Hormel Coupons

Hormel has $5 worth of coupons up on their site for:

$1 on Tsang Sauce
$1 on Hormel Compleats
$1 on 2 Natural Choice Product
$1 on 2 Dinty Moore Beef Stew
$1 on Hormel Sandwich Makers

Here's the link



 r.gullett@insightbb.com

Reynolds Product Coupons

Signing up on the websites of your favorite product manufacturers is a great way to get coupons and find out about upcoming new products.

Reynolds has the following on their site right now:

$.75 on Reynolds Wrap
$.75 on Heavy Duty Reynolds Wrap
$.75 on Slow Cooker Liners
$.75 on Oven Cooking Bags
$1.00 on Parchment Paper

Click here and sign up at Reynolds Kitchens to get these coupons and future offers.



 r.gullett@insightbb.com

TIme For Lent - Let's Talk Tartar Sauce

Time For Lent - Let's Talk Tartar Sauce

Tartar Sauce goes with fish like salt goes with pepper.   Tartar Sauce is used for many other things as well.  I've actually eaten Frisch's Tartar Sauce on French Fries.  Don't laugh....it's actually very good.

However, it's not exactly cheap at the stores.  The picture isn't the best because I took it with my phone while trying to juggle a couple of items (should have gotten a basket).  The point is the Tartar sauce ranges in price from $2.49 to a sale price on the end of $2.99 (was $3.99) for a pretty good size bottle.  O.K.  Maybe you feel like that's not too bad of a price.  It could last a while right?  So why am I griping???

Now look at the next picture......

O.K. so it's worse than the picture above.  But if you squint a little bit you can make out the ingredients.    Let me see...Water, Vinegar, Soybean Oil, Chopped Pickles, Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup (why, it already has sugar in it), Modified Food Starch (where's the regular food starch?), Onions, Salt, Eggs, Natural Flavor (what is this?), Mustard, Flour, Xantham Gum (what is that), Parsley, Potassium Sorbate and Calcium Dissodium EDTA as Preservatives (OMG), Artificial Flavor (but wait, we already have "Natural Flavor" Right?), Paprika, Spice, Garlic Dried.

Really??????  They are kidding right????

O.K.....let's break this down, four of the ingredients are used in Mayonnaise (Eggs, Soybean Oil, Salt, Vinegar).

So let's look at the list again and take those items out (along with my quips):

Water, Vinegar, Soybean Oil, Chopped Pickles, Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Modified Food Starch , Onions, Salt, Eggs, Natural Flavor , Mustard, Flour, Xantham Gum , Parsley, Potassium Sorbate and Calcium Dissodium EDTA as Preservatives, Artificial Flavor , Paprika, Spice, Garlic Dried.

Now, there is one more important ingredient in Tartar Sauce, pickles!!!  You won't find Tartar Sauce anywhere without pickles.  Whether it's dill pickles or sweet pickles is really up to individual taste preference.

So here's the ingredients list again with all of the necessary ingredients for Tartar Sauce marked out.

Water, Vinegar, Soybean Oil, Chopped Pickles, Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Modified Food Starch , Onions, Salt, Eggs, Natural Flavor , Mustard, Flour, Xantham Gum , Parsley, Potassium Sorbate and Calcium Dissodium EDTA as Preservatives, Artificial Flavor , Paprika, Spice, Garlic Dried.

Some of the ingredients left are seasonings or spices and I'm good with those but the rest are garbage.

Here's a recipe for basic Tartar Sauce.  Makes one cup.

Basic Tartar Sauce

1 Egg
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
3/4 cup of light Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Pickles (Dill or Sweet)

You can make this in your food processor.  Just put the egg and vinegar in there and pulse a couple of time to get it mixed up well.  Then turn your processor on the lowest speed and slowly (SLOWLY) pour in the oil.  Pour it in in a thin steady stream.  You want the processor to have a chance to mix the ingredients well and for the mixture to thicken.  Once it thickens, scrap it out into a bowl and add your pickles.  Home made tartar sauce.

Now comes the fun part.  Taste a little bit on a spoon.  Need some salt?  Add a little.  Like yours with a little onion, Add a little bit of minced onion.  Add in Sweet Pickle Relish if you want.  Choice is yours.

You can make fresh Tartar Sauce for a fraction of the cost of the store bought kind and just look at all of the junk you won't be putting into your system.

Next time.......Fried Fish

Hugs,



r.gullett@insightbb.com

Red Plum 02/10/2013 Coupons

Here's the list of the Red Plum coupons expected to be in your Sunday papers.  Remember there may be variances in your area.

Advil, Nivea and Purina win in this circular.

