I enjoy saving money.  When we made the decision to become a one income household while I was on maternity leave there were certain things that had to be accounted for.  It doesn’t matter if your husband makes $100,000 or $30,000 going from two incomes to one requires some adjustment.  Whether it is just passing over a few $300 dresses a year or cutting coupons every Sunday for groceries, it doesn’t matter.

When I was contacted by Coupon Chief to take a look at their site, I jumped on the opportunity.  I’m always looking for ways to afford my favorite things for less.  One of my biggest complaints about the internet is the vast amount of bad deals people post.  I am always looking for a more efficient way to online shop especially with a toddler at home.  My internet time is very limited, and I don’t want to spend it searching endlessly for a good deal.

I think Coupon Chief may be the answer to my problems. I spend less than 30 minutes in front of a computer most days {thank goodness for smartphones}, and I need to use that time wisely.  I tried out 3 different stores, and I was off my computer in under 20 minutes.  That is impressive.

The first thing that jumped out at me was the very obvious search bar.  There is nothing worse than spending 20 minutes on Google trying to find a good coupon. Going right to Coupon Chief would be much easier.

I put Coupon Chief to the test.  They say they have a lot of coupons, but do they really?  First I tested GAP – a store that obviously runs promotions and is pretty well known.  Then I tested Expressionery – a somewhat well known store.  Finally I tested BistroSets.com, a site that I randomly selected through Google.

Overall I was impressed.  There were active coupons that worked for each store {I ran through checkout the point of purchase for each store}, and the site was easy to navigate.

Coupon Chief has an interesting program for those of you who find really good deals.  Their program called Pays-2-Share gives users 2% of every purchase made through one of their coupons.  While I don’t think you could make a living doing it you may be able to make some nice pocket change.

I plan to use this site regularly especially come the holidays.  Members can upload their own codes so I suspect there will be a lot of good ones with some bad ones mixed in {it is bound to happen on any discount site}.  Overall my opinion of the site is high.  I think it is a great way to save money, and it could easily become a one-stop shop kind of place.

Please check it out!

I was compensated for this post.  However, I really liked the site, and the opinions are my own.  I do not agree to reviews of sites or companies that I do not think are awesome.

Once upon a time I was a vegetarian.  It lasted until college when I started eating chicken and fish.  Then eventually I added red meat to my diet.  Then went back to being a vegetarian for a little while.  Then got pregnant, and I craved chicken and pork.  Now I eat meat, but still not nearly as much.  {Hint: every plate I photograph is always served to Nathan.  My portions are much smaller.}

During my on again/off again relationship with vegetarianism something I’ve never lost my love for is lettuce.  I often enjoy a large bowl of lettuce with salad dressing as a midday snack.  I like it plain.  I’ve been known to just rip leaves off and eat them.

Most importantly, I’ve been known to use lettuce instead of tortillas.  Lettuce is totally underappreciated as a way to hold a wrap together.  While I love tortillas, I think lettuce gives you the opportunity to taste the flavors of the filling more.  It absorbs those delicious vegetable and meat flavors and adds something that a tortillas just can’t.  Not to mention it is healthier {sometimes this matters to me…really}.

Most people use Bibb lettuce for wraps, but I love good ole iceberg.  It’s crunchy.  That matters.  I decided to make Asian wraps for dinner like a month ago {I’m behind here}, and I ditched the idea of a breaded wrap for lettuce.  What a difference.

Sweet and Sour Asian Wraps

Ingredients:

• 3 tbs reduced sodium soy sauce
• 2 tbs rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 2 cups cooked rice {I used Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain White Rice}
• 6 lettuce leaves

Directions:

1.  Cut the chicken breasts into very small bite-size pieces.

2.  In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil on medium heat.

3.  Once the oil is very hot, add the cut up chicken.  Cook on medium until well done.

4.  In a small bowl mix 2 tbs of the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar.  Set aside.

5.  Chop the green pepper into bite size pieces.

6.  Add the pepper, 1 tbs soy sauce, and ground ginger to the chicken.  Mix so that the soy sauce is coating the chicken.  Reduce heat to medium-low.

