frugal living

Happy Ad Wednesday!

Randalls is upping their ‘certain days’ game, continuing their effort to be the most complicated store to get a deal at. The card is a pain, but it’s there and I’m used to it now. The app is just plain irritating–making me use my poor old phone to get 50c off salad dressing doesn’t make me happy to be where I am!  A few months back they added limits, last week adding lower AND upper limits. Now, not only to they have Friday-only, but 3-day-only deals.  Even people like me, who live close and use them for convenience on certain products are going to wear out on this soon!

We’ve got stone fruit showing up cheap this week, with eggs, mangos and grapes making a decent showing.  In the meat department, pork and chicken are at normal lows,with nothing at a stock-the-freezer price. Asparagus is here, which means all the great spring deals are just getting started!

Note: Grapes are cheaper at Randalls. Organic apples are super cheap at Sprouts. Mangos are cheapest at Fiesta (though still cheap at HEB). Don’t buy these things elsewhere this week.

photo

            cutting through the chaos, for the Cheepsters!

HEB

red or black plums                                               97c/lb

Ataulfo mangos                                                     58c/ea

bscb                                                                         $1.99/lb

ground chuck, 80%, club pack                        $2.97/lb

HCF beef for fajitas                                             $2.97/lb

 

Fiesta

strawberries, 1lb                                                      $1.67/ea

Roma tomatoes                                                         67c/lb

Ataulfo mangos, large                                              50c/ea

boneless chicken tenders                                        $1.67/lb (Fiesta limit)

pork country ribs, blade steak                                $1.29/lb (Fiesta limit)

Old Orchard apple juice, 64oz                                 99c/ea (limit 2)                   

Fiesta chunk cheese, 16oz                                       $2.99/lb

El Molino corn tortillas, 4lb pkg                            $2/ea

 

Randalls

medium Hass avocados                                              50c

red or green seedless grapes                                   $1.49/lb

boneless pork loin                                                      $1.79/lb

chicken of the Sea chunk light tuna, 5oz             49c/ea (limit 9)

Skinner pasta, 8-12oz                                                49c/ea (limit 9)

blue Bell ide cream, 1/2 gal                                       $4.88/ea (must buy 2 or more)

Signature Care supplements, selected                  B1G1

10 stem daffodils                                                           $1.99/ea

Fri/Sat/Sun

Lucerne eggs, dozen                                               $1.50/ea (limit 4)

Fri ONLY

Lucerne cheese, 32oz. shredded or block           $5 (remember, cheese freezes!)

Thomas English muffins                                          $1.25/ea

Thibodeaux crawfish tail meat, 12oz frozen        $5/ea

Sprouts

asparagus                                                                                 98c/lb

zucchini                                                                                    50c/lb

yellow nectarines                                                                   98c/lb

organic Pinata apples, 3lb bag                                           $2.50/ea

quick, rolled or steel cut oats                                              50c/lb

 

Happy shopping Cheepsters!  Let me know if you find other deals out there!

Weekly Flyer Links

Happy Ad Wednesday!

It’s Citrus Time!

There’s not a song for it, like Hammer Time, but it’s still a good thing. Fresh juice is cheap to make at home, and I can easily get everyone their daily dose of Vitamin C.  Sprouts and HEB both have great deals on citrus this week. $4.98 for fifteen pounds of grapefruit is a lot of fruit for under $5!

Hopefully you also find some things for the freezer this week. Boneless skinless chicken breasts, pork tenderloin, and pork loin are all on sale at a few different places this week, and all freeze well.

Happy shopping, Cheepsters!

Randalls

Russet potatoes, 5lb bag                                     99c/lb

assorted pork chops                                             $1.79/lb

split chicken breasts, value pack                      $1.49/lb

Fri only:

32oz shredded Lucerne cheese                             $5/ea

avocados, 10ct                                                            2/$5

(I feel like this might be a misprint. 20 avocados for $5 is 25c/ea!, a most non-Randalls price!)

 

Sprouts

Halos mandarins, 5lb box                                    $3.98/ea

blueberries, 6oz                                                      $1.50/ea

navel oranges                                                           48c/lb

Texas Rio Red Grapefruit, 5lb bag                    $1.98/ea

eggplant                                                                      98c/ea

organic Braeburn apples, 3lb/bag                     $1.98/ea

pork loin roast or chops                                       $1.79/lb

chicken breast tenders                                          $1.79/lb

 

Fiesta

Ataulfo mangos                                              33c/ea

pork loin half, sliced                                   $1.49/lb (Fiesta limit)

Fiesta can corn or green beans, 14oz      25c/ea (limit 8)

Fiesta chuck light tuna in water, 5oz      50c/ea (limit 4)

Screen shot 2016-01-06 at 3.37.53 PM

Throwin’ tuna on sale, y’all!!

