It looks like I’ll be stocking up on canned veggies at Super Saver this week.  Their store brand is priced at 44¢ each.  When I’m in a hurry (and when am I not in a hurry?) I am always thankful to have canned vegetables to add to my dinner.  I personally like to serve frozen veggies, but in a pinch, I’ll grab the canned variety. 

The produce department has a 5 pound bag of red grapefruit for just under $3 and fresh asparagus for $1.48 a pound. 

Hot Pockets are on sale for $1.64—would you believe I was at Super Saver yesterday and picked up a couple of packages (they were $1.98 yesterday, which was still good in itself!).  I’ll still stock up at that price.  They won’t go bad in the freezer.  Other items I’ve circled in their ad are Hunt’s spaghetti sauce for 85¢, store brand yogurt for 3/$1, Peter Pan peanut butter is $1/38 for a 16 ounce jar, and 3 types of General Mills cereals are only $1.67. 

Don’t forget Super Saver’s online coupons—I just printed out the one for free Wimmer’s snack sticks.  You can get it here. 

Skagway has a two-day sale (Saturday & Sunday) with some good deals:  Duncan Hines brownie mixes for 99¢, Jack’s frozen pizza is $1.67, and store brand cake mix is only 49¢.  (this would be a good time to check my website for my cake mix recipes!)

Skagway’s produce department has a 2# bag of baby carrots for $1.99, navel oranges for 58¢ a pound, and Granny Smith apples are 99¢ a pound. 

Bone-In Pork sirloin roast is marked down to $1.29 a pound.  I also circled store brand yogurt (33¢), Skagway brand bread for 99¢ (put an extra loaf in the freezer), and Colgate toothpaste for 99¢.

Swiss Miss hot chocolate packets are 99¢ this week—that’s my personal favorite brand if I’m buying packets.  But most often I will make a batch of my own hot chocolate mix (find it here).  Another good deal at Skagway is an in-ad coupon for free bread when you buy two jars of Skippy Peanut butter (sale-priced at 2/$4). 

HyVee has a 5 pound bag of locally grown potatoes priced at 99¢ and Jonagold (or Braeburn) apples are just 88¢ a pound.  Store-brand powdered or brown sugar is just $1.18.  Campbell’s chunky soup is a good deal at  $1.25 this week, too.

There are a few good in-ad coupons to clip:  Grimmway Farms baby carrots for just 69¢, Hershey’s baking chips  for $1.68, $10 off when you buy any 6 General Mills cereals, $1 off 10 Dannon yogurts, and canned Butter Kernel Vegetables are 3/$1.

I also see Edy’s Ice cream (they show pumpkin-flavored in the ad) for 2.99.  I’m not sure if pumpkin flavored ice cream is a good idea….my daughter on the east coast tried a pumpkin flavored DQ blizzard, and she didn’t like it.  I’m the same way: the only way to use pumpkin is in baked goods like cookies, bread, and of course pie. 

Don’t forget that HyVee gives you cents-off at their gas station when you buy groceries.  The discount amount varies by day and I’ve even been known to call them to ask what that day’s discount is before driving across town to shop there.  One day last week they had a 15¢ discount on their gas—a good thing these days now that gas keeps going up!

 

Don’t forget:  Granny is slowly moving her blog to another home — you can also find me here.

Granny Finds Some Good Deals Today!

It’s a good week for grocery shopping, and for stocking up on a few things for the upcoming cold days!

HyVee has some “hot deals” on the front of their grocery ad—store brand Chicken Noodle (or tomato) soup for 38¢ a can.  It’s always good to have a can of Chicken Noodle soup in the cupboard!  There is a coupon inside for Chicken of the Sea tuna for 58¢ (limit of one with coupon). 

The inside pages of are promoting their private label (HyVee) products:  cereal for $1.88, tortilla chips for $1, 6-ounce container of sour cream for 66¢.  They also have HyVee little smokies for $2.49  (quick & easy fixed in barbeque sauce), and pork shoulder roast for 99¢ a pound.  Slice & Bake cookies are $2 for a tube.  Their olives (both black & green) are $1.18—I’ll stock up for Thanksgiving (one less thing on that list!).

