Grocery Outlet August 2008

[gordon wing]

just got back from wandering the aisles at the San Pablo GO. noticed a new Snickers strain - Charged (think Red Bull) - could become a collectors item! Chunky Chocolate Pepperidge Farms cookies ( past date by a few weeks ) but only 79 cents - do you feel lucky? well .... do ya? the Rice a Roni folks are well represented ...... several varieties 89cents - along with Pasta Roni. Marshmellow lovers are in luck - Coconut coated marshmellows are only 69cents - as are strawberry marshmellows ......and wait there's also Jet Puffed Marshmellow Cream - think Fluff! In the sauce aisle there is Ditka's Pork Chop Sauce and Jack Daniel's BBQ Sauce. In the cheese and cured meat section - Boursin Herbed spreadable cheese is 99 cents.....5 or 6 varieties of Cabot Cheddar - and Niman uncured Italian Sausage for $2.99. And it looks like Thanksgiving is coming early - two or three different packaged stuffing mixes are available. Lastly, in the beverage aisles - sparkling meyer lemon juice - 3 for $1.00. Happy Hunting!

[rworange]

San Pablo

6 for $1 - El Sabroso salted plums (1.5 oz)
$1.69 - Claussen pickles (in fridge)
$1.79 - Hormel natural sliced turkey
99 cents - Burger King tomato ketchup potato chips
$2.29 - Ruby Kist all juice Pommegrate juice.
2 for $1 Best Foods tartar souce
99 cents - Gen Soy chocolate covered soy nuts
2 for $1 - Hershey's kisses mini cookies (best by Jun 2008) 7 oz

To satisfy a junk food snack craving I had to choose between the Hershey's cookies and the BK chips.

Cookies won. They are soooo cute.About half the size of a regular Hershey's kiss. If Hershey's didn't use vanilin instead of vanilla these would be quite good ... for people who like Hershey's. I like little mini bites and there are 22 in a 150 calorie one ounce serving. Seven servings per box or 154 cookies.

In a previous trip, my junk food fix was the Indiana Jones 'coconut' snickers. Well, it is only coconut flavored. Not a mention of coconut in the ingrediant list. Skip. Not as good as a regular Snickers bar.

[kivarita]

Stopped in at RWC again yesterday. New finds:

Kettle Organic potato chips - lightly salted & chipotle BBQ - 99c (just in time for Labor Day BBQs!)
Aidell's organic cajun andouille sausage (chicken) - $3.99
Wesson "best blend" (canola & veg) oil -- $3.99
Coleman Organic Chicken Strips - $7.49. (7-8 strips in a bag. Had these for lunch today. Actually pretty good. Especially if you remind yourself that you'd be paying
about the same at McDonalds. I won't be making a habit of it, but at least you know what the ingredients are in these guys.) They also had buffalo wings. Might be a good shortcut for a game day.
Knudson light sour cream - 16 oz. container - $1.29

[baron45]

My turn at the RWC location today:

So Delicious lemon frozen soy ice cream $1.99
Langers 64 oz Apple Juice 99 cents
Various Kraft salad dressings expiring in Sept & Oct 2008 (2 and 3 for $1)
Best Foods tartar sauce 3/$1 expiring soon
Nature Valley & Cascadian Farms cereals $1.49

Wines:

2005 Relativity Vineyards Reserve Cabernet $7.99 (some online wine shops have it for $16-20)

2002 Laura's Merlot (made by Eberle) which appears is not made anymore ($4.99)

2003 Gallo Cabernet for $5.99 (usually $8-10 @ Safeway)

[kivarita]

RWC today:

Eden Organic tomatoes 14.5oz can - $1.49 (seems high?! - didn't buy these)
Eden Organic plum tomatoes w/ basil 28oz. can - $1.99
Sheer Bliss - chocolate, vanilla, vanilla w/ pom swirl and vanilla w/ blueberry and pom swirl -- $2.49
Sonoma Jack - chili cheddar cheese - $1.99
Aidell's cajun andouille (pork) and chicken & apple sausage- $3.99
Dreyer's/Edy's berry granola ice cream
Pepperidge Farm frozen rolls (reg. demi-baguettes, rosemary and olive oil) -- $2.49
Hawaiian Isles coffee (the ones you always see at the ABC stores in Hawaii) -- Kona Classic and Vanilla Macadamia (no price on shelf - $14 on the website)
Diet Snapple (multi-flavor flat) - $9.99 (24 bottles, I think?)
Polly O whole milk mozzarella -- $2.99
New Essn sodas (fuji apple, minneola tangerine, blood orange & cranberry) - 99c (exp. 2009) -- they still had some April 08 lemonade ones.

