Austin

Happy Ad Friday!

It’s been a haul but here I am!  Finally an ad post. I write it in my planner every week, and every week seems to have kicked my butt because we both know I haven’t posted.  But this week I am getting the list up, and I’ll keep doing my best to post.

Right now my fridge is a mess of nonsense because last week pork shoulders were on sale, and I made some seriously weaponized posole.  In the apocalypse, if you should find a bit of mace, I can make soup out of it if need be.  I’m not sure anyone will eat it, but I can make it. 

For those of you wishing for toilet paper or hand sanitizer, may I suggest Fiesta? When I was there a few days ago it was a completely normal experience, with no empty shelves.

To the deals!

HEB

  • HCF split chicken breasts                                                        $1/lb
  • HEB Sweet 1015 Onions, 3lbs                                                $1.50/ea
  • Autumn Glory apples                                                                77c/lb

Randalls

  • Halos, 5lb box                                         $4.99/ea
  • Sat-Mon ONLY:
    • pork butt roast, bone in, in bag                      99c/lb
    • Blue Bell, half gallon                                      $4.99/ea

Fiesta

  • Ataulfo mangos                                           44c/ea
  • small avocados                                            33c/ea
  • bulk red beans                                             77c/lb
  • bulk white rice                                             50c/lb

Sprouts

  • blackberries, 5.6oz                                        88c/ea
  • red seedless grapes                                      98c/lb
  • organic D’Anjou pears                                $1.48/lb
  • Almond Breeze almond milk                     Buy one, get one free

Whole Foods

  • organic Lady Alice apples                            $1.99/lb

Wheatsville

  • organic Fuji apples                                        $1.79/lb

Central Market

  • xl Gold pineapples                                                   $1.98/ea
  • organic Fuji and Gala apples                                $1.97/lb

 

Links to the weekly ads:

Happy Ad Wednesday!

Last post of the year, and I’ve just looked back to see when I first started this odd hobby. It’s been over five years. That’s amazing to me. Five years!  The downtown skyline was completely different then! There were no scooters! Was there even P. Terry’s?

During that time, I’ve posted about a few different topics aside from the roundups. There was the family dinner/meal planning scoring. There was a while where I tried to follow keeping up with shopping frugally AND organically.  For a short time, I had a weekly post about the goofiest thing at Trader Joe’s.   

For now, I seem to be able to manage the weekly round-up and not much else.  I do snap a lot of photos in grocery stores: random deals and things that strike me as funny.  I may work on posting these on Instagram, which seems to be where most food bloggers are, as my ongoing hatred of unit pricing inconsistency doesn’t need more blog posts.

Or maybe it does.  We shall see what 2020 brings. I hope it finds and keeps you well, Cheepsters!  Here’s the list:

HEB

  • xl grapefruit or navel oranges                                    88c/lb
  • boneless center pork loin chops, family pk.            $2.49/lb
  • HEB frozen mixed fruit, 5lbs.                                      $9.98/ea

Sprouts

  • Hass avocados                                                                           33c/ea
  • organic carrots, 5lbs                                                                $2.98/ea
  • organic Fuji or Gala apples                                                     $1.50/lb
  • Ambrosia, Gala, Fuji apples                                                    98c/lb
  • organic celery                                                                          $1.48/ea
  • bulk nut butter, dried fruit, or honey                                 35% off

Fiesta

  • small avocados                                                                                 33c/ea
  • limes                                                                                                   99c/12
  • round mango                                                                                    50c/ea (round? sure)
  • Fiesta vegetable oil, 48oz                                                               $1.47/ea
  • Fiesta long-grain rice, 4lbs.                                                            $1.88/ea
  • Fiesta pinto beans, 1lb                                                                     69c/ea
  • country pork ribs, family pack                                                     $1.47/lb

Sat/Tuesday only:

  • red seedless grapes                                                                      97c/lb
  • boneless skinless chicken breasts, value pack                       97c/lb

Thursday only:

  • chicken drumsticks, large bag                                                    37c/lb (usually >10lbs)

 

Randalls (NOTE: these prices don’t start until THURSDAY!!!)

  • red seedless grapes                                                                 99c/lb
  • red, yellow, & orange bell peppers                                      99c/ea
  • Signature Farms whole fryers, drums, thighs                   69c/lb (bone-in, value pk)
  • Lucerne eggs, 18-ct                                                                 $1.49/ea (mix & match 4)
  • Lucerne shredded or chunk cheese, 8oz.                           $1.59/ea (mix & match 4)
  • Signature Select long-grain rice, 2lbs                                   99c/ea (mix & match 4)

     Friday ONLY:

  • Chicken of the Sea chunk light tuna, 5oz.                                  50c/ea (limit 10)
  • Signature Select pasta, 12-16oz.                                                   50c/ea (limit 10)

Note: the mix & match means you can buy four of anything labeled as a mix & match,you do NOT have to buy four of the same thing.