I think I’ll also be getting some more Hot Pockets (great to tuck into lunches!) for $2 and the 24 ounce cottage cheese that is priced at $1.38, broccoli is 99¢ each, and there’s a coupon for large eggs for 99¢. 

I noticed that HyVee didn’t have any limited day sales this week!  Good!  I don’t like having to make separate trips to get the really good sale items.  But, I’d bet that they will have another “special deal” flyer in the Saturday or Sunday paper….

 

Skagway does have a 3-day weekend special flyer with Campbell’s chunky soup for 99¢, ½ gallon Land o Lakes orange juice for 88¢, and bananas for 33¢ a pound—all great deals!

Other things I’ve circled in the Skagway ad are the sirloin steak ($2.99 a pound),  a 4-pound bag of sugar for $1.49, Taco Bell taco shells or refried beans for 99¢, and wood roses for 10¢.   This one made me laugh:  New York Texas Toast croutons for 99¢.

 

Super Saver has a week-end sale: bottled 6-pack Coke products for $2.87, StarKist tuna for 62¢ for a 5-ounce can, 5 pound bag of carrots for $1.46, Old Orchard juice (64 ounce bottle) for $1.36, and chicken drumsticks for 96¢ a pound. 

Other good deals this week at Super Saver I see:  Store brand bleach for 98¢, and boxed mac & cheese for 28¢.   The produce department is always one of my favorite areas:  Bananas are 38¢ a pound, head lettuce is 74¢ each, celery is 67¢ a package, and  a 5-pound bag of red delicious apples is only $2.84. 

I went checked their online-only coupons, too:  Free (with $10 purchase) Wimmers Little Meaty Snack Sticks, Iams 15-pound dog food has a $2 off coupon, $1 off cherry tomatoes, and a 16-count package of AA batteries for just $3.98.  Their ad says they have a twitter account now!  I love twitter, so I’m following their updates now!  They are also on Facebook—see this week’s flyer for details.

Wednesday Grocery Shopping Lists

All three of our local grocery stores have some great prices for this week!  Skagway’s produce department is featuring fresh broccoli or cauliflower for $1.28 each.  They also have golden delicious apples prices at 98¢ a pound (regular price is around $1.45, I believe). 

The meat department has chicken leg quarters for 78¢ a pound (that’s close to half-price!).  They also have arm roast priced at $1.99 a pound, pork ribs for $1.29 a pound, and Swiss steak for $2.19 a pound.

Skagway has a buy-one-get one deal:  Red Baron pizza (one of my favorites!) and Wonder Bread 20-oz loaf.  Look for other good deals on canned soups, Gerber 2^nd Foods, and Kellogg’s cereals.  Also I see Hot Pockets for $1.78 (I put those in Gramps’ lunches all the time).

Skagway has some non-food items on the back page of their flyer:  Colgate or Pepsodent toothpaste is only 59¢ for a 6 ounce tube!  They also have tooth brushes for 88¢ and generic non-aspirin for 99¢.  I read somewhere that the generic medications are just as good as the name-brand because they are held to the same government standards, so you can save money without worrying about the quality. 

 

Super Saver has Banquet pot pies for 48¢ each—always a good thing to have in the freezer for a quick lunch!  Another quick lunch item would be the canned Chef Boyardee pasta for only 87¢ each.  

Meadow Gold milk is $1.77 for a gallon—that’s just a few cents more than buying a ½ gallon container!  Store brand split top bread (white or wheat) is only 1.23 for a 24-ounce loaf, and the 24 count cube of Pepsi products is priced at $5.48 (with a limit of 2). 

Remember to check the Super Saver online coupons (they are not available anywhere else) which are always very good deals:  $1 off rotisserie chicken, buy-one-get-one on packaged flounder fillets (with a $10 purchase), and $2 off a 15 pound bag of Beneful dog food (don’t forget the furry family members!).