Fiesta box macaroni & cheese                                   33c/ea

Fiesta long grain rice, 4lb bag                                   $1.88/ea

 

HEB

Jonagold apples                                                          77c/lb

Texas grapefruit, 15lbs.                                           $4.98/ea

eggplant                                                                        98c/ea

pork tenderloin, whole in bag                              $2.97/lb

bscb, value pack                                                         $1.79/lb

 

Weekly Flyer Links

Happy Ad Wednesday!

It’s $2 cheese time! I love $2 cheese time!

Sprouts had cheese for this price for several weeks back in the spring. How do I know it was spring? Because I just looked at the block of pepper jack I thawed out to see what the label said!  I stocked up, because if it’s one thing that will convince my kids to eat something it’s to pile some cheese on top of it.  

In the spring, there was one type on sale each week, alternating among colby-jack, pepper-jack, ordinary-jack and cheddar. For storage, frozen cheese will keep just fine, but it’s crumbly after thawing so not great for slicing.  

I’m hopeful this is the start of a few weeks of this special!

one for you, one for me, one for you, two for me...

one for you, one for me, one for you, two for me…

And now, off to the races…

Fiesta

frozen Jenni-O turkey, 10-12lbs                                    57c/lb (Fiesta limit)

pork sirloin chops, bone-in, family pack                     97c/lb (Fiesta limit)

white potatoes                                                                    59c/lb

Roma tomatoes                                                                   44c/lb

Texas juice oranges, 5lbs                                                     $2.50/ea

green cabbage                                                                     25c/lb

Gala apples, 3lbs                                                                  $2.49/ea

large avocados                                                                    $1/ea

celery                                                                                        88c/ea

Randalls

frozen Honeysuckle turkey, 8-24 lbs.                                  59c/lb (limit1 w/$20. while supplies last)

Safeway frozen meatballs, 22-26oz.                                $4/ea

Del Monte canned vegetables, 11-15oz, selected          47c/ea (buy 6)

Land o Lakes butter                                                                  $2.50/ea

Chex or Kelloggs cereal, selected                                             3/$5 (buy 3)

Sprouts

blackberries, 5.6oz                                                               88c/ea

Hass avocados                                                                     50c/ea

squash: acorn, butternut, spaghetti                                  88c/lb

boneless skinless chicken thighs                                      $1.49/lb

bulk oats: quick, steel or rolled                                         50c/lb 

colby jack cheese                                                                 $1.99/lb

HEB

Smithfield shank portion ham                                                                $1.27/lb

HCF chicken drums or thighs, value pack                                        $1/lb

seasoned boneless chix thighs for fajitas                                          $1.97/lb

Pink Lady apples                                                                                     97c/lb

kiwi                                                                                                               25c/ea

grapefruit                                                                                                   25c/eaScreen shot 2015-11-11 at 12.09.00 PM

Halo mandarins, 5lbs                                                                                     $4.77/ea

Whole Foods

organic Yukon Gold, Russet or Red potatoes        98c/lb

organic cucumbers                                                           98c/ea

Gulf shrimp, 31/40                                                             $7.99/lb ($3 off)

Wheatsville

organic Fuji apples, 3lb bag                                             $4.99/lb

As a last note, I’d like to let Wheatsville know that this ad really bugs me. Who buys celery by the pound? It’s an ‘each’ item. Screen shot 2015-11-11 at 12.48.45 PMUnless you’re okay with me tearing up celery bunches to get the weight I want you should price it as an each.

Weekly Flyer Links

Cheep Cheep!

Happy Ad Wednesday!

It's April in Texas!

It’s April in Texas!

Again already with the ads! I nearly didn’t write this post because it just wasn’t on my radar. It didn’t seem like it could have been a week.  Spring is like that.  Every year I swear I’m going to get everyone in jeans and t-shirts and get ourselves a real family blue bonnet photo, and every year somehow they come and go before I’ve done it.  Thunderstorms roll in, the AC is on and off again, windows open and shut, one night is crockpot and the next is grill–April is just a little bit nutty!  You never know though, all our photos might have ended up like this:  

http://poopingonbluebonnets.tumblr.com/

No, Cheepie doesn’t tumblr (I can barely tweet, but I do it with old lady style!), but this is a pretty funny one.

