Austin

Happy Ad Wednesday

Cheepie is going to admit a huge bias here. 

I know Fiesta has a ton of really low fish prices.  This is increasingly evident as Lent rolls on, with a few fish less than $2/lb. I don’t list them on the Happy Ad Wednesday post because the fish department at my Fiesta is very, very fishy smelling.

I know, it’s jammed full of fish and so it smells like fish. But everything my grocery training tells me I should buy fish in a place that smells like ice, with bright-eyed dead fish. Not in a fishy smelling place with cloudy-eyed fish I’ve never heard of (Hilsa fish? That’s not a thing. I’m not even going to google to see what this imaginary fish is). 

So, where do you buy fish? Am I being a fish snob? That’s entirely possible. I am still tempted by the smelts, if only because I know if they go all wrong I can feed them to the chickens.  My frugal side and my grocery girl side often war about the fish at Fiesta, so if you have thoughts please share!

That said, here’s the week.  I’m going to be stocking up on Blue Bell and pork loin ( I didn’t get to Randalls last week to get it).

Fiesta

pork blade steak, family pack                 1.49/lb (Fiesta Limit)

medium live crawfish                               1.89/lb

bscb,family pack                                     1.79/lb (Fiesta Limit)

Blue Bell                                                   4.50/ea

shredded cheese, 8oz.                              1.33/ea

assorted pork chops, family pack              1.99/lb

chicken drumsticks, family pack                   99c/lb

organic potatoes                                         1.29/lb (DD)

HEB

large avocados                                      1.50/ea (C15)

blackberries, 6oz                                   1.25/ea

strawberries, 1 lb.                                  1.25/ea (DD)

red plums                                               88c/lb

organic strawberries, 1 lb                    2.98/ea (DD)

mini carrots, 1 lb                                   98c/ea

yellow or orange bell peppers              97c/ea (DD)

Rio Grande Valley grapefruit, 15lbs.    3.98/ea  (C15)

pork loin                                               1.97/lb

HCR drumsticks or thighs                    1.00/lb

bone-in pork chops                              1.97/lb

Randalls

pork shoulder country style ribs             1.79/lb

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Friday only:

12-stem alstroemeria bunch  $5

(Enough to put little vases throughout the house, to help spring get here sooner!)

Sprouts

red or green seedless grapes                        88c/lb  (DD)

Halos mandarins, 5lb box                             3.98/ea

various apples                                                98c/lb  (DD)

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

organic kale                                                  1.50/ea  (DD)

boneless skinless chicken thighs                 1.99/lb

bulk brown rice                                              69c/lb

Almond Breeze almond milk                          B1G1

Wheatsville

Lara Bars                                    1.00/ea

organic rolled oats                      1.19/lb

Whole Foods

red, yellow or orange bell peppers         98c/ea  (DD)

I’m using the new 2015 EWG guide for the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen rankings.  If you’d like to read more you can here.  As always, I make choices on organic v. not based on how much of it we eat and how much of a hit it is on our budget.  You should make your choices based on what you’ve prioritized for your shopping.

If you’ve prioritized smelts, though, for heaven’s sake let me know what you did with them!

Follow Cheepie on twitter, like Cheepie on Facebook, and let your friends know I’m here wrapping up the ads for Austin shoppers!

Happy Ad Wednesday!

HEB is still running the special I find so strange, which is ‘buy Duracell batteries and get a free gallon of milk!’ Normally, the things they throw a combo coupon at make sense.  Cookies would make sense. Buy cookies, get milk. Heck, buy brownie mix, get milk–that makes sense too.  Is the appeal of free milk supposed to lure me into stocking up on batteries?

Citrus is still cheap this week, though not like the weekend Fiesta sale a few weeks ago.  HEB has the cheapest organic apples, and Fiesta the cheapest conventional.