 

HyVee has some Thursday-only (that’s tomorrow!) specials: store-brand boxed mac & cheese for 25¢, 5 pounds of russet potatoes for 88¢, and large eggs for 88¢!  I also see a 3-pack of store brand paper towels for 99¢.  (If they are out when you get there remember to ask for a rain check at the check-out counter.)

Some of HyVee’s week-long specials in the produce department are bananas for 39¢ a pound, raspberries (6-ounce package) for $1.99, seedless oranges for 99¢ a pound, and pre-packaged salad mix for 88¢. 

I’ll pick up some jars of Ragu pasta sauce for 99¢ (I might have coupons for that in my coupon box….), Skippy peanut butter for $1.48 (isn’t it funny how your favorite peanut butter is the one you grew up eating?), store brand chunky soups for 99¢, and store-brand instant oatmeal for $1.48 (10 count package). 

The HyVee bakery has their cookies on sale all week (instead of their usual Thursday-only special price) of $2.99 for a dozen.  These look so much like home-baked that if you’re in a hurry, just grab some and put them on your own platter—no one will know the difference!  I’ll be getting some since I’ve got kids coming home this week-end—who wants to spend time baking when you can be visiting and catching up on what everyone’s been doing?

Free Healthy Baby Snacks: Little Duck Organics

I found a new freebie for you this morning.  Anyone with a toddler will be interested in this new product.  It is just starting to come out, so watch the grocery shelves! 

The Little Duck Organics website says that “each fruit blend contains 100% real fruit and absolutely no preservatives or additives. All of our fruit is freeze dried and diced small so that your child can easily pick it up to feed themselves. Best of all, Tiny Fruits are USDA certified Organic, so you know that your little one is getting only the best!”

Check out their website for a free sample!  They let you choose one of three flavor packs: blueberry/apple, apple/banana, or strawberry/mango.  I chose the strawberry/mango variety–I sure hope my little grandson will like them!

Wednesday: Make Your Grocery List!

Don't forget your re-useable shoppping bags!

Good Wednesday!  It’s time to glance through the new grocery flyers and make our shopping list for the week!  This two and three-day sale feature is becoming a regular item anymore:  all three stores have special items on sale for limited times.  I do appreciate the fact that they fall on different sets of days, though, so I’m not frantically running from store to store to take advantage of the good prices.

 

I’ll shop at Skagway first since their special sale runs today and tomorrow: I see eggs for 77¢ (wouldn’t you know it:  I just bought some yesterday, but I’ll still get a couple of dozen—I can hard boil one for deviled eggs). And, there are the baby carrots for 79¢ (I DO need those:  I repackage them in those little snack size baggies for Gramps’ lunches).

Other items I’ve circled in the Skagway ad are StarKist tuna for 68¢, Yoplait Yogurt is 40¢, and Land of Lakes Cottage Cheese is just $1.37 for a 22 ounce container….didn’t that size of cottage cheese used to be 24 ounces??????

This is the 2^nd week of Skagway’s anniversary sale: Homepride bread is just 88¢.  The produce department is featuring seedless red grapes for 98¢ a pound, and Roma tomatoes for the same price.  Red Delicious apples are also 98¢ a pound—don’t forget that old saying about an apple a day…so true!

The meat department has rump roast for $2.29 a pound…always a good thing to put in the crock pot early in the morning for an easy dinner that night.  Another good buy is the boneless chicken breast for $1.69 a pound—stock up for another day!

Super Saver has a 2-day sale Saturday & Sunday:  They have a 6-pack of bottled coke products for $2.68 (that’s just 45¢ a bottle), Quaker instant oatmeal (12-count box) for $1.94, Red Baron frozen pizza for $2.68, and Roma tomatoes for 66¢ a pound. 