[David Carlson]

The Hawaiian Isles coffee is $2.99

[zippo]

from Oakland Grocery Outlet on Tuesday afternoon, 8/19:

-- Beamish Draft Irish Stout, 4-14.9 oz. cans in a carton, $4.99 for 4 cans. Brewed in Cork, Ireland and compared, favorably, to Guinness Stout by BeerAdvocate.com. Has a little plastic ball in the bottom of the can that rolls around and does something that I can't figure out;

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/358/927/

-- Raptor Red Lager, 6-12 oz. bottles in a carton,$4.99 for a six-pack. By Mendocino Brewing of Ukiah which also makes Red Tail Ale. Gets a C+ from BeerAdvocate but I liked it for a chewy lager;

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/2516/14257

-- Han's Chicken Sausages w/Spinach and feta, $5.99 for a 3 lb. frozen package (18 sausages). Didn't buy it but the ingredients looked at least as good as Aidells;

http://www.hansallnatural.com/product...

-- Flinstones Gummies Multivitamin/Multimineral Supplement, $2.99 for a jar w/60 gummies. A healthy excuse to eat candy;

-- Kikkoman Pearl Organic Soymilk w/ organic coffee flavor, $.99 for a 32 oz. carton, best by 10/24/08. picked up a bunch to use instead of cream in my morning brew or to drink alone;

-- Organic mango from Mexico, $.50 for a good-sized ripe mango;

-- Welch's 100% Organic Concord Grape Juice, $ 1.29 for a 12 oz. frozen can of concentrate but wasn't really frozen when I got it;

-- Hormel 100% Natural Uncured Hard Salami, 7 oz. carton in deli section, $ 1.49 per box. with beef and pork and no added msg or nitrates/nitrites and

-- Smucker's Creamy Peanut Butter, 2 - 26 oz. jars in a twin pack for $3.99, just 3 1/4 lbs. of peanuts and salt.

[hhc]

I hope the Kikkoman Soymilk date was a typo.."1/24/08"? should be 11/24/08?

[zippo]

thanks hhc for catching it. corrected it to 10/24/08. am using a new keyboard and had a couple of the Beamish Stouts...........

[PorkButt]

That Beamish is as good as canned Guinness. The plastic widget creates a head similar to what you'd get at a pub, but it really only works if the stout has been chilled down to refrigerator temperature.

There's also a Han's sausage with sun-dried tomatoes, provolone, and something else. Looked better thatn the spinach and feta, but neither combination appealed to me at the time. I did see the same packs fresh at Costco for over $12.

What I found that was new is organic Weetabix, made in Canada, $1.99

Saw some sixers of Brazilian beer, maybe I'll get some and make a pot of feijoada

[Ruth Lafler]

I only saw Wheetabix flakes -- do they have the original form (like oval biscuits of compressed wheat flakes, thus WheetaBIX) as well? I bought some of the Han chicken with spinach and feta sausages and they're pretty good -- not as good as the chicken with spinach and gouda they had from a different producer last year, though. Still well worth the price.

I bought a different brand of crunchy peanutbutter the other day. Sunbird? Sunburst? Something like that. 100 percent roasted valencia peanuts. Pretty darn good. I think it was $1.79.

[PorkButt]

Right, that's an important clarification. Only Wheetabix flakes.

[David Carlson]

Looks like we only bought the flakes...

[hhc]

Newark store on 8/14/08:

Wonder Drink Sparkling Kombucha made w/ organic green tea: cherry cassis; peach mango; original. 4 for $1 then there's CRV.

shelled walnuts 2.99
2-gal freezer bag .99
60% Lindt dark chocolate truffle in a small bag $1.99
Snickers Charged 3 for $1
Essn sparkling Meyer Lemon Juice .99c ea here..not a bargain like you all paid!
Baked Scoops Tostitos $3.49
Lindt Filled Wafer Bar .99c
Dagoba bars $1.49 ea
Banana Sport SPF 50 Lotion $2.99
Gatorade 8 pk $5.49
Amy's Organic Alphabet Soup $1.29
Chicken Broth Vietnamese kind.39c
Fresh Rainier Cherries from WA 1 lb $2.99
Best Yet All American Yellow Mustard 2 lbs $.79

[Columba]

In Santa Rosa store:

Lots of frozen organic & natural food - Amy's, several types of waffles, pizza, chicken, veggies.

Same for cooler - produce, eggs (Judy's $2.79 for 18), Hormel turkey & salami, cheeses, milk, sour cream, pasta. It moves so fast...

Lots of chips, cookies & crackers including Finn Crisp for $.99 and Pepperidge Farm.

Sheer Bliss ice cream in a can $2.50 pint - vanilla, chocolate or vanilla with pomgranate swirl. Some HD too.

No decent chocolate candy.

