JoAnn's Grocery Picks for the Week

So, if you missed going out to NoFrills last week, you have another chance. Most of the sale items have been continued this week.

NoFrills
Pork loin, cut into chops, BONELESS. $1.77/lb or $3.90/kg I bbq these for my crew yesterday for under $5.00!!! They were very easy and no waste since they were boneless.
Ribs - same price as the chops
Pork tenderloin $2.50/lb Too pricey for me, but if you are looking for a choice cut of pork, boneless and no fat, this is the one for you. Comes 2/pkg
top sirloin steak $2.97/lb or $6.55/lb Steak is out of my league, but this is decent for steak
1L carton chocolate milk $.98 ea
Duncan Hines cake mix $.88 ea
Frozen juice - Five Alive $.64 (or Fruitopia, but it has too much sugar for me)
Campbell's soup $.47 (but Co-op has the 12 can case for $4.99 or $.41/can)
cantaloupe $.99 ea
blueberries $1.24/pint
mangoes $.49 ea
romaine hearts $1.14 bag of 3 This is for you Donna
red peppers bag of 4 only $1.49

I am going out this week, so if anyone wants me to pick up something, let me know. I can do that. Or if you want to hitch a ride, I can do that too.

Superstore - The free item is a $25 gift card for purchases over $250.
cherries $1.87/lb
tomatoes $.86/lb
corn on the cob 6/$1.68 ($.28/cob)
romaine lettuce $.56 each
mini wheats $2.99 (limit of 2)
Crispix (and other Kellogg's cereal) $2.99 (limit of 2) This is for you Travis
Kaiser or Italian buns $3.48/2 doz. That's under $.15 each

Safeway
If you are running low on boneless chicken breast, Safeway's price this week is $26.36. Limit of 2

Co-op
As I mentioned earlier, Campbell's soups by the case, $4.99 or $.41/can
canned mushrooms $.58 each
fresh salmon, whole $.29/100g When it's this price, I buy 10-12 and pressure can them. It is one of the easiest things to preserve. Simply cut the whole salmon (bones, skin and all) to the length of your jars, stuff the fish in the jar, add salt and finish filling with water. Seal and pressure cook according to canner's directions. I have a pressure canner if anyone wants to try this. All the instructions are in the box. I use wide-mouth pint jars (500mL for those of you who are metric). They are easiest to fill. I learned how to do salmon from working at the cannery.

Margarine, toothpaste and jam Coupons

I get coupons where I work. Most are for people with diabetes but some the general public might be interested in. Let me know if you want any as we get lots.

• $0.50 off any Unilever Canada brand (Blue Bonnet, Fleishmann's, I can't believe it's not butter, Becel, Imperial)
• $1.00 off Colgate Total toothpaste (125-170mL only)
• $1.00 off Smuckers 310mL no sugar added fruit spread

Liesel

Old Navy

I just got an email from Old Navy. It appears that kids clothes are on sale.
Khakis $10.00
Polo's $5.00
Then it says "and more" So I guess they have other stuff. Not sure what.

And my apologies. Serves me right for not proof reading. On the Grocery Picks, I mentioned that NoFrills had blueberries for a good price? But I failed to mention what that price was. It was $1.24/pint. If anyone normally buys blueberries, you can tell me if that is decent. This is the last day of this week's prices, but they may be on again next week. They tend to run some sales for more than a week. Hopefully if you wanted the blueberries, this will be the case. Again, sorry for omitting the price. It was not intentional.
JoAnn

JoAnn's Grocery Picks for the Week

Co-op
Ice Cream 4L pail $3.99
sugar 10kg bag (the biggest bag, Liesel) $8.99
grapes $.99/lb
pop (12cans) $2.00/case
pork button bones - Here they are Liesel - $1.99/lb or $4.39/kg
Harmonie drink crystals 1.75kg $4.99

Superstore - case mangoes free with $150 purchase. The above items at Co-op will be the same price at Superstore if you are wanting to make the $150. Or combine with another person, as Liesel suggested last week.
Dollar Days items:
NN frozen orange juice $1.00
NN ice cream sandwiches 12/box $4.00
NN rench fries $1.50/kg bag
NN croutons $1.00
Neilson yogurt 3/$1.00
NN Cheese blocks $7.98 (limit 2)
strawberries 2lbs $2.86 - awesome
bulk buns $2.00/dozen
canned tomatoes $1.00 (limit 5)
NN rice cakes $1.0 (limit 4)
picnic dishes (plastic cutlery, foam cups and plates)

Sobey's
Signal ice cream novelties 24/box $6.99
bottled water 12's $.99/case
tomatoes on the vine $.99/lb

NoFrills
Pork tenderloin $2.50/lb $5.51/kg A bit more than I like to pay for pork, but it is the tenderloin.
half loin (I think cut into chops) $1.77/lb or $3.90/kg
side ribs same price as above loin
sole fillets 400g pkg $2.39 (I bought the 680g pkg last week for $3.99, which is the same price)
blueberries (I don't buy these, but seems good)
carrots, 2lb bag (regular, not baby) $.89 each (equals $2.22 for a 5lb bag)
onions $1.29/3lb bag
romaine hearts 3pk $1.14
Red peppers 4pk - $1.49
Chocolate milk $.98/L (that's almost the same price as the new white milk price)
General Mills "sugar" cereal $3.38
5Alive/fruitopia frozen cans $.64. That's awesome. That's equivalent to $.89 for a 1.89L. So. . .
Sauve shampoo and conditioner $.99

