Food Bazaar's sales for Mexico's independence day

 Mexico celebrates independence day on September 16, and Food Bazaar put little Mexican flags next to a few things in its weekly ad. I didn't realize they carried Victoria. I drink that the most when I'm in Mexico City.

Mexicans celebrate with chiles en nogada, but that's pretty complicated for a store ad to cover. It's so complicated that the last chapter of Like Water For Chocolate is making them.

What's on sale? I'm hungry

 I think Christmas sales are already showing up. And Christmas Eve sales. Lots of fish.

Ozzie's: Jumbo eggs are 3/$5. I might have too many eggs now, especially considering how many eggs my roommates have. However, I have been baking a lot of cookies. Polly-O mozzarella and ricotta (32 oz) is $2.50. Yellow and red onions are $1/bag. They're never the same price. That's it I guess. They have a short circular. Last week, I saw Natty Ice on sale in the Key Food circular, but the store doesn't carry that. I went to Ozzie's, which does carry it and has the same sales, more or less, as Key Food. It wasn't in the circular and it wasn't labeled on sale in the store, but I bought it anyway and it was on sale! That's not ideal, but I liked it.

Green Corner: Chicken legs are $0.49/lb. Polly-o is on sale here, but for $3 (mozzarella) and $4 (ricotta). Mussels are $4 for 2 lbs. No comment:

Grapefruits are $0.50 each and serrano peppers are $1.39. Lemons are 7/$2. I hate that kind of math. I do it in my head as "6/$2, but a free lemon."

Brooklyn Harvest Market: I've already been looking at this one and am going there later, probably. I like their online coupons that go to my card. I'm disappointed that the Ibotta link doesn't work. 3 lbs of sweet potatoes or 5 lbs of regular potatoes for $1.50. Cafe Bustelo bricks (10 oz) for $1.98. I will buy the 4 maximum. I could buy 20 lbs of rice for $8.88, which is almost tempting me to become good at cooking rice. A 14 oz package of "stuffing mushrooms" is $2.50, which is pretty good. Galbani mozzarella is $2 and ricotta is $3. So I'll get the mozzarella here and the ricotta at Ozzie's, if I have room in my refrigerator. Coke products are 4/$5 but you have to buy 4. I guess I can handle that, if I make more than one trip here this week. McCain frozen onion rings and potatoes are 2 bags for $3 with the online coupon. I hope I have room in my freezer too! Two pounds of mussels go for $6.49 here. They're organic.

I got a 2 lb bag of frozen shrimp for $10 last week here, but I didn't write about it. Now I am.

Key Food: This is the other place I shop the most of late. That shrimp bag would be $14 here this week. "Fresh" mozzarella logs are $4. Cafe Bustelo is $2.50 here. Pepsi products are 4/$4 with a $10 purchase, but I don't know if I can reach $10. Polly-o is $2 for mozzarella (must buy 2) or $3  for 32 oz of ricotta. Colavita pasta is $1, so I might go there today instead of BHM because I want fettucine and meatballs. Yellow onions, but not red, are $1 here. Canned clams are $1.69/can. I would stock up, but I already stocked up because this was the sale 2 weeks ago and that price is so good. Usually they're about $2.49 or $2.69. Linguine and clam sauce is only a few minutes away when you have a can of clams. Hot cherry peppers are $2.50, which I might get so I don't have to bike to Western Beef.

You can get a 40 oz box of cleaned squid for $15. That is too much for me, but I like the idea.

Bravo: Cream cheese is $1.50 but I already have that.

C-Town: Cream cheese is $1.50, but I already have that and Bravo is closer to me.

Western Beef: nothing, unless i take a chance of saving $0.50 on cherry peppers

Food Bazaar: Coke is $1, but you can only buy 2. Which sounds better than having to buy 4... I should have gone when I walked by today. Mozzarella is $3 here. Cheese is never a good price here.

Brooklyn Harvest Market opened on Metropolitan Ave (where White Castle used to be)

 It opened on Friday. I went on Friday, of course. I got my loyalty card. It has a pretty good beer selection. Its prices seem not very good except for the stuff that is on sale, which is pretty good. I'm gonna buy 50 or 100 pizza rolls.