One last, if you wanted to get someone a small gift, these flowerpots from Randalls might be nice.  It’sIMG_2561 sweet, and inexpensive if you have someone you’d like to cheer for the start of the year!

 

Links to the weekly ads:

Holiday Hours!

We all have last-minute needs. No, not you? You’re just the very best, then.  The rest of us forget things, think of new things that need getting, and sometimes just need to get out of the dang house. Away from all this candy.  What candy you say? Well, after years of wishing for a box of chocolate on Christmas morning, this year, well, just look.

IMG_2553

I hear you. You’re thinking, “What? No banana for scale?” Here, let’s just take a peek inside.

IMG_2554

It’s nearly a square meter of chocolate. Which I have successfully defended from all other Cheepie household members!  I hope you have a holiday moment that makes you smile as much as this has made me smile.

Happy New Year! Here’s the hours for today and tomorrow.

HEB

The static holiday site for HEB says regular hours for today and tomorrow.  For most HEBs, that’s 6am-12am.  Some vary and open at 5am or close at midnight.  

 

Sprouts

  • Today: close at 8pm
  • Tomorrow: regular hours,  7am-11pm

 

Randalls

  • (regular hours)
  • Today: 6am-1am
  • Tomorrow: 6am-1am

 

Fiesta

  • (regular hours, note: different than on their site)
  • Today: 7am-10pm
  • Tomorrow: 8am-10pm

 

Wheatsville

  • Today: 7:30am-8pm
  • Tomorrow: 10am-9pm

 

Whole Foods

  • Today: 8am-9pm
  • Tomorrow: 10am-8pm

 

Trader Joes

  • Today:  Closing at 6pm
  • Tomorrow: Closed

 

 

Happy Ad Roundup Weekend!

We’ve got the weekend, so let’s get to it!  Except, well, my mail didn’t include an HEB circular, so I’m going to have to do the online one and let me tell you, it’s not my favorite site to deal with.  I get distracted and decide to check out college football or an instant pot site, and that’s how we end up with my Wednesday post on Saturday.

But I am here, typing away, and I hope it helps you.  This week doesn’t have the meat sales that I expect will show up next week for the holiday, but we’ve got Fiesta with the cheap chickens, still. 

This year I’ll be doing several homemade gifts, some cooked, some crafted.  Do you have any fun gift plans?  I’d love to hear about them! Cheepie is trying to cheep our holiday season down and I’d love to hear how you like to gift without breaking the bank.

Randalls

  • large cantaloupes                                        88c/ea (limit 2)
  • Progresso soup                                            99c/ea
  • Calidad tortilla chips, 12oz.                    $1.49/ea (must buy 4)

Sat-Mon:

  • pork butt/picnic roast                                  99c/lb
  • medium avocados                                        50c/ea

 

Sprouts

  • jumbo Hass avocados                                                $1.25/ea
  • organic Fuji, Gala or Pink Lady apples, 2lbs        $2.98/ea
  • Sprouts bulk coffee                                                   $7.99/lb
  • Sprouts xv olive oil. 1 ltr.                                         $6.99/ea
  • bulk rolled, quick or steel cut oats                         79c/lb

 

HEB

  • Envy apples                                                                                97c/lb

 

Fiesta

sweetbreads

Fiesta, this doesn’t mean what you think it means.

  • white onions, 3lbs.                                                                97c/ea
  • round mangos                                                                       50c/ea
  • lemons                                                                                     25c/ea
  • whole chickens                                                                      77c/lb

 

Links to the weekly ads:

Ad Roundup, Late Edition

You’ve got until tomorrow to get these prices, or Wednesday if you’re shopping at Sprouts. It’s late this week, due to some over-ambitious holiday planning.   We hit both the Trail of Lights and the light show at Mozart’s, and I’m glad we were able to do that early before the more crowded evenings!

This week I’m going to be getting a couple of chickens at Fiesta and some Cuties at Sprouts.  Maybe this is the year I make some tamales? If I decide to, I’ll be picking up supplies at Fiesta.

