Wren's bargain guide, week beginning October 1st:

Fooducate has a crash course in honey, another in deciphering maple syrup labels, and a third covering “grass fed beef” and why you want to eat it.  Also whipped peanut butter, and why hotdogs have nitrates and nitrites in them.  (I have the good fortune not to care for hotdogs.)

At Weighty Matters, Yoni Freedhoff points out that takeout from the supermarket is still takeout and not necessarily better for you than restaurant takeout.  Marion Nestle opines at some length about the recent joint pledge by Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group to reduce calories Americans consume from their products by 20% by 2025:  “Once again, soda companies are making promises that are likely to be fulfilled anyway, whether the companies take any action or not.  Americans have gotten the word. Sodas in anything but small amounts are not good for health.”  And Grist has sad news for oyster lovers like me:  carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is acidifying the oceans and causing massive die-offs of oyster spat (larvae), so oyster prices may skyrocket.

Recipes!  With Yom Kippur coming up, Chow.com provides a delicious post-holiday spread for after the fast ends.  They've also got a roasted butternut squash soup, DIY naan bread that doesn't involve a tandoor oven, a salad of shaved Brussels sprouts, and eleven different winter squashes.  One is blue.  Most of my other recipe sources are going autumnal and not really WW-friendly (meatloaf, apple cobbler, latke waffles), but Summer Tomato has salmon en papillote;  Martha at Simple Nourished Living offers 7-PointsPlus pork chops, baked pumpkin doughnuts, and an open-face sandwich of pears, prosciutto, and bleu cheese;  and Snack Girl has a buffalo-chicken-wing dip (not something to dip them in, a dip that tastes like them), pumpkin in chili, and pork tenderloin as a substitute for that WW favorite, Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast:  “Pork tenderloin is one of those lean meats that Registered Dieticians say you should eat.  The problem is that it is almost flavorless without a marinade.  I like it better than chicken breast because I find that the texture is less like a hockey puck.”

October is National Chili Month, and this first week of it is National Chili Week.  This is also National Pasta Month, National Pickled Peppers Month (Peter Piper could not have picked a peck of pickled peppers because peppers are pickled after they're picked), National Seafood Month, Eat Country Ham Month, and the second of three consecutive National Apple Months;  and today is World Vegetarian Day.

October 1st:  World Vegetarian Day, Homemade Cookies Day;  Pudding Season begins
October 2nd:  National Fried Scallops Day
October 3rd:  National Caramel Custard Day
October 4th:  National Taco Day
October 5th:  National Apple Betty Day
October 6th:  National Noodle Day
October 7th:  National Frappe Day
October 8th:  National Fluffernutter Day


Albertson's:

    Beef ribeye/t-bone/New York strip steaks, bone in, family pack, $8.99/lb
    Beef top sirloin steak OR trimmed tri tip roast, $5.99/lb
    Beef chuck/crossrib/bottom round/sirloin tip roasts or family pack steaks, boneless, $5.49/lb
    93/7 ground beef, $4.49/lb
    Center cut pork chops, boneless, $7.99/lb, buy 1 get 2 free
    Hormel marinated pork filet, 24 oz pkg, $12.99, buy 1 get 2 free
    Sanderson Farms chicken breast/thighs/tenders, $5.99/lb, buy 1 get 1 free
    Seasoned chicken leg quarters, bone in, $2.99/lb, buy 1 get 2 free
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $8.99/lb
    Catfish fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Cod, wild caught, 5 oz portions, $1.99
    Great American tilapia and swai fillets, 1 lb IQF bag, $9.99, buy 1 get 2 free
    Albertson's milk, gallons, $1.97
    Daisy sour cream incl. Light, 24 oz tubs, $2.99
    Tillamook cheeses, 2 lb wax-wrapped loaf, $7.88
    Essential Everyday cheeses, 8 oz shingle pack, 2/$7
    Deli:    Signature Virginia ham, $5.99/lb
        Signature rotisserie turkey breast, honey turkey, pepper turkey, $5.99/lb
        Stella mozzarella, Muenster, Provolone, $5.99/lb
        Margherita hard or Genoa salami OR pepperoni, $5.99/lb
    Essential Everyday veggies, tomatoes, beans, 14-15 oz cans, 69¢
    Valley Fresh chicken breast, 10 oz cans, 2/$5
    Bertolli olive oil, 25 oz bottles, $7.99
    PictSweet veggies, 12 oz frozen bags, 2/$3
    C&W veggies, 1 lb frozen bags, $1.99
    Birds Eye “SteamFresh” veggies, 12 oz frozen pkg, $1.99
    Lean Cuisine frozen entrees, 4/$10
    HoneyCrisp apples, $2.99/lb
    Navel oranges, $1.69/lb
    Pomegranates, 2/$5
    Red Delicious apples OR Bartlett pears, 99¢/lb
    Seedless grapes, green or red, $1.99/lb (organic $1/lb higher)
    Slicing tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    NatureSweet Cherub, Sunburst, or Glory tomatoes, 10 oz boxes, 2/$4
    Zucchini, 79¢/lb
    Eggplant, 99¢/lb