Fish is on sale everywhere, because of God, which is fine by me. If we could arrange for a religion to go ahead and strongly suggest the consumption of Macadamia nuts every May, thus causing a few weeks every year when they get cheap, I’d be fine with that, as well.  Maybe I can get Scientology on that, help them rehab their image.

Randalls has Cornish Game Hens again for $5 per twin pack on Friday.  Tell the kids they’re fat grackles! If that’s not your thing, go ahead and buy whatever chicken part you like most, you can find all of them for a buck or less per pound. (No Mom, not necks and backs. Stores don’t even package them up any more, as far as I can tell. Haven’t seen them in years.)

And finally, as a sign of spring, asparagus is on sale, with HEB having the cheapest, and Randalls the most expensive, surprising no one at all.

Randalls

Safeway chicken thighs, drumsticks, or split breasts          99c/lb

Safeway chunk light tuna pouches, 2.6oz                           69c/lb

assorted bone in pork chops                                               $1.99/lb

Several cereals/granola bars/fruit snacks are ‘Buy 4 for 1.49’ or ‘Buy 4 for 1.99’ each, with your store card.  If you need to stock the pantry for breakfast or school lunches you could take a look.

Friday only:

Rinaldi pasta sauce, 24 oz jar                                                $1/ea

Sprouts (don’t forget, last week’s specials still in effect for today only)

asparagus                                                                          99c/lb

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

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

organic kale                                                                     $1.50/bunch (DD)

bulk dried cranberries                                                     $2.99/lb

assorted bone-in pork chops                                           $1.99/lb

Fiesta

large avocados                                                                79c/ea (C15)

red potatoes, 3lb sack                                                   $1.49/ea (DD)

Texas juice oranges, 5 lb sack                                      $2.99/ea

Braeburn apples                                                               88c/lb (DD)

chicken drumsticks, large bag                                        69c/lb (Fiesta limit)

boneless pork loin roast                                                $1.99/lb (Fiesta limit)

HEB

asparagus                                                                          97c/lb

blackberries, 6 oz                                                              97c/ea

organic red delicious apples                                             98c/lb (DD)

assorted bone-in pork chops                                        $1.97/ea  (limit 2)

HCF bbq seasoned chicken leg quarters                       77c/lb

HCF chicken drumsticks or thighs                                    $1/lb

beef shoulder roast                                                        $2.97/ea

Earl Campbell’s hot links, 14-16oz                                 $1.97/ea

CM

heirloom navel oranges    99c/lb         (not the cheapest oranges, but if you’re a fan this is 45% off)

The $1.99 pork loin at Fiesta is the deal I’m making sure to get this week. I haven’t seen them at that price in a while, and I have room in the freezer.  I cut them in thirds and vacuum seal, but they will fit in a gallon freezer bag.

Shop on, Cheepsters!

Week 14 Dinner Score

It’s tough following a perfect week, especially knowing how hard pulling that week together was. This week I did cave to a night out, but it was a totally fun night and worth it! Scoring, I’ll accommodate the fact that I had a great night out with my husband in the scoring.

  • Mon: Refrigerator Buffet
  • Tue:  chicken soup, rolls, garden salad, apples.
  • Wed:  Prince Spaghetti Day! pasta, sausage, caesar salad, blackberries.
  • Thur:  pork fried rice, pineapple, snap peas.
  • Fri:  macaroni and cheese, fruit, veg.

Actual:photo 1

  • Mon: Refrigerator Buffet. 3 points.
  • Tue: chicken soup, fresh baked rolls, salad, berries. 3 points.
  • Wed: mac and cheese, chicken tenders, apples, broccoli, carrots/snap pephotoas/bell peppers with ranch. 2 points.
  • Thur: pizza, apples, carrots, bell peppers. Date Night for me and DH. 2 points.
  • Fri: chicken pasta Helper (one skillet meal with pasta and sauce). 1 point.

I love this! 11 points. That’s great. I’m going to hit up a bar graph for the last 14 weeks and see how I’m doing weekly and monthly.  So excited!