7.  While the chicken and pepper are cooking, make the rice according to the directions on the box.

8.  Chop the cucumber into small pieces.  Set aside.

9.  Wash the lettuce and peel off 6 leaves.

10.  Place a leaf of lettuce on a plate.  Fill with some of the cucumber.

11.  Next add the sauce and some of the chicken and pepper mixture to the lettuce.  Add some rice too.

Grade: B+

Comments:  These were the perfect dinner on what had been a warm night.  Lettuce wraps always feel so appropriate for hot, busy days.  The chicken turned out well, and most shockingly so did the rice.  I usually default to the 90 second rice you cook in the microwave, because I can never cook it right.  However, this rice was perfect, and it was so easy.  These would make a great snack for kids or the perfect food for having guests over.  You could easily add whatever vegetables better suit your taste.

I was provided a coupon for a free box of Uncle Ben’s rice through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program.  All opinions and recipes are my own.

Yes.  You are reading that title correctly.

Foodbuzz and Tostitos sent me two bags of the new Tostitos Artisan chips: Fire-Roasted Chipotle and Roasted Garlic & Black Bean.  After we ate the entire bag of Roasted Garlic & Black Bean {a. maz. ing.}, I decided I needed to do something fun with the Chipotle ones.

By fun I obviously mean something deep fried.

I started having visions of chicken fingers dancing in my head.  Then I realized Tostitos would be even more fun than bread crumbs.  Thus Fried Tostitos Chicken Fingers were born.

Fried Tostitos Chicken Fingers

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken thighs on the bone
• 1/2 bag Tostitos Arisan Fire-Roasted Chipotle Chips
• 1 egg
• a lot of vegetable oil

Directions:

1.  Heat a frying pan {preferably with high sides} on medium-high heat.

2.  After a minute or two fill the pan with oil so that it comes up about 1/2 inch.

3.  Cut the chicken off of the bone in medium size pieces.

4.  In a small bowl, beat an egg.

5.  In a large bowl, pour the chips & smash.  The pieces should be pretty small.

6.  Take a piece of chicken and dip it in egg.

7.  Then take the chicken and cover it in smashed chips.

8.  Put in the oil to fry.

9.  Repeat until all of the chicken fingers are covered with chips and in the oil.

10.  Cook the chicken about 3 minutes on each side.  {Note: It will burn easily, so watch carefully.}

11.  Turn the heat down to low and cover for a few minutes.

12.  Serve.

Grade: A+

Comments:  That’s it.  I have found the best chicken finger recipe ever.  The chipotle flavor is there but not overwhelming, and it is a great companion to the chicken.  The breading was crispy and stayed on well.  This is a kid recipe grown up.  Two chicken thighs was enough for both of us to eat for dinner, and there were leftovers for Nathan to take to work.  We still have a few chips left, and I plan to try to fry something else this week.

I was sent two bags of chips through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program.  The opinions and recipe are my own. 

I’ll be the first to admit I have a hot & cold relationship with yogurt.  I go through spells where I have to eat it everyday, and then I won’t eat it for months or even longer.  It isn’t that I don’t like it, I just find that I am generally pretty ambivalent about it. 

However, I’ve been on a kick where I’m buying it.  Samuel is madly in love with yogurt, so I find I’m keeping it in the house.  When My Blog Spark contacted me to work with Yoplait I agreed, because Yoplait isn’t a brand I usually buy.  I wanted to see for myself if I’d like it.  Generally, we buy Publix brand yogurt or ALDI brand.

The Good:

I thought this was shockingly filling.  Considering I only ate about half of it {Samuel helped himself to the rest}, I felt pretty satisfied for a snack.  Usually I have to pair my yogurt with something else to stay full for more than an hour or two, but I was able to stay full until dinner.  I ate this around 2:30, and we ate at 6:00 that night. 

The flavor was also excellent.  It actually tasted like strawberries and bananas rather than some blah mix of the two.  The texture was also great.  It was very smooth and thick.  My first thought was that it had a texture similar to melted frozen yogurt.

The Bad:

I realize I’m late to the Yoplait game {before this I bought it maybe once}, but the packaging is awful.  My spoon fit awkwardly into the container, and the weird ledge around the top kept me from getting a good size spoonful.  At first I thought I was irrationally annoyed, but it seems that this is a somewhat common complaint. 