So here we are–is Sprouts continuing with the crazy cheese sales? Is corn super-cheap yet? Come and see!

Fiesta

crawfish                                                                 $1.79/lb ($1.59/lb in 50lb sack)

Southern chicken hen wings, 5lb sack           $5.29/ea

pork blade steaks                                                   $1.49/lb  (Fiesta Limit)

Braeburn apples                                                  69c/lb (DD)

Parade frozen vegetables, 28-32oz                   $1.99/ea

HEB

raspberries, 6oz                                         $1.47/ea

large Hass avocados                            $1.50/ea (C15)

red seedless grapes                             $1.97/lb  (DD)

pineapple or cantaloupe                       $1.50/ea  (C15)

Pink Lady apples                                    88c/lb  (DD)

HCF drumsticks or thighs                       $1/lb

assorted bone-in pork chops                  $1.97/lb

Randalls 

pork loin half                                                              $1.99/lb

Chicken of the Sea chunk light tuna, 5oz           79c/ea

Bertolli and Classico pasta sauce jars                $2/ea

32oz cheese bricks or shredded bags               $6.99/ea     (note: the Sprouts deal is better, at $1.99/lb, but the normal price for these is now about $8-9 here and at HEB, so if this is your usual product this is a stock-up price)

Sprouts

colby jack cheese, bulk cut                  $1.99/lb (yay!!)

avocados                                                 48c/ea  (C15)

cucumbers                                               48c/ea  (DD) 

green bell peppers                                   48c/ea (DD)

Fuji, Gala,Jonagold apples                      98c/lb (DD)

bulk peanuts                                              $1.99/lb

organic baby carrots,1lb                          98c/ea

organic Red Delicious apples                   98c/lb  (DD)

Wheatsville didn’t have anything that looked especially great, and Whole Foods won’t have their ad up until tomorrow. I’ll check it then and let you Cheepsters know if there’s a deal you shouldn’t miss.

My can’t-miss items this week are the pork loin at $1.99/lb, the peanuts at $1.99/lb, Fiesta’s frozen vegetables at $1.99, and the sack of wings.  Of course, I’ll also be buying the colby jack at Sprouts!  If you’re stocking up, let me know in the comments–if I know what people look for I can let you know personally!

Sprouts is having a sale on many organic items, from maple syrup to canned vegetables to Annie’s Mac and Cheese. If you’d like to give a product a try, now might be a good time to stop by and try a new brand.

And if you’re going to hit Fiesta for the 50 lb sacks of crawfish, Cheepie wants an invite!

Get out there and get the good deals! Cheep Cheep!

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!

Dinner Score, Week 12

For everyone that’s had their mind clouded with cholesterol and poor choices since the Super Bowl, here’s the plan for last week:

  • Mon: beef curry w/rice, spinach, berries
  • Tue:  baked chicken thighs, fruit, veg, carrot sticks
  • Wed:  Prince Spaghetti Day!
  • Thur: osso bucco, polenta, broccoli, fruit
  • Fri:  Fish Fry!

Nothing crazy, no wild ambition to go all Hell’s Kitchen and make a Beef Wellington so Gordon Ramsay can holler about soggy pastry.  Let’s go to the videotape:

  • Mon: beef curry w/rice, berries, cucumber and carrot sticks. 3 points.
  • Tue:  baked chicken thighs, spinach, grapes, cauliflower.  3 points.
  • Wed:  out with friends to fried things and sunshine. 1 point.
  • Thur: homemade pasta, meatballs, caesar salad, apples. 3 points.
  • Fri:  hot dogs, cauliflower, raw vegetable, strawberries, s’mores. 2 points.

photo 1 photo 2 photo 3

A 12 pointer! That’s a good week.  One meal shifted (spaghetti day), and one changed (minus osso bucco, add hot dog), but over all the week went as expected.  The osso bucco got moved to the weekend, and  the original night out was planned as a Fish Fry night turned into a different night out with friends.

Monday night’s dinner was the funny curry sauce I bought at Fiesta and tweeted about. What, you don’t follow CheepieAustin on Twitter? Why not?  If it’s just because you don’t do Twitter, that’s not a good reason. I don’t do Twitter either, as evidenced by the facts that I feel compelled to capitalize it, I often forget to hashtag, and I’m being followed by more than one racecar driver for reasons deeply unclear to me.

That sauce is not going to be a favorite.  It’s not even in the running. It’s a kind of fruity horrifying thing, and the fact that  I laughed at  the tagline ‘just add mutton’ was less funny once my house smelled like this stuff!  It was very odd. 

