Monday, September 30, 2013

Mommy Meet-Ups Wednesday

The Whole Foods store in Superior will host two free Mommy Meet-Ups this Wednesday regarding kids, their diets, and allergies.  Note that signup is requested.  Here are the details from them:

Mommy Meet-up        
             
Wednesday, October 2
10:00am and 6:00pm

Mommy Meetups
Free

Do your kids have food allergies?  Do you as a parent have questions about your child’s diet? Join us at the Superior Whole Foods Market Café at 10:00am and 6:00pm for informal round table chats with whole food and allergy experts Robyn O’Brian author of “The Unhealthy Truth” and Founder, AllergyKids Foundation and Angie Nordstrum, Healthy Child Healthy World “Mom on a Mission” & Food Allergy Advocate.  Please sign up at our Customer Service Counter or email rm.sup.events@wholefoods.com to reserve a spot today!

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Boulder Joins Wally World Wednesday

Forthcoming article from the Daily Camera about Walmart squeezing itself into Boulder despite lots of opposition, in the form of a "neighborhood market" opening Wednesday.  Fortunately not in my neighborhood.

A Week Of Dinner Ideas

I never did get around to posting anything Friday about dinners, so I might as well back up to there.  This week's thinking is motivated by three great sale items at the new Lucky's Market in Longmont, the fresh bay scallops for $6.99 a pound, the domestic prosciutto that's $7.99 a pound, and the organic roma tomatoes that are just 77 cents a pound (plus a lot of other good deals).  Those deals, plus the fact that I have a lot of basil in my yard that's already had a near death experience as we came close to a frost, and the end of this week isn't looking good either.  Will need to start making and freezing pesto as well as the uses below.

With the above specials in mind, Friday was linguine with bay scallops, fennel and tomatoes from Bon Appetit.  I also indulged by adding about a quarter pound of sliced prosciutto at the end, yum.

Last night, halibut from Whole Foods' current weekend sale, $17.99 a pound through today, went on the grill.  $17.99 is still a lot, but halibut usually runs even so much higher, and it was so worth it.  Corn from Munson's went on the side in a recipe I've mentioned before that really needs no recipe, sautéed corn with tons of herbs.  My burgeoning herb garden and basil plants, plus upcoming frosts, were the motivations there, along with the Munson corn, of course.

Tonight we'll be back to those bay scallops, adapting bacon-corn chowder with shrimp from Cooking Light to do it with scallops instead.  Some more sliced prosciutto just might make it into the pot at the end (or if I were more ambitious, I'd crisp it then crumble it).

Tomorrow, we'll turn to Sprouts' ground chicken breast or turkey breast special at $3.99 a pound to do spicy Thai basil chicken from Cooking Light.  Yup, another use for that basil harvest.  I love that it's great served in lettuce leaves, and with a bit of edamame on the side, makes a light dinner.  Even the runners in the house like it, despite any heavy carbs.

Tuesday will be our usual reheat of a big weekend item, which this week is the bacon-corn chowder from Cooking Light, link just above.

For Wednesday, the last day of the current Longmont Lucky's sale, it will be tomato and mozzarella risotto from Cooking Light.  I'll use plenty of fresh romas in it instead of canned, lots of basil from my garden, and will undoubtedly add some of that sale prosciutto, too.

Thursday?  No specific plan, but it's always an easy one as the week winds down.  Pork chops make a frequent appearance, and they're just $1.99 a pound for boneless center-cut loin ones through Wednesday at Sprouts.  Another frequent option is the salmon burgers at Whole Foods, where there's just about always a good sale option at $7.99 a pound.

Which gets us through an entire week, which currently is looking at some pretty chilly overnight temperatures for the end of it.  Do what you can for your gardens!

Friday, September 27, 2013

Vitamin Cottage Sale Heads Up

Just a reminder that if you want to grab any items from the current sale at Vitamin Cottage, you only have through tomorrow to do it (and at least in the Boulder store, they tend to out-of-stock on the particularly good deals as the sale winds down).  You can read my favorite items in this post.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Whole Foods Sales Starting Tomorrow

Our local Whole Foods stores will offer us a three-day weekend sale starting tomorrow and also a flash sale for tomorrow from 3 to 6 pm only.  Those NY strip steaks are incredibly good, and this flash sale is a fantastic deal.  But we've already been eating too much beef lately, so I'm going for that halibut in the weekend sale instead.

SEP 27 (FRI FLASH SALE!)

