applewars

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There are a lot of pork chops out there this week. I think the Sprouts deal, with roasts and loin chops is the best deal–they’re the most versatile and freeze very well.  The other specials are bone in or sirloin. There is also pork butt for $1/lb Screen shot 2015-03-25 at 12.32.12 AMat HEB. That‘s the lowest I’ve seen in a while, and if you’ve got freezer space it’s worth stocking up.  Here at Chez Cheepie we smoke them, but they’re also super simple to do in a crock pot or oven, just don’t let your bbq fanatic friends know.

Fiesta has the big sacks of chicken legs on sale again, with the Fiesta Limit in place.  Remember these aren’t quite as pretty or as large as ones not bought in giant sacks, and may need some knife skills to be presentable. Given they’re 69c/lb, you’ll have room to practice.  Don’t know what to do with all that chicken? Try this post from a while back.

Buy strawberries at Sprouts this week, the other places are more than twice as much.If you want organic, Wheatsville has them.

Apples are insanely cheap–conventional at 50c/lb at HEB, and organic for 48c/lb at Sprouts.

HEB’s got a product I haven’t noticed before that they’re calling Stoplight Peppers. It’s three colors of peppers in a package (get it, like a stop light? except in HEBland stoplights don’t have green. which pretty much fits with Austin traffic) for about 77c/pepper. Check them, though, since this is a classic produce manager way to try to get rid of stuff that might be bruised/dented/otherwise not perfect.

CORN! Yay! I know, I may be irrationally happy about this, but I love corn. Corn pudding, creamed corn, corn right off the cob–it’s all good.  And this week from Fri-Sun they’re 8/$1 at Sprouts.  So belly up to the big cardboard box and wedge yourself in between the other picky corn people and start peeling some husks back to make sure you don’t get a buggy one, then take ’em home to enjoy.

Here’s the specials. Happy Shopping!

HEB

cantaloupe                                                             87c/ea (C15)

Cameo or Braeburn apples                                 50c/lb (DD)

Stoplight bell peppers, 3/pkg                             $2.27/ea   (DD)

Boston butt pork roast, whole, bone-in              $1/lb

HCF drumsticks or thighs                                    $1/lb

Randalls

pork loin chops, bone-in                                     $1.69/lb

Hillshire Farm smoked sausage, 32oz               $5   Friday ONLY

Sprouts

strawberries, 1lb.                                                           88c/ea  (DD)

apple pears                                                                    33c/ea

mangos                                                                           25c/ea (C15)Screen shot 2015-03-25 at 12.36.55 AM

red bell peppers                                                            50c/ea (DD)

organic red, orange or yellow bell peppers              $1.50/ea (DD)

Hass avocados                                                                50c/ea (C15)

organic red delicious apples                                        48c/lb (DD)

organic kale                                                                    $1.50/bunch (DD)

bscb                                                                                $1.69/lb

pork loin roast or chops                                               $1.99/lb

bulk roasted cashew pieces                                        $4.99/lb

Monterey Jack cheese                                                  $3.99/lb

Fri-Sun only

corn                                                                                  8/$1

Halo mandarins, 2lb sack                                         $1.98/ea

cage free eggs, dozen                                                $2.50/ea

Sprouts frozen vegetables, 16oz.                             99c/ea

walnuts, bulk                                                              $4.99/lb

Fiesta

live Louisiana crawfish                                             $1.89/lb

pork sirloin chops, bone-in                                     $1.49/lb

red or green seedless grapes                                $1.88/lb (DD)

chicken leg quarters, large bag                             69c/lb (Fiesta Limit)

large avocados                                                         97c/ea (C15)

Fiesta shredded cheese, 8oz.                                $1.50/ea

Wheatsville

organic strawberries, 1lb.                                       $2.99/ea (DD)

organic mini peppers                                             $2.49/pk   (usually $3.79) (DD)

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There is a lot of cheap citrus out there this week in the form of grapefruits and oranges.  The best deal is the California navel oranges at Sprouts, 20c/lb. If you want Texas oranges, Fiesta has juicing oranges (which is what they call oranges with thin peels and seeds these days; back in days of Yore, when Cheepie was young and dinosaurs roamed the earth, they were just ‘oranges’) for 38.8c/lb, provided you buy the 10lb sack.

Your call here, but you might as well get one or the other, because that’s cheap, and the Vitamin C can only help with the cedar fever that’s about to phlegm us all. What’s that? You’re not stuffy yet, and wondering how bad it might be, and facing down a neti pot you’d stowed away hoping never to see it again? Shut. It.