Super Saver beats Skagway’s Rump Roast price by 3 cents, and they also feature Omaha Natural Angus sirloin steak for $2.88 a pound (that’s another one of their featured GO LOCAL specials.  Again Super Saver beats Skagway’s price on chicken breast at only $1.67 a pound. 

The produce department has seedless red grapes for 96¢ a pound, and fresh asparagus for $1.67 a pound (Gramps loves asparagus).  Quaker cereals (Life & Captain Crunch) are just $1.74. 

Don’t forget to check Super Saver’s online only coupons—they have some new ones out there:  $1 off rotisserie chicken, $2 off a 15-pound bag of Beneful Dog food, and $1 off a 3-pound bag of onions.

HyVee has a 3-day special sale that runs Thursday through Saturday.  Their store-brand bacon is $1.88 (put some in the freezer for later), baby carrots are $1, and there is a sale on spices, and they are selling Hallmark cards for ½ off. 

HyVee has Yoplait Yogurt for 39¢ each, Barilla pasta for 99¢ a package, store-brand tomato sauce for 25¢ (another good thing to have on hand in your pantry).  I see a coupon for bottled Lipton tea:  2 12-packs for $8!  Other in-ad coupons I’ll use are the ones for store brand baking chips for 99¢, and 18-count eggs for $1.49. 

Don’t forget to go visit the HyVee bakery on Thursday for their weekly featured cookie sale: 25¢ for a single cookie and $3 for a dozen. 

Last minute hint: I’ve found if I circle my favorite buys in each store’s flyer right away as I am reading through it, I’ll be able to spot them easier when I’m ready to make up my shopping list. 

Going to the Bread Store

I save a bit of my grocery budget by buying baked goods at the local outlet store….

Find a bakery outlet in your area and save 50-60% on bread products. The bakery outlets sell their products within the freshness dates. The days of dark, dingy, stale bread stores are a thing of the past.

The products primarily arrive from the company bakery. In addition to bread, you can find donuts, cookies, crackers, cereals, croutons, stuffing, snack foods, cakes and English Muffins.

Often as the expiration dates nears, the price is reduced even further. Some outlets give an additional discount to senior citizens.

Great Prices at Our Local Grocery Stores

When I pulled the grocery ads out of this morning’s paper, the first thing I noticed was the bright PINK  HyVee ad…Oh dear!  It’s not even October yet!  They are promoting their Saturday 6-hour sale (sigh….I suppose that means it’s going to be crowded—I’m not real fond of shopping in crowds) with some very good deals.  Right away the milk and hamburger made an impression on me (gallon of milk and 1 pound of hamburger for 99¢ each—limit of one).  Inside the 6-hour flyer are more good deals: packaged Chicken Breast for $3.99, bananas for 29¢ a pound, Tony’s pizza for 77¢ (it doesn’t give a limit, so I suppose you could stock up), Coke products 2 liter bottle for 69¢, and store brand shredded cheese (8 oz pkg) for 99¢. 

Other good buys in their regular weekly flyer include packaged salad mix for 99¢ and Sara Lee Honey Wheat bread for 99¢.  If they happen to be out when you get there, ask for a rain check so you can still get the good price next week when you do your shopping!

 The HyVee meat department is selling Boneless Bottom Round Roast for $2.99 a pound. There’s also Chicken Breast for $1.99 a pound.  I need some of those for a new simple recipe I found:  Coca Cola Chicken: 4 ingredients: Chicken (4-6 pc), 1 cup each ketchup and Coca Cola and 2 Tblsp Worchestershire sauce.  Mix the ketchup, coke, and sauce, pour over the chicken, and bake at 350 for almost an hour.

Store brand chicken noodle soup is 50¢–always a good thing to have on hand for when someone comes down with a cold this coming winter!  Also, the store brand juice (called Just Juice—must be comparable to Juicy Juice?) is priced at $1.88 for a 46-ounce bottle.  I see the Nestle Coffee-Mate flavored creamer is $1.77.  Hint:  get Hazelnut and put about ½ tsp in your hot chocolate.  Another stock-up item is the store brand frozen orange juice for 88¢ (you have to clip the coupon to get that price). 