NY Strip Steak: $8 OFF/lb
<< 3-6pm Only>>
Sale Price: $9.99/lb
       
SEP 27-29 (FRI-SUN)

Halibut Fillet: $10 OFF/lb
Sale Price: $17.99/lb

Cucina Pasta Sauce: 50% OFF
Sale Price: $3.99 Each
Amy's® Bowls: 40% OFF
Sale Price: 2 for $6
Café Ubuntu Blend by Allegro® Coffee: $4 OFF
Sale Price: $8.99 Each
Cinnamon Crumb Cake: 50% OFF
Sale Price: $2.99 Each

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Big Whole Foods Flood Donation Tomorrow

This pretty much says it all:

Colorado Friends:
We are heartbroken by the devastation Colorado's floods have had on so many of you.

This Thursday, September 26th, we will be donating 5% of our sales* to a special Colorado flood relief fund established by the American Red Cross. Every Whole Foods Market store in our state will participate in this effort, as well as stores in New Mexico, Idaho and Utah.

To those of you shopping this week, please consider choosing Thursday so that your purchases contribute to this important cause.

Sending you our very best,
Your Local Whole Foods Market Team

This Week's Hot Grocery Deals (IMHO)

We have new sales starting today at our local Sprouts stores and Lucky's Markets, while the current ones continue at Whole Foods through October 1st and Vitamin Cottage just through September 28th, getting close.  Here's what's looking good to me now.

Sprouts' new sale runs through October 2nd, and the poor Arapahoe store that was so damaged in the flood should be part of it, as it should be reopening today.  I'm intrigued by what a value pack of whole chickens might entail, as they're just 99 cents a pound.  Boneless center-cut pork loin chops are incredibly low at $1.99 a pound, ground chicken breast or turkey breast are both $3.99 a pound, and Rosie organic whole chickens are $2.99 a pound.  In fish, they are still advertising the availability of fresh wild coho salmon fillets for $9.99 a pound.

In organic produce at Sprouts, bunched broccoli is good at $1.29 a pound (but was even better at Lucky's last week at 99 cents), baby carrots are $1.49 for a one pound bag, five pound bags of red, russet or Yukon potatoes are $3.99 each, red, green or black grapes are $2.49 a pound, Bartlett pears are $1.49 a pound, and honeycrisp apples are $2.49 a pound.

Elsewhere in the store at Sprouts, there's a "line drive" sale on the Kashi brand, with everything 30% off, and it gets even better if you buy five of them and use the in-store coupon for an additional $4 off.  The smaller 15-ish ounce size of Muir Glen organic tomatoes is three for $5, Fig Newmans are $3 a 10 ounce package, some Brown Cow yogurts are 35% off, and Clif bars (also Luna or Mojo) are $1 each, although we've seen lower.

I'm not committing to covering Lucky's, but their Longmont store continues with some grand opening specials that are too good to ignore.  They continue to have a separate sale from the Boulder store, with a little bit of overlap.  At the Longmont store through the 2nd, I'm liking wild fresh diver bay scallops for $6.99 a pound, antibiotic-free boneless skinless chicken breasts for $2.99 a pound, grass-fed top sirloin at $5.99 a pound (all their meats promising no hormones or antibiotics), and I'm very much liking Fiorucci prosciutto at just $7.99 a pound.

In organic produce at the Longmont Lucky's, roma tomatoes are stunning at 77 cents a pound, three types of kale are $1.50 a pound, one pound bags of baby carrots that are both organic AND local are spectacular at 99 cents each, and organic red seedless grapes are just $1.50 a pound.

I can see I'll be cooking with a lot of roma tomatoes, prosciutto, and bay scallops this week.

If you want to see sale flyers for both of the Lucky's stores, scroll to the bottom of their website here.

One-Day Sale At Whole Foods Today

For today only, the 25th, our local Whole Foods stores will offer us a duo of special sales.  Here's what they say:

SEP 25 (WED ONLY!)

Pasture Raised Rump Roast: $3 OFF/lb
Sale Price: $3.99/lb
Soups by Boulder Soup Works®: 50% OFF
Sale Price: $3.49 Each (Organic & Gluten Free!)

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Arapahoe Sprouts To Reopen Tomorrow

Today's Daily Camera is reporting that the Sprouts store on Arapahoe, which was considerably damaged in the flood, is set to reopen tomorrow morning.  Yay for comebacks!

Monday, September 23, 2013

I Have Munson's Corn!

Yahoo, Munson's stand at 75th and Valmont is open, and they say their corn came through quite well!  Problem was getting in to pick it while the ground was muck.  We'll have corn with our steaks tonight, since yesterday's weather caused us to swap around the grilling and the salmon chowder.  Just hope today's crazy winds die down before dinner.

