Wednesdays learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

bon vivant  \bahn-vee-VAHNT\  ~ noun
 

DEFINITION: a person having cultivated, refined, and sociable tastes especially in respect to food and drink.

EXAMPLES: Mr. Murray is a congenial bon vivant who seems to relish the fine art of conversation almost as much as he does the fine art of French cooking.

"Polemicist and journalist Christopher Hitchens, who died in December at 62 after a battle with esophageal cancer, was celebrated Friday as an incorrigible contrarian, dazzling public intellectual, obdurate justice seeker, and passionate bon vivant in a star-studded memorial service at New York's Cooper Union." -- From an article by Lloyd Grove on The Daily Beast, April 20, 2012

DID YOU KNOW? Fans of fine French wine and cuisine won't be surprised to hear that the French language gave us a number of words for those who enjoy good living and good eating. "Gourmet," "gourmand," and "gastronome" come from French, as does "bon vivant." In the late 17th century, English speakers borrowed this French phrase, which literally means "good liver." No, we don't mean "liver," as in that iron-rich food your mother made you eat. We mean "liver," as in "one who lives" — in this case, "one who lives well."

Find more great words at Merriam-Webster online.

~THE REBATE~

 

Back to school and Football season need great snacks so here is a fun one!  When you purchase specially marked packages of Pillsbury Cookies between 9/01/12 and 12/15/12 you can send in the UPCs and original store receipts showing the store name and date, together with the rebate form for a free 15 count of Totino's Pizza Rolls.  The request must be submitted by 12/31/12.

I hope you are all having a great week so far.

C.Q.

Tastefully Tueday...

Our weather turned cold again so today is a great day for baking.  With Valentines around the corner I thought I would post something fun for the day  I found this treat at Food Network, you can find all sorts of wonderful things there!


Black Forest Cupcakes

1 (18.25-ounce) box devil's food cake mix

1 1/3 cups black cherry soda

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 container vanilla frosting

2 teaspoons cherry extract

1 to 2 drops pink food coloring

24 whole maraschino cherries with stems

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin tins with paper liners.  In a large bowl combine cake mix, soda, vegetable oil and eggs. Using a hand mixer combine all ingredients, batter will still be somewhat lumpy. Pour batter into muffin cups. Bake 19 to 22 minutes, turning the pans halfway through baking. Remove to a rack and allow to cool completely.  In a large bowl combine frosting, extract and pink food coloring. When cupcakes are cool ice with pink cherry frosting and top each with maraschino cherry    

Variation: Orange Cream Cupcakes

Prepare using a yellow cake mix and Orange soda. Substitute twisted orange slices for the cherries.

Prep time is 10 minutes, cook time 22 minutes, total time is 32 minutes.   The recipe makes 24 cupcakes.

Coupons:
$1.00 off any 3 7UP, A and W, Sunkist, Vernors, Squirt, RC Cola, Diet Rite, Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Hawaiian Punch, Dr. Pepper, or Big Red at Meijer.
$1.00 off one dozen Davidson's Safest Choice Eggs

Today's no cook option is from Bruegger’s Bagels.  Stop by on their Facebook page and like them to get a printable coupon for 3 free bagels.  Just bring it in with you on February 9th.  Remember that most Bruegger's are not open very late so be sure to stop in early.

I hope you are all having a great Tuesday!

C.Q.

Tastefully Tueday...

Got your baking done for the season?  Well if you are done congratulations!  If not here is the worlds easiest cookie recipe, every time I make these they are gone within two days.  I grew up with my mom making these and they were always the first to go then too, funny how some things never change.

Cornflake Crisps

5 Cups Cornflakes
12 ounces chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter

Put the chocolate chips and peanut butter in a glass bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Remove the bowl and mix (the chips will look like they haven't melted because they will hold their form until stirred)  if you need to melt them a little more do it in 10 - 15 second bursts or you may over cook and break the chocolate making a gritty mess.  When they are done just mix in the cornflakes and coat them well.  Spoon the mixture out on wax paper or cookie sheets and let them cool.  If you live in a cold area you can always set them outside for a few minutes, that will do the trick.  If you want to present them as gifts you can spoon them out into little muffin cups.

