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.

Circular Review - May 5

Since Fine Fare changed to Gala Foods, their special schedule is Friday-Thursday instead of Sun-Sat. But they don't update their website in time, so they aren't getting reviewed.

Things I'm on the prowl for: red onions, deli turkey breast, bacon.

Associated:  Ortega products still have their Cinco de Mayo deals going. Corn is $0.40/ear, which is an ok price, but I don't trust corn that's ready in May. Crema is $3.59. I haven't had crema in a long time, but it's so good. Queso fresco is $3. Basis is $2.50--I bought a whole plant at Gala Foods for $3! Now it grows in my window. Don't buy basil there. $4 for store brand bacon.

Key Food: It's celebrating its 80th birthday, so there is a list of products that whose prices now have .80 in them. Tree Ripe orange juice is $1.80. A dozen large eggs are $0.80.  Skippy peanut butter is $1.80 (I will stock up at that price!) Corn is $0.40 here too, but I still see no reason to trust it. Radishes are $0.67, which seems pretty good. Key Food has Old El Paso stuff for Cinco de Mayo.

Bravo: They are celebrating Cinco de Mayo by putting Heinz Ketchup (20 oz) on sale for $2. Why? Their ad is too hard to read, so I'm done.

Food Bazaar: I'm still on the hunt for my red onions, turkey, and bacon, so I will expand my usual reviews. Corn is $0.25/ear here (if you spend $20). If it's on sale everywhere, maybe it's good. Maybe they got a shipment from somewhere warm. Turkey breast is on sale, but I don't like the price. $6 for honey turkey breast. I don't want sweet meat. Ortega crunch taco shells are $1.25 for 12. What a good price. Mussels are $2.50 for 2 pounds, which makes me want to buy them.

C-Town: I'm still mad at C-Town because I went in on a Thursday evening and there was a sign up for ground turkey on sale for $3. So I got it, and it was $6 because the sale didn't start until the next day. You need to read the fine print if you want to shop at C-Town and not be taken advantage of, and I don't want to read fine print. No use looking up what might be on special if I'm just going to be abused.

What I might buy this week

Last week I made stew, and with that, ended my winter cooking. Time to eat plants. So I wonder what is on sale.

Associated:  5 lbs of flour is $1.50. I am not off to a good start of not cooking for winter. Maybe if I make sourdough pizzas with spring vegetables. Frozen vegetables are $1 per 1 lb bag, so I will eat those.

Food Bazaar: Mussels are on sale. I haven't made them for a long time.

Bravo: nothing

Key Food: nothing

Maybe I won't eat this week.

Times I went to Key Food this week, put items in my basket, put them all back, and left with nothing

First time: I put Kerrygold butter in my basket because it was $3 for 8 oz, which is a good price. I had 2 or 4, but I wanted to check the Tuttorosso canned tomatoes that were $0.88 for 28 oz. Some guy was stocking the shelves there, so I gave up and put my butter back and left.

Second time: I put brussels sprouts ($1.99/lb) and Vintage diet tonic water ($0.67) in my basket. I found the tomatoes, and had to move a heavy stack of them to see the price. But they only had crushed and puree and I don't want those. Then I went to check the butter, but there was no sign that it was still on sale. Technically it should be, but I didn't want to deal with accidentally paying an extra $3/lb so I put everything back and left.

I'm rich now. I didn't spend so much money this week.

Eggplant emoji and more deals from Fine Fare/Gala Foods/Graham Market

(This is why I always call it "the store around the corner" or "the new store around the corner.")

I got regular eggplants and a Dominican one. The regular ones had no seeds, which was nice. I think I read that male eggplants have no seeds and females have a lot, so you should buy males. And I read about how to tell them apart, but I forget. Look it up. Maybe the Dominican one was female or maybe it has different rules.

Here are all my other good prices. I got a thyme plant for $3, which will save me more than $3 when I don't have to buy thyme for a long time. Butter was cheap. I was going to make a turkey pot pie but I chickened out. Most other things went into ratatouille.

I also made a beet salad to try to replicate what I ate at Indikitch because it was good. It has cumin, salt, lemon juice, and cilantro. Cilantro was only $0.50/bunch.

Easter Deals

Easter isn't a holiday I cook for because I always go to Agnes's. I do like cooking for Lent, so I'm peeping the Key Food circular to see if it has the things I need for a fish fry. They have a section of next week's ad that celebrates Easter with sales on ricotta, mozzarella, spaghetti, and tomato sauce. I guess that's what Italian people around here eat for Easter? I guess I grew up eating Carpatho-Rusyn food for Easter.

The prices are good though. $3 for 32 oz of ricotta. $2 for a pound of mozzarella.

Luxury butter is on sale for $3 per 8 oz (Kerrygold). I have to buy a lot of luxury butter anymore for my sourdough bread.

I'm not sure if they have fish for my fish fry. I guess I could use basa or swai (which Bing tells me are the same).

Fine Fare Name Change

When a new grocery store opened around the corner, the craigslist ad for jobs called it Grand Market. The store opened as Graham Market (it is on Graham Ave), but its website changed to Finefaresupermarkets.com. FineFare is a chain, and Graham Market seemed to be this specific stores name. That still is the website, but now the circular I'm looking at says Fine Fare changed its name to Gala Foods.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Why?

Why is cantaloupe $1.50 at food bazaar now? Why are tomatoes cheap there and at Key Food today? They looked red, but can you trust them? (No, because only garden tomatoes or farmer's market tomatoes are actually great, but I buy the other ones all the time anyway. Well, not if they are pink.)

Why is store brand swiss cheese more expensive than comparable cheddar and pepper jack? Does it take longer to make? Or are they selling it by volume and I am paying for the non-cheese holes in it?

A price mystery at Fine Fare. And olive oil prices by volume.

This morning I went to Fine Fare because the circular said that 10 oz bags of Cafe Bustelo were $2.50. But they change their prices over on Sundays and no signs about new prices were up. The price on the shelf said $4.25 or so. I found a scanner to check a price and it said it was $3.33. I needed coffee, so I bought just one. It rang up at $2.50. I was surprised the self-scanner and the cash register would show different prices.

I was just thinking about the price of olive oil because I don't want to do my homework. My roommate has a 250ml bottle of Filippo Berio Pure that cost $5.49, according to the price tag on it. I am going to Key Food this week to buy a 3 liter can of the same kind for $16. I hope he quits buying the small one.

What's on Sale Next Week?!

I have to wake up early to attend a networking event, which I am trying to convince myself will be fun or good, but I just got an email from C-Town about next week's sales, so I am going to do something I like instead.

C-Town: Palmolive is on sale for $0.74! That's better than Dollar Tree. I like Palmolive, Ajax, or Joy for everyday use. Dawn Platinum for special occasions. But middle class people tell me to just use Dawn Platinum every day.

Colavita pure olive oil is $20. Hmmmm.... Key Food has Filipo Berio for $16, and I do need pure. And I only use pure for cooking, mostly. But Colavita is so much better. (If I won't use Dawn Platinum every day because that's too luxurious, maybe I will just buy the cheaper pure olive oil.)

Nothing else at C-Town looks like a good deal (their website's circular is terrible though), and I might be too embarrassed to go stock up on just Palmolive, so maybe I won't go there.

Associated: Asparagus is $2/lb, which is because it's spring and in season. I should get that.

A lot of Colgate products are on sale, but not Palmolive for $0.79 :(

Bravo: I don't trust their $0.79 tomatoes. March tomatoes taste like paper. $0.88/bag pasta is ok. I need some. They have $2/lb asparagus too. But like C-Town, I can't tell what Bravo puts on sale.

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.

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