Once again, pork shoulders and picnics are at a stockable price. If you’ve got any intention of smoking pork in the next few months, tossing a shoulder (Randalls, $1.99/lb) or picnic (Fiesta, $1.79/lb) in the cart for the freezer is a sensible thing to do. If you’ve already got three turkeys in the freezer, because you went a little crazy, don’t worry. Picnics will be priced low for the month, because they are the perfect tamale filling.  If you need to cook a turkey to make room, hold tight, I’ll be posting ideas for those turkeys you might have stocked up on.

Apple Wars: I don’t know why we’re back here. But apple prices this week have me reconsidering how I organize this information. I don’t want you going to a whole different store for 50c. But I want you to know what’s there, and I want you to know organic prices, because apples are a DD fruit. Know that I’m working on a solution.

Apple Wars Sum Up: buy conventional apples at Fiesta; buy organic at Sprouts.

Sprouts:

California grown navel oranges                                    20c/lb

pineapples                                                                 $1.98/ea (C15)

Gala, Fuji granny smith or red delicious apples          98c/lb (DD)

organic Gala or Fuji apples                                       $1.48/lb  (DD)

organic curly kale or collard greens                             98c/ea  (DD)

organic baby peeled carrots, 1lb                               $1.50/ea

Wed only:

Halos,2lb sack                                                                  $1.98/ea

raspberries, 6oz.                                                                 98c/lb

Hass avocados                                                                   48c/lb (C15)

Fri-Sun only:

boneless skinless chicken thighs                                   $1.69/lb

jumbo Hass avocados                                                      98c/ea (C15)

R.W. Knudsen Just Cranberry Juice, 32 oz.                  $2.99/ea

25% off bulk items-bulk pices, bulk coffee and bulk bins!

Fiesta:

gala apples                                                                                     79c/lb (DD)

Libby’s brand canned corn, peas, or green beans, 14-15 oz        59c/ea

Fiesta All-purpose flour, 5 lb. sack                                              $1.49/ea

Texas juice oranges, 10lb. sack                                                  $3.88/ea

russet potatoes, 10lb sack                                                          $2.49/ea (DD)

chicken drumsticks, family pack                                                   79c/lb  (Fiesta limit)

assorted bone-in pork chops, family pack                                $1.59/lb (Fiesta limit)

sweet mandarines, 2lb. sack                                                     $1.99/ea (they spelled it)

 

Randalls:

gala, red or golden delicious                                                    99c/lb (DD)

Safeway spiral sliced half ham, bone-in                                $1.99/lb  (limit 1)

Safeway smoked shank or rump half ham                             $1.89/lb (limit 1)


CM:

honeycrisp apples                                                   97c/lb (DD)

blackberries, 6 oz.                                                $1.50/ea

15% off uncured and premium bacon

 

HEB:

assorted pork chops, bone-in, value pack           $1.97/lb (Fiesta is cheaper, but limit applies)

HCF chicken drumsticks or thighs, value pack          $1/lb     (see above)

boneless pork ribeye roast, whole in bag              $1.97/lb

blackberries, 6oz.                                                     97c/ea

bananas                                                                    39c/lb

Gala or Fuji apples                                                   98c/lb (DD) (Gala cheaper at Fiesta)

 

This week’s new word is buñuelos–Fiesta has cinnamon buñuelos, 10ct, for $2.99. I’m not sure what they are, but for 30c each I might go buy some. The photo looks a bit like the Magic Pop snacks, which in our house are called Bang Snacks because Central Market used to have that booth were a guy would make the Magic Pop snacks, and the noise made me jump out of my skin every time. I just don’t expect loud-ass noises when I’m rounding the corner from dairy to bread.

 

Mail Report:

Well hell’s bells, I got my flyers today, all in the correct number, and only about 2 hours after you’d think an ordinary postman might be home, kicking back, and posting to Postal Persons Anonymous about the dogs he hates on his route.

Shop well, stock up, and Cheep Cheep!

Happy Ad Wednesday

This week was a challenge.

There are a lot of close prices, and not just in the ongoing Apple Wars arena–blackberries (99c/Sprouts, 97c/HEB and 5.6 oz v 6 oz), and potatoes (do we care about 33c vs. 25.8c/lb?) were both places I had to stop and think.  I’d initially planned on a straight-up cheapest wins, in Cheepie world.