Happy Ad Wednesday!

This week is a good sale week. 

Citrus is cheap again, with oranges and grapefruit going for a song. Sprouts has conventional apples for 33c/lb, which is  the cheapest I’ve seen it since starting the blog. 

Boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs are under $2/lb at the four main chains, so if your freezer is looking bare, then you can stock up now.

Don’t forget that pork picnic is different than shoulder, and that you’ve got a thicker skin and porkier flavor to deal with. Still good, and cheap, and goes a long way, but different.

Fiesta

bscb                                                $1.79/lb (Fiesta limit)

whole pork picnics                          $1.19/lb (Fiesta limit)

blackberries, 6oz.                           $2/ea

pork blade steaks                           $1.99/lb (see NOTE)

Fiesta long grain rice, 4lb sack      $1.77/ea

russet potatoes, 5lb sack               $1.69/ea (DD)

Saturday only!

Texas juice oranges, 5lb          $1.99/ea

Texas grapefruit                       6/$1  (that’s 17c each!)

Southern Hen Wings, 5lb. bag         $5.99/ea  (hen wings? never seen this. but $1.20 for wings is very cheap, and if you’re okay portioning them and use the tips for stock? this is a great deal)

Fiesta bacon, 24oz.                         $3.99/ea   (see NOTE)

Bumble Bee  tuna, 5 oz.                     59c/ea

El Charro Queso Fresco, 10 oz.      $1.99/ea

Nature’s Own Butter Bread                99c/ea  (limit 2)

Key limes, 2lb sack                         $1.99/ea

HEB

large gold pineapple                             $1.98/ea (C15)

green pears, Gala apples                         88c/lb  (apples DD)

bscb                                                       $1.99/lb

organic Gala Apples, 2lb sack              $2.78/ea  (that’s $1.39lb for organic!)

blueberries, pint                                    $1.77/ea

Randalls

bscb or thighs                                       $1.99/lb  (thighs cheaper at Sprouts, breasts at Fiesta, but with minimum purchase)

And that’s it. Randalls, you’re going to get a pointed post of your own this week.

Sprouts

Fuji apples                                              33c/lb  (DD)

red or green bell peppers                      33c/ea  (DD)

cantaloupes                                          88c/ea  haven’t seen these in a bit! (C15)

yellow onions                                        33c/lb  (C15)

organic celery                                          98c/ea (DD)

Sprouts Extra Virgin Olive oil, 1 ltr.       $6.99/ea

Monterey Jack Cheese                         $2.99/lb

boneless skinless chicken thighs         $1.79/lb

Kettle brand chips, 5oz.                       $1.50/ea  (this is a stock up price, if you won’t eat them all when you get home!)

Notes

Pork blade steaks are $1.99/lb this week at Fiesta. These aren’t ‘steaks’ in the way you buy beef, and aren’t chops either. I’ve never found a good way to cook them. I’ve grilled, broiled, sautéed and sauced, and they’re always tough.  I finally decided the thing to do was roast them, and use the meat in other dishes like pork fried rice.  So look at this package when you buy it and think about how you cook.  Does what you know about meat give you a clue here? If you’ve got better ideas than mine I’d love to hear them.  I have com to believe this is how they ditch the cheap bits before consigning the carcass to grind.

Fiesta bacon for $2.66/lb. It’s a good price, but look at it when you buy it. if you like thick meaty bacon, this is not your bacon. It’s usually cut very thin, and is very fatty.  If you want good bacon slices for breakfast, this bacon might disappoint.  If you want bacon crumbles, and bacon fat for cooking, this is a great thing to buy.

Mail Report:

Well, all I can say is that I find the timing suspect. I start a blog that would be simpler to do with the timely delivery of circulars I’ve received in the mail for a decade. Within a month, those circulars stop arriving in any sort of usual timeframe, and then cease.