Grocery Picks

Safeway:
Lucerne ice cream, 1.89L, 2 for $5 club price This is my favourite ice cream and a really good price, in my opinion, for the flavoured stuff

Superstore
NN OJ, frozen, concentrated $1
Neilsen Yogurt 175g 3/$1 (I'm not sure if this is good or great)
Mars Choc Bars - 2/$1 (make Mars rice krispie squares, you'll never go back to plain)
Strawberries, 2lb $2.86 (not great but okay)
NN oriental noodles 5/$1 (super unhealthy but nice in oriental salads)
NN cheese 907g $7.98, limit 2
NN plum or diced tomatoes, 796 mL 5/$5
McCain Deep.N.Delicious cake $3, nice to have on hand?

JoAnn, you're it for the rest.
L

Deals

Looking through flyers I see a 12 pack of water is on at sobeys for .99 cents. If you go onto Save.ca and order the coupons for glade sense and spray refills, you could get two of them for $3.00. Then if you take in the walmart flyer to london drugs to price match and then get the glade aerosols for $1.00 as well, spend $15.00 on glade products and use the $10.00 off coupon that was in July 10th newspaper and you'd have 7 aerosols plus two spray refills for $5.00. I'd say not bad, if you want to stock up on smelly stuff :)Another one is bug spray, go onto websaver.ca and order the two off coupons to use together. To make it even better if you use Deep Woods, go onto rightathome.ca and print off the deep woods buy one get one free and use all of them together to pay about $ 4.00 for two bottles of spray, if their around 10 bucks regular. Better Deal if you can find them on sale too and price match. Keep the mosquitos away!! I bought Miracle Whip for 4 something at costco today and now notice they've got it for 4.00 at walmart of 2 for $7.00 at safeway (you can also buy 1 for $3.50). What do ya know, I should of waited. 10 Kg of sugar is on for $8.99 at the co-op, missed it if it was on anywhere else. Kellogs Family size cereal is also $4.99 at the co-op. That's all I'll input for now. Happy shopping! Luella

Old Navy Coupon

July 9-22 @ Old Navy
Adult Jeans $25
Adult Tee's $7
Kids Khakis $14
Kid's Tees & Tanks $5
I also have a coupon for $10 off a purchase of $50 or more. E-mail me (lieselmeldrum@hotmail.com) if you want a copy since I haven't figured out how to link it here yet.
Happy rainy day.

JoAnn's Grocery Picks for the Week

NoFrill is looking good this week.

eye of round roast $1.88/lb $4.14/kg That's an awesome price!!
chicken thighs $1.99/lb $4.37/kg Not bad for thighs. There's less bone to buy than the whole legs with the back attached.
Sole fillets 680g $4.98
Cheerios and other General Mills cereal $2.97
Quaker cereal (Life, Harvest Crunch, Oat Squares, Captain Crunch,etc) $2.99***Zellers is selling the same cereal for 2/5.00 this week. But with the ad in hand, No Frills will match.
NN frozen lemonade $.67
NN orange juice $.99
nectarines $.77/lb
red peppers 4/bag $1.99
NN corn chips $1.49
bottled water 24/case $1.99 (you actually pay more for the deposit than for the water itself)
Spongetowels 8 rolls/$2.97
Dawn or Ivory dish detergent $1.49

Superstore - Thanks Liesel for getting me started
frozen pork loin (I'm not sure if it is the whole loin or if it is cut into chops) $1.98/lb or $4.37/kg
Sauve shampoo or conditioner $1.00Royale toilet paper 24 double rolls $.8.97 (That's only $.37/roll, which far surpasses my base price of $.50/roll)
tomatoes on the vine $.96/lb

Sobeys
Baby cut carrots 1lb bag $1.00
Nestle Smarties or Aero ice cream 400mL $1.00
tomatoes $1.00/lb
crusty buns 8/bag 41.00
celery $1.00
green onions 2/$1.00
broccoli $1.00/bunch


That's all I have for this week. Sorry if it is boring. You can blame the stores.

Meat and fruit prices

I have had a request for benchmark prices on fresh meat. And fruit for canning. So here we go.

chicken: breast anything in the vicinity of $2.00/lb ($4.40/kg)
thighs same price
whole frying less than the above since you are paying for the bones. $1.80/lb max.