Coupons:

$0.50 off Nestle Toll House Morsels
$1.00 off 3 Kellogg's Rice or Cocoa Krispies, Corn Flakes, or Crispix Cereal at Target

Today's no cook idea is from Restaurant.com, through 12/7 they are offering $25 gift certificates for as low as $2! Just enter the coupon code GIFT at check-out! These are great gifts for secret Santa's, stocking stuffer or a little something for yourself, also a great way to try a new place without spending a lot of cash.

Hope you are all having a great Tuesday!

C.Q.

Tastefully Tueday...

Yesterday I noticed that I had a bunch of bananas that had turned brown almost overnight so I wanted to do something with them.  My Niece's boyfriend had just made us banana muffins so I went looking for something a little different at Cooks.com and found a great cream cheese banana bread recipe.  It is like a quick bread to make but turns out like a yeast type bread in the end, its really good! 

CREAM CHEESE BANANA BREAD

 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese

1 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter
1 c. mashed bananas
2 eggs
2 1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cream cheese, sugar and butter mixing well. Blend in bananas and eggs. Add remaining ingredients; mix well until moistened. Pour in greased and floured 9x5 loaf pan. Bake 1 hour 10 minutes or until wooden pick comes out clean.

Coupons:
$0.50 off 2 Philadelphia Cream Cheeses at Target
$0.50 off Imperial Granulated Sugar
$0.75 off  Land O Lakes Eggs
$0.25 off Gold Medal Flour
$0.30 off Argo Baking Powder
$0.50 off 2 Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

Today's no cook idea is from Orange Julius, I know its not really a meal but with holiday shopping whats more refreshing then a frothy orange beverage?  Truth be told I love these things.  When you sign up for their Quench Club you will get a buy one get one free coupon.

I hope you are all having a great Tuesday.

C.Q.

Tastefully Tueday...

Well yesterday I went to link up with the Meet Me on Monday blog hop that Java does over at Never Growing Old and I somehow ended up using a google link that took me to a post from may of last year, so I dutifully went through and answered all the questions, got pictures to go with them and went to link up, imagine my surprise when I realized I had to start all over.  One of the things I had answered was "What is your favorite kind of muffin?" I had answered cream cheese kind, but since I have a pumpkin I need to use up I found a great recipe for Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffins over at Annie's Eats.  Since they sounded so wonderful I thought I would share them today.  Be sure to check out Annie's Eats blog for other mouthwatering ideas!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving. (It may be hard to resist immediate consumption, but the cream cheese filling gets very hot!) ~ makes 24 muffins.

Coupons:
Save $0.50 off  2 Philadelphia Cream Cheeses at Target
Save $0.50 off Arrowhead Mills Organic flour
Save $1.00 off any two glass bottles of Simply Organic spices
Save $0.50 off any one mini bottle of Simply Organic Spice
Save $1.00 off Davidson's Pasteurized Eggs
Save $0.45 on Dixie Crystals Sugar

Today's no cook option is from Hardees, get a free Cheddar Biscuit with the purchase of a breakfast combo, or cash off a number of other great menu items like the Steakhouse Thick burger or the Chicken Fillet.  Just pick the coupon(s) that work for you and print them out and bring them into the store with you.

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

C.Q.

Friday's Freebie...

With the holidays coming up quick its time to start thinking about baking.  Several years back I requested the Jiffy mix cookbook and was really surprised at the amount of great ideas it had.  To get your free cookbook from them just fill in the online order form and watch your mail box.

Hope you are all enjoying your Friday.

C.Q.

Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

doughty  \DOW-tee\ ~ adjective

DEFINITION: marked by fearless resolution : valiant

EXAMPLES: When little Liza saw the neighborhood bullies picking on one of the younger boys the doughty girl marched up to them and demanded that they stop at once.