It’s like the Post Office wants me to learn to write a webscraper than can deal with pdfs. Since I’m still on baby steps learning Spanish on DuoLingo, I’m going to have to wait on that, at least until I can navigate the Mexican meat market with more authority (NOT a euphemism for anything)(seriously)(get your mind on the groceries at hand).

Until next time, Cheepsters!

Happy Ad Wednesday!

We’re ramping up to the time of year when there is a lot of meat on sale.  If you follow the sales you’ll be able to stock your freezer well in advance of summertime bbq parties.  This week there are spareribs, chicken parts and sausages all at stock-up prices.

NOTE: chicken leg quarters at Fiesta–don’t forget, these are in a big sack of about 10-12lbs.  You’ll need to portion these out, don’t just toss the whole bag in the freezer. Unless you’ve got an ice pick and a kid you don’t like much, then go ahead.  These also generally have a portion of backbone attached, which I like to remove to make tidier portions.

Sprouts

(don’t forget to check last week’s post for the sales that end today)

Halos mandarins, 2lb sack                                 $1.98

Hass avocados                                                   48c/ea  (C15)

cucumbers, red or green bell peppers              48c/ea (DD)

organic Gala or Red Delicious apples               $1.49/lb (DD)

(organic oranges and grapefruit are on sale also, these are C15 items, so I buy conventional)

ground chicken or turkey breast                          $3.99/lb

house-made sausages, many varieties                    $3/lb   (Fri/Sat/Sun ONLY)

blanched peanuts, in bulk section                     $1.99/lb

organic baby carrots, 1 lb.                                 $1.50/ea

Fiesta

pork spareribs                                                     $1.99/lb   (Fiesta limit)

chicken leg quarters, jumbo bag                          69c/lb   (Fiesta limit)

organic celery                                                   $1.49/ea (DD)

green bell peppers                                              33c/ea  (DD)

HEB

extra-large Hass avocados                               99c/ea (C15)

Jonagold or Braeburn apples                           48c/lb (DD)

Rio Grande Valley grapefruit                               6/$1

HCF split chicken breasts                              $1.47/lb

HCF BBQ chicken leg quarters                          $1/lb

Randalls

large Hass avocados                                           $1/ea  (C15)

All-natural country style pork ribs                         $1.99/ea (these aren’t really ribs, and I never know what to do with them. if you do know, this is the price to buy them at)

$5 Friday, goes through Sunday

family size cheese pizza

Safeway Farms veggie tray

Precious Blooms Bouquet

Wheatsville

Late July organic chips, 5.5-6oz.                   $1.67/ea

Kettle potato chips, 5 oz.                                 $2/ea

Food Should Be Good chips                           $2/ea

Pirate Snacks, 4-6oz.                                  $1.67/ea  Snacks? No. It’s Booty!

Mail Report

My postman is totally winning this battle.  Last week, not only did the flyers not arrive on Tuesday, or Wednesday, they didn’t arrive at all. Zip, nada, null set on the number of ads arriving in my mailbox. I think he’s on to me, and is enjoying delivering each and every effort from Time Warner to keep us as customers (oh HELL no, hell-O Google Fiber!), while rerouting my circulars.  I think it’s time to get DH back on board with writing me a webscraper.  Or getting a kid properly motivated to do so.  Where did I put all the leftover Halloween and Christmas candy…

Cheep cheep!

Happy Ad Wednesday

This week presents with math problems. Skip on down to the deals and you’ll be a-ok to get on with your bad self and get to the shopping. Read on if you want some of the sort of granular analysis I apply to the grocery puzzles I face weekly.

I’ve mentioned Avocado Math. This week introduces Berry Math and Kale Math. 