Chip 'N Dale's Party in Superior

Superior Liquor, obviously in Superior, has long been a supporter of our wonderful Boulder Humane Society.  Pairing with help from Oskar Blues, they've come up with an admirable event with a moniker that's unbelievably cute, happening at Superior Liquor on Friday, the 27th from 3:30 to 6:30.  Since it involves microchipping of pets and sampling of Dale's Pale Ale, the event has been dubbed the Chip 'N Dale's Party, and their ad features a dog and cat sporting white cuffs around their front paws and black bowties on their necks, a la Chippendales.  At least the dog and cat aren't accustomed to wearing anything more, unlike the guys who take it off in a Chippendales show.

What Superior says is:  "Bring your dog or cat to get micro 'chipped' and enjoy a sampling of Oskar Blues Dale's Pale Ale.  The folks from Oskar Blues will be cooking up burgers and brats while the Humane Society CHIPS your pet for only $10!  All Oskar Blue beers will be on sale!"

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Weekday Dinner Ideas

Simplicity reigns again in this quick sketch.  With cooler temps and a longing for comfort food, I'd been thinking of cranking the oven back up for a big pizza tomorrow.  But the fresh wild king salmon that Lucky's Market in Longmont has for just $9.99 a pound through Wednesday was such a success on the grill Friday, I decided to turn to it again for tomorrow, doing a salmon chowder found on Whole Foods' website.  For some reason, I'm not able to get through to any results from Google right now, but if you just Google "salmon chowder whole foods," it will be the top result.  Given tonight's potential rain, I might just be swapping this in for tonight's dinner instead, and delaying our grilling of those $6.99 a pound ribeyes from the Longmont Lucky's until tomorrow.

Having postponed the pizza, on Tuesday we'll satisfy our Italian cravings with a New England classic, sausage, peppers, and onions subs, done on a nice fresh baguette from Whole Foods.  The sausage is always chicken in this household, and Sprouts has Italian ones for $2.99 a pound through Wednesday.  I paid just a little more for dried tomato and basil ones at Lucky's because I was there and could put them in the freezer until needed.

Wednesday we'll be reheating that fabulous chowder, so a reminder that that's the last day you can get the fresh wild king salmon at the Lucky's in Longmont at that incredible $9.99 a pound price.

I'll also pick up some of Lucky's antibiotic free boneless center-cut pork chops for $2.99 a pound by Wednesday for Thursday night's dinner, along with organic broccoli for just 99 cents a pound.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Farmers' Market Downtown Today

A reminder that the Boulder Farmers' Market is back in action downtown today, from 8 to 2, after having cancelled last Saturday's due to the flood.  I'm not sure what's happening in Longmont, as they originally said they'd have to find another location or cancel for the season.  Thursday's Daily Camera also ran an article to that effect.  But now I see an email saying what I've copied below, same location, just shorter time.  I'm not so sure, but good news if the recovery has been so quick.  This is what they say:

LONGMONT
At the Boulder County Fairgrounds
on Hover & Boston 

Saturday, Sept. 21st 9 am - 1 pm
*Note change in time due to flood relief efforts at county fairgrounds

Friday, September 20, 2013

Weekend Dinner Plans

Here's the barest outline.  With the great deals at the new Lucky's Market in Longmont, it's worth a trip out there for me, and tonight will be the Alaskan wild king salmon they have for an astonishing $9.99 a pound.

With my basil plants gigantic, and somewhat bent from their pummeling in the rain, tomorrow will have to be a pasta with pesto made from scratch.  Whole Foods has my new favorite Delallo whole wheat pastas on sale now for a quite good $2 a one pound bag.

For Sunday, we'll hit the grill with some of those boneless ribeyes the new Lucky's has this week for just $6.99 a pound.  Am hoping to find out later today if any wonderful Munson's corn survived our floods to go along with it.

Sketchy, but no time for writing, and not much for cooking, either.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

One-Day Olive Bar Sale

At least at the Pearl Street Whole Foods, that fine olive bar is $6.99 a pound (usually more like $9.99) for today only.  That's cool enough for those fine olives, but the bar also includes so much more.  I just picked up baby artichokes and some marinated mushrooms, plus there are a ton of other options like dolmades, fresh mozzarella with cherry tomatoes, and even fresh pesto, all at a great price today.  Wish they'd put out word in advance - I simply stumbled happily upon it.

