Cats and Coupons

We always serve turkey on Thanksgiving. Most years I get my turkey for free from the grocery store. I do most of my grocery shopping at Shop Rite, but other grocery stores in the area offer similar promotions. Usually the offer is something like spend $150 in about a six week period and you get a small turkey or spend $300 or you get a large one. We always get the large. I’ve always spent more than enough to qualify. It works out well for me because the big birds I get easily cost $20 minimum. So if you’re looking for a way to save a little bit on Thanksgiving dinner, see if a grocery store in your area has a similar offer.

Last night I attended the NJ PTA awards dinner at the Sheraton in Atlantic City because I was receiving an award. As an award winner I did not have to pay for my meal, but my parents dinners were just under $60 each.

I get up at 4am most mornings and go to work for 6am. Yesterday the last thing I ate was a donut at about 9am. By the time I got hungry for lunch it was about 2pm and I decided not to eat because I didn’t want to ruin my appetite for the dinner. I arrived in AC and we went to the banquet hall. We were served a tiny plate of salad. One slice of rolled ham, some lettuce, two grapes, all smothered in oil. It gave the area that armpitty odor everyone loves so much.

Finally I saw trays coming out. Dinner! We were served overdone beef that was seasoned. I prefer my beef medium rare, but this was actually well done, and on the tough side. There were two pieces of asparagus. There was one scoop of mashed potatoes, which were so dry and thick that I was able to slice them with a knife.  I was still hungry, as were many of us. We’d been given rather small portions. But I had a glimmer of hope because on the way in we’d seen cheesecake on the table for the US Army, who was having an event in the next room. Out came dessert. No cheesecake for us. We were served a very heavy piece of chocolate cake. The only way I can describe it’s taste is to tell you to open any can of chocolate icing and you’ll know. When I got up to get my award, my Dad came with me to take pictures. During that time they cleared my coffee and his iced tea, glasses not to be seen again. It was a very disappointing meal. And definitely not worth what they charged for it.

I was in a hurry for dinner tonight. I didn’t have the best day and by the time it was time to eat I didn’t feel like making anything. So I decided to run to the nearby Wawa and pick up something. I pulled into the parking lot and was turning off the lights and getting out when I saw directly behind me flashing lights. There was a police office behind me and he was there to see me. Turns out a piece of road I was on was a forty mph zone and I was doing quite a bit more. He and I talked, and then I got my ticket. Now I have to go to court and if it doesn’t go well it will have turned into the most expensive meal I have ever had.

We drink a lot of coffee where I work. People are coming and going at all hours of the day and night. The owners always have a supply of coffee, tea and hot chocolate on hand, so if anyone wants something they can have it. Now I myself love coffee. When I go in to work at 6am the first thing I do is have or make some coffee. We have a nice coffeepot in the kitchen area, it was bought for us about two weeks ago. It has some really nice features like brew strength and temperture control. I bring in my french vanilla creamer and I’m good to go. What would be really wild would be if they got one of those combination cappuccino and espresso machines.They’d probably have to pry me away from it if they got one of those. French vanilla cappuccino. Yummy! My favorite!

My two sons and I stopped at Target on the way home from basketball practice today. We were over near the corner of the store where they put the seasonal displays, which happens to be right next to the food section. All of the Halloween candy was on sale for 75% off. I loaded up, of course. (How could I not? Don’t be silly!) I got bags of m&m’s, skittles, kit kats, reese’s, candy kisses and gummy life savers for $0.59 to $0.69 each. The bags I got will last us weeks. If you or your family likes candy, check your local stores to see if they cut the prices of their Halloween candy.

I was working on this site, just minding my own business when this came in. Now, anyone that knows me knows I love cheesecake. And I haven’t had any cheesecake in q couple of months. So when I opened this email, my mouth actually watered. It looks so good I had to share it. The email came from Kraft Food & Family. It’s an email I receive regularly with cooking tips and recipes. The picture is of Chocolate Vanilla Swirl Cheesecake. Here’s the recipe. You’re getting it instead of Fun, Crafts and Recipes because I’m here now and feeling a bit lazy.

Ingredients
20 OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, crushed (about 2 cups)
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup BREAKSTONE’S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
4 eggs
6 squares BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted, cooled

Instructions
PREHEAT oven to 325°F. Line 13×9-inch baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan. Mix cookie crumbs and butter; press firmly onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 min.
BEAT cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until blended. Remove 1 cup of the batter; set aside. Stir melted chocolate into remaining batter in large bowl; pour over crust. Top with spoonfuls of the remaining 1 cup plain batter; cut through batters with knife several times for swirled effect.
BAKE 40 min. or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Use foil handles to lift cheesecake from pan before cutting to serve. Store in refrigerator.