Kale Math is because of my problem with the units kale is sold in–a ‘bunch’ is just an inherently non-specific amount.  Why can’t they just weigh it?  Maybe I’ll call some produce folks and ask, since I really don’t want to buy the amount of kale required to sort out which ‘bunch’ is the best unit price. Stay tuned for that post, which I’ll likely pair with Avocado Math because I’m very interested in that as well. Or possibly I just feel I can eat the amount of guacamole that would result without guilt if it’s for Cheepie and Math.  Either way, it’s a sacrifice for the greater good.

For now, organic kale is 98c-$1.50 and I’m just listing them all because how do I know which bunch is best?

Berry Math is simpler, and I care about it because they freeze wonderfully (put in freezer, done) and are useful in smoothies. So here’s the deal this week:

blackberries

Randalls, 18 oz., $5           Sprouts, 5.6 oz., $1.98 ea

Our units are both ounces, so we can just divide to sort this out:

$5.00/18 oz= 27.78c/oz         $1.98/5.6oz=35.3c/oz

Randalls is the winner here. You’re paying decently less if you wait and stock up on Friday at Randalls.

blueberries

Randalls, 18 oz., $5          HEB, pint, $1.88 ea

We have a unit problem here: ounces and pints. Turns out, if you Google, a good estimate for the weight of a dry pint of blueberries is 12oz.  That makes the Randalls deal TERRIBLE.

$5.00/18oz=27.78c/oz             $1.88/12oz= 15.6c/oz    

Buy blueberries at HEB.  Both berries can be tossed in a Ziploc and frozen after washing.

Last, a note on the Fiesta pork special:  Sirloin is not the same as loin. Most pork chops that people usually buy are loin:sometimes bone-in, sometimes not, but loin is the most common.  Sirloin is a tougher portion of the pig, and isn’t going to cook up the same if you’ve got a favorite pork chop recipe. This is certainly the price to get some and give them a try if your family likes pork, but be aware that ‘grill three minutes on each side and make a dijon sauce’ isn’t going to work as well with these.

Fiesta

pork sirloin chops      99c/lb (Fiesta limit)

Tyson whole fryer      99c/lb (Fiesta limit)

Bumblebee Chunk light tuna      69c/ea  (10c cheaper than Randalls)

Del Monte spaghetti sauce, 24 oz can      89c/ea

Randalls

Sanderson Farms whole fryers       99c/lb

Safeway chicken drumsticks or thighs      99c/lb

Mt. Olive pickes       B1G1  (usually these are $2-$4, and have a long shelf life)

$5 Friday

18 oz blackberries (see note above, dont get blueberries by mistake!)

Family Size Cheese pizza (take and bake, in the refrigerated case)

Sprouts

blackberries, 5.6 oz          $1.98/ea (if you can’t wait until Fri)

strawberries, 1 lb.         $1.25/ea (DD)

Red Delicious apples     48c/lb  (DD)

pineapples      $1.98/ea (C15)

organic Braeburn apples      98c/lb  (DD)

bulk brown rice, short orlong grain      69c/lb

organic kale            $1.50/bunch  (DD)

last week’s post for the deals that end today

HEB

Fuji apples     77c/lb  (DD)

blueberries     $1.88/pint

organic Texas spinach       $1.48/bunch  (DD)

Rio Grande oranges, 4lb      $1.98/sack

HCF drumsticks or thighs      $1/lb

Wheatsville:

local curly kale bunch      $1.50/ea  (DD)

Whole Foods:

organic kale bunch                    98c/ea  (DD)

All the stores seem a bit thin this week. But then there’s this:

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Randalls came up with a variation I haven’t seen before this week–79c each when you buy 8, on several items ranging from tuna to Gatorade. The items are some of my pantry staples, so look at what they’ve got and maybe you’ll want to stock up.

It’s still Randalls, so don’t get distracted and do all your shopping there, but I’ll be getting noodles, tomatoes and tuna. Eldest will also require brownie mix.

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Happy shopping everyone. If you’ve got suggestions, or find great items, let me know here, or on Facebook or Twitter. 

Cheep Cheep!