The HyVee floral department has a couple of Pink specials:  pink roses for $1 each, and a whole pink bouquet for $10.  Both are in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Super Saver is promoting their Fall Stock Up Sale…it starts with Meadow Gold Milk for $1.97 a gallon.  I see store brand canned beans for 48¢–those are good to have on hand to add to a nice pot of chili when it gets cooler!  Hunt’s spaghetti sauce is 84¢ for a 26 ounce can (stock up!). 

The stock-up sale also has Blue Bunny ice cream for $1.78….now you know that’s not a “stock-up” item (unless you have a big freezer)—I’ll eat it up quickly as a night-time snack! 

The produce department has broccoli for 98¢ each!  I haven’t seen it that low for quite a while…Tony’s frozen pizza is 88¢ (not quite as good as HyVee’s 6-hour sale, but I can get it all week at that price and not have to battle the crowds!). 

Be sure to check out Super Saver’s online coupons—I printed out my favorites already: Theraflu caplets for $3.98, $2 off a dozen donuts in the bakery, Snapple Tea ($1 off a 12-pack) and $2 off a 6-roll pack of Viva paper towels….all great prices!  Get yours by going to http://www.super-saver.com/specials/coupons.html?offset=0&1=1

Skagway is celebrating their 70^th anniversary this week—Congratulations Skagway:  it’s a local success story!  To celebrate by giving away many prizes to their savings card holders (there’s an option for non-card holders).

Some of the things I circled in the Skagway ad are Totino’s frozen pizza for 98¢ and Chunk Cheese for 99¢ (have you ever thought about grating your own cheese instead of buying pre-shredded?  This is the time to stock up on cheese!).

But, if you don’t want to take the time to grate your own cheese, you can buy Crystal Farms grated cheese for $1.59.  Another good buy in the dairy department is Robert’s Sour Cream for 79¢ (16-oz  container). 

The produce department has Russet Potatoes for $1.98 for a 10 pound bag, and cabbage is 39¢ a pound.  Have you ever had creamed cabbage?  A little family-style restaurant in Nebraska City used to feature that side dish and we liked it so much I developed my own recipe for it using a basic white sauce and lots of butter….

So many good buys out there!  Where shall I start?  I suppose I’ll do the usual: devote one afternoon to grocery shopping, going to all three stores, picking out the best deals from each one. (But, I think I’ll start at Super Saver because they often lower some prices to match the advertised sales of the other stores, which saves me time by being able to get everything at one place!)  And, don’t forget to take your re-useable grocery bags! 

Granny goes out for Groceries

I just don’t know where to start….I looked through all the new grocery ads this morning and just couldn’t get too excited about any of them…may-be it’s the dreary weather or may-be it’s because my pantry is already stocked up enough.

I was a little bit excited when I saw the front page of Super Saver’s ad with their store brand Mac & Cheese boxes priced at 3 for a dollar.  Under that I noticed the store brand cake mixes are 58¢.   Did you know you can make a quick batch of homemade cookies starting with a cake mix?  I have that recipe and lots of other great ideas for using cake mixes on my website; check it out here. 

Inside the Super Saver flyer I see some good prices in the produce department: bananas are 36¢ and a five pound bag of russet potatoes are $1.12   Do you ever wonder where they come up with some of these prices?—I’ll have to ask Fred next time I see him!  Fred is the store manager in Grand Island; he’s easy to find around the store.  If you need to ask directions or want a special item stocked just stop him and ask.  Fred is always willing to help or talk about his store (just the other day I stopped to chat with him and he was talking about how proud he was of the produce and meat departments).

On the back side of the Super Saver ad is white bread for 66¢–Perish the thought!  I am not a big proponent of white bread (there are so many other more healthy varieties available!) but seeing it on sale reminded me of the time when I was just 19 and my first real job was at Safeway in Colorado Springs.  I don’t remember many of the prices from back then, but I do remember white bread being on sale for 20¢ a loaf.  Prices have changed a lot through the years!