Overall:

I’d buy Yoplait again, but I will probably purchase one of the large containers rather than a bunch of small ones.  It is easier for me to dish out that way.  It would be great to try some other flavors like vanilla and plain where I can add in my own fruits and sweeteners!

I was provided with product information, a coupon, and a Yoplait prize pack for this review courtesy of Yoplait through MyBlogSpark.  All of the opinions are my own.

About two months ago I was contacted by My Blog Spark to try out the Pillsbury pie crusts.  There were a few requirements tied to the project.  One of which was to make an apple pie.

Here is what they sent me:

{apple corer, OXO measuring cups, Pyrex pie dish, oven mitt, cutting board, coupon, and kitchen timer}

Armed with everything we needed, the first thing we did was visit the Apple Festival to get the apples.

Someone slept most of the time.

Then I needed to strategize.  Would I just make traditional apple pie?  Nope.  Didn’t seem quite right.  Add some pears?  Too boring.  Then it dawned on me.  Apple & pumpkin.  While I knew it could go horribly wrong especially since I decided I didn’t need a cookbook, I thought it was worth the risk.  If worst came to worst I would just get more pie crusts and start over.

Now, I admit I didn’t have any of this pie.  Not 30 minutes after I finished making it Nathan walked in the door.  He had left his work laptop at home, and he came home on his lunch break to get it.  While he was here he stole the pie {still rather hot actually} and took it to his office.  However, all reviews were good.

Pumpkin – Apple Pie {my recipe}

Ingredients:

• 2 Pillsbury pie crusts
• 8 medium sized apples
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbs flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 1/8 tsp kosher salt
• 1 cup pumpkin

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Peel and core the apples.  {I used a corer that only removes the center.  Not the one that they sent me.}  Slice thinly.  Place in a large bowl.

3.  Mix in the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, lemon juice, and pumpkin pie spice.  Coat the apples.

4.  Add the pumpkin to the apple mixture and mix well using a spatula.

5.  Roll out one of the crusts in a pie dish.

6.  Dump the apple mixture into the crust and spread evenly.

7.  Unroll the other crust.  Carefully place it on top of the apple mixture.  Crimp the edges of the crust either using your hands or a fork.

8.  Cover the edge of the pie with aluminum foil so the crust doesn’t burn.

9.  Cook for 40 – 50 minutes.  Let cool before serving.

Grade: A {from all accounts}

Comments: Nathan said everyone in his office loved this pie, and he assured me you could taste the apple and the pumpkin without the pumpkin being overwhelming.  This would be a great pie to serve at a holiday party!  I’d top it with some vanilla ice cream, serve with some coffee, and enjoy!

{I was provided the aforementioned pie making kit free of charge from My Blog Spark.  However, the opinions and recipe are my own.}

{this week’s menu is posted}

This giveaway is near and dear to my maroon & lavender heart.  Jayne, one of the farmers at Honeyrun Farm, is a sorority sister {Sigma Kappa!}.  When I was just a little freshman pledging, Jayne was a senior.  I knew Jayne through a mutual friend, Becky, before I began pledging.  Becky and I ran cross country together, and eventually Jayne married Becky’s brother, Isaac.  Together the three of them run this amazing farm in Williamsport, Ohio.

Jayne is that girl who we all secretly want to be.  She is so helpful, kind, and cool.  She is living her dream, and she is super fun to boot.  Oh the stories I could tell… {but won’t.}

About a month ago, Jayne reached out to me about hosting a giveaway.  Honeyrun Farm had just opened on Foodzie, and she was looking for a way to celebrate the occasion.  I was all for it!  So, a few weeks later, a surprise landed in my mailbox: a bar of soap and two containers of honey!  I was super pumped.  SUPER.

Let’s touch on the products one by one.  {Pardon the pictures.  I may have used the soap and one of the honey flavors in like .2 seconds.  What?  They were awesome!}

Lemon Oatmeal Scrub Bar:  OMG.  I was so excited about this, and it did not disappoint.  It smelled amazing, and the oatmeal acted as an exfoliant.  Even Nathan liked it, and he usually sticks to Irish Spring.  My skin felt softer and smelled great after the first use.  It was a great way to start my day.  Nathan is begging me to order some ASAP.