Weekend Specials At Whole Foods

Our local Whole Foods stores will offer us both a one-day sale for tomorrow only, and also a three-day weekender sale.  The king salmon is a considerable discount from their regular price, but if you're in the neighborhood of the new Lucky's Market in Longmont, they have king for nearly half that again, at just $9.99 a pound through next Wednesday.  Here are the details from Whole Foods:

SEP 20 (FRI ONLY)
Fruit Tart: 60% OFF
Sale Price: $9.99 Each
SEP 20-22 (FRI-SUN)
Fresh King Salmon Fillet: $10 OFF/lb
Sale Price: $17.99/lb
Gourmet Grass-Fed
Beef Burgers:
$3 OFF/lb
Spicy Peach Green Chile & More!
Sale Price: $4.99/lb
Kale Chips: 2 for $7
Brad's Kale Chips & Alive and Radiant™
Energy Bars: $9.99 per Case
Larabar
® & thinkThin® (by the Case Only)
    

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

More Good Deals At Longmont Lucky's

The new Lucky's Market in Longmont seems to be continuing in grand opening mode, with more exceptional deals that don't look to be shared with the Boulder store (you can see both sale flyers at their website here).  The stunners for this week in Longmont through September 25th to me are boneless beef ribeye steaks for just $6.99 a pound (again, with Lucky's "never ever" standards) and Alaskan wild king salmon for just $9.99 a pound.  That's a price you might see for coho, but certainly not king.  Also, beef stew meat is very good at $3.49 a pound and boneless center-cut pork chops are $2.99 a pound.

In organic produce, baby carrots and broccoli are both just $1 a pound (guess the carrots would be a bag), honeycrisp apples are $1.99 a pound, chard is $1.99 a bunch, and russet potatoes or red onions are 99 cents a pound.  Elsewhere in the store, Hope organic hummus is great at $2.50 each (and it's local), local White Girl tomatillo salsas are $3.99 a 16 ounce jar, and obviously local Boulder ice cream is $2.99 a pint, among many other deals.

This Week's Grocery Deals

I'm not much in the mood to wax euphoric over a bunch of grocery specials right now, so here's an abbreviated version.  The current sale at Vitamin Cottage runs through the 28th, while new sales start today at Sprouts and Whole Foods.  For the Sprouts sale, I'd venture it's only Baseline and Longmont, as it looked to me like their store on Arapahoe was seriously damaged a few days ago, and doubt it will be open for a while, although I haven't been back or called to see since then.

At Sprouts through September 25th I'm liking:

pork tenderloin $2.49 a pound
grass-fed organic ground beef $4.99 a pound
boneless country style pork ribs $1.77 a pound
stuffed chicken breasts $2.99 a pound
fresh wild coho salmon $9.99 a pound

one pound bags of organic baby carrots $1.49 each
organic red yams $1.49 a pound
organic red or green grapes $1.99 a pound
organic vine-ripe tomatoes $2.49 a pound (note also today's one-day $1.99 sale at Whole Foods)
organic gala apples $1.48 a pound

half gallons Organic Valley milk $2.99 each
Pamela's cookies $3 a box
Chobani Greek yogurts $1 each

At Whole Foods through October 1st:

wild salmon steaks $12.99 a pound
garden fresh salmon burger $7.99 a pound
American Homestead bone-in pork loin chops (including the brined ones) $4.99 a pound

organic acorn, butternut or spaghetti squash (winter already!) 99 cents a pound
organic heirloom tomatoes $3.99 a pound
organic figs $3.99 a pound
organic chard $2 a bunch

Delallo whole wheat pasta $2 a one pound bag

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

One-Day Sale At Whole Foods Tomorrow

First off, Whole Foods is encouraging donations to the Foothills United Way at http://unitedwayfoothills/floodrelief to help out our Colorado flood victims.  But then in a return to semi-normalcy, we're on to the usual Wednesday one-day sale, and it's a particularly good trio this week.  I wonder if they chose the body care for people who've been hauling their belongings and carpet to dumpsters all day.  The details:

SEP 18 (WED ONLY)

All Body Care Items: 25% OFF*
Stock up on Soap, Shampoo & More!

Organic Tomato Clusters: $3 OFF/lb
Ripened on the Vine
Sale Price: $1.99/lb
Marinated Mozzarella: 50% OFF
8 oz Varieties by BelGioioso
Sale Price: $2.99 Each

Tomorrow Afternoon's Farmers' Market Is On!

The Boulder Farmers' Market has sent out the word that the Wednesday evening market will be back on as usual.  A little bit of normalcy returning, with best energy going to everybody so badly impacted by the floods.

As Boulder Recovers...