Central Market

img_2260

    Be nice! Bring flowers!

organic Bartlett and Red Anjou pears                           $1.47/lb

HEB

  • XL Honeycrisp apples                                             77c/lb
  • black seedless grapes                                               97c/lb

Randalls

  • raspberries/blackberries, 6oz                              $1.50/ea
  • chuck roast, value pack                                         $2.99/lb (Mon only)

Sprouts

  • Cuties mandarins, 2lbs                                                $1.98/ea
  • organic red seedless grapes                                        $1.98/lb
  • black seedless grapes                                                      98c/lb

Fiesta

  • small avocados                                                                    33c/ea
  • round mangos (round? really?)                                       50c/ea
  • bone-in chuck roast, family pack                                  $2.47/lb
  • chicken drums & thighs, family pack                              77c/lb
  • whole roaster hens                                                             77c/lb
  • assorted pork loin chops, family pack                          $1.27/lb

 

Links to the weekly ads:

 

Holiday Hours

A quick post to share the hours stores are open tomorrow.  Hopefully, you’ve got everything you need and are happily home binge-watching Friends (I’m on the one where Ross tells Rachel that he agreed to Emily’s demand that he never see her again). Just in case you don’t, here’s where you can go tomorrow to get those last-minute items.

Fiesta                       7am-7pm

Wheatsville            7:30am-1pm

Sprouts                    7am-4pm

HEB                           6am-2pm

Central Market        6am-2pm

Randalls                    6am-4pm

Trader Joe’s              Closed

Whole Foods            7am-3pm

Weekly Ad Roundup!

A bit late, but I was distracted by trying to decide if I needed the AC or the heat on recently.  I also had to laugh at the corner store trying to sell three sticks of firewood for $5.99.  Are they magic sticks?  

It got cold, so I wanted to cook a bunch, then it got warm and I didn’t. So now I have this big list of food I want to make but not until it’s cold. And I have a list of Thanksgiving things I want to make.  And then there’s a list of things I want to make next month.  I may have a list problem. Happily, that works in your favor, because here’s your list of grocery deals!  Check out the turkey list after the individual stores.

HEB

  • sweet potatoes                                                            14c/lb
  • McIntosh or Granny Smith apples                         87c/lb
  • Boston butt pork roast                                              $1/lb (limit 2)

 

Randalls

  • Libby’s canned green beans, corn, peas               44c/ea (must buy 6)
  • Blue Bell half gallons                                                $4.99/ea (must buy 2)

 

Central Market

  • organic Granny Smith or Fuji apples                  $1.27/lb
  • fresh wild jumbo sea scallops U/10 ct                 $14.99/lb

                                                   (a splurge yes, but it’s $12/lb off!)

Fiesta

  • russet potatoes, 5lbs.                                          $1.50/ea
  • split chicken breasts, family pack                      87c/lb
  • Betty Crocker cake mix                                          $1/ea
  • Fiesta frozen vegetables, 16oz                           89c/ea

 

Sprouts

  • raspberries or blueberries, 6oz                     $1.67/lb
  • large pomegranates                                              $2/ea
  • Hass avocados                                                      50c/ea
  • red or black seedless grapes                              98c/lb
  • organic celery                                                    $1.48/lb
  • Cuties brand mandarins, 5lb box                   $3.98/ea

 

Turkey Situations

HEB

  • HEB fresh turkey, 10-24 lbs.                                        $1.48/lb
  • Free Riverside frozen turkey up to 12lbs. (or credit on a larger turkey) with purchase of an HEB bone-in or boneless spiral cut ham.

Randalls

  • Free frozen Honeysuckle White or Signature Farms turkey with $100 purchase, or 49c/lb with $25 purchase
  • Butterball frozen turkeys, 10lbs & up                          99c/lb
  • Honeysuckle White fresh turkeys, 10lbs & up         $1.49/lb
  • Butterball fresh turkeys, 10lbs U up                          $1.99/lb

Central Market

  • Mary’s free-range non-gmo natural fresh turkey     $2.49/lb
  • Mary’s free-range certified organic fresh turkey      $3.49/lb
  • Mary’s Heritage fresh turkey                                         $6.49/lb

Sprouts

  • fresh natural turkeys                                                     $1.49/lb (limit 4)
  • fresh organic free-range turkeys                                 $2.99/lb (limit 4)

Fiesta

  • Jenni-O frozen turkey, 12-20 lbs.                                      47c/lb

Fiesta also has everything for making tamales ‘on sale’. I don’t think these prices are much lower than the usual for most of the basics, but if you want a whole pork leg, this is a good price.tamalephoto

Links to the weekly ads:

Weekly Ad Roundup!

Here we are again.  Me, checking out the ads and lining them up neatly for you.  The cool weather is rolled in, which means my brain has a whole section devoted to reminding me to cook all the things.  The stores are ramping up the sales on all things Thanksgiving, and we will not speak of the atrocious December holiday displays already invading. I’ve got a couple of Turkey Alerts, which kind of make up for deals being thin on the ground this week. Hopefully things pick up a bit next week in the headlong rush to the holidays.

Happy shopping, Cheepsters!