Pure Raw Summer Honey:  This lasted three days in our house.  THREE DAYS.  It all started innocently with Nathan putting it on a peanut butter & honey sandwich.  Then another.  & another.  Then I had to remind him I needed to use it to cook.  So I marinated some chicken in honey and cinnamon.  OMG.  Then I kept eating peanut butter & honey sandwiches.  This is a gazillion times better than anything you are going to find in the grocery store.  It’s light and sweet and delicious.  It is definitely the best honey I’ve ever had.

Lavender Infused Honey:  When I first saw this I knew I immediately had to try it in tea.  I’m not a huge tea drinker, but this sounder like it would go perfectly with some green tea.  I was right.  The lavender flavor isn’t overpowering at all, but it is just the unique twist tea needs.  Before I knew it I had used it in a few cups of tea, and I was dreaming up ideas to use it in cookies {although I haven’t gotten to that yet}.  This honey is luxurious.  It is perfect to wow guests or use as a gift.  I’m definitely thinking of ordering some for my tea loving friend.

So, here’s the giveaway:

Honeyrun Farm is generously offering one reader a free jar of honey or any item from the Etsy shop.

Here is what you need to do: Go to their Foodzie page or Etsy shop, and pick which item you like the most.  Then come back here and leave a comment with your selection.  For an extra entry, leave a separate comment with how you use honey {in tea, cooking, etc}. 

Comments will be open until Friday December 3, 2010 at 11:59 PM EST.  I’ll announce the winner the following Monday.

Happy entering!

{Also, check out the sales Honeyrun Farm is having for the holidays!  Here is a list on their blog.}

Two-ish weeks ago I got full size boxes of Kellogg’s Fiber Plus Antioxidants Cereal to try.  One box of Berry Yogurt Crunch & another box of Cinnamon Oat Crunch.

I was pretty excited to get these.  Just a few weeks before I was contacted to give them a try, I saw them in Publix.  We don’t buy much cereal, but I made a mental note to get these in the future.  Luckily, I ended up with them for free

This was a great product for me to get.  You see I LOVE healthy cereals: Crispix, Cheerios, Special K.  Nathan loves cereals made for kids 6 and under: Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  So I thought I’d get two very different opinions.  I’d like them & he’d hate them.

WRONG.

We both absolutely loved them.  The Berry Yogurt Crunch was my favorite, and I usually hate berry cereals.  {Confession: I am pretty much morally opposed to the existence of cereal that changes the color of my milk.  Weird I know.}  This was so filling, and it was just the right amount of everything.  The berry flavor wasn’t overwhelming, and I loved the little yogurt bites.

The Cinnamon Oat Crunch reminded me of Honey Nut Cheerios for some reason.  It was good, and it definitely wasn’t too sweet at all.  If we had bananas, I think they would have been a great addition to the cereal.

The nice things about both of these is that they would make great family cereals.  You could easily get kids to eat either of these, and they are great for grown ups too!  No more buying some sugary cereal for the kids and something more simple for the grown ups.

I didn’t write down the nutrition info, but I believe each cereal had about 190 calories in a serving and 10ish grams of fiber.  Definitely very healthy.

We’ll be buying these again for sure.  Especially the berry one.  I just couldn’t get enough of it!

I was provided these two items for free through the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program.  My opinions are my own and are honest.

{This week’s menu is posted}

Before I get to the review, I just have to give a huge THANK YOU to my lovely Junior League girlfriends.  Yesterday we all got together for what I thought was just an afternoon of snacks & gabbing, but those girls had a surprise up their sleeves!  It was actually a wonderful get together in Samuel’s honor.  There were balloons, cake, a very generous gift, and most importantly my lovely friends.  They got to meet Samuel for the first time, and it was just an absolute blast.  I am SO lucky to have such wonderful girls in my life

Okay, now onto the review.

A few weeks ago I was sent the new Eggo Fruit Pizzas to review {through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program}.  I received one Strawberry Granola Real Fruit Pizza and one Mixed Berry Granola Real Fruit Pizza.

Here are my thoughts.  They were pretty good, but at 400 calories a pizza, I would never eat one by myself for breakfast especially because I think I could make a healthier version myself.  That said I could definitely see where these would be a fun special treat breakfast for a young child.