But if it’s just a cent or two, I feel like you need to know that the other low price is there. If you’re only going to one store this week, I want you to know that the blackberries are on sale at HEB and Sprouts.  In other areas, I’m making a call. I waffled on the loin chops at Fiesta–that’s an okay price. Normally, I stock up on pork loin when it’s $1.99/lb. But I haven’t seen it at that price in a while, and while I’m happy to slice a whole loin into chops not everyone is, so I went ahead and listed it.

Then there was the pricing nonsense that is HEB/CM this week. They need to just make a call on kale and own it. This week HEB has organic kale for 97c/bunch, and non-organic for 98c/bunch. CM has organic kale for 88c/bunch. ‘Bunch’ is a terrible unit of measurement, and I am unhappy to have to deal with it at all.  It’s possible the organic bunches are very stemmy, or smaller than others, it’s possible they’re all the same. I don’t know! And the point of this is for me to steer you right! And I don’t like kale! But tomorrow I’ll go check on this situation, and likely crab at some produce staffers and report back. ALL FOR YOU.

AppleWars continue to be won by HEB with the Best Week Yet–organic Gala 88c/lb, and organic Honeycrisp, $1.48. This is a good bit cheaper than last week, and you can be certain I’m tracking this for next year, so I know when the real ‘lows’ are!

Here are my good buys for this week:

Sprouts

blackberries, 5.6oz                                                          99c/ea

green and red bell peppers, cucumbers (DD)                50c/ea

conventional apples, many varieties (DD)                                99c/lb

Sprouts brand organic apple juice, 1 gal                     $7.99/ea

rolled oats                                                                        69c/lb

mussels                                                                         $2.99/lb

drumsticks or whole chicken legs                                   99c/lb

ending this week:

jumbo pomegranates                                                       2 ea/ $4 (these are better at Fiesta now)

1lb strawberries (DD)                                                         $1.67/ea

Campari tomatoes, 1lb package                                         98c/ea

Honeycrisp apples (DD)                                                     $1.48/lb

organic Gala or Granny Smith apples                              $1.48/lb   (DD) These are cheaper at HEB now!)

organic celery                                                                     98c/ea  (DD)

organic carrots, 5lb sack                                                  $2.98/ea

Fiesta

chicken drumsticks and thighs (together in a pack)           99c/lb (Fiesta limit)

Swift Premium pork loin chops, boneless                          $2.29/lb (Fiesta limit)

Honeycrisp apples (DD)                                                          99c/lb

large pomegranates                                                          $1.49/ea

5lb sacks of russet potatoes (DD)                                       $1.29/ea

Randalls

Safeway brand bacon, 3 lb package                              $11.97/ea ($3.99/lb)

red and green bell peppers   (DD)                                        50c/ea (stock up on reds!)

Ritz crackers                                                                     $1.99/lb

Quaker Life Cereal, 13oz.                                                 3/$5 (Friday only)

Safeway brand 12-packs of soda and mixers                    3/$5 (Friday only)

large avocados (C15)                                                        $1/ea (but check! they have consistently terrible stock of avocados at my location)

HEB

blackberries, 6oz.                                                                 97c/ea

organic Gala apples  (DD)                                                  88c/lb

organic Bartlett pears                                                            88c/lb

organic Honeycrisp apples (DD)                                         $1.47/lb

Country Post brand drumsticks                                             $1/lb

CM

organic bunched kale     (DD)                                             87c/ea

This week, I thought about putting some of the Randalls ‘Just For U’ deals up, because the mailman brought my fliers today (thanks, you crazy pith-helmeted man!) and there were some good ones. Basically, you can fetch them online, or clip them out of your circular from the mail. Having to do that is contrary to my goal, which is just tell you which good food is on sale this week. I don’t want you to have to start clipping or signing up.

If you’re in Randalls on a usual basis, I suggest you sign up for the J4U, and pay attention to the mailer–there’s cheese for $3.25/lb, and pasta sauce for $1.25. If you’re not, well, you and I both know there aren’t enough deals there for you to sign up double extra nonsense.

But do get the club card and use that for the deals you can, or ask me for my number, and I’ll get gas points when you shop there. That has the added benefit of confusing their data, and I’m always a fan of chaos.

Check in tomorrow for a stocking-up post, and don’t forget Saturday’s dinner score post!  I’m very optimistic I’ll up last week’s score.