Advil $1/1 Children’s product (3/31)
Advil $1/1 Congestion Relief, Allergy & Congestion Relief, Cold & Sinus or Allergy Sinus product (5/12)
Advil $3/1 Congestion Relief, Allergy & Congestion Relief, Cold & Sinus or Allergy Sinus product (2/24)
Crest $7/1 3D White Intensive Professional Effects 7ct, Professional Effects 20ct, 2 Hour Express 4ct or Advanced Vivid 14ct(3/31) ETS
Dimetapp $1/1 Children’s product (4/6)
Ecsemin $1/1 cream (4/30)
Emergen-C $1/1 10ct or 30ct drink mix (3/31)
Eucerin $1/1 Aquaphor .35-14oz skin care, lip care or baby care product (3/5)
Eucerin $2/1 2-16.9oz product (3/15)
got2b $2/1 full size item (3/17)
L’Oreal $2/1 Preference shade (4/6)
Nivea $2/1 12-16.9oz for men body wash, shower gel or lathering body scrub (2/24)
Nivea $2/1 2-16.9oz body lotion, Q10 serum, gel, firming, sun-kissed or for men body lotion (3/5)
Nivea $3/2 lip care products .59oz tin, .17oz stick or .3oz tube (3/5)
Nivea Buy for men face care product (post-shave balm, face wash or moisturizer), get 1 shave gel or foam free up to $2.99 (3/5)
Olay $3/2 Complete facial moisturizers, daily facials, fresh effects or cleansers excludes Pro-X, Regenerist, Total Effects or Age Defying Series and trial (3/31)
Osteo Bi-Flex $3/1 30-60ct (3/27)
Osteo Bi-Flex $5/1 70ct+ (3/27)
Paseo/Fiora $.50/1 bath tissue excluding single roll (3/31)
Paseo/Fiora $1/1 12 roll bath tissue or 8 roll paper towel (3/31)
Prosacea/Psoriasin $1/1 gel (4/30)
Purina $.50/1 3.15lb+ Friskies Rise & Shine dry cat food bag or 6 Friskies Rise & Shine wet cat food cans (6/24)
Purina $.50/6 Friskies Plus cat food cans (5/10)
Purina $1.50/3 3.15lb+ Friskies dry cat food bags (5/10)
Purina $1/2 cat treats (5/10)
Scope $1/1 750mL+ mouthwash or 4ct singles pack (3/31) ETS
Sundown Naturals $1/1 product (3/12)
Venus $4/1 6ct or 8ct refill pack (3/31) ETS
Venus & Olay $4/2 3ct refill packs (3/31) ETS
Wet n Wild $1/1 product (2/23)


r.gullett@insightbb.com

Don't Buy Brown Sugar - Make It Yourself

Don't Buy Brown Sugar - Make It Yourself

Today I'm going to talk about adding sweeteners to your pantry.  If you remember from the "Essentials" list, we already have sugar in our pantry.

Let's talk about Molasses and Sorghum.  Two ingredients you should have in your pantry.  Oh, by the way, you can STOP buying Brown Sugar now.  You don't ever need to purchase it again.

Molasses and Sorghum are found in the baking isle and run about $3 to $4 for a bottle.  You may think that is a bit pricey until I tell you that they will last an incredibly long time.

For your next Trivia question, here's the basic difference between them.  Molasses comes from the sugar cane and Sorghum actually comes from the Sorghum cane.  They both go through a processing procedure to make syrup but, if I remember correctly, Sorghum is less processed than Molasses and tends to have a lighter color and sweeter flavor than Molasses.

Here's the beauty of it.  If you have either one of these in your pantry, you will never have to purchase Brown Sugar again.  OMG! Am I serious?  Completely.

After you finish reading this post, go get your bag of brown sugar out of the cabinet, turn it over and look at the ingredients.......Sugar and Molasses!  Tada!!!!

And the stores charge you a fortune for brown sugar.

Now what's the difference between light brown sugar and dark brown sugar.......

How much Molasses is in it of course!

Seriously that's all brown sugar is.

Want to know how to make it?

Take a bowl and put in one cup of sugar.  Then add one Tablespoon of Molasses.  Mix it up very well with a fork.  Tada!!!!  You now have what is considered Light Brown Sugar.  Want Dark Brown Sugar.  Add more by the teaspoon until it is the color and flavor you want.  Tada Again!!!!

Now look at that jar and think about how many cups of brown sugar you can make from that one little jar.

Can you believe it's that fricken simple?  Who knew?  You didn't Know??? Now you now!

The thing is, you can make your Brown Sugar using either the Molasses or Sorghum.  Some things in my opinion just taste better with the Sorghum. For example, believe it or not, Molasses cookies actually taste better with Sorghum instead of Molasses.  Don't tell Molasses I said that because it might get offended.

Think about how many bags of brown sugar you could make with one jar of Molasses and one 5-pound bag of sugar.  Now compare that to the cost of 1 bag of brown sugar and how many bags you would have to purchase to equal out.  You come out ahead on the sugar + molasses every single time, even when it is on sale at the holidays.

After you make your brown sugar you can store it in any type of air tight container.  Air tight is the key factor here.

Wait, it gets better.....If your recipe calls for 1/2 cup of brown sugar then you simply add 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 tablespoon of Molasses.  You don't even have to mix it up before hand.  Just toss it in there.  O.K. O.K.  Don't toss.  That could be messy and then you'd be mad at me,  and then you'd stop reading my blog, and then I'd get stressed out and .......better to just pour it in there.

I just love the simple things don't you.

Now I have given you a way to not have to purchase bag after bag of brown sugar.  One 5 pound bag of sugar and one jar of Molasses and you are good to go for a Very Loooooooong Time.