pork: loin, whole or cut into chops Under $2.00/lb ($4.40/kg)
steaks or shoulder roast. Less than above, around $1.80/lb
ribs - I have to admit that I rarely buy them. They are more for show than anything. You are paying for at least 50% bone. But I will buy country-style ribs or button bones. Counry-style ribs are like a pork chop without the eye in the center (just the bone with the meaty part around it). Button bones or riblets are the ends of the rib and are must more meaty. The bone portion is actually quite edible too. I price them in the same range as the other pork cuts.
beef:
hamburger - has been quite expensive lately. The best I have seen in the last 6 months is $1.79/lb ($3.97/kg) I don't like to spend more than $1.69/lb and most prefer $1.49/lb, which I haven't seen for over a year.
roast - Inside round or outside round. These are both boneless. Outside has more fat and generally is cheaper than inside. Eye of round is the best of all round roast and is the leanest. I consider any roast that breaks $5.00/kg is worth buying. Incidentally NoFrills has eye of round roast for $1.88/lb or $4.14/kg!!! Awesome. That in itself is worth the drive out to Sylvan.
Cross Rib roast is by far the best tasting and most tender of all roasts. But it is rarely less than $6.00/kg. Also watch - could be boneless or the ribs may still be in. Generally, if the long ribs are still in, they sell them as prime rib and jack the price at least double.
Sirloin - these roasts come from the hip and are the driest and least tender of all the roasts. They are best if slow-cooked in a marinade as for beef on a bun. But generally the price does not reflect the lesser cut. It is priced higher than round roast (cut from the shoulder)
Steaks - if you are a steak person and you are going to bbq from fresh (not frozen) round steak is more than adequate. Because they are lean, you get less flare up and no bone means even cooking. But if you are wanting to be extravigant, rib roasts are very tasty. (T-bone, cross rib, etc). WARNING: You will pay a premium for steaks vs roast, so if you have the means, buy a roast and cut into steaks yourself. You will save a lot of money. Or you could be like me and only cook roasts in the first place. Your portions are much smaller than when serving steak.

Hope that helps. I am by no means an expert, since I find I get into my own rut and buy the same cuts most of the time.
If there is an interest in fish, I can shed some light on that too.

Fruit:
For canning, you don't need to get your fruit at the Farmer's Market (did I say that?)
These days with refrigerated trucks and storage, the fruit is just as fresh, just as local, and generally cheaper.
peaches/nectarines $.75/lb or better. It's still early in the season and if the crop is good, then will fall below $.50/lb. Last week, Superstore had nectarines for $.77 and this week NoFrills has them. I much prefer to can nectarines over peaches. Their flavor and texture are similar, but no need to peel nectarines. Merely slice off the pit and you are away. If you are not sure if you will like them, at $.77 you could do a batch and see how you like them and then when the BC nectarines ripen later in the summer (and should be well-priced) you will know if you want peaches or nectarines. BC are ripe near the end of July
Apricots - not as plentiful as peaches or nectarines, but good canned. Should be able to get for less than $1.00/lb. Remember that the pit is small inside, so you are paying for mostly fruit.
Cherries are easy to do, but I am not a fan of the non-crunchy texture. As you know, cherries were $1.99 at Sobey's last week, plus the 15% discount. Was a great time to get some, but I suspect this won't be the last time this season. Cherries generally are available until late July.

Hope this helps.

Self-Sufficiency - Home Canning

I am going to attempt home canning this year. I'm thinking peaches, some type of jam and who knows what else. I will be buying some equipment and would love to learn with someone else. If you're interested, let me know and we can do it at my house (no mess for you to clean up!).

Liesel's meager pickings

Safeway - Lucerne ice cream 4L, $3.99, good deal
Superstore
$25 gift card if you spend $250 - you can combine two receipts from the same day, so go with a friend or ask the person in front of you for their receipt and re-imburse appropriately.
Life cereal (and some others) - $2.50, limit 2
There are lots of others but Miss B is begging for attention. JoAnn - it's all up to you now :)
Liesel

JoAnn's Grocery Picks for the Week

It's 15% Tuesday tomorrow, so I'm going to get this posted quickly for Sobey's and then I'll add to it when I get a minute later tonight. Sorry for my inattention.

Sobeys 15% off your total grocery bill with a minimum $35 purchase. Sale price on the left and the discounted price at the right. It's also BOGO event too, so I'll list them all together.
Cherries $1.99/lb $1.69/lb Totally awesome!!
romaine $.99 $.84
sugar snap peas 908g (the big bag) $6.99 $5.94 Yum!
Hunt's pasta sauce $1.39 $1.18
Compliments BBQ sauce $.99 $.84
Kellogg's Jumbo Cereal $4.88 $4.15
Life cereal 2/$7.00 2/$5.95 or $2.97/box
BOGO items:
Compliments cereal (no regular price listed, but double dip and get them on Tues at %15 off)
jello powder $1.29 (not great. but with 15% and bogo, only pay $.55 each)
Mars chocolate bars $1.09 15% + bogo = $.46 each
compliments diapers (not up on these prices) 40-84/pkg $12.99 15% + bogo = $5.59/pkg
Cheemo perogies (not sure) $3.99 15% + bogo = $1.69/pkg
Virginia boneless ham 1kg $9.99 15% + bogo = $4.24 each (awesome!!)
chicken breast, fresh, back attached $4.08/lb 15% + bogo = $1.73/lb or $3.84/kg
I don't know if they are selling milk, butter and eggs at Walmart's reduced price, but you can do the math when you get there to see if the 15% off makes it cheaper or not.
happy shopping and I may see you there tomorrow.:)