I love cheesecake. I first heard about Eli’s cheesecake a few years back. I ordered two cheesecakes and they arrived on dry ice two days later. Wow were they delicious! I’m passing on some sale information I just got from them. Through November 12 they’re offering 15% off several fall cheesecake varieties including Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pumpkin Mousse Cheesecake, and Pumpkin Praline Cheesecake. There’s a limit of five. Go to Eli’s Cheesecake to order. While you’re there, enter your name to win a free cheesecake.

Not so long ago every time I went to the grocery store I ended up spending a fortune. Here’s a few tips on how I manged to spend less.
Shop with a grocery list. It will save later trips for items you forgot.
Buy items on sale. If you needed a can of tomatoes and buying two is almost the same price as buying one, buy the two and you’ll have another for next time.
Separate into portions. Anytime I buy more than one serving of anything I separate it into portions and freeze them. This especially applies to meat and poultry, and also to other things such as trays of muffins from Costco.
Make homemade take out favorites. Save money and order out less. It’s easy to make your own pizza, subs, tacos, burgers and pretty much anything else you can order out.
Eat your leftovers instead of throwing them out.

Going back many years, my closest friend and her husband had a dehydrator. Her husband used to make home made jerky, and she’d bring it to work for me. Well I liked it so much that one year for my birthday she gave me my own dehydrator as a gift. That’s how I started making my own jerky. My Mom liked it so much she bought her own dehydrator and started making it too. I have an American Harvester Snackmaster and my Mom has a different brand. I have a Jerky Works Kit which contains a gun and different tips so you can make your own slim jims, as well as some seasoning packs. I use 97% fat free gound beef if I can get it and if I can’t I use 93%. It takes a while to make jerky so I make a big batch, usually at least 2 pounds of ground beef. I have also made home made fruit rollups. The next thing I want to try is dried apples.
When we’ve made something I seal up whatever isn’t being eaten so it doesn’t go bad. I have a Foodsaver vacuum system that my parents got me. I recommend it highly if you have anything you want to store and be sure it’s air tight. If you’ve ever thought about getting a vacuum system for your home, now’s a good time. Foodsaver has been nice enough to give me some specials.
50% OFF!! Huge value on the V840 Foodsaver. Web Exclusive - Only $59.99! Shop & Save.
40% Off Now on the Foodsaver 420 Vacuum Sealer. A Best buy at Only $39.99! Shop Now
10% off all Foodsaver products and accessories - No Minimum - Limited Time. Use promo code LINKAFF1.
Outlet Center Deals up to 50% Off and more! Shop Now.
Web Specials
Let me know what you make with your dehydrator if you get one!

CoffeeMate for 7 days

Idahoan potatoes. Choose coupon request.

Folgers coffee sample.

Nestle Crunch Crisp bar

Sunsweet Fruit

Chocolate Chex cereal

Make a reservation for McCormick & Schmicks online through 09/30/07 and get a free $25 gift certificate

eCOST.com offers the Pharos Drive 135 GPS Navigation System, model no. PDR135, for $175 with a $40 mail-in rebate lowering it to $135. Deal ends October 12.

The Nintendo Wii play bundle is $349.95 at Gamestop and includes the following items:
Nintendo Wii system (system, remote controller, nunchuck, stand, sensor and Wii Sports)
Wii Memory SD 1.0GB
1 additional Wii Nunchuck Controller
Wii Play with Remote

Obviously this is not a coupon. But from what I saw today it may be something a number of people don’t realize. My 11 year old son likes Poptarts for a snack. One of his favorite flavors is chocolate chip. Onward. I went out today to both Walmart and the grocery store. FYI, we do not have Super Walmart here in NJ, just the regular one with a couple aisles of groceries. I went to Walmart first. Now I always buy poptarts at Walmart because they’re less expensive there. I pay about $2.29 for the big box of 12. I got the poptarts, baby wipes and underwear for my youngest son and off I went to Shop Rite, my preferred grocery store. While I was shopping there was a pair of women shopping together in the aisle Poptarts were on. I overheard one telling the other that this was the lowest price she’d ever find on Poptarts ($1.89 on sale for the small box) and what a great deal it was. I couldn’t believe the woman thought this was a bargain. I had to tell them if they shopped at Walmart they ought to buy them there because they could get the large box for just a tiny bit more than what she was paying for the small box here. The point is, I know sometimes we’re all on auto pilot. But take a quick look around in stores you frequent on occasion. You may be able to buy certain things there rather than somewhere else for alot less.