"The white bass particularly proved to be doughty hard fighters, especially when we hooked doubles -- which happened time and time again." -- From an article by Dick Martin in the Bucyrus Telegraph Forum (Ohio), August 8, 2011

DID YOU KNOW? "Doughty" is a persevering Old English word. Its earliest form was "dyhtig," but early on the vowel changed and the word became "dohtig." That was probably due to influence from a related Old English word, "dohte," meaning "had worth." By the 13th century, the spelling "doughty" had begun to appear. The expected pronunciation would be \DAW-tee\, paralleling other similarly spelled old words like "bought" and "sought." But over the centuries, the spelling was sometimes confused with that of the now obsolete word "doubty," meaning "full of doubt," and thus, so it is conjectured, we have the pronunciation we use today.

~THE REBATE~

Just in time for your holiday baking Reynolds is offering a free cookie and Baking kit.  To qualify you will need to by one each of the Reynolds®  Parchment Paper, Reynolds® Baking Cups and Reynolds Wrap® Foil, then mail in the original, store-identified, cash register receipt(s) dated between 10/01/11 and 12/31/11 with date(s) and price(s) of items circled together with the completed Offer form, the UPC Symbol from each product package and a check or money order for $7.95 to cover shipping and handling.  I usually don't include rebates you need to pay shipping for but this was a great deal.

Have a great Wednesday everyone.

C.Q.

Tastefully Tuesday...

Photo from Taste of Home

Halloween is almost here and its time for fun themed food items, but what to make?  I have seen a lot of ideas for eyeball items, spiders and creepy cupcakes, but this recipe from Taste of Home was a new one to me an looks fun. 



Boneyard Cookies
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
2 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 to 3 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam
16 to 18 ounces white baking chocolate, chopped

In a small bowl, combine confectioners' sugar and cornstarch. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extract. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to sugar mixture and mix well.

Shape dough into a ball; flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 30 minutes or until easy to handle.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 3-1/2-in. bone-shaped cookie cutter. (The best place to find this may be a pet store) Place 1 in. apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 8-10 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.

On the bottoms of half the cookies, spread 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon jam down the center; top with remaining cookies.

In a microwave, melt white chocolate at 70% power for 1 minute; stir. Microwave at additional 10- to 20-second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Dip each cookie in chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper; let stand until set. Yield: 34 sandwich cookies.

$0.35 off one Argo or Kingsford's corn starch
$1.00 off one package of Davidson's Pasteurized Eggs
$0.50 off one Simply Organic extract
 

Today's no cook option is from Taco Bell.  Right now when you purchase a $20.00 gift card you get a free Chicken Flatbread Sandwich combo.  This is a nice perk and you can save the gift card to use later for yourself, as a holiday gift or give to your college kid for an meal different than Ramon Noodles.
 
Have a great Tuesday!
 
C.Q.

Tastefully Tuesday...

With Easter coming up I thought I would share a recipe for one of my favorite treats, Hot Cross Buns.  The buns, believed to pre-date Christianity are said to have been made by the Saxons to honor the goddess Eostre, the cross divided the bun into four quarters representing the phases of the moon, and the name Eostre may be where the word Easter originated.  When the church came they tried to ban the practice but it was so ingrained in the culture that they allowed the buns, but only for reliogous pourpeses like Easter, Chrismas and Funerals.  One of the superstisions associated with the buns I really love says that sharing a hot cross bun will guarantee friendship through the year, espically when the "toast" of "Half for you and half for me, Between us two shall goodwill be" is said before eating.

Hot Cross Buns
Recipe from Fabulous Foods

1 cup milk
2 tablespoons yeast
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
4 eggs
5 cups flour
1 1/3 cups currants or raisins
1 egg white

Glaze
1 1/3 cups confectioner\'s sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped lemon zest
1/2 teaspoons lemon extract
1- 2 tablespoons milk

In a small saucepan, heat milk to very warm, but not hot (110°F if using a candy thermometer). Fit an electric mixer with a dough hook. Pour warm milk in the bowl of mixer and sprinkle yeast over. Mix to dissolve and let sit for 5 minutes.