C-Town has an entrance on Metropolitan Ave now too. It's a busy grocery block.

One of the best things about BHM is my loyalty card linked directly to Ibotta! No other stores around here do that.

I'm probably going to go back there after I eat lunch. I realized I was trying to play it cool and not go there too much in the first week, but then I had a better realization which was "why bother!" and that I can go to the new store every single day if I want to.

You can look at the circular here. Here's a preview.

The cheese section was very expensive. Like, pecorino romano was $12/lb. It's $6 at Key Food.

I wonder if they take Apple Pay. My credit card doesn't like readers sometimes.

BHM has Foodtown as its store brand, so that adds a lot of variety to my life. (When Associated turned into Ozzie's, it became a Food Universe store, which is the same as Key Food).

Oktoberfest during Covid?

 I haven't updated in so long that Blogger looks different now. Since Oktoberfest would start this weekend, I'm going to look at all the circulars and see if I could find things I would want to make. Even though no people will come. I can eat all the food myself.

Ozzie's: I've been shopping here a lot because American Express has been giving me $5 if I spend $10 at certain small businesses and this one counts. Mostly I buy beer. That ends this weekend and I have 1 trip left. Anyway.. Pork shoulder is $0.99/lb, which is a good start.

Key Food: Two pounds of onions for $1. One pound of baby bella mushrooms for $3. Pepsi proucts are 3/$4. Sour cream is $2. 

C-Town: Pork shoulder is $0.99/lb here too. Scalfani crushed tomatoes are $1.50, so I should get some. I only ever see Luigi Vitelli on sale and I did a test once and learned I like Scalfani a lot more. Colavita pasta is $1. I have so much pasta though. Maybe I should eat pasta more often since it's the only thing that makes me happy. Sour cream is also $2 here and cream cheese is $1.50. I've never seen Fage sour cream before, but it's also $2.

Bravo: Onions are $1 for 2 lbs here.

Green Corner didn't update its circular yet.

Western Beef: Pork shoulders are $0.79/lb but you have to buy 2. They also have chicken leg quarters for $0.29/lb but you have to buy 40 lbs. Life is far too lonely these days to buy 40 lbs of chicken. A six pack of English muffins is $1. That seems good, but I never buy English muffins so I don't know.

Food Bazaar: Here, English muffins are $2.50 for 6, so now I know.

Sales this week

I still have an eggplant and tofu to use from before. I am hungry right now. I wonder what I will find.

Key Food: Broccoli rabe for $1.99/lb. A 15 pack of Natural Light is $9. That makes me want to hang out with Ridgely.

C-Town: Red grapefruit are 3/$2.

Bravo: Cranberry juice is $2.50.

Food Bazaar: I doubt I'll go here because I just bought a bunch of stuff this week, like 44 fish sticks. But I'll look. Mussels are $3 for 2 lbs. Squid is $6/lb.

Post-Thanksgiving Sales

Black Friday doesn't really apply to grocery stores, but they did update their weekly sales and I am going to see what I can get. I got a turkey on Wednesday for $4 or so.

C-Town and Bravo don't have anything of note.

Key Food: Avocados are 3/$2 again. A twelve pack of Miller or Coors would be $5 if Key Food did rebates right. Bananas are $0.39/lb.

I'll look at one more store. This isn't an exciting sales week.

Food Bazaar: $2.50 for a 4lb bag of navel oranges. Mussels are $3 for 2 lbs.

Labor Day Deals

I assume there are some! Let's look together.

Key Food: Nine page circular. That's a good sign. I bet they have a beer rebate scam that no one can use. Cantaloupe is $1.5 (I still have a honeydew to use... but I could get another one for $2.5). Corn is $0.29 per ear, which is way less than a pirate would pay. So many cereals are on sale, for school starting I guess. I don't dabble in cereals. Hot dog buns are $1.25 so maybe I should make banh mi hot dogs again. Big Heinz ketchups are 2/$5 (must buy 2) but I might do that anyway. After the rebate (that no one can use) an 18 pack of Bud Light would be $9. Oh well. Pierogies are $2.5 for a box. Cool Whip is only $1! Time to make Koolaid Pie again!  Well, Cool Whip will last a long time, so when I find pie crusts on sale is when it is time to make Koolaid Pie. Romaine is on sale for $1 or you can get 3 for $4. Smh. "Super select" cucumbers are 3 for $2. I don't know what makes them super select but they look long. Maybe the flipped the pic with the seedless ones. Tonic water is $0.60 for a liter. A 12 pack of hard seltzer is $8 after the rebate you can't use. :-(  A pie crust is $2.49 but I am not willing to pay that.

