Stockpile Surfeit of Riches

This is one of those weeks when I have to make hard choices about what to stockpile, mostly because there's a great chicken deal at Albertson's, a great meat deal at Basha's and some great bulk bin buys at Sunflower Market.

I'll start with the bulk bin buys. Take $29 and buy two pounds each of the following:

Dates at $1.99/lb
Dried Cranberries at $2.99/lb
Pine Nuts, raw at $4.99/4 oz package
Sundried Tomatoes at $3.99/6 oz package
Jasmine Rice at 79c/lb

mmmmm...I can already see terrific stuffing for chicken in that list. Also, some wonderful rice mixtures as well as pasta toppings. Pine nuts usually go for upwards of $11/lb, Sundried tomatoes are often the same. Jasmine Rice tends to be a little more expensive, as are dates.

EDITED TO ADD: I'm beyond bummed out. I read the ad wrong! As you can see above the prices are for a 4 ounce and a 6 ounce package. Soooo...I can't justify $20/lb for Pine Nuts or about $10/lb for sundried tomatoes! That's expensive, so I'm pulling both off the list!

I'm going to do a little thinking about what might be good to replace. The dates are a good deal because often the bulk bin raisins go for $1.99/lb and I think that's a pretty good price.

Albertson's has whole chicken for 57c a pound, limit 4 to purchase at a time. Purchase 4, that will cost you $10 to $11.

Then go to Basha's and pick up the boneless bottom round roast for $1.37 pound. The limit on that is 2 'value' packs (if you buy a smaller package, it's more expensive per pound.) Ask the butcher to grind up one package for cheap, lean ground beef and if the roast is cut into steaks, to run that through the cubing machine once for swiss steak that's really tender. I haven't purchased my meat yet, so I'm guessing 2 packages is about 10 pounds.

That brings you total to about $54 dollars or so.

If you're willing to make some of this for your food this week instead of stockpiling, you've plenty of chicken and meat dinners in the lot, as well as gourmet toppers for salad and pasta in the dried items. You might consider purchasing more for cooking this week and put the rest into stockpile.

If you have extra funds, and even if you don't - cantaloupes are 3 for $1 at Sprouts this week, corn 6 for $1 at Albertsons (think slow-cooked chicken and fresh corn for dinner tomorrow night - total cost, under $4.00 for the meal. Add some sliced and steamed with a little salt choyote squash to that mix (3 fresh squashes for $1 at Food City) and you've a nicely balanced meal. I googled this recipe and started salivating.

Oh, and grapes are 77c pound at Albertson's. Great snacking for kids and adults alike.

If I come up with anymore brilliant ideas, I'll post some more.