢
    Ragu pasta sauces, 16-24 oz jar, 3/$5
    StarKist chunk light tuna, 5 oz cans OR 2.5 oz pouches, 79¢
    Smart Ones frozen entrees, 5/$10
    Raspberries, 6 oz box, 87¢
    Mini seedless watermelons, 2/$3
    Yellow peaches, 99¢/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $1.99/lb
    Whole cantaloupes or pineapples, $1.99 ea
    Sweet corn, 2/99¢
    Broccoli, 99¢/lb
    Vine tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Sweet yellow onions, 99¢/lb


Safeway:

    Beef NY strip steak, bone in, $5.99/lb (boneless $2/lb higher)
    Beef round tip steak, $6.49/lb
    Open Nature “grass fed” beef ribeye steak, $9.99/lb
    Open Nature “grass fed” beef London broil, $4.99/lb
    Beef back ribs, bone in, $2.99/lb
    80/20 ground beef, $3.29/lb
    Pork loin back ribs, bone in, $2.99/lb
    Pork top loin chops, boneless, $5.99/lb
    Chicken thigh or drumsticks, bone in, value pack, $1.69/lb
    Eating Right boneless skinless chicken breast or thighs, $2.99/lb
    King salmon fillets, wild caught, $12.99/lb “weather permitting”
    Pacific rockfish fillets, wild caught, $6.99/lb “weather permitting”
    Yellowfin tuna steaks, wild caught, $9.99/lb
    Lucerne butter, $3.99
    Lucerne cheeses, 2 lb chunk or shreds, $8.49
    Sargento cheeses, 6-8 oz shreds or shingle, $2.99
    Bush's baked or “Grillin'” beans, 21-28 oz cans, 4/$7
    StarKist solid white tuna, 5 oz cans, 4/$5
    Bertolli olive oil, 25 oz bottles, buy 1 get 1 free
    Dole pineapple, 8 oz flat cans, buy 1 get 1 free
    Mini seedless watermelons, $1.99 ea
    Red seedless grapes, 99¢/lb
    Jazz apples, 79¢/lb
    Envy/Gala/Fuji apples, $1.99/lb
    Yellow peaches or nectarines, $1.99/lb
    Whole pineapples, $2.99
    Whole cantaloupes, 2/$5
    Whole seedless watermelons, $5.99
    Sweet corn, 5/$1
    Tomatoes, $1.99/lb
    Organic kale, 2/$3
    O Organic grape tomatoes, dry pint, $2.99


Sprouts:

    Beef New York steak, bone in, $7.99/lb
    Beef carne asada, $4.99/lb
    85/15 ground beef, value pack, $4.99/lb
    Pork baby back ribs, $2.99/lb
    Pork shoulder roast
    Boneless skinless chicken thighs, value pack, $1.99/lb
    Swordfish or ahi tuna steaks, wild caught, $7.99/lb
    Sockeye salmon fillets, wild caught, $9.99/lb
    Chilean sea bass filets, wild caught, $19.99/lb
    Green or red seedless grapes, 88¢/lb
    Whole seedless watermelons, $1.88 ea
    Yellow peaches OR Italian prune plums, 88¢/lb
    Gala or Granny Smith apples, 98¢/lb
    Bartlett pears, 98¢/lb
    Whole cantaloupes, 98¢ ea
    Roma or beefsteak tomatoes, 88¢/lb
    Cauliflower, 98¢/lb
    Fresh spinach, 98¢/bunch
    Organic vine tomatoes, $1.98/lb