I found this morning's message from that wonderful store Cured on Pearl Street to be particularly touching.  Here's what they say:

l.gif
CURED: Hurray for Sunshine Edition (Vol. 3 Issue 31)
cured_final Good Morning Friends of Cured,

I don’t think we have ever been quite so happy to wake up to another beautiful, DRY, sunny morning here in Boulder, with a week of similar sunshine on the horizon. We know many of you sustained solid damage to your homes, but hope endlessly that everyone is safe and now dry, and slowly making sense of the devastation that hit. Please, please, if there is anything at all we can do to help-let us know. We have 5-gallon water jugs from Eldorado if anyone is still without water. We have massive sinks and dishwashers if you need to come down and do some cleaning. We have cheap wine if anyone just needs a drink, something special if a treat is in order, and we’re happy to let you hang out late and feed you cheese if the idea of going home just sounds overwhelming.

I realize there is nothing that can be said to spin this all to a positive, but I must say, it has been inspiring to watch Boulder as a community band together and help one another. The level of selflessness and comradery that came out over the weekend was truly inspiring. Despite all, we feel quite blessed to be a part of such a loving and caring community. With the events of last week, the day-to-day happenings at Cured seem trivial. Of course there are still wine tastings and chocolate tastings and warm roasted chickens coming out of the oven, so if you need a bit of distraction or a bite of comfort, come down and let us relieve you of reality for a few minutes. Our thoughts go out to all of you and please don’t hesitate to ask if there is anything that we can do to help.

Much love to all.

Will + Coral

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Munson's Is Closed Today

And I hope it's just for today.  I swung (or closer to swam) by Munson's farm stand at 75th and Valmont this afternoon, hoping against hope for some freshly picked corn for tonight's chowder, only to find the gates shut.  (I'd checked their website prior to departure, but they pretty much only post season start and end there.)  I just hope their fields will survive this flooding to yield more corn before the season will really be done.

Weekday Dinner Plans

No brilliance here.  Our weekdays are simple, and tomorrow's will be exceptionally so.  With Near East side dishes BOGO at Sprouts and a freezer full of boneless chicken breasts from one of the Lucky's grand opening sales (chicken breast tenders are also available as an option at Sprouts this week for $2.49 a pound), I'm reminded of a quick and easy comfort food I haven't done in forever, rice pilaf with diced sautéed chicken mixed in.

Tuesday is our reheat of something big made over the weekend, which this week is corn and cod chowder from Food and Wine magazine.

Still in comfort food mode, for Wednesday I'm liking baked potatoes with spiced beef chili from Bon Appetit.  The recipe calls for burger, but I also like to make it with stew beef, which Sprouts has for a very good $3.99 a pound through that day (or you could cut up their $2.99 sirloin tip steak), or spring for a bit more at the new Lucky's, where Teton Waters Ranch grass-fed stew beef is $4.99 a pound through that day.

Thursday is still undecided, and that's increasingly become the day for whatever the salmon burger sale of the week at Whole Foods is.  Quick, easy, tasty, and healthy to boot.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

No Shopping At Arapahoe Sprouts Today

Poor Sprouts store on Arapahoe!  It must have sustained some major flood damage.  I pulled into its east parking lot, only to find it cordoned off with yellow caution tape and filled with tractor trailers labeled Disaster Recovery Team, plus dumpsters the size of my house.  To make it even eerier, guys in white hazmat-like suits were all over the place, carrying substantial pieces of stuff out of the store.  Looks like it might be a while before they can get back in business.  Meanwhile, there's the Sprouts on Baseline for the same prices, unless they've also suffered a similar fate.  I wonder what's happened at the second incarnation of Alfalfa's, since that location has long been prone to flooding.

No Boulder Farmers' Market Today

Just a reminder that the Boulder Farmers' Market is closed today as the area attempts to recover from this flooding.  But the good news is that I've just seen that Cure Organic Farm's farm store will be open today, if you can make it safely out to 75th and Valmont.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Larkburgers $2 Tomorrow

If anybody can get there, and if the store is open, the Larkburger on Arapahoe will be selling its yummy signature burger for just $2 tomorrow.  Details here.

Boulder Farmers' Market Cancelled Tomorrow

Not surprisingly, the Boulder Farmers' Market has announced its markets in Boulder and Longmont are closed tomorrow.  Poor Longmont is evidently cut in half by the St. Vrain River right now.  And I fear for what these floods have done to our farmers' fields.

Menu Determined By Road Closures

Despite my best intentions, it looks like we'll be cooking from what's in the freezer today.  This list of road closures due to the flooding (note they can change at any time) shows I'm effectively hemmed in.  Good thing we're well stocked on milk, coffee, and vodka, the essentials of life.