With mixer running at low speed, add sugar, salt, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and eggs. Gradually add flour, dough will be wet and sticky, and continue kneading with dough hook until smooth, about 5 minutes. Detach bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let the dough \"rest\" for 30-45 minutes.

Return bowl to mixer and knead until smooth and elastic, for about 3 more minutes. Add currants or raisins and knead until well mixed. At this point, dough will still be fairly wet and sticky. Shape dough in a ball, place in a buttered dish, cover with plastic wrap and let rise overnight in the refrigerator (see note at right if you\'re in a hurry). Excess moisture will be absorbed by the morning.

Let dough sit at room temperature for about a half-hour. Line a large baking pan (or pans) with parchment paper (you could also lightly grease a baking pan, but parchment works better). Divide dough into 24 equal pieces (in half, half again, etc., etc.). Shape each portion into a ball and place on baking sheet, about 1/2 inch apart. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

In the meantime, pre-heat oven to 400° F.  When buns have risen, take a sharp or serrated knife and carefully slash buns with a cross. Brush them with egg white and place in oven. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350° F, then Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack. Whisk together glaze ingredients, and spoon over buns in a cross pattern. Serve warm, if possible.

Todays no cook option is a free order of Zeppole Italian Style Doughnuts from Maggiano's.  Be sure to join the Email list for more coupons in the future. This coupon is not good with other offers or on delivery or take out orders, limit one per table and expires on May 4, 2011. 


I hope you are all having a great Tuesday!

C.Q.

Meet February...

Hello to you all, I would like you to meet February. February is known for romance, chocolates, National Black History Month and the big game, but did you know February is also….

AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month: AMD stands for age-related macular degeneration; a disease that affects part of the back of the eye called the macula, and can cause the center part of your vision to become blurry or wavy.  Prevent Blindness America has a great short quiz to find out if you are at risk. Coastal Contacts is offering a coupon code for 15% off your entire order, just enter code RMNFEB15 at checkout, they also have free shipping on orders over $38.00.

Deaf History Month:  Miracle-Ear has locations nation wide and a printable coupon for a free hearing test, however the actual hearing aids can be very costly.  Hearing aids are available at low or no cost to people that qualify though.  You will need a doctor's diagnosis is necessary to qualify for hearing aid assistance, plus they are great sources of information on the products and services available to you.  Another option is to contact the hearing aid manufacturers directly, like drug companies, many of them will help with the cost, especially for families of children.

Bake for Family Fun Month : How about every one's original favorite, Original Nestle Toll House Cookies?  These would be great for the game this weekend too. Here are some coupons to help you out:

$1.00 off any Arrowhead Flour
$0.50 off two .Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
$1.00 off on any 8 oz. or 16 oz. Organic Valley Butter
$0.50 off Imperial Sugar Extra Fine Granulated Pure Cane Sugar
$0.50 off Imperial Sugar Light Brown, Dark Brown, or Powdered Sugar
$0.75 off Organic Valley Eggs
Or you could save the mixing and get $0.75 off Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough

National Hot Breakfast Month:  Save $1.00 at Target on Multi pack Quaker Instant Oatmeal, or you can get a buy two get one free coupon from Better Oats Oatmeal, just find them on Facebook and then go to the promotions tab and click the like button to get your coupon.  More into Cream of Wheat?  No problem, get $1.00 off Malt-O-Meal When You Buy 2 Malt-O-Meal® Cereals 12.5 oz or larger.

National Pie Month and Sweet Potato Month:  In honor of these I found a wonderful Sweet Potato Pie Recipe from Paul Dean for you.  Did you know that despite a physical similarity and a frequent confusion with their names, yams and sweet potatoes are not even distantly related. They are in two different botanical families. Yams are actually related to grasses and lilies!

