June 24, 2011

FOODIE FRIDAY FREE PIZZA WINNER IS...

KAREN H.

Congratulations Karen, I will send you a message to confirm that you won. The Pickle Barrel would like all my followers to try their pizza so they are offering a buy one pizza and get one 1/2 OFF coupon.  Print this blog post and take it to The Pickle Barrel to get your discount.

FOODIE FRIDAY PIZZA PICK OF THE WEEK REVIEW!

The Pickle Barrel was our pick for the week.  I ordered the pizza for 6:00 pm.  When I walked in at 6:00 the pizza was ready and hot.  The pizza was a round thin crust plain pie.  The pizza was very good.  There was a nice amount of cheese and spices on the pizza which gave it a good flavor.  We really liked the sauce.  The crust was a little soft and a little crunchy.  The pizza is cooked in a brick oven which gives it a different flavor.  The Pickle Barrel is located 1875 Front Street, Binghamton.

Follow our Pizza Pick circuit and try The Pickle Barrel pizza for yourself.

June 23, 2011

FYI

I will only post coupons that I have found and printed myself from manufacturers websites or Facebook pages and Coupons.com who I am affiliated with.  I go through the steps to get the coupons, so I can confirm that I am posting legitimate coupons for you.

Katie

Give yourself a flawlessly smooth shave!

BIC Soleil Bella wants you to feel fabulous for less.  They are offering a $2.00 OFF coupon on any BIC Soleil Bella razor 3 pack on their website.  Click here to get the coupon.  The site takes a moment to come up.  Once you are on the site, click on the little tag at the top of the page that says, Special Savings.  When you are printing the coupon it also takes a moment to print.

Save $3.00 with Nair Products!

Nair is offering a $3.00 OFF coupon when you purchase two (2) Nair products.  Click here to get the coupon.

While you are on their website sign up for the Nair Step Out Challenge.

Gardening with Mr. C. - Save money with DIY Gardening!

Mr. C. (and the Green Giant) say that to get the best value from your crop, it is important to "let the vegetables tell you when they are ready".

The "days to maturity" on the seed packets is based upon ideal conditions and should only be used as a guide to when to expect to begin picking. In the case of peas it is fairly easy to tell when they are at their peak. For other than edible pod varieties - if a pod appears full, give it a gentle squeeze. If it is firm, pick, open (peas should be about one quarter inch in diameter), and eat to verify that the peas are mature and sweet. Even if it proves to be premature, it will be enjoyable. Once you have determined that some are ready, continue picking - maybe some might make it to the table or freezer. Plan to check and/or pick often as the daily output will increase to a peak and then decrease until the vines die and stop producing.

I grew three kinds this year (note: all have Agways' names). The first to produce are called "Early Frosty".  You can see in the following picture of my plants that some have withered, but others are producing. This variety produces early (as its name implies) but is not as heat tolerant as other varieties (see pictures of my other pea vines). To illustrate how the seed packet information can be useful, adding the "Days to Maturity" of 63 to my planting date of April 7th would put ideal maturity at June 10, or about 10 days short of actual. I have made a note in my gardening log to plant them earlier next year. I usually plant them on St. Patricks day - three weeks earlier. Cold and snow will slow them down so you may gain only half the extra time, but that would definately help. I'll also replace one row of them with a more heat tolerant variety called "Wando" - which I have grown every other year. Note, I also weeded this bed and planted pole beans between the swiss-chard and the peas to make use of the soil and the fence.

                                                    Picture of Early Frost.

"Little Marvel" (64 day - planted on 4/1) is my best producer each year. The pods are smaller than both Early Frosty and Wando, but the peas are only slightly smaller. However,since each vine has six to eight pods, each maturing at different times promises to give a long and abundant crop.


                                                Picture of Little Marvel Peas




                                                             Picture of Sugar-Snap Peas
Samples of the three varieties clockwise from the top left are Sugar-snap, Little Marvel, and Early Frosty (the largest group).

                                                     Picture of Peas


Happy Gardening!

Mr. C.

P.S. Nip off the suckers that sprout between the stalk and branches of your tomato plants to yield larger fruit.

June 22, 2011

GET A FREE RECIPE BOOK FROM JIFFY!

Jiffy Mix is offering a FREE recipe book on their website.  Try one of your favorite Jiffy mixes in a different recipe.  Click here to visit their site and get your FREE book.

Enjoy,

Katie

FOODIE FRIDAY PIZZA PICK OF THE WEEK!

The Pickle Barrel pizza is the PIZZA PICK OF THE WEEK. On Friday, my family will have The Pickle Barrel pizza for dinner and I will write a review. One of my lucky followers will win a FREE pizza from The Pickle Barrel, 1875 Front Street, Binghamton so they can also try the pizza. I will draw the FREE pizza winner June 24th at 8:00 pm EST.

June 20, 2011

Make Ahead Monday Dinner Review!

My family gave this dinner a 9 out of 10.  Tonight we had Crockpot Steak.  The steak was tender, juicy and had a great flavor.  I served it with rice.  The gravy was really good over the rice.  We will definitely make this again!

If you have a recipe you would like us to try, let me know.

HOW WE RATE THE DINNER FROM 1 - 10.

1 - PLEASE DON'T MAKE THAT AGAIN!
5 - IT WAS OKAY WE CAN TRY IT AGAIN!
10 - THAT WAS AWESOME CAN WE HAVE THAT AGAIN!

MAKE AHEAD MONDAY!

As a busy mom on the go having all or part of dinner ready when we get home is a huge time saver. 

Today's Make Ahead Monday dinner choice is Crockpot Steak.

Recipe:

1 1/2 pounds chuck or round steak cut into strips
1/3 cup flour
1 teas. salt
1/4 teas. pepper
1 large onion sliced
8 oz. tomato sauce
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Put steak strips, flour, salt and pepper in crock pot.  Stir to coat.  Add remaining ingredients.  Cover and cook for 8-10 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

TIME SAVER:  Use a large crock pot liner in the crock pot for easy clean up.  Don't forget to get your coupon to purchase these liners from the Reynolds website. 

Stay tuned for our families review of this Make Ahead Monday dinner later today.

FOODIE FRIDAY PIZZA PICK WINNER IS

Wendy S.

Is the winner of the FREE pizza from Amici Pizza Bar.  Amici Pizza Bar is on Henry Street across from Mets Stadium.  I was pleasantly surprised by the new renovations to the place.  It is very nice!  Next time you are by Mets stadium stop in and say hello to Shane and let him know you heard about their pizza from Saving and Sharing It.