Weekend Dinner Plans

Happy Friday the 13th.  Here's an optimistic plan for the weekend, assuming everything starts drying out.  With our recent weather, I'm ready for a bit of fall-like food, and with the current sales, that means roast chicken.  Whole Foods' fine air-chilled ones are $1.99 a pound through Tuesday, Sprouts has chickens for $1.59 a pound through Wednesday, and the new Lucky's in Longmont has their "never ever" high standard ones for $1.49 a pound this week.

Tomorrow we're hoping to get back out on the grill for some sort of fish.  Sprouts is advertising fresh wild coho salmon fillets for $11.99 a pound, but I'll also check out Whole Foods, just in case something like swordfish looks within reason.  Corn, on the cob or dressed up, will have to go on the side.

We'll want to make a big pot of something by Sunday, which I'm thinking will be a return to cod and corn chowder from Food and Wine magazine.  We've already reached mid-September, which means I have to amp up my fresh local corn consumption even more before the season ends.  For the fish, the new Longmont Lucky's has cod this week for $7.99 a pound, but haddock is also a very acceptable (and very New England) substitute, and Sprouts has it for just $4.99 a pound this week.

Stay dry out there!

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Weekend Sales At Whole Foods

Kind of crazy to be talking about this in the midst of flooding (and Whole Foods just announced early closures for its stores today, 4 pm for Baseline and Ideal, 6 pm for Pearl and Superior), but here's the news regarding sales starting tomorrow, presuming they're open and we all haven't washed away (wouldn't Friday the 13th be a good day for that):

SEP 13 (FRI ONLY!) Grass-Fed Ground Beef: $3 OFF/lb80% Lean Ground Beef
Sale Price: $4.99/lb
SEP 13-15 (FRI -SUN)
Organic Figs: $2 OFF/lb
Sale Price: $3.99/lb

Hardy Mums: $3.99 OFF
1 Gallon Pots
Sale Price: 2 for $10

Balsamic BellaVitano® Cheese
by Sartori:
$7 OFF/lb
Sale Price: $9.99/lb

Foaming Hand Soap
by CleanWell™:
50% OFF
9.5 oz Varieties
Sale Price: $2.99 Each
    

Hang Tight, Boulder

Stay safe out there with these flooding roads and streams.  I've got an alternate creek bed formed in my backyard already.  It took a month of nonstop rain in 1995 to get us to where we are now in just a day or so.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

More Good Deals At Lucky's

The new Lucky's Market in Longmont continues to have some nice bargains in its new sale beginning today, although it understandably seems to be taming down a bit towards more normal prices.  The items I'm particularly noticing this week are whole frying chickens (with Lucky's "never ever" standards) at $1.49 a pound, Teton Waters Ranch grass-fed stewing beef at $4.99 a pound ($1 less at Sprouts this week but without that promise of no antibiotics), and wild Alaskan true cod for $7.99 a pound.  Cedar River rump roast looks cheap at $2.99 a pound, but I wouldn't know what to do with it except cut it up into stew beef.  Local organic kale (red, green and lacinato) is $1.50 a bunch, organic satsumas are just 88 cents a pound, and in conventional produce, pineapples are stunning at 77 cents each. My favorite Cascade Fresh yogurts are practically being given away at three for $1, Annie's organic salad dressings are great at $2.50 (a price sometimes seen for the natural version but rarely for the organic), Bonne Maman fruit preserves are $2.99 for the 13 ounce jar, and Lucky's wonderful bulk coffee is just $6.99 a pound.  In the deli, grilled seasonal veggies look tempting at $5.99 a pound, and I wonder if their high meat standards also pertain to their deli meats, as Dietz & Watson Black Forest turkey looks great at $6.99 a pound.  Last week I paid more like $12 a pound for Black Forest turkey at another local store.

Hope you're enjoying this refreshing rain in Boulder!

This Week's Hot Grocery Deals (IMHO)

We have a new sale starting at our Boulder Sprouts, while the current one continue at our local Whole Foods through the 17th, and at Vitamin Cottage through the 28th (click for prior reports).  Plus, there's that added complication of Lucky's Market having opened a store in Longmont that's within my travel pattern, unlike their north Boulder one, and I don't have time to write more.  In any case, here's what's looking good to me with what's in front of me now.

Sprouts new sale running through September 18th has some similarities to last week's sale, with meats not high on the list in this house, like chicken thighs, burger, and pork sirloin, but I'm glad to see the continuation of a BOGO sale.  In meat, whole, split or cut-up chickens do look good at $1.59 a pound, chicken breast tenders are okay at $2.49 a pound, beef stew meat is good at $3.99 a pound, ground chicken breast or turkey breast are also $3.99 a pound, and three types of chicken sausage are $2.99 a pound.  In fish, previously frozen wild haddock fillets are great at $4.99 a pound, and fresh wild coho salmon fillets are evidently still available at $11.99 a pound.

