Shop Cheap

Hi shoppers. It's time to sharpen the scissors and think inside the blog because there are deals to be had at the grocery store. If you haven't noticed there's, real competition out there. Take this week for example:

At Safeway, $1 days; coupons for $10 off your purchase of $50 or more; free liters of Pepsi and a pound of butter or a box of cereal for 99-cents. Shop on Saturday or Sunday and the deals are sweeter: A dozen eggs for 97-cents; Campbell's Select Harvest soups for 88-cents a can and a 10-pound bag of potatoes for $1.97. 

At Raley's, breakfast is on sale, including two boxes of pancake mix and a free container of maple syrup for $4. Their 99-cent specials include 28 items from frozen dinners to fresh broccoli to crisp apples.

At Save Mart you can make sandwiches for the whole family for under $5. Bohemian Hearth bread is $1.99 a loaf; tuna is 49-cents a can and fresh iceberg lettuce is 69-cents a head.

The highlights:

Continuing with Save Mart, there's max pak tri-tip roasts for $2.49lb; fresh ground sirloin for $2.99lb and chicken breasts for $1.89lb. Crystal Geyser drinking water is $3.50 a case; Simply Orange juice is $2.50 a jug and Propel fitness water is $1. Marie Calendar's pasta sauce is $2.50 a bottle; Sunny Select pasta is $1.99 for 2 pounds and Celeste frozen pizza is $1. In produce, a 5lb-bag of apples is $2.99; Roma tomatoes are 99-cents a pound; radishes, green onions or cilantro are 3/99-cents. Fresh green beans are $1.49lb; bags of spinach are 2/$3 and seedless grapes are $1.69lb.

In addition to groceries, Save Mart has a couple of noteworthy household items. Arm&Hammer liquid laundry detergent is BOGO; Soft One bath tissue is 2/$3 and facial tissue is 99-cents a box.

At Raley's, be sure to check out the recipe for "Cheesy Mexican Bake." Chicken for the recipe is 99-cents a pound. Add a Fresh Express garden salad for 99-cents and tomato, also 99-cents a pound, and you have a meal for $11 and change. Their Nob Hill gourmet soups are on sale in the deli for $3.99. Pair the soup with a shrimp cocktail - salad shrimp is only $2.99 a pound - and a loaf of French bread for $1.39 and you have a meal for under $10.

And who says you have to have breakfast in the morning? Shake things up a little by serving it  for dinner. Here's the plan for another $10 meal: Morningstar Farms sausage 2/$7; large eggs $1.99 a dozen; and that pancake deal (see above). You can even splurge on  Simply Orange juice for $2.50 a jug.

Safeway has the coupons and the 48-hour sale this week. They also have whole roasted chickens for the $5 Friday meal. If you want something fishy this week, check out Tilapia fillets for $3.99 a pound; red snapper for $4.99 a pound and extra large cooked shrimp for $7.99 a pound. In the beef department, Rancher's Reserve cross rib or top blade roast is $1.99lb. Remember, there's lots you can do with a roast: Cut it up and make stew; chili; fajitas; or put it in the crock pot and make shredded beef.

Hormel bacon is BOGO and so is Foster Farms ground turkey breast. Red or green seedless grapes are 88-cents a pound.

The $1 items at Safeway are endless. There's ketchup and mustard; canned tomatoes and pasta; Artisan breads; Rosarita refries; Crystal Geyser water and Arizona Tea. There's also Angel Soft bath tissue. In produce the $1 days continue with crisp apples at $1 a pound; Roma tomatoes, navel oranges, too. BOGOs include Vlasic pickles, Quaker instant oatmeal and Pop-Secret microwave popcorn.

 Foods Co. has Crystal Geyser drinking water for $3.50 a case; Oscar Mayer bologna or cotto salami for $1 per package; Minute Maid fruit punch is 98-cents a carton. In produce there's Roma tomatoes 2 pounds/98-cents; fresh onions 4lbs/$1; limes 2lbs/98-cents and red bell pepper for $1.98 a pound.

If you're in the mood for seafood, Vic's in Folsom has salmon fillets for $4.99lb and Venus clams for $2.99lb. Fresh Express salad blends are BOGO and navel oranges are 49-cents a pound. Broccoli is 99-cents a bunch and 3lb. bags of apples are $2.49. Those Michelina's frozen entrees are 99-cents each and Pillsbury biscuits, breadsticks or pizza crust are $2 each.

Come back tomorrow for recipes from the Shop Cheap kitchen.