Trust me, it saves money on your grocery budget.  Try it and see for yourself.

You can cross Brown Sugar off your grocery list now.

Hugs

Oscar Mayer Pulled Pork $1 Coupon

Oscar Mayer is running a $1/1 coupon on their Carving Board Pulled Pork product.  Here's the link


r.gullett@insightbb.com

How's Your Budget Going???

It's the 5th of the month and time for me to take a look at my budget again for this pay period and see how things are going.  Do I need to tweak it here or there?  Was I realistic in my estimation for this pay period?

When you first begin living by a budget, it's a good idea to go back and plug the numbers in whenever you spend money on anything.  Did you fill up your tank?  Enter the number.  Did you go over or under?

Now I'm going to do something unconventional here to show you something.  I am actually going to put up my budget for the pay period ending 01/30/2013.  What you will see below is my budget for the time frame of 01/30/2013 until 02/15/2013 so you can get a clear idea of what I am talking about.

	Proposed	Actually
1/30/13	Expected	Paid	Unplanned
Balance	$744.43	$757.80
House	$0.00	$0.00
Electric	$0.00	$0.00
Deters	($198.00)	($197.11)
Dog Food	($75.00)	($53.09)
Citibank	$0.00	$0.00
Household Bank	($65.00)	($85.50)
Savings	($50.00)	($50.00)
Gas	($35.00)	($35.01)
Bank of America	($25.00)	($50.00)
Groceries	($125.00)	($14.53)
	$171.43	$272.56

So there you have it.  That's my actual budget.  Why am I showing you this?  Number one to show you I am just like you in that I don't make a fortune.  And, I want to talk about what I have been calling the Left Over.  The left over is the balance remaining at the end of each column.

As you can see, I hope to be able to transfer an additional $171.43 on 02/15/2013 into my savings account.  Right now I'm showing a balance of $272.56.

When you look at the chart above you will notice a couple of things:

1)  Again I did pretty good on the dog food by using coupons.  By utilizing available coupons, I was able to cut my food expenditure by $21.91.  I'll take that any day of the week.  Seems like just a little bit but remember.......all the little bits add up.

2)  I was able to stretch myself and pay a little more than I had planned to Household Bank and Bank of America.  That's always a good thing when you are paying something down.

3)  As you can see, I budget $125.00 each pay period for groceries.  Now you may think this is a lot for 2 people ($250.00/month), but I purchase my husband's cokes out of that money as well and we all know that soft drinks are not cheap.  And he's a Coca Cola Holic!!!!

I have three credit cards with zero interest on them.  We have put the big purchases on these cards and pay them off pretty quickly to utilize the zero interest factor.  So if I pay extra on them, they are paid off quicker and I'm still managing to put additional money into savings.

Now in all honesty, I probably won't put the full $171.43 left over into savings.  Reason.....I found out 2 days ago that I have a special dinner I have to go to Saturday so I need to go pick up something nice to wear.  But I will go to a 2nd hand store and pick up a bargain I assure you.

If I was able to put that $171.43 straight into savings, that would be in addition to amounts already put into savings.  I am really trying to stretch myself on what I am putting into savings because I want to have the kitchen redone in May and I want to have the cash to pay the contractor and not have to put it on any credit card.  Challenging but doable.

The left over or balance is your safety net and is there for just those reasons.  The unexpected.  That's not a free reign to bust your other line items, but it is what little bit you have left for the cushion and in case of emergency.  Just because it's there doesn't mean you have to spend it.  I encourage you to strive to put what ever your left over balance is into savings each month.  If I didn't have to go to this dinner with my husband's company's owner and 3 other couples, I wouldn't be going out to buy a nice outfit.

In recap, update your budget every time you spend money.  Don't let 48 hours go by without updating your check register and updating your budget.  It's a good thing to check your banking account daily just to make certain you don't experience the dreaded identity theft.

 

The Coming Revolution by Dr. Richard G Lee

The Coming Revolution
Signs from America's Past That Signal Our Nation's Future
by Dr. Richard Lee
Published by Thomas Nelson


The Coming Revolution will either make you mad or make you search out more of Dr. Lee's work.

While Dr. Lee lays the timeline from our earliest days through the American Revolution, I tend to wonder exactly where he obtained some of the information for our most recent years.

Dr. Lee forms his book on the basis that the majority of the American was based on Christianity and that Christianity is losing its punch.  Agreed.  While he does point out that not all of our founding fathers were Christians I do think his book is a bit biased.

What I think he is trying to do is to get people to wake up, step out of their hoolahoop, take a look around at the problems in government and our society and then take action.  I do agree that he has very good ideas of what any one individual can do make a difference through our current legal process, but of course you need the majority to make the changes.

While there are great references and an outstanding education of sorts on how Christianity has played a major part in the development of America, I think his thought process is going to be a hard sale.

The book is well written for the most part but does lack in some references here and there will lead you to believe some points are simply the author's opinion in lieu of actual facts.

I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com
book review bloggers program.  The opinions stated above are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, part 255:  "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising".







r.gullett@insightbb.com