Bravo: Plums are $0.99/lb. Mozzarella is $3 for a pound and ricotta for 2 lbs. Sweetended condensed milk is $1.69 here (it was $2.50 at Key Food). That's another important ingredient in Koolaid Pie. Pizza rolls are $2 for 40. They seem to have a bunch of the sales that C-Town had last week.

C-Town: Wishbone salad dressing is $0.79. I can use that with my pizza rolls (if I buy them). Pepsi products are 4/$5, which is what the circular said last week but it was Coke products in real life. Plums are $2.99/lb here. What a big difference. "Prune plums" are only $1.99. I looked that up yesterday because that phrase didn't make sense. It's an Italian variety.

Green Corner: Nothing much.

Ozzie's: Didn't update their website yet again.

Associated on Flatbush Avenue in Prospect Lefferts Gardens: I am going to be in this neighborhood so I will look. I got so many good deals last week. Heinz Ketchup is $2/5 but I do not have to buy 2. Coconut milk is $0.69. Cracker barrel cheese is $2. Grapefruits are $0.80 which I think is a good price.

The sales this week

I really ought to go buy olives and maybe tahini at Parrot Coffee. But this is limited to my local stores. I also bought 2 eggplants and 1 seedless cucumber for $1.50 at King Mart yesterday, and I made baba ghanoush so I should get something to eat that with.

Green Corner: Limes are still a dime. I bought 5 last night. Peaches and jalapeños are both $0.99/lb so maybe I should make peach-o de gallo. I got 2 serrano peppers last night though and made salsa verde. I don't know how many salsas I should have. A bag of yellow onions is $1.25

Ozzie's: Hellman's mayo is $3. A watermelon is $3. The last time I bought one it took too long for me to eat, but I might get another anyway. A dozen large eggs is $0.89. I should make another dozen hard boiled ones. I steam them in a metal colander now.  Oooh extra large eggs are $1. Heavy cream is $1.50. I could make ice box cakes if I find fresh fruit, which shouldn't be hard. Vintage tonic water is $0.60 for a liter bottle. A can of tomato juice is $1.69. I should have brunch. Lots of good stuff at Ozzie's.

C-Town: Salad dressing is $0.79. I need ranch for all my pizza rolls. Cranberry juice is $2.5, but I fell for this a couple weeks ago and they didn't actually have it. Romaine is $0.99/lb. I think that is good, but I don't know how much a head of romaine weighs. If it's 1 lb, that is good.

Bravo: "slicing tomatoes" are $0.99/lb which I would like, but Bravo never has good tomatoes. Sweetened condensed milk is $1.5, so I can finally make kool-aid pie.

Key Food: Iceberg lettuce is $1. They advertise a 12-pack of Miller or Coors after rebate but this store doesn't know how to do rebates. The egg sale from Ozzie's is also here. So is the tonic water. Heinz bbq sauce. I am still looking for vinegar carolina style.

What's on Sale This Week

Last week I wrote a post about what was on sale and then I referred to it many times through the week and bought food I never even ate yet. So I will do it again. Let's see what we have.

Bravo: Pineapple juice is $1.99. That's good because I tried to buy it at C-Town yesterday but didn't see the sale.

Green Corner: Limes are 7/$1.

Ozzie's: Beefsteak tomatoes are $0.99/lb. (Why are they called that?) Powerade is $1. I need that.

Food Bazaar: nothing

C-Town: Colavita pure olive oil (3 liter can) for $15.99. I have a can from last time it was on sale, but you should buy this! Krasdale cranberry juice is $1.74. I could drink Cape Cods. I am fancy so I call it that. Lowlifes call it "vodka cran." Krasdale lemonade is $1.50. Maybe I only am looking at mixers because I drank too much last night without mixers.

