Friday, March 30, 2012

NYand Co. $50.00 off a purchase of $100.00. Now through Sunday! Use promocode: 1187

Chicken News!

Last fall with our new chicks.  Adam, Grandma, and Rachel loving the babies.
Some of you may remember the struggle we had with our chicks.  For those of you who don't, we ordered our chicks in the early summer and they didn't arrive until October.  This presented many problems for us with the biggest being cold weather. 
As I thought about the behavior of hens I decided to try and get one of my old layers to go broody.  Remember how I began placing hard boiled eggs in the nest each night and after I had about a dozen she went broody?  Then after a few weeks I removed the eggs and replaced them with my chicks in the middle of the night?
Well, the good news is that my baby chicks are all grown up and are now laying!  Yes, yesterday I checked the nest and there was a beautiful brown egg.  Talk about feeling like a proud parent! 
I told Adam about the shiny egg when he came home from his date and he looked at me and said, "Mom, they're chickens.  Chickens lay eggs.  What's the big deal?"  I said with a huge smile, "Yes,  but they were my babies and now they are all grown up!"  He went to bed and I muttered, "Maybe when you have kids of your own you'll understand."  He heard me and yelled from his room, "Mom, I hate to tell you but I'm never going to be weird and think chickens are my kids!"

Breakfast, courtesy of the chicks. Or perhaps I should say, "Breakfast, courtesy of the ladies!"
 Either way breakfast was delicious.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Bath and Body Works Sale!

It's their mix and match body care sale.  Buy 3 get 3 free!  Check it out because it won't last long.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Promo Codes!

Need shoes?  Try Shoes.com which is offering an additional 20% off all shoes and as always, free shipping.  Promo code: 20SALE

Need facial products at 20% off and free shipping for all orders of $49.00 or higher? Try SkincareRX.com
Skinmedica Promocode: SKMMARCH20
Skinceutical Promocode: SCMARCH20
Epionce Promocode: EPMARCH20

Ulta is offering
$3.50 off any $10.00 or more purchase with Promocode:77739
$10 off a $60.00 or more purchase with Promocode: 80531

How some new clothes?  New York and Company is offering 30% off everything online with Promocode: 3011 

Thursday, March 22, 2012

If Layton doesn't work, how about Ogden?

I'll be at the Ogden Seagull Book on Riverdale Road from 12-1:30.  Hope to see you there!

Come say, "Hi!"


I'll be at the Seagull Book in Layton this Saturday from 10-11:30.  Stop by, I'm giving out Pocky!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

PBS Deals

Nature and NOVA DVDs on sale 2 for $25.00!

Bath and Body Works antibacterial sale is here!

Antibacterial soap 5 for $15 or 7 for $7.00
 and ship for $1.00 using promocode: SCENTS25

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

It's here and on the shelves of all major book stores and Amazon!

Another night of reincarnated left-overs!

I am in the process of cleaning out my refrigerator.  That means I need to be very creative.  Here's what I did with what I found.
3 bell peppers I had purchase for .59 cents each.  One of them had a frozen spot.  Yes, the peppers were in the very back of the fridge.  I cut the peppers in half and cleaned them out.
Next I found a cup of match stick carrots.  They didn't smell all that fresh so I rinsed them under cool water and they tasted fine.  I then chopped an onion.  I also found 2 leftover stalks of celery so I sliced the celery up too.  I cooked the carrots, onion, and celery in about 2 tablespoons of oil along with 1 heaping teaspoon of minced garlic.

After the vegetables were tender I added about 1/3 cup of cooked barely pearls, 1/3 cup cooked wheat berries, and a 1/3 cup of quinoa.  These grains were leftover from morning breakfast.    I opened my fridge and spied 1/2 of a cooked butternut squash.  I cubed my find and added it to the mixture along with 2 raw eggs.  Mixed it up and filled the bell pepper halves.

I placed foil in a baking dish and baked the stuffed peppers for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  I served the stuffed peppers with tomato slices.  The tomatoes were on special last week for 59 cents a pound.  And a slice of rosemary olive oil bread.  For dessert I found a pint of homemade yogurt, which cost me 30 cents a pint to make and blueberries that were on special for $1.76 a box last week.


This meal was made from leftovers I had on hand.  However, the total cost if purchasing the items for this meal would be:
  •  Bell peppers ($.59 x 3 = $1.77)
  • 2 stalks celery ($.20)
  • 1/2 bag match stick carrots ($.64)
  • 1 small onion ($.30)
  • 2 eggs (Bought and preserved at $.69/dozen ($.10)
  • Grains ($.75)
  • Tomato ($.33)
  • Bread ($1.30)
  • Yogurt ($.30)
  • Blueberries ($1.76)
Total price- $7.45 for 6 servings.