Friday night was originally a night out for fried catfish and hushpuppies.  The remix to hot dogs was the result of Tiny wanting to cook her dinner over a fire in the fireplace, since it’d gotten so chilly out.  It was a good plan, but the fire Boy built was so hot that nobody could stand in front of it long enough to cook a hot dog, so a kitchen assist was necessary.  By the time s’mores were needed, the fire had burnt down a bit, thank goodness.

Overall I’m pleased with the week.  Let’s hope I can say the same next week!

Cheep Cheep!

Happy Ad Wednesday

Got freezer space? This week stock up on pork chops. They’re $1.99 all over, and freeze well.  I don’t buy them, because I buy pork loins when they go on sale and portion that out, but if you’re not a meat freak like me, this is your week to stock up!

It’s also 5lb sack of carrots week. This is the third time since CheepieAustin started, and I still haven’t made that carrot soup. I really need to get on that. Anyone else given it a go?

Sprouts

kiwis                                                        5/$1  (C15)

large Braeburn apples                          48c/lb (DD)

Hass avocados                                     48c/ea  (C15)

organic kale                                          98c/ea (a few different kinds, but really, are we sure there are ‘kinds’ of kale?) (DD)

Vitamin and body care: 25% off everything!

chicken breast tenders                          $1.99/lb

assorted bone-in pork chops                 $1.99/lb

French Vanilla almond granola               $1.99/lb

whole cashews                                       $5.99/lb

organic carrots, 5lb bag                         $2.98/lb

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

colby jack cheese                                   $3.99/lb

ending today:

Texas Red Grapefruit                               8/88c (C15)

pineapples                                               $1.98/ea

bscb, no enhancers or solutions              $1.99/lb

HEB

blackberries, 6oz.                                                                   67c/ea

russet potatoes, 10lb sack                                                  $2.97/ea  (DD)

Boston butt pork roast, bone-in, sold whole in the bag      $1.97/lb

fresh whole chicken                                                               97c/lb

Fiesta

family pack mixed pork chops                   $1.69/lb (Fiesta limit:2)

chicken drumsticks,jumbo bag                    69c/lb (Fiesta limit:2)

Fiesta shredded cheese, 8 oz.                    $1.69/ea

jasmine rice, 5lbs                                         $5.99/lb

Randalls

assorted pork loin chops                                                  $1.99/lb

Barilla Pasta, 12-16oz.                                                      $1/ea     (this is only a good deal for the 16oz.)

Thomas’ English muffins                                                     2/$4

Progresso Classics Vegetable soup, Chef BoyArDee     $1/ea (certain varieties only)

Oscar Meyer thick cut bacon                                           $5/24oz.   (Friday only)

Safeway broth, 32oz                                                         $1.25/es    (Friday only)

Central Market has all vitamins and supplements at 25% off.

Whole Foods

organic kale bunch                           98c/ea (again with the kinds. it’s leaves.)(DD)

Sprouts also has blackberries, but 5.6oz for 88c, not as good. So if you’re stocking the freezer for smoothies and cobbler, definitely head to HEB.

Grapefruit are on sale all over, but I’ve listed the cheapest which is the 11c ones for TODAY at Sprouts if you didn’t get there earlier this week. If you need them and can’t get there today, HEB has 20c grapefruit this ad week.

For $5 Friday at Randalls, there are also Gerbera daisies are $5 for a 10-stem bunch. If anyone wants to get on my good side, that’s a start!

Mail Report:

No ads this week, just the usual mail. But all of it was addressed to us, so that’s a step up from lately. I think the holiday had our mail carrier a bit overworked, so I had the kids running mis-delivered mail up and down our street.  The lack of ads this week was not surprising at all.

Happy Ad Wednesday New Year!

You might have noticed the scheduling here at Cheepie HQ hasn’t been the best.  I’ll admit there’s been a non-zero amount of holiday wreckage, holiday beverages, and post-mall listlessness. This is more distraction than one hopes for in writing a snarky blog about shopping for groceries. 

I did get that one tweet out about buying pregnancy tests at the dollar store out there, which was immediately favorited by some kind of #frugal twitter bot, so the week wasn’t without any success at all, if we’re sticking to (and by gum you know we are!) a very loose definition of success.