In organic produce at Sprouts, green bell peppers are fantastic at 79 cents each, red or black plums are just 98 cents a pound, gala apples or Bartlett pears are both $1.49 a pound, celery is $1.49 a bunch, and yellow peaches are $1.99 a pound.  Among the BOGOs throughout the store, I'm especially liking Fage Greek yogurt, Muir Glen organic pasta sauce, Near East side dishes (their rice pilaf is great), and Earthbound Farm organic salads, .

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

One-Day Sale At Whole Foods Tomorrow

Our local Whole Foods stores will offer us a duo of special sales tomorrow only, the sad date of September 11th.  Here are the details from them:

SEP 11 (WED ONLY!)

Chocolate Bars
by Madécasse:
50% OFF

Sale Price: 2 for $5

Salami by Olli™: $4 OFF
6 oz Varieties
Sale Price: $6.99 Each

Beware The Wild Weather

So nice to see some moisture return, but I wish we didn't have to swing from one extreme to the other.  I was at the new Lucky's Market yesterday afternoon, stocking up on things like asparagus for 88 cents a pound and prosciutto for under $10 a pound for my risotto.  The skies were looking dark as I entered the store, and just as I finished paying, they opened up in a huge deluge.  People hunkered around the doors rather than venturing outside, but the lightning became so fierce, we retreated further into the store.  When the downpour finally subsided, the parking lot was so flooded, I had to take off my good shoes and hike up my pants to get to my car.  Sounds like more of the same for today, so be careful out there.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Weekday Dinner Ideas

No time to go chasing links, so here's a quick outline.  It's roasted green chile season and high season for local corn, so with the Lucky's in Longmont practically giving away boneless center-cut pork chops through Wednesday at $1.97 a pound, tomorrow's going to be a big pot of pork green chile with corn.

We also need to use more of that 88 cent a pound asparagus from the Longmont Lucky's, and since that store also has a stunning special on domestic prosciutto this week at $9.99 a pound, Tuesday will have to be the risotto with asparagus and prosciutto recipe that I've mentioned in the past.  Search box on this blog should work, or you can just Google it.

Wednesday will be our reheat, the glorious green chile again.

Then Thursday will practically be cook's night off, doing pasta with that wonderful Spinelli's local pasta sauce I've previously mentioned, on sale for just $3.99 a jar (usually closer to $7) at both Lucky's stores through Wednesday.  Maybe more of that prosciutto will go in too.

And that's it for now.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Boulder Farmers' Market Today

It's another great day for heading to the Boulder Farmers' Market, running in its downtown location from 8 to 2 today.  Plus it's so much more accessible now that Arapahoe has reopened following the summer's big construction project near there.  Or if you don't like the crowds at the Market, head on out to 75th and Valmont, where you'll find both Munson Farms and Cure Organic Farm.  Munson's features folks buying sweet corn by the armload (plus lots of other veggies and fruits), while Cure presents a truly peaceful environment filled with organic produce and their own meats.

Friday, September 6, 2013

More Good Deals At Lucky's

Lucky's Market is still (and maybe will forever be) producing separate ads for its Boulder and new Longmont stores, with the Longmont one still in grand opening mode with some extra special deals.  I just don't have time to go over them all, but in Longmont there are several stunners that just have to be mentioned.  Asparagus at 88 cents a pound is certainly one, as are center-cut boneless pork chops (with Lucky's "never ever" high standards) at a fire-sale $1.97 a pound (some of those will be going in the freezer).  Spinelli's pasta sauce is also great (and a stock up item) at $3.99 a 19 ounce jar, and this is a sale the Boulder store is also doing.  Spinelli's is a local product from a market in Denver that I recently discovered through a tasting at Whole Foods.  They have four varieties that I know of, and the two I've tried so far, the Fra Diavolo and the creamy vodka sauce, have been truly extra special.  They also usually come with a truly high price, $6.99 a jar at Whole Foods and about 50 cents less than that at Lucky's, so $3.99 is a really, really good deal.

Sorry I don't have time to go over any more details, but you can see the flyers for both stores weekly at http://luckysmarket.com/#flyers (scroll down) or on that same page, you can sign up for their newsletter that will drop them into your inbox once a week.

