grocery sales

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!

Trader Joe’s Silly Thing This Week

Chorizo is a many-defined thing. It can be splendorous, and it can be a weird plastic tube of salivary glands and seasoning that you’re supposed to smush out into a hot pan and hope for the best.

Traditionally, a sausage is a way to use up the random bits left over after you’ve secured the good cuts–the little trims, possibly organs (hello boudin!), cheek meat (before it became popular) and whatever else seemed like a good plan at the time.  Chorizo seasoning is a peppery paprika blend of things that is, to me, the downright best part of a breakfast taco. It’s bullish enough to cover a multitude of sins, including organ meat that might otherwise be thought a slippery greasy mess, but only if that mess is balanced with actual meat that has texture.

I am here to tell you that it’s not always the case that the chorizo makers that make the products available in the store have followed my simple rule. Ever thrown out a pan of food? Go ahead and buy the cheapest chorizo at the market.  Squish it into the pan, and tell me if you decided to crack eggs over that, or toss it and hit Taco Cabana.  I’ve got an iron stomach, and even typing that brings back images that do not make Cheepie happy.

Which is why, for a change, I’m liking my Silly Thing this week. Cheap chorizo should Screen shot 2015-04-10 at 9.40.35 PMobviously be soy–it’s hugely assertively seasoned, the cheap bits that used to make it are now much pricier, and all we’re doing is mixing it into tacos. This isn’t Spanish chorizo, for slicing on a pretty cheese plate–this is Mexican chorizo that is not even a sausage except for that people keep putting it in plastic tubes! Why do we do that? A grocery mystery.

I’m not giving up on meat chorizo, but at $1.99 for 12oz, you’re going to have enough to make extra tacos for the freezer, which will save you one morning from the Krispy Kreme. Pork chorizo costs twice that or more, and it’s good, too. It’s just not my funny thing this week.

Soy Chorizo, for when you’re all done with salivary glands and paprika!

 Thank you TJ’s!

Happy Ad Wednesday!

Are you still in an Easter Candy Coma? Snap out of it–it’s a new ad week and there’s shopping to be done!

moonstruck-snap-out-of-it-o

I’ve got cheese and Blue Bell in my freezer, and this week I’m hoping to make a start on getting fruit frozen for the smoothies and fruit pops my kids will eat all summer long. There are strawberries and blackberries for a good price at HEB this week, so those’ll be first in the freezer. Given Austin is eight months of summer, keeping the freezer full of fruit is key to avoiding daily trips to the sno-cone stand!

Also great this week is another cheese sale at Sprouts. Fiesta has potatoes for just under 20c/lb, and chicken legs on their deep discount.

Sprouts (last week’s good through today)

Halo mandarins, 2lb sack                    $1.98/ea

red or green leaf lettuce                       48c/lb

D’Anjou pears                                         48c/lb

organic Red Delicious apples             $1.50/lb (DD)

organic kale bunches                           88c/ea (DD)

bulk cut Monterey Jack cheese          $1.99/lb

bscb                                                         $1.79/lb

Sprouts thick-sliced bacon                 $2.99/lb

Beyond Meat Chicken-free Strips       B1G1

Fri-Sun ONLY:

corn                                                                                       25c/ea (C15)

boneless skinless chicken thighs                                    $1.49/lb

reduced-sodium turkey breast cold cuts, pre-pack    $3.99/lb

Fiesta

drumsticks, jumbo bag                             69c/lb (Fiesta Limit)

russet potatoes, 10lb sack                     $1.97/ea (DD)

Red Delicious apples                                49c/lb (DD)

Fiesta brand vegetable oil, gallon          $4.99/ea

Anatina brand pasta, 32oz                       99c/ea

HEB

mangoes                                                                          33c/ea (C15)

strawberries, 1lb                                                           87c/ea (DD)

Golden Delicious or Granny Smith apples               77c/lb (DD)

blackberries, 6oz                                                            87c/ea

County Post drums or thighs                                     $1/lb

Screen shot 2015-04-07 at 11.23.57 PM

Randalls

Skinner pasta, 12oz.                        79c/ea

Kellogs cereals, various                 $1.99/ea (when you buy 4)

Wheatsville

Field Day organic broth, 32oz. box      $1.99/ea

Nutiva organic coconut manna            $7.99/ea

MORE CHEESE! It used to be that Sprouts had a different cheese each week at $1.99/lb. They stopped that ages ago (3 years by the flyer blurb). This is the second week in a row they’ve gone back to it, and I hope it is a resurrection of a regular pattern.  I’ve got about 10 lbs of cheddar in the freezer, and I’ll likely add at least 5 of jack to that. Quesadillas for YOU! and YOU! and YOU!

If you’re in the mood for a party, Fiesta’s got live crawfish for $1.59/lb by the sack. Sacks are usually big, about 50 lbs, so make sure you have a lot of hungry friends, or go smaller for $1.79/lb. This is much cheaper than HEB’s $2.79/lb. 

There we go, Cheepsters. Another week, more grocery sales. I hope you find things you want to stock up on–and if you do let me know what you decided was the deal you had to have!

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!