Helpfully, flaking out on things is one way to make New Year’s Resolutions a quick piece of work!  I apologize for not letting you guys know about this simple method for sorting out what needs doing in your life–letting your inner sloth go for a couple weeks usually makes it clear where your problem areas are, and the resolutions then just write themselves.  I’ll be having a long talk with my circadian rhythm, the people in this house that think elves pick up their clothes and dishes when they’re not buying bicycles for Santa, and the people that invented the Bota Box!

In Happy Ad Wednesday news, there are ads starting today running until next Tuesday. Randalls is of course out there boxing it up by starting their prices tomorrow,and for that I am not going to bother with them unless they are having some kind of fantabulous thing I need to let you know about.

We all know how likely that is.

So here we go with this weeks Cheepie Deals:

HEB:

extra large hass avocados                           $1.50/ea

H-E-B aged cheddar cheese, 10oz.            $2.47/ea  (this works to less than $4/lb, a stock-up price)

H-E-B ground turkey chub, 80/20, 16oz.      $1.99/ea

Fiesta:

Swift Premium bone-in pork shoulder                                   $1.69 (Fiesta limit)

Earl Campbell’s Hot Links, hot, mild or red  hot, 36 oz        $3.99/ea (Fiesta limit)

red seedless grapes                                                                  $1.99/lb

Sprouts:

Texas Red Grapefruit                              8/88c

avocados                                            48c/ea

organic blackberries, 5.6oz                $1.50/ea

organic kale                                        98c/ea

pineapples                                     $1.98/ea

apples, many varieties                         98c/lb

bscb, no enhancers or solutions         $1.99/lb

organic red delicious or gala apples    $1.50/lb

colby jack cheese      $3.99/lb

Sprouts has also got some juicing/raw food deals going on if you’re interested in those–their 25% off a certain section of products. $9.99 for 3lbs of honey seems pretty great.  Some people I know use honey in battling allergies, so this is a good chance to stock up for that reason as well.

HEB also has strip steaks, select grade, for $4.97. If you do normally purchase steaks from HEB, this is a good price for a cut that has very minimal waste.

If your holiday has somehow found you deficient in candy, Sprouts has gummi bears on sale in bulk for $1.99/lb. Or maybe your resolution is a new photo blog recording the many interesting situations our gummi friends can get into, and you need a pretty big stockpile.  This is your week!

Mail Report:

I couldn’t believe it, but the ads were in my box today, and then I realized the mailman had thrown me a juke and only delivered the HEB ad.  Well played, postal worker.  You got me back for that package of anvils I delivered to myself. This isn’t the end, my friend.

Happy Ad Wednesday!

Time should be a completely objective thing, and not slip away like a stick thrown into a creek.  But it isn’t, and thus this week’s Happy Ad Wednesday is more of a Thursday post than a Wednesday morning post. These things happen, and I want all you Cheepsters to know that my daughter’s play will be all the better for it.  Sometimes, even Grocery Theory has to wait.

I’ll run through things quickly, and save all my wisdom and wit for later on, in case you’re sitting home, wondering when to put a bra on and head out to the store.

NOTE: HEB closes at 8pm on the 24th, reopens on 26th.

Fiesta

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

bonelesspork loin roast                                       $2.49/lb

Haas avocados                                                      77c/ea

Red or Golden Delicious apples                            77c/lb

pomegranates                                                    $1.99/ea

Randalls

Honeysuckle White Whole Turkey Breast, bone-in, frozen             99c/lb  (limit 4)

Safeway Smoked shank or rump half ham, bone-in                  $1.89/lb  (limit 1)

HEB

boston butt pork roast, whole, in bag                                        $1.47/lb

Smithfield Premium Shank Portion Ham                                    $1.57/lb

HCF Split Chicken Breasts                                                        $1.47/lb

blackberries, 6oz.                                                                       98c/ea

organic gala apples                                                                 $1.47/lb   (DD)

Pink Lady apples or Bosc pears                                                98c/lb   (DD)

Sprouts

Halos, 5lbs                                                                               $3.98/ea

pineapples                                                                                 98c/ea   (C15)

red mangos                                                                               98c/ea

red or green seedless grapes                                               $1.98/lb  (DD)

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

BSCB                                                                                    $1.99/lb

organic celery                                                                         98c/ea

Sum up:

Halos at HEB, though they’re on sale everywhere.

Apples at Sprouts.

Turkey breast (Randalls), and pork loin (Fiesta) are both at stock up prices.

Berries are not a good buy this week anywhere. If they’re a staple, consider pomegranate or pineapple as a change of pace.

Happy shopping all, and I apologize for the late post!  Cheep Cheep!

Happy Ad Wednesday!

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!