The strawberry one broke when we opened it, but the berry one stayed together.  Also, for the sake of comparison I cooked the strawberry one in the microwave, and I did the berry one in the oven.  The oven was definitely the way to go.

Overall, I honestly would not buy these again.  Not because they weren’t great, but because I take issue with the nutritional info.  I don’t understand why these are 400 calories each especially because they aren’t that big {the size of a personal pan pizza}.  They also have 13 grams of fat.  It is just too much for a breakfast in my opinion.

Hopefully Eggo will come out with a lower fat and healthier option.  If they did it would change my mind about not buying these.

I was given these items for free through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program.  My opinions are honest and are my opinion alone.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Foodbuzz and Buitoni and asked to host a dinner party pairing Buitoni products with salads.  I was more than willing to do it!  I saw it as my last chance to throw a dinner party before Samuel arrives.  Nathan obliged and we invited some of our best friends over for a delicious meal.  I spent a considerable amount of time putting together what I thought would be a perfect menu.

I love Buitoni pastas, and we’ve eaten them a few times.  They cook really fast which is great when you’re trying to put together a dinner party.  It is important to get everything on the table in a timely fashion, and refrigerated pastas cook MUCH faster than dry pasta.

All of the recipes below are my own.  If there is one thing I can cook without a cookbook it is Italian food!

{I’ve typed all of the recipes in Google Docs so as not to write the longest blog post EVER.  If you click on any of the dishes you should get the corresponding recipe in a printable file.}

The players:

• Three Cheese Ravioletti
• Quattro Formaggi Agnolotti
• Spicy Beef & Sausage Ravioli
• Linguine

The menu:

Drinks

Nathan’s home brewed beer

water with lemon for me

{I had wine, but the beer was so popular it never got opened!}

Salads

Caprese Salad

Romaine with Prosciutto

Panzanella

Pastas

Linguine with Tomato Sauce & Ricotta

Three Cheese Ravioletti with Brown Butter Sauce

Sicilian “Sauce” with Agnolotti & Ravioli

Dessert

Espresso

Angel Food Cake with Pineapple Sauce

First, let me tell you that every single dish was a hit.  I can only take so much credit, because the quality of the pasta really carried the meal.  Our guests {and us} ate so much food!  I just couldn’t help trying everything.  Look at my plates:

Nine months pregnant or not that was a LOT of food!  I just wanted to make sure to enjoy everything, and I did.

I can’t say enough good things about Buitoni after this dinner party.  It was so nice to have such a wide variety of pastas from which I could select at the grocery.  Each one brought something a little different to dinner.  I was blown away by how delicious and filling each pasta was, and I loved the flavor of them!  Definitely make sure to think of them next time you are hosting an Italian dinner party!

{These pictures were taken with Nathan’s Canon Rebel XTI instead of my iPhone.}

I was compensated for this party through the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program.  All of my opinions are honest and accurate.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by Philadelphia Cream Cheese’s LoveMyPhilly team.  They asked me to try a new recipe, and I jumped at the chance.  We’re huge cream cheese fans in this house, and Philadelphia is our favorite brand {of course, I may be loyal just for the name}.

In exchange for trying and reviewing the recipe, I did receive a free cookbook and coupons.

Spaghetti a la Philly

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 jar {24 oz} Prego Traditional Italian Sauce
• 1/2 package {4 oz} Kraft Philadelphia Cream Cheese, cut into cubes
• 1/2 package {8 oz} spaghetti
• 2 tbs Kraft grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to directions.
2. Cook the beef in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until well-browned, stirring often to separate the meat.  Pour off any fat.
3. Stir the sauce and cream cheese in the skillet.  Reduce heat to low.  Cook for 3 minutes or until the cream cheese is melted, stirring often.
4. Place the spaghetti in a large bowl.  Add the beef mixture.  Toss to coat.  Top with Parmesan cheese!

Grade: A

Comments: This was very good.  We both really enjoyed it, and there is so much leftover for Nathan’s lunch this week.  It is a great family recipe, and we decided that we’ll probably start making it on Sundays so that there is food for Nathan while I am in class during the week.  I definitely recommend this.  The cream cheese adds a great creaminess to the sauce that we both just loved.  One of these times I may try to use it as a spaghetti bake and see what happens!