Fred’s Grocery List

Hello!

I’m back in the swing of ads this week. I had a special request from a friend who assaulted me with questions about organic/natural meat, so look out for a special page on that coming up soon. I went to one of the coolest produce/organic markets in the Bay Area this week: The Berkeley Bowl West. If you haven’t been to the Berkeley Bowl, then you really should go. Try not to drive there because the original Berkeley Bowl parking lot is always packed. However, Berkeley Bowl West just opened up a couple weeks ago in a brand-spankin-new building. They haven’t quite ironed out their quirks yet (read, slow, unresponsive service) but the market itself is clean, beautiful, and well-priced. I found some great organic produce (Bing Cherries @ $1.69/lb, Plums @ $1.69/lb…etc). The cherries were great.

Anyway, if you only have access to conventional markets, then read on:

Safeway:
*****GM Honey Nut Cheerios @ $1.50/ea
****O Organics Cherries @ $2.99/lb
****Sweet Corn @ $0.25/ea
***Lucerne Yogurt @ $0.40/ea

super-coupons (see ad):
*****Lucerne 18 Ct eggs @ $1.49
*****Watermelon @ $2.49/ea
****Kraft Shredded or Chunk Cheese @ $1.49/ea
***Lucerne/Safeway Select Ice Cream @ $1.99/1.75 Qt
***Nature Valley Granola Bars @ $1.50/ea (must buy 4 – I like the mixed nut bar)

Raley’s Nob Hill:
*****Blueberries @ $5.99 / 2lbs
****Large Eggs dozen @ $0.99/ea
****General Mills Cereal @ $1.49 (must buy 4)
***Grapes @ $0.99/lb (assuming they’re from California)

Lucky’s:
*****Organic White and Yellow Peaches and Nectarines @ $1.49/lb
***Organic 1 lb Strawberries @ $1.99/lb

Mollie Stone’s:
******Organic White Nectarines @ $1.69/lb
*****Organic Heirloom Tomatoes @ $2.99/lb

I am slow and behind on my updating — very busy week.

Last week the coolest thing was the Organic Nectarines at Raley’s Nob Hill. I think I got about 7 pounds.

This week… I think I will have to make a special trip over to Mollie Stone’s for their Organic Nectarines and Plums @ $1.49. Definitely a Steal. They also have their Organic Olive Oil at $5.99/11oz. David (owner of Mollie Stone’s, see comments on last post @ fredsgrocerylist.com) suggested I try it out so I’m going to try to make it out there this week…

It’s fourth of July weekend. Shoot. I can’t even believe it’s already July. The weather has certainly felt very summer-like, especially last weekend. I guess it’s perfect that Jamba Juice is running a buy 1 get 1 free promotion… See link here for the coupon: http://www.summerblissisback.com/eb3/sbbg.html

Speaking of Buy 1 Get 1 Frees, Safeway is running that same promotion on Organic 1lb Strawberries ($4.79 for 2lbs). Oh, and they have those silly buy 2 get 3 free soda things for this fourth of July weekend. Who needs that much soda??!? Other than that, nothing interesting…

Oh wait. Raleys/Nob Hill definitely has Safeway beat. They have buy 2 get 4 free on 12-pack Coke. Okay. That is clearly insane. “Save $23.96″. They also have Triscuit @ $1.69 and Florida’s Natural OJ/Grapefruit Juice @ $2.49. Great prices. That, and Organic Nectarines @ $1.99/lb. By the way, the Organic Plums from Safeway last week were horrible: tasteless, pulpy, and bland. I threw them out. Pork Spareribs for $1.99/lb too. White corn @ $0.33/ea.

Mollie Stone’s is doing a lot of good stuff as always. White Corn @ $0.30. Organic Red Raven Plums @ $1.99/lb (hopefully these are better than Safeway’s). Organic Heirloom tomatoes @ $3.99/lb.
Triscuit @ $2/ea.

But yeah! What a fun week…

Going to keep it short because I am running late on my sleep time.

NYtimes has an interesting article about how food companies make food especially appealing to our senses — and talk about “perceptual shifts” that allow us to retrain the mind. They cite an interesting perceptual shifts where former meat-eaters become vegetarians and learn to view meat with disgust. During my one year vegetarian experience, I got to the point where I was highly sensitized to the taste and smell of cooked animal flesh. I wouldn’t say I was disgusted by it, but I do know that being vegetarian helped me become more accepting of vegetables (duh).

It’s stone fruit season so I hope you’re eating those peaches, nectarines, plums, and cherries. Organic please — stone fruit are highly pesticided and I don’t know many (except for a weird ex) who peels the skin off of them before consuming. This week I’d probably go with those organic plums at safeway.

Safeway:
*********Organic Raven Plums @ $1.49/lb (these are really good when you get them perfectly ripe)
******White or yellow Corn @ $0.25/ea
***Pork Spareribs @ $1.97/lb
**Lean Cuisine @ $1.99/ea (selected varieties)

Raleys / Nob Hill:
****Personal Watermelon @ $2.47/ea
***Pork Tenderloin @ $2.97/lb
***18 Ct Eggs @ $1.49/ ea
**Gold Kiwifruit @ $1.99/lb (try these. i love them)

Mollie Stone’s:
****Organic Leaf Lettuce @ $1.49/ea
****Kellogg’s Cereal @ buy 3 Get 3
**Organic Heirloom Tomatoes @ $3.99/lb

So… not so exciting week for grocery store ads this week. The only thing that caught my eye was Safeway’s $2.50 /lb organic strawberries … but if I had a Mollie Stone’s close by, I’d definitely be there — they’ve got some good ones:
Organic White Peaches @ $1.99/lb
Organic Grapes @ $1.99/lb
Organic Valencia Oranges @ $0.99/lb
Fly Zapper @$9.99 (maybe Obama’s Daughters can get him one for Father’s day…)

On the other hand, Raley’s / Nob Hill has their Nature’s Path Cereals @ $2.50 / ea. I’m a huge fan of the Heritage Flakes. Don’t get the Heritage O’s — they’re hard enough to cut your gums…

Oh! And exciting news for Jamba Juice this week: Food Launches.
They invited some bloggers to visit too. Check out the cool photos of the food + test kitchen:
http://www.blogfastfood.com/jamba-juice-new-items-and-test-kitchen-bonanza/

I plan on trying a wrap or sandwich tomorrow for lunch, so I’ll probably follow up with my own review of an item every couple of days…