This Week's Hot Deals (IMHO)

We have new deals today at our local Sprouts and Sunflower, while the longer lasting sales at Vitamin Cottage and Whole Foods continue. (Remember that Sprouts and Sunflower also have last week's sales through today, their "double ad Wednesdays.")

In Sprouts' new sales, lasting through April 13th, I'm liking boneless center-cut pork loin chops at $1.99 a pound, chicken sausage for $2.99 a pound, fresh tilapia at $6.99 a pound, and colossal sea scallops (U-10 count) for $10.99 a pound. Conventional asparagus is $1.99 a pound, and the organic produce specials look good: red or gold delicious apples for 99 cents a pound, Bartlett pears for $1.29 a pound, baby carrots at $1.50 for a one pound bag, green onions 69 cents a bunch, Valencia oranges at $2.50 for a four pound bag, and russet potatoes $2.99 for a five pound bag. Also looking good are roasted almonds for $3.99 a pound, bulk Jarlsberg cheese for $5.99 a pound, Imagine organic broths at $2.50 a box, and three types of Ezekiel breads for $2.99 a loaf. They also have flash frozen Alaskan sockeye salmon for just $6.99 a pound, but I'm inclined to wait at this point for the start of this year's fresh season in a few more weeks.

At Sunflower through April 13th, they're testing my meat-reduction resolutions with bone-in country style ribs at $1.99 a pound ($2.99 a pound for boneless) and Harris Ranch boneless rib eye steaks for $4.99 a pound. In non-organic produce, with tomato prices generally running high at this time of year, I'm very interested in the Eurofresh Farms on the vine cluster tomatoes at $1.77 a pound, since their website proclaims their tomatoes to be certified pesticide-free. In organic produce, I like jewel and garnet yams, red and yellow onions, or gala apples all at 99 cents a pound, and chard for $1.50 a bunch. Also looking good are Imagine cooking stock for $2.99 a box (the broth is $2.50 at Sprouts), Cascadian Farm organic frozen veggies at $2 a bag, WholeSoy yogurts for 79 cents, Brown Cow Greek yogurts for 99 cents, and select Annie's mac & cheese at $1.25 for the 6 ounce box.

Check here for the longer lasting sale at Whole Foods, and here for the even longer one at Vitamin Cottage.

One-Day Sale at Whole Foods Tomorrow

Our local Whole Foods stores will be doing another one-day sale tomorrow, this time a double one. Looking good to me are their Whole Catch cod fillets, which will be $6.99 for a 12 oz package, $3 off their usual price, something to keep in stock in your freezer for a quick, healthy meal. They will also have Honey Stinger protein bars at $1 each, which is 89 cents off, something I need to check out.

Chautauqua Fundraiser at Whole Foods

Our Chautauqua is a Boulder gem, and all four of our local Whole Foods (Pearl, Superior, Baseline, and Ideal) will support it this Wednesday with a "5% Day." Here's what they say:

"Wednesday, April 6th

5% Day for Colorado Chautauqua
11:00am-5:00pm

This April all Whole Foods Markets of Boulder are hosting a 5% Day for the Colorado Chautauqua. The Colorado Chautauqua has been an integral part of the Boulder Community since July 4th 1898. With a mission of enhancing its community and values through cultural, educational and recreational experiences, the Colorado Chautauqua is a true community partner. On April 6th, shop at any Boulder Area Whole Foods Market and 5% of our net sales will be donated to the Colorado Chautauqua."

Reminder Re This Week's Hot Deals

Just a reminder that if you'd like to see the best of this week's Boulder grocery deals (IMHO) presented in a readable fashion, go to this post. With html run amok, the list to the left is pretty hard to get through. Also, look just below for some great new, long lasting deals at Vitamin Cottage.

New Deals At Vitamin Cottage

The current set of specials at our local Vitamin Cottage (aka Natural Grocers) lasts all the way through May 28th (!). Gads, that's practically to summer. So you have lots of time to enjoy specials like organic bananas for 69 cents a pound, Boulder Natural six packs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $5.99 a pound (many virtues, including raised without antibiotics), four types of Rudi's Organic sandwich breads at $2.99 each, lots of Cascadian Farm organic boxed cereals, granolas, or granola bars at just $2.49 a box (wow), most of my fave Pamela's cookies for $2.49 a box, my super fave Nut Thins crackers for $1.89 a box, 10 ounce bags of Cascadian Farm organic veggies for $1.69 a bag, great prices on the smaller size can of Muir Glen organic tomatoes, jars of Muir Glen organic pasta sauce for just $2.49 each (and watch for attached coupons for $1 off a purchase of two), six ounce packages of Applegate Farms organic sliced turkey for an astonishing $3.99 each, and more!!! Plus lots of specials on vitamins and supplements, of course. What a wonderful sale to have running all the way through May 28th.