Bashas':

    Beef t-bone or top sirloin steaks, value pack, $5.49/lb
    Beef crossrib or bottom round roasts, buy 1 get 1 free
    Ground beef chuck, fat content not listed, value pack, $3.99/lb
    Pork loin, boneless, whole in bag, $1.88/lb
    Pork loin back ribs, buy 1 get 2 free
    Center cut pork chops, boneless, value pack, $3.99/lb
    Boneless skinless chicken breast, $1.77/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $4.99/lb
    Swordfish, 5 oz portions, $3
    Rockfish or Dover sole fillets, wild caught, $5.99/lb
    Bashas' cottage cheese incl. Light, 16 oz tubs, $1.89
    Food Club cheeses, 6-8 oz chunk or shreds, $1.99
    Healthy Choice frozen entrees, 5/$12
    HoneyCrisp apples, $1.99/lb
    Bartlett pears OR Gala apples, 77¢/lb
    Navel oranges, 77¢/lb
    Seedless grapes, green/red/black, $1.99/lb
    Asparagus, $1.77/lb
    Vine tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Small Hass avocados, 2/$1

Fry's:

    Beef strip steak, bone in, family pack, $4.77/lb
    Beef bottom sirloin flap meat OR tri tip roast, boneless, $5.99/lb
    93/7 ground beef, $3.49/lb (2 lb chub)
    Pork loin chops, center cut boneless, family pack, $3.99/lb
    Heritage Farm chicken drums/thighs/leg quarters, 97¢/lb
    Yoplait conventional yogurts incl. Light, 39¢
    Fry's eggs, AA large, dozens, $1.27
    Kroger cheeses, 12-16 oz chunk or shreds, 2/$7
    Sargento cheeses, 5-8 oz shreds, 2/$5
    Kraft cheeses, 5-8 oz chunk, 2/$5
    Pompeian olive oil, 16 oz bottles, $4.99/lb
    Prego pasta sauces, 14-24 oz jars, 3/$5
    Hunt's tomatoes, 14 oz cans, 10/$10
    Kroger variety (non-baked) beans, 15 oz cans, 5/$3
    Kroger veggies, 14-15 oz cans, 5/$3
    HoneyCrisp apples, 97¢/lb
    Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith, Red/Golden Delicious apples, 99¢/lb
    Bartlett pears, 99¢/lb
    Yellow peaches, red or black plums, $1.99/lb
    Red seedless grapes, 75¢/lb
    Navel oranges, 75¢/lb
    Roma tomatoes, 75¢/lb
    Leaf lettuce, green/red/Romaine, OR iceberg, 99¢ ea
    Organic kale, 99¢/bunch
    Hass avocados, 99¢ ea
    Organic winter squashes, acorn/butternut/spaghetti, $1.49/lb
    Broccoli or broccoli crowns, 99¢/lb


Safeway:

    Beef back ribs OR pork spareribs, bone in, $1.99/lb
    Beef chuck crossrib steak OR country style ribs, boneless, $5.99/lb
    Beef NY strip steak, boneless, $12.99/lb
    85/15 grass fed ground beef, $4.99/lb
    Pork shoulder blade country style ribs, bone in, $2.99/lb
    Chicken thighs or drumsticks, bone in, $1.69/lb
    Jennie-O OR Open Nature ground turkey breast, 16-20 oz pkgs, $6.49
    Honeysuckle White frozen turkey breast, bone in, $1.49/lb
    Atlantic salmon fillets, farm raised, $6.99/lb
    Pantry Essentials milk, gallons, $1.97
    Lucerne butter, $3.99
    Lucerne cottage cheese incl. Light, 24 oz tubs, $3.49
    Kraft Cheeses, 6-8 oz shreds, $2.49
    Libby's veggies, 14-15 oz cans, 79¢
    Safeway Kitchens tomatoes, 14 oz cans, 79¢
    Star olive oil, 25 oz bottles, buy 1 get 1 free
    Lean Cuisine “Simple Favorites”, 5/$10
    HoneyCrisp apples, $1.47/lb
    Navel oranges, $1.99/lb
    Bartlett or D'Anjou pears, 99¢/lb
    Green or red seedless grapes, conventional or organic, $2.99/lb
    Organic Fuji apples, $2.49/lb
    Yellow peaches, $1.99/lb
    Pomegranates, $2.99 ea
    Vine tomatoes, 99¢/lb
    Large Hass avocados, 4/$5
    Winter squashes, acorn/butternut/spaghetti, 99¢/lb