Basha's is Big this week

Basha's is the hot spot this week.  They have a lot of good stuff and we will spend a lot of money there.

The headliner item is 99 cent shank ham.  That ham is great stuff as a recipe builder.  It's great to bake one up and then strip off all the meat and make packages of ham to freeze for use in various receipes during the weeks ahead.  We will probably process two hams that way.

Milk is 1.87 a gallon
Butter $2.
Yuban coffee $6.50
Sour cream 88 cents
10 pounds Idaho potatoes 87 cents
Fresh yams and green beans 77 cents
Frozen veggies 77 cents
Cream cheese $1.25
ground sirloin $2.57
Canned name brand gravy 60 cents
Libby canned veggies 60 cents
Organic avocados a buck.
Cheap salad dressings
Not Butter for $2.50
and Cubbison's stuffing $2

Definitely a great week to visit the Camp Verde or Sedona Basha's!

We visited Basha's November 20.  Here's what we found.  The green beans are the worst looking fresh green beans we've ever seen for sale in a major grocery store.  We were shocked and amazed and walked away from them muttering and shaking our head.  They were dried up looking, poor color, withered, sickly looking things.  I would be ashamed to put them out for sale.

Second, the yams are mostly huge, fat ones.  Most of them weigh a pound or more.  The smaller ones didn't have very good geometry.  We bought none of them because of the potatoes.

The 10 pound bag of potatoes for 87 cents is an OK deal.  The spuds are mostly very small--definitely wouldn't be baking potatoes.  We will probably boil them and then make potatoes o'brien out of them.  We figured the potato starch would be just about as good as the yam starch so we didn't buy any yams.  A ten pound bag of potatoes cost the same price as a single large yam.

Good news on the Libby's veggies for 60 cents a can.  The special includes canned lima beans and all of the "no salt added" varieties.  It also includes three varieties of beets.  Good price on a good brand with some nice choices.  You really wouldn't believe how much sodium they add to normal canned veggies.  It's great to be able to buy them without the salt.  Normally the "no salt" ones never go on sale so here's your chance to stock up.

We bought two "trial" cans of the canned gravy: one chicken and one turkey.  We want to test these puppies out before investing in a larger quantity.  Their normal price is $1.39 a can so 60 cents is a good deal.  If they are decent, we will use them in our camping chuck box.

We did pop for a ham shank.  Spent about $8.50 on one of them and were able to find one without a lot of exterior fat.  We passed on the ground sirloin as one package was about 6 bucks so we figured a ham would be a better investment.  The sour cream for 88 cents is a definite "gotta have".

Now about those organic avocados for a buck.  YIKES!  Sometimes Basha's has the audacity to sell stuff that has no business being on the shelves.  So it is this week with the green beans and the yucky looking organic avocados.

The produce manager at the Idaho Falls Winco told me years ago something I think all produce managers should use as their mantra.  He said, "If I look at something and think to myself that my wife wouldn't buy it or cook it, I won't put it out on the shelves--it goes back to the supplier with a note from me."  Well, I doubt if many produce managers have the huevos to take such steps but I am glad to know at least one guy does.  If I was Camp Verde Basha's produce manager I'd be on the phone to whomever sent those trash beans and avocados demanding some redress.  I feel sorry for whoever buys that stuff.  Sad, indeed.

Anyway, I spent $23 and saved $24 so we made our 50% goal there today. Two MFG coupons helped me get over the goal line. A bonus of the trip to Camp Verde was using two 30% off coupons in ALCO.  I picked up some automotive "guy stuff" for cheap using those coupons and saved over $5 real cash money for two items I was going to have to buy at retail otherwise.

Now to cook the ham and strip it all off and put into freezer portions.  Fried rice here we come!