Weekday Dinner Ideas

Thinking about the rest of the week's dinners, while I'm in the mood for spring, the weather sounds like it wants to head back towards winter. We'll therefore start the week off tomorrow with our winter-like easy reheat from Friday, the cod, potato, and fennel casserole from Gourmet magazine.

It will be time for a rice dish by Tuesday, and I may be jumping the seasonal gun here, but I'm going to go for sausage risotto with spring greens from Bon Appetit. We'll have more options for the greens a little later in the season, but anything will do in the meantime, including the braising mix that's usually available in the produce department at the Pearl Street Whole Foods. Both Sprouts (parmesan) and Sunflower (basil) have a type of chicken sausage on sale that would be fine for this recipe.

Looking for something super quick for the middle of the week, we'll turn to the chicken breast sale at Sprouts to do an easy saute of boneless, skinless chicken breasts dressed up with a breadcrumb and herb coating. The organic yams also on sale at Sprouts will get roasted on the side, either whole as a type of baked potato, or cut into spears like fries.

To finish off this round of planning, we'll want a pasta dish by Thursday, and I'm thinking of a fun adaptation that will straddle the winter/spring sensibilities. We'll start with a recipe from the New York Times, pasta with winter squash and tomatoes, planting us firmly in the winter camp (Sunflower has organic hothouse tomatoes for $2.99 a pound through Wednesday, and their organic romas are sometimes cheaper). Then we'll spin it towards spring by adding some asparagus pieces to the squash and tomatoes as they cook (asparagus being a $1.77 a pound at Sunflower through Wednesday, but somebody always seems to have a good price these days).

And that will get us through to next Friday's planning.

Boulder Farmers' Market Is Open!

Yahoo, it's opening day for the Boulder Farmers' Market, and the place is already buzzing with activity. I was thrilled to see most of my favorite organic farms already represented, like Abbondanza, Cure, Red Wagon, Isabelle, and Pachamama. Early spring greens are already available, with spinach, arugula, salad mix, mustard greens, and baby chard on offer, as well as onions, garlic, and seeds. At Red Wagon's stand, I bought my first green garlic of the season!! The market is already well filled out for this early, with the Canyon Street wing and the food court both in full swing. With temperatures expected to be near 80 today, what a great day to get out for a farmers' market stroll (open until 2). Don't forget your shopping bags!

Weekend Sale At Whole Foods

Our local Whole Foods stores are offering us a quartet of sales for today and tomorrow. Annie's Mac & Cheese will be 2 for $5, regularly $3.39 each. Since the size isn't specified, I wonder how this relates to the Annie's Mac & Cheese that's 4 for $3 in the current two-week sales flyer, where the size also isn't specified. Back to the two-day sale, organic blueberries will be half off at $2.50 for a half pint, Canyon Bakehouse mountain white bread will be $3.99 each ($2 off), and Blue Moose spreads will be $2.50 each, 89 cents off.

Seventh Generation TP At Sunflower

Perhaps for Earth Day/Week/Month, whatever, our Boulder Sunflower is giving us an excellent "manager's special" on the big 12-packs of Seventh Generation toilet tissue. You'll usually find them selling in the ten dollar range around town, but Sunflower's sale is for $5.99, and it lasts all the way through May 5th, according to the sign. I'd grab it while it's there, since at that price, it will probably out-of-stock.

Speaking of earth-friendly concepts, Sunflower will host "earth friendly cleaning suggestions" tomorrow from noon to 2.

Weekend Dinner Ideas

Getting started on this weekend's dinner ideas, for tonight I'm thinking about the cod on sale at both Sprouts and Sunflower, and going for a favorite last-of-winter type of casserole, cod, potato and fennel casserole from Gourmet magazine. With the oven going, some of the stuffed clams on sale at Sprouts would be a delicious starter. For tomorrow, with temperatures in the mid-70s, I'm hoping to think spring (especially after tomorrow's opening of the Boulder Farmers' Market) by grilling some wild salmon, albeit of the previously frozen variety. I picked mine up during the excellent one-day sale this week at Whole Foods, but it's also on sale all week at both Sprouts and Sunflower. For a side, with asparagus $1.77 a pound at Sprouts, I might go for another round of roasted asparagus with browned butter from Cooking Light. With rain predicted to move in by Sunday evening (yeay!), we'll stay indoors but still think grilling by doing spicy turkey burgers from Bon Appetit, using the ground chicken breast on sale at Sprouts instead of the turkey. The organic yams also on sale at Sprouts would be a great side as spears roasted in the oven, a better version of "burger and fries." And that will get us through this weekend's planning.