Key Food: Beefsteak tomatoes again. Because Ozzie's is fake Key Food.

There is a 12 pack of beer for $5 after rebate. That is why I started a new paragraph to go on a rant. They had a rebate last week and I spent forever trying to access it. But the rebate requires you to scan a QR code or go to a website, which Anheuser-Busch changes for every rebate period. But Key Food had signs up for New Years, Valentine's Day, and all sorts of random dates. But now for last week! So I could not get it! I did end up buying Bud Light at Bravo, but now I am sick of drinking it.

I guess there isn't much on sale this week.

What to cook for St. Patrick's Day

I don't know! I hope the Key Food and Bravo circulars inspire me. I think they made their St. Patrick's sales last week because that is when cabbage was $0.29/lb everywhere. But I didn't get any. I'll make colcannon (mashed potatoes with kale) and I don't know what else.

Bravo has some Irish beers on sale. Kerrygold butter is on sale, but it's $4 which isn't a good enough sale. I could do $3.49. Pizza rolls are on sale! I think we're going to eat pizza rolls, onion rings, and colcannon.

Key Food has avocados for $0.97. I have long thought that guacamole and margaritas are good for St. Patrick's Day because they are green and Irish food isn't that good (except colcannon). Nothing else good at Key Food.

I'll check Food Bazaar too. Corned beef is $3/lb. Hmm.

What's on Sale This Week

I hope a big can of olive oil is. I'm feeling lucky, so I'm going to write about it.

Associated: Peter Pan peanut butter is. After I wrote to them complaining that it was too hard to open, they sent me a coupon for more. 2 liter bottles of Pepsi products are $1. A 12 pack of Rolling Rock is $8. But nothing really catches my eye there this week.

C-Town: Also the Pepsi, but with a limit of 2. Colavita olive oil is on sale, but it's the 25 oz bottle for $10 instead of the 3 liter can, so I'm not going to buy that.

Bravo: Bravo has Earth Day specials. But nothing I want to buy. Plum tomatoes are $0.79/lb but I don't trust them to be good.

Key Food: Orange juice is $2. I could drink screwdrivers. Why do they put peanut butter in the "Breakfast" section?

Gala Foods: Their website doesn't work right, so I had to stop in and get their circular. Condensed milk is 3/$4. I don't remember what I make with that. Rolling Rock is $8 here as well.

Eh, nothing is great this week. I'll just go to Dollar Tree and buy beans and bread.

Memorial Day Grocery Sales

I hope they have good ones. That Key Food beer deal was a scam, because Key Food didn't have rebates. Just a sign about rebates. They eventually put something up for getting a Coors rebate, but nothing else. That deal is back again this week.

I guess I'll start with Key Food. A big bottle of Heinz ketchup (38 oz) is $2.50. Memorial Day is good for condiments. They have Hellman's on sale, but I want Heinz mayo, which is hard to find. I wanted to do a project at school researching why Heinz and Kraft both had mayo brands after their merger, but I had to do it on Starbucks instead. Breakstone cottage cheese is $2.50, which is a good price for that if you only eat that brand. I find that still too expensive, but I know someone who cares. Peaches are $1.47/lb. They probably aren't very good in May, but I also like using peaches in savory applications (i.e. salads with corn) and having sour hard peaches works ok then. Spike's salsa is $1.50/jar, which is good, but then I have to eat tortilla chips.

That's it for Key Food. They like all my pictures on Instagram about food, so maybe I'll ask them why they scam me about beer.

Associated: Peaches are $1.49 here--2 cents more. Various incorrect ketchups are on sale at irrelevant prices. 16 oz of sausage is $2.99, which might be good. These sales were not very good.

Bravo: 38 oz of Heinz ketchup for $2.49. I don't go through ketchup that quickly anymore since my little boy exroommate moved out, but I still might get some. B&G stuff is on sale. It was at Key Food too. I guess it's pickle time. 2 liter Fresca (and other Coca-cola products) are $1.25. Fresca is good. I heard that LBJ liked it too.