Taste Of Tomato Tomorrow

Harlequin's Gardens is that wonderful north Boulder garden shop featuring plants thoroughly adapted to our location and lots of organic plants.  They've had the wonderful idea to do a Taste of Tomato, where you can sample interesting varieties being grown locally and bring your own to share.  Click that link for the location and all the details of the event tomorrow.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Four-Day Sale At Whole Foods Starts Today

Whole Foods is making tailgating easy with a four-day sale starting today that includes dips, shrimp platters, and a great price on a two pound bucket of their fabulous chicken wings (admit it - you want them).  To top it off, my fave roasted chiles are also on sale.  Here's what they say:

SEP 5-8 (THURS-SUN)

 
Roasted Hatch Chile Peppers: 50% OFF
Sale Price: $1.99/lb
Asiatic Lilies: 40% OFF
Sale Price: 2 for $12

Shrimp Trio Platters: $5 OFF
Sale Price: $14.99 Each
Chef-Inspired Specialty Dips: 30% OFF
Sale Price: $4.89 for 8oz Containers

Chicken Wing Buckets: $5 OFF
Sale Price: $9.99 for 2lb Buckets

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

This Week's Hot Grocery Deals (IMHO)

We have a new sale starting today at our Boulder Sprouts stores, while the current ones continue at Whole Foods through September 17th and at Vitamin Cottage through the 28th (click for prior reports).  Then there's the added complication of the new Lucky's Market in Longmont that's right in a frequent travel pattern for me, and I've already heard their new sale will include asparagus at a stunning 88 cents a pound, so that will definitely be a stop.

At Sprouts through the 11th, an $8.99 a pound surf & turf isn't the lowest we've ever seen for boneless New York steak or very big 16/20 count raw shrimp.  Italian chicken (or pork) sausage are $2.99 a pound and boneless center-cut pork loin chops are also $2.99 a pound, but the other meat specials are mostly focusing on things not popular in this household, like chicken thighs, burger, and a pretty big Buffalo Stampede on bison.  In fish, fresh (farmed) salmon fillets are $7.99 a pound, previously frozen cod is $6.99 a pound, and I'm curious about the frozen wild Chilean sea bass fillets for $12.99 a pound, as the ad says they are certified sustainably caught.  Flash frozen wild mahi mahi fillets are very low at $3.99 a pound, but I'd want to take a look at them first.

In organic produce at Sprouts, one pound bags of baby carrots remain very good at $1.49 a pound, three pound bags of yellow onions are $1.99 each, red plums or Bartlett pears are both $1.49 a pound, pink lady apples are $1.99 a pound, and I wouldn't rush off to today's one-day sale at Whole Foods on organic grapes for $1.99 a pound, as red or green are $1.98 a pound through the week at Sprouts.  A big BOGO sale is featured through the rest of the store, with lots of products buy one get one free.  Among the BOGOs I'm liking are Westbrae organic beans (15 ounce cans), Annie's organic mac & cheese (the six ounce box, some Chocolove bars, Stonyfield organic Greek yogurts, Earthbound Farm organic salads, and Cedar's hommus.

A side note for wild salmon lovers - I thought we might be out of the fresh wild season, but King Soopers is advertising fresh wild coho fillets for $12.99 a pound with card through Tuesday.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Spectacular Asparagus Sale Coming Up

I stopped in at the new Lucky's Market in Longmont this afternoon to pick up a few things and noticed a rather vast, but unpriced, display of asparagus, presumably conventional.  When the produce guy checked on the price for me, he came back with the information that today, it's $4.99 a pound, but the display is prepping for tomorrow's new weekly sale, when it will be a stunning 88 cents a pound.  Sorry I have no clue if this will pertain to the Lucky's in Boulder also, and I just don't have time to do further investigation.

One-Day Sale At Whole Foods Tomorrow

Our local Whole Foods stores will offer us a duo of special sales for tomorrow only, the 4th.  While the $1.99 a pound price is pretty decent for organic grapes, they've been $1.50 a pound all week at Lucky's Market in both Boulder and Longmont, including through tomorrow.  Here's what Whole Foods says:

SEP 4 (WED ONLY!)

Organic Grapes: $1.50 OFF/lb
Red & Green Seedless Grapes
Sale Price: $1.99/lb
Organic Hemp Seed–Nutiva®50% OFF
8oz Bags
Sale Price: $4.99 Each

Monday, September 2, 2013

Organic Day Today At Alfalfa's

Happy Labor Day!  And I just found out it's also Organic Day at Alfalfa's, happening right now.  Here's what they say:

Organic Day at Alfalfa's
September 2, 11:00am to 2:00pm
September is Organic Month, and to celebrate, we're kicking it off with our first annual Organic Day. Stop by to feast on organic fare hot off our Alfresco grill, listen to live music, and hear leaders from the organic food industry talk in detail about organic food production and certification. Kids and adults alike can make eco-crafts and meet calves from Aurora Organic Dairy. All are welcome to participate in this FREE event!