Monday, March 8, 2010

Homemade Marshmallows















As we come to the close of the era of Knox....

I have been thinking about Knox Gelatin for over a year now. I didn't set out to think about it. I was forced to think about it after staring for countless hours at the white and orange boxes that began to pile up in my house. I kept finding these little boxes everywhere. They multiplied like tribbles.

















Mostly, I wondered if my conscience would allow me to eat a dessert that is made from the connective tissue of animals (I'm not a vegan so please don't misunderstand me). I mean what kind of person sits around thinking of a use for beef bones, hides and pork skins? What kind of society then decides to manufacture that product for the production of cold mousses, uncooked cheesecakes and molded desserts? The insanity of gelatin makes my head spin.

When I finally came to terms with gelatin I began searching for recipes that would help me to utilize my abundant supply. I was sorely disappointed. I "googled" every combination I could think of to find ways to use this powdered packet. I really, really wanted to find 100 uses for it in my kitchen. I was open to the use of gelatin for krafts (although this was not my first choice). I'm really not that into gel candles........so culinary uses were at the top of my list.

Then it happened.

I was scrolling through my 85 episodes of Alton Brown's show "Good Eats" when I saw it. A show devoted to marshmallows. I knew I had found my first use. Jason whipped up a batch last night and Savvy and I woke up this morning and brewed some hot cocoa.

THE VERDICT: We have all been eating substandard marshmallows our entire lives. I can only imagine how good these would taste combined with the krispy treat.






Friday, March 5, 2010

Beautiful day to go shopping....















Quick shop at Cool Springs today. Leave a comment if you want the details on any of these items. Some of these deals are ending today (Cottonelle and Smuckers Uncrustables).

I still have about 25 Knox coupons to use up before they expire on 3/9/10 so I'll be doing a few more shops this week.

TOTAL: $125.51
TOTAL AFTER COUPONS: $14.64
SAVINGS: 89%

Thursday, February 25, 2010

The original greek yogurt....















Long before "Chobani," "Oikos," and "Trader Joe's" hit the greek yogurt scene there was Fage. Fage, which was made in Greece and imported to America until 2005 is the original greek yogurt. They opened a manufacturing facility in NY in 2005 to meet the US demand for their yogurt. Fage is the lone ranger of greek yogurt. I tried my first Fage yogurt almost 5 years ago and I completely fell in love.

Greek yogurt is strained yogurt that has most of the whey removed. What is left after all that straining? Creamy deliciousness. Greek yogurt has more protein than regular yogurt so you will feel satisfied longer. Trust me. Satisfaction is all you are going to feel after you eat one of these babies.

These yogurts are on advantage buy for $1.25 at Publix through 3/8/10. They can be had for a mere .25 cents a piece (a far cry from the $1.89 price tag that they had last year). Why the high price you might ask? Well, greek yogurt is much more concentrated (so to speak) than regular yogurt. When I make my own yogurt cheese (which is essentially greek yogurt) it takes almost 8 cups of regular plain yogurt strained to make one full cup of greek yogurt.

Just go to these links for the coupons:

1. Become a fan on facebook and print your coupon ($1/1).
2. Register on their website and print your coupon ($.50/1).

My favorite flavor is honey. The honey comes from Greece and it is unlike anything that you have ever eaten. Floral, aromatic and unique. I have ridiculous cravings for this honey. Go buy some.

You can thank me in the morning.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Changes at Maryland Farms...

UPDATE: They are no longer taking HG Hill coupons. :(
.......Alas, no more $5/$50 Q's.

Shopped at Maryland Farms tonight and they informed me that they no longer take Target or Food Lion Q's. I didn't think that things were going to change that much at Maryland but it looks like they have. I don't think they are going to take Whole Foods Q's anymore either but I haven't confirmed that yet.

I may have to find a new store to shop at. Let me know what your experience has been at this store recently (especially if you hear something different).


Monday, February 1, 2010

Powerade Zero



















I saw a deal today that made me a little giddy.

Confession time
I love bottled drinks. I really don't care what kind of beverage I drink so long as it is bottled and looks cool. It's definitely the CA girl in me. My current favorite is the SoBe life waters (very cool bottle and they taste great) but I also like these Powerade drinks.

I spent a few hours today cleaning out my coupons and I saw this deal.

Here's the deal:

- Buy 10 Powerade, get 5 free (Publix Yellow Advantage flyer)
- Buy 3 Powerade, get 1 free (Q from 12/27/09 Kroger insert;

= .33 ea. ($5 for 15 bottles)

MONEYMAKING IDEA

I purchased several Bayer Monitors at Walgreens yesterday and decided to rip open the packages and try and sell the test strips and lancets on EBAY. I put together an auction for 100 test strips and 100 lancets (taken from 10 Bayer Monitor kits). I also included a BONUS of 10 extra test strips and lancets (just to pull in a customer). I sold them for $39.95 (not bad for less than 10 minutes of my time). Just thought I'd pass the idea on to you guys. Here is the auction if you want to see how I listed it:

100 Bayer Contour Test Strips & Lancets with FREE Meter

Since we routinely get these kits for free I thought I would see how we could continue to make money off of this deal (especially since we have to pay $1.36 in tax for each of these kits). I bought eight kits which produced $80 in RR that I can use at Publix and I made $39.95 on the contents of the kit.

Grand total of $120 profit.

PS - Feel free to steal/modify the wording from my auction if it makes it easier to post (just make sure you change the expiration dates if your strips have a different date). I started the auction at $.99 cents but I also included a "buy it now" feature for $39.95 and the item sold in about 12 hours).

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

New Rules at the Concord store.....

















Jason just returned from the Publix at Concord and Nolensville Road. Apparently, they changed their competitor coupon policy today.

Here is what they are taking:

GFS

Walgreens

Whole Foods

Kroger

While I am excited that they are taking Walgreens Q's now I am a little sad that they are no longer taking HG Hill, Target or Food Lion Q's. Jason spoke with one of the Assistant Managers and he was told that the policy was reviewed recently at this store and it just changed today. If I were you I would still plan a shop and test out this "new" policy by using a few Food Lion or Target Q's. Even if the policy has changed they will most likely let you use the coupons one more time while they are giving you a warning.

Please come back here and post your results if you shop at this store. I'm a little bummed as this is the store that I shop at these days because it is so close to my house and the Nipper's store has an insane coupon policy so I don't go there anymore.

I feel the winds of change coming........but let's hope it's just a seasonal wind.