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http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/13/10657635-3-big-brands-may-be-tied-to-chicken-jerky-illness-in-dogs-fda-records-show

Monday, March 12, 2012

You want what? Nachos at this time of night!

Well here I go again, the Snow family's short order cook is asked to make Sunday night nachos by the men in her life.  I browned hamburger that I had defrosted for tomorrow's sloppy joes and added a can of Western Family Chili Beans with sauce.  I then chopped some cilantro, tomatoes, and avocado.  I looked around in my pantry for some nacho cheese dip but couldn't find any so I made my own cheese sauce.  Trent said my cheese sauce tasted fresher and cleaner than the nacho cheese dip.  It was quick, easy, and best of all, I knew exactly what was in the cheese sauce and I also knew that the kitchen was clean and the cook washed her hands before making it!  Also, my homemade cheese sauce only cost me 10 cents for the chicken bouillon, 25 cents for the milk and $1.66 for the shredded cheese.  Total cost $2.01 instead of $4.99 for the nacho dip.

Cheese Sauce:
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1 8 oz pkg shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Whisk until creamy over medium heat
Add thickener:
Mix 1 T. corn starch dissolved in 3 T. water.  Pour into cheese mixture. Stir until thick and creamy and serve over th nachos.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

What should I do with 6 chicken strips, 2/3 cup left over cream, and a starving family?

Here's what I made and it was a hit and it only took 20 minutes!

I found a bag on penne pasta in the pantry and cooked it up.
I grilled the chicken strips.
I made a sauce that was high in fat and oh so delicious (If I didn't have to use up the cream I would have made the recipe with milk)
Sauce:
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon adobo sauce
1 teaspoon cumin
11/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon lime juice
2/3 cup cream
1 cup shredded cheese.  (I had mozzerella.)
Add ingredients and whisk.  Once blended add thickener and cook until bubbly.

Thickener
1 tablespoon of corn starch
1/4 cup water.
Mix water and corn starch until blended then add to sauce.

Plating instructions: noodles, sauce, grilled chicken, drizzle with sauce and the cilantro.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Quick and delicious dinner

Last night we had a dairy and sprouting demo in West Valley so I needed a quick dinner. I hadn't gone grocery shopping for a while and all I had was
  • Left over grilled steak
  • 1/2 a bunch of cilantro
  • 2 onions
  • 2 roma tomatoes
  • 4 potatoes.
What to fix for dinner? 
I microwaved the potatoes; then cubed them and browned them in a skillet with a little butter.  Next, I cut the steak into small pieces, sliced the onions and tomatoes into strips, and chopped the cilantro.  After the potatoes were browned I removed the potatoes from the skillet.  I added a tablespoon or so of oil and a 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic to the skillet.  I cooked the onions 1/2 way then added the  meat.  After a few minutes the meat was reheated.  At this point I added 3-4 tablespoons of white vinegar, about 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, dash or two of cayenne pepper, salt and course black pepper to taste.  I then added the fresh tomatoes and cilantro and served the meat mixture over the browned potatoes.  Hope you enjoy this quick and easy as much as we did!

Compliments of Rach. Thanks for the laugh!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Dairy and Sprouting Demo. It's free and open to the public!


Join us tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the Hunter Library and learn how to make...
  • 9 pints of yogurt for $2.69
  • Soft cheese that is better than cream cheese and only costs 30 cents a cup.
  • How to store fresh eggs for up to 8 months.
  • How to build your own sprouter
  • How to sprout beans, lentils and legumes
  • How to sprout seeds
Hope to see you there!


HUNTER LIBRARY 
801-944-7550

4740 West 4100 South

West Valley City, Utah 84120 


Monday, March 5, 2012

Hubby had a sweet tooth on Sunday!

My house has been bakery alley lately.  It was Rachel's birthday so I made her favorite chocolate cake with deep dark chocolate frosting.  It was delicious and moist.  The next day Adam needed to bring cookies to work and requested chocolate chocolate chip cookies with deep dark chocolate frosting.  Trent isn't very fond of chocolate and with all of the chocolate coming out of the kitchen I think his taste buds were feeling a little left out so he requested his favorite cookie, oatmeal raisin.


Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Cream
1 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
Add
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Stir in
1 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
Stir in
3 cups oats
1 cup raisins

* Sometimes I omit the raisins and add butterscotch chips and coconut.

Drop on to parchment paper in rounded tablespoons.  Pat flat the mound of dough with back of spoon. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 - 14 minutes.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Kimpton Discount!

Many of you know that my favorite hotel to stay at is a Kimpton.  Kimpton is having a special on stays in NYC and sunny Florida  Book before March 7th and use the promo code: NYCFLA to receive 25% off!