Ruth's organic fruit drinks available too.

Prices still rising. Milk now $1.59 qt, so Horizon at $1.99 for 1/2 gallon is a deal.

[rworange]

Great price for Sheer Bliss. There thing though is pomegranite. If you see the plain pomegranate or pomegranate with chocolate chips, shap them. up. The pomegranite swirl is ok, but not as good as the other two.

I'll bet candy is coming since San Pablo seems to be stocking up.

[rworange]

That boxed stuffing is 2 for $1.

It seems that the San Pablo store is clearing out items past the expiration date. They also had
$1.99 - Tinned Pepperidge Farm Pirouettes (best by 7/18)
10 cents - Weil canned Darjeeling Tea (6/20)
50 cents - Nature's Best organic raspberry apple sauce 24 ounce jar. (06/2008)
3 for $1 - Seven Seas Vinagrette (really weird red color though)
2 for $1 - Kraft blue cheese or coleslaw dressing

Lots of candy seems to be moving in
3 for $1 - Snickers bar with coconut
6 for $1 - Reeses version of Twix
79 cents - Large box of Raisinets
99 cents - Dolce D'Or bars
and much much more ... no LIndt bars

2 for $1 - Pop chips puffed corn chips 1 oz bag
http://www.popchips.com/home.html
I forgot I got a free sample of these at Safeway when the first came out. Think of the flavor of a rice cake in chip form. I'm not a fan

Other
$1.49 - Quart Hola Fruit sorbet, pommegranite or margarita, good ingrediant list
$1.49 - Lifestream frozen organic flax or soy waffles
$1.99 - Quart organic So Delicious lemon frozen soy dessert
2 for $1 - Pacific natural boxed chicken gravy
2 for $1 - Luna tea cakes (I think they were recommended in the past)
$1.79 - large container of Breakstone cottage cheese
$6.99 - MAJOR wheels of President Brie cheese wrapped in paper ... maybe 12 inches diameter
$5.99 - Those huge logs (think Duraflame log size) of Land O Lakes cheese. This time mild cheddar or pepper jack

Finally bought the blue jack cheese. They had 8 oz bags of cubes for $1.99. This is good like everyone has said. Looking forward to melting some on a hamburger, but it makes a nice snacking cheese too. I mean we are not talking Roquefort here, but actually better than most supermarket blue cheese.

That 10 cent can of tea was really good. Nothing in there but tea, purified water and vitamin C. Expiration date or not, very nice if making a glass of iced tea say at the office or picnic where you don't want to boil tea and all that

Also the Esse sparkling Meyer lemon juice Gordon mentioned at 3 for $1 is good tangy and refreshing. Only carbonated water, white grape juice and meyer lemon juice in it. It is past the expiration date of April. Still good.

The organic raspberry applesauce was just ok ... just apples and raspberries and enough water to process. A little cinnamon perked it up ... well, actually Whole Spice hawej (ginger,cinnamon, cardemon, cloves). Might be good with a dollop of the Tillamok vanila yogurt (3 for $1) on top. I wouldn't buy another of the applesauce though.

Skip, skip, skip
3 for $1 - Del Monte dill green beans ... awful. Sweet and cloying. I tried this a few months back.

[choctastic]

That Andrew Weil tea is pretty good. It reminds me of the canned Chinese teas except that it's so damn cheap.

[Ruth Lafler]

I didn't see any Weil's tea at the Oakland store today -- too bad!

Challenge Organic butter was back in stock at $2.69/lb.
Challenge European-style butter -- $1.69 for 8 ounces (I think this is the butter that won the Chron's butter test a while back)
Arte Oilio EVOO (Spanish, from arbequina olives) -- $1.99 for 500 ml. tetrapack or two tetrapaks and a ceramic cruet for $4.99. I like it -- it has a strong olive flavor without being too peppery or grassy; decent olive oil for $4/liter is a steal!
Organic fruit drinks in pouches (like Capri Sun) $2.99/carton of ten, they had fruit punch, kiwi-strawberry and wild cherry
Onlysweet sugar substitute -- a mixture of stevia and maltodextrin $2.99 for a box of 20 "sachets" (like for coffee service)

The candy aisle is still a wasteland -- they need to get some decent chocolate in!

[choctastic]

As for decent chocolate, the Fairfield store had the organic (forget the brand) chocolate bars (mocha flavored) for 99 cents. Also, had this small box of chocolate truffles from Germany that were shockingly good. $2.99 for a box of 8.

[AntarcticWidow]

At the Berkeley store I saw Haagen Dazs Mayan Chocolate ($1.49) and Triple Chocolate ($0.99). They also have frozen Vicolo Goat Cheese Pizza ($2.99) - but watch the "best by" dates - mostly May or June 2008.