 Skagway also has mac & cheese 3 for a dollar, and their produce department has Bartlett pears priced at 69¢ a pound and a one pound bag of baby carrots for $1.09.  I take those little carrots and repackage them into snack-size bags (about 8 or 10 per bag) so I can just grab one for Gramps’ lunch each morning…sure saves me time making them individually.  

Blue Bunny Ice Cream tubs are on sale for $3.98, but I’m not buying any….remember, I’m on a no-ice-cream diet for a while.  There’s a good price on Progresso soups ($1.27) if you like those.  Land O Lakes yogurt is 3 for 99¢–I always keep those individual yogurts on hand for snacking or putting in lunches, so that’s a good price to stock up with.  I also see Allen’s frozen veggies priced at 99¢ for a 16 oz bag.  I’m not familiar with that brand, but I’m always willing to try something new….

A few other things I circled in the Skagway ad were some of their store branded items: canned beans for 57¢, soup for 78¢, and bleach for $1.39. 

It looks like I circled more things in the HyVee ad this week than the other two stores….Oscar Mayer bacon is 2 packages for $3.99 (and you do have to buy two to get this price), Butter Kernel canned veggies are 56¢ and Del Monte canned fruit is 99¢. 

I did get a little excited when I spotted the price on Golden Delicious apples:  $1.18 a pound!  (those are my favorite to have around for afternoon snacks)  Their prepackaged salad mix is on sale for 4/$5—now, who buys 4 at a time?  I certainly cannot because it will go bad before we can use it!  The meat department has split chicken breast for 99¢ a pound, and rib-eye steak for $4.99 (I forgot them last week—Gramps was grumbling that I didn’t get any). 

I also circled a few of their store brand items: salad dressing (99¢), grape jelly ($1.18), RTS frosting ($1.19), and graham crackers for $1.48.  (Use the graham crackers and frosting to make graham cracker/frosting cookies for  fun after school snacks!)

Other items I liked:  Chicken of the Sea tuna for 69¢, Swiss Miss cocoa packets (box of 10 for 88¢), canned Manwich Sloppy Joe sauce for 99¢, and Totino’s pizza for $1 each (it’s a cheap pizza, but the teenagers like it for a quick snack). 

Did you notice the HyVee special flyer in Sunday’s paper?  They have certain items on sale on different days this week:  Today they feature Blue Bonnet 15 ounce tubs (didn’t they used to be 16 oz?) for 59¢ and Hunt’s ketchup for 77¢.  Friday those Totino’s pizzas will be 88¢ and bakery bread will be just 99¢. 

And, don’t forget the Thursdayafternoon special in the HyVee bakery department:  Cookie of the day for 25¢ each…I wonder what the special cookie will be this week?  My favorite is snickerdoodles, but Gramps really liked the M&M cookies I brought home last week.  No matter, they are all good—and if you need some “homemade” cookies to take somewhere, these taste and look like you made them yourself.  (I won’t tell if you don’t!)

Free Sample of Total Cereal

Free Sample of Total’s new blueberry cereal:  http://freesample.totalcereal.com/TotalFY10/Default.aspx

I got this from my friend Laura who writes a blog in Kearney (just about 1 hour west of where I live) with lots of freebies and good deals, as well as commentary about local stores in her area.  Check her out at   http://www.gooddealsandmore.blogspot.com/

Thursday is 25¢ Cookie Day at HyVee

Since I was on the west side of town this afternoon, I stopped at HyVee to pick up a few of their 3-day specials. (I try to economize on gas by grouping my errands together.)

 Walking through the bakery I spotted Sandy, who I met last week, too.  She has a special deal on Thursday afternoons–cookies for 25¢ each or $3 for a dozen.  Today’s special was M&M cookies–what could be better?  These are good sized cookies, too–so I got a couple.  Gramps better come home on time, or I might eat his, too!