Cheap Beer at Key Food!

It's a Memorial Day sale.

After a mail in rebate, which is probably annoying, you get 18 beers for $7.99. If you use iBotta (you should), you can get $2 more back on the Budweiser.

iBotta gives you rebates on stuff. Mostly booze. I got $4 off a jug of vodka the other day. You should sign up. Here's my referral link. Or use my referral code: jijiiq

Why I put things in my basket, took them out, and left Bravo

Reason 1: Bravo has a $7 credit card minimum
Reason 2: It was supposed to have Rolling Rock for $7.99 per box. But there was no Rolling Rock!

I put eggs (which were a reasonable price that I cannot recall) and tomatoes ($0.89/lb) in my basket, but I couldn't find the Rolling Rock, and I wasn't going to come close to the $7 minimum with just cheap eggs and cheap tomatoes, so I put everything back.

Circular Roundup - May 12

I don't even know what I'm looking for. I bought Maruchan ramen yesterday so I can make chicken soup salad. Gala Foods said it was 6/$1 but it rang up 2 of them at $0.25. Oh well. I have a lot of basil in my window so maybe I can find foods that go with basil.

Associated: An 8oz block of Muenster for $1.67. I like grilled cheese with muenster and tapenade. Sour cream is $1 for 16 oz. I can find a reason to eat sour cream. Starkist tuna is $0.89, but I am trying to eat less because it's not very sustainable. It's sardines for me. I made fish tacos with sardines (and hard taco shells) and they were weird.

Gala Foods doesn't update its website in a timely manner. No review, other than they ripped me off on ramen to the tune of 8 cents.

Key Food: eggplants and zucchini are on sale for $1/lb. I will make ratatouille and use my basil in that. Eggs are $0.80 to celebrate Key Food's anniversary again this week. I went yesterday but they were out. A 12 pack of Natural Ice is $7. That is the lowest price I've ever seen and maybe I will drink disgusting beer just to enjoy that price.

Bravo: Bravo's website changed and the circular is easier to read. Tomatoes are $0.79/lb but I don't know if I trust tomatoes in May. I've had some good ones, but Bravo doesn't usually have good ones. Rolling Rock is $8, which might be worth it compared to Natural Ice. Rolling Rock is acceptable.

I'm still mad at C Town.

Grocery circular round up

Associated:  Bananas are $0.49/lb. I just put some bananas (for which I paid $0.49/lb) in the freezer because they were getting overly ripe. I will turn them into vegan ice cream. (Which is what happens when you put frozen bananas in a food processor).

Cabbage is $0.39/lb. Happy St. Patrick's Day. Skippy Peanut butter is $2. I need that. Rolling Rock is still $8 for a 12 pack, which I appreciate.

Key Food: I hope they have luxury butter on sale! I see pecorino romano is still on sale for $4.99/lb. That's a good price! I recommend you go get some.

Oh my word! Cabbage is only $0.19/lb. Hold on--I have to text someone.

Plugra luxury butter is on sale for $3.49 for 8 oz. I might have to get that. Brussels sprouts are still on sale for $1.49, so I guess I didn't have to go stock up yesterday.

C-Town: They want $0.29/lb for cabbage. Remember back when I thought $0.39 was a good deal?

Bravo: They also have cabbage for $0.29/lb and bananas for $0.49 and Skippy peanut butter for $2. They have "slicing tomatoes" for $0.69 but I am skeptical about tomatoes in March.

Expansion of Grocery Capacity in Williamsburg Heights*

Two of my local grocery stores are expanding a bunch. C-Town added a back room that has all its beer and snacks and pop. That's why I told them to start getting Fresca. Where the pop used to be, they now have bread. Where the bread and snacks used to be, they now have freezer and coolers and some cheese. I haven't eyed that stuff that much yet.

Associated is also expanding. Who knew the building next to them was unused? They moved into that. I can't even tell how it will all be laid out, but yesterday I got a bit lost trying to discover where they put the eggs. The medium eggs were $1.69, which is hardly better than Key Food now. I bought medium eggs to keep uncooked and large eggs to have a dozen hard boiled ones on hand. I also bought 1.25 lbs of jalapeno peppers ($1.49/lb) to pickle, but my jar only holds about 0.75 lbs so now I have to use up all these hot peppers and don't know what to do.