Fiesta

  • Fiesta evaporated milk, 12oz                                    69c/ea
  • Fiesta frozen vegetables, 16oz                                 99c/ea  (select varieties)

Turkey Alert:  Jennie-O frozen turkeys are 47c/lb, for the 10-20lbs sizes.

Sprouts

  • blueberries, 6oz.                           $1.25/ea
  • cucumbers                                          33c/ea
  • yellow or zucchini squash               50c/lb
  • Hass avocados                                   50c/ea (it doesn’t say size, but it’s small ones)
  • red seedless grapes                          97c/lb
  • bulk oats                                             79c/lb

Central Market

  • organic red or green pears        $1.47/lb

HEB

  • Ambrosia apples                          97c/lb
  • red seedless grapes                      97c/lb

Turkey Alert: You can get a frozen RiverSide turkey (up to 12lbs) when you buy an HEB Spiral ham, with a coupon.  The smaller hams go quick, so you might need to try a few times to get a non-gigantic ham! They’ll also apply a credit to those turkeys larger than 12lbs. One per customer.

Randalls

  • Hass avocados, medium                                     50c/ea
  • SS fryer chickens, drums, thighs                      69c/lb       limit 4
  • SS canned beans, tomatoes, vegetables          49c/ea      must buy 4 or more
  • pork butt or pork picnic roast                          99c/lb      Sat-Mon. whole in bag
  • Lucerne shredded cheese, 7-8oz                      $1/ea        limit 5, Friday only

Turkey Alert:  Signature Farms or Honeysuckle White turkeys, frozen, for 79c/lb for turkeys 10lbs and up.

SS=Signature Select, the Randalls store brand.

 

Planning Ahead

You wouldn’t believe the number of unpublished drafts I’ve got stacked up, waiting for their time.  I thought a post lining up some of my goals for Cheepie next year might help me sift through them and make something like a schedule that I could follow.  God knows the ‘post the deals once a week when I feel like it’ plan pretty much let things go to pot!

Remember when I did the meal plan for each week, and posted it and gave myself imaginary points on how ‘good’ I did for each day’s dinners? Yeah, we’re not doing that again. That was harsh!  There are many topics I would like to get more work done on, so I’m going to get them down in this post.  See one you like? Let me know, so I can bump it up on the priority list.  Got a suggestion? Share away–I’m open to thoughts on this.

  • Store Reviews by locationAcbryz9Ki
  • Super-cheap dinners based on the sales
  • Unit Pricing
  • Happy Hours deals that can be a dinner out
  • Farmers Markets / Alternate grocery sources

 

My hope is to have the ad roundup posted each week, and then pick one of the other topics to post about as well.  I’ve had a cabbage/potato/onion cheap weekday dinner post hanging around waiting for a photo for so long!  I’ve taken so many unit pricing disaster photos, but haven’t shared them yet.  Then there’s my personal ranking of stores, which I remember every time I try to leave the Brodie HEB.  

I think 2019 is going to be a great year for Cheepie, and I hope you stick around and find it useful!

 

 

Favorite Food Moments, 2018 Version

Here are some of the interesting, funny, and just plain weird grocery moments from my year. Here’s to a happy and healthy 2019 for all of us.!

Turns out I do like making Mac and cheese in the Instant Pot, because skipping the straining step makes it simpler for kids to do!

Fried Munster cheese. Why is this not done more often?

 

2018’s drink was the Moscow Mule. Applications being accepted for 2019.

 

Beets. I didn’t see it coming, but this year was the one where I became a beet-lover.

 

Still laugh whenever I think of this.

 

This one banana, ticked at the world.

 

These were just the prettiest, sweetest figs.

 

Gluten-free Brazilian cheese bread, so much cheaper when home-made!

 

Throwback packaging with futuristic pricing. $1 more per can!

 

Who decided this? They were wrong.

 

I can’t even remember what flavor this was because it is so unrelentingly gray.

 

Three pounds of boil-in-a-bag goulash. Who buys this? I mean, I think it’s boil-in-a-bag. The label can’t be the only boilable part, right?

 

I know who buys this.

 

$10 for baking spray is too much. Even if it is duck fat. Also: I feel like this would clog.

 

Cheese Glut 2: Electric Boogaloo.

 

This was just next to the register when I went to quickiemart for coffee. There were different flavors. It was tough to cope.

 

My favorite, a Christmas gift of cheese!

 

I finally got my coffee routine, bean, and gear all sorted out this year. Whew.

 

Fiesta, I love you.

 

Tiny donuts…or are they?

I came up with three ways to cook this giant daikon radish. I’m very, very sure I do not like daikon radishes.

I have read a lot of grocery circulars. Probably more than anyone not actively involved in their production. This wins them all.

Thanks to everyone that has supported me over the years. I hope 2019 is a blessing to everyone that reads this. Be well, Cheepsters!