*Williamsburg Heights is what I've taken to calling the areas around the Graham and Grand stops of the L. When I moved here, I wondered if this was East Williamsburg or Bushwick. As more people moved to the Montrose, Morgan, Jefferson, and Dekalb stops, meaning actual Bushwick, it became clear that if I said East Williamsburg I would not convey my location. So I went back to saying Williamsburg (my zip code is Williamsburg's). One of the good things these hurricanes we get has done is give me flood zone maps. So Williamsburg Heights is the area that is not in any sort of flood zone around the Graham and Grand stops of the L. It hasn't caught on yet, but it might as well.

Trader Joe's Always Does This to Me

I went to Trader Joe's today because I had to go to Manhattan. I spent about $26. I bought olive oil, canola oil, a can of cannelini beans, frozen peas, frozen broccoli, frozen spinach, frozen asparagus, gorgonzola, buttermilk, and beer. Everything was a good price and so I spent more than usual (I rarely spend $20 on a single trip.)

Yet I still don't know what to eat for dinner. I might drink olive oil.

This afternoon before I went, I tried concocting a meal of rice, broccoli, sardines, soy sauce, and hot sauce. Unfortunately for him, Dylan dropped in while I was cooking it, so I fed him some.

Update: Toast!

Finally, Gorgonzola at a Reasonable Price

Today I went to Manhattan. I was at Chelsea Piers for the first time. Then I walked around for a while. I found a Western Beef I didn't know existed on West 16th St. It's much smaller than the one in Ridgewood, but the prices are the same, which means it's possible to live in Manhattan after all.

 How beautiful. I didn't buy anything though. I like my Western Beef better and I wanted to go to Trader Joe's.

I went to the one on 6th Avenue and 21st St. I had never been there either. What a pleasure. The store wasn't crowded at all. I guess I was hungry because I finally bought food. I got gorgonzola for $5.99/lb, which is a really good price. I got a 6 pack of some store brand of their beer that I had at Roxy's before for $3.99. I don't think it's bad. It's 6.2% alcohol, so it's strong regardless. I got frozen peas and frozen artichoke hearts for $1.29 and $2.99 respectively. I need the artichokes for pungent pasta (along with the gorgonzola) and C-Town quit having the ones I liked before.

I need the picture to remember what else I got. Frozen party (meaning small) meatballs are $3.99 now. They used to be cheaper. They're good for my spaghetti. Buttermilk is only $1.69 there. I had a glass after dinner. I got some peanut butter, which is cheaper than those national brands anyway. I guess that's my effort to stock up before the looming price increase. It was $1.79. I got a can of cannelini beans for $0.89. I ate them.

I considered getting some oregano for $1.99, but I got a brand at a dollar store for $1 yesterday. Maybe I should try using that up quick.

So now I need to make pungent pasta.

Still not the mayor of Western Beef (plus the most heinous use of Instagram ever)

 I went to Western Beef to get a loaf of bread. It's $1.79 for wheat bread there and you have to pay at least $2.50 anywhere else. Sometimes $3.79! I figured I'd look at the ricotta cheese too because that's good on toast. I didn't get any. What happened to the price of ricotta? I used to pay $2 for a pound of it (when it was on sale) and now it's more like $4. Maybe I should make my own?

I got a Florida avocado for $0.99. I've never eaten one before--only Haas. I bought one last year but I let it go bad.

I also bought DeCecco pasta for the first time. It was finally affordable. It was $1/box. The non-sale price was $2.19. I wonder if it's better than the Ronzoni/San Giorgio/Barilla I usually buy. I hope not, because I don't want to acquire any fancy tastes.

I wonder what this Warka beer is like. "Unique taste" and "strong beer" make me think it's awful in a way that I'd learn to like.

And I got some sardines. And then I took a picture of my receipt and used Instagram on it. I think this might be the worst, most heinous, abuse of Instagram in its storied history.