National Bird Feeding Month: Petco is having their Bird Feeder sale with 15% or more off, plus they have free shipping on all orders over $60.00.  Wonder whats coming to your feeder?  WhatBird.com has an incredible app for $29.99.  Although that may seem a little high take into account that you can carry this with you easily and you can hear the actual bird's call, something no guide book can do for you.  Once you have identified your bird you can check it off either on the app or you can download and print a free state by state check list, especially nice of you are going bird watching on vacation.

National Care About Your Indoor Air Month: Receive $10.00 back by mail with the purchase of any Filtrete Room Air Purifier by 3M.  Just Mail in the rebate form along with the original UPC code from the package and the original cash register receipt dated between March 15, 2010 and March 31, 2011, submissions must be received by April 30, 2011, one per household.

Festival of Camellias Month: If you want to start getting info on your summer flower garden, check out this beautiful flowering shrub.  You can purchase a wide variety of Camellias for your garden from the Camellia Forest Nursery.  The  Burpee Seed Company has the Pink Champagne variety only but you can use coupon code take10 at check out for 10% off your total order.

Chocolate Lover's Month: Somehow this was not a surprise.  Godiva has some beautiful Valentines chocolates this month as well as a few great coupon codes.  Note all of these codes expire on February 8th so act quick.  Coupon code LOVE will get you $10.00 off your order of $60.00 or more, HUGS will get you free shipping on your order of $60.00 or more and HEARTS will get you upgraded guaranteed Valentine's Day delivery on your order of $75.00 or more.  Remember to check out Godiva's free Rewards Club as well, its a nice little program that gets you a free piece of chocolate each month as well as free shipping on all your on line orders and some other very nice perks.

I hope you have all enjoyed meeting February, I have enjoyed sharing the introduction.

Have a great weekend everyone!


C.Q.


 

Monday's value meal...

Sunny Broccoli Pasta Salad

1 box Betty Crocker® Suddenly Salad® ranch & bacon pasta salad mix
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
4 cups small fresh broccoli florets
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup sunflower nuts

Directions

1. Empty Pasta mix into 3-quart saucepan 2/3 full of boiling water. Gently boil uncovered 12 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Drain pasta; rinse with cold water. Shake to drain well.

3. In large bowl, stir together seasoning mix, mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar. Stir in pasta, broccoli, onion, raisins and sunflower nuts. Serve immediately, or refrigerate.


Today I found a fun recipe at the Betty Crocker site for a yummy desert too:

Key Lime Cupcakes

Cupcakes:

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® lemon cake mix
1 box (4-serving size) lime-flavored gelatin
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup Key lime juice
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 or 3 drops green food color, if desired

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons Key lime juice

Frosting:

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Grated lime peel, if desired

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Place paper baking cup in each of 24 regular-size muffin cups. In large bowl, beat cake mix and gelatin with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Add remaining cupcake ingredients. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds; beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl as necessary. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.

2. Bake 17 to 22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan to cooling rack. With toothpick or wooden skewer, pierce tops of cupcakes in several places.

3. In small bowl, mix 1 cup powdered sugar and enough of the 2 to 2 1/2 tablespoons lime juice until glaze is smooth and thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle and spread glaze over cupcakes. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

4. In large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. On low speed, beat in vanilla and 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar until mixed; beat on medium speed until fluffy. Frost cupcakes, mounding and swirling frosting in center. Garnish with lime peel. Store covered in refrigerator.

---Main Dish---

$0.50 off any TWO (2) flavors of Betty Crocker® Suddenly Salad® Mix
$1.00 OFF any TWO(2) DAVID® Seeds Original (14.5 oz.) or JUMBO (16 oz.) bags

---Bread---

$1.00 off any Rhodes Warm-N-Serv™ Rolls

---Beverage---

Buy ONE (1) get ONE (1) FREE (up to $1.99) ANY 16oz, 16.9oz or 17.5oz Snapple® Tea

---Desert---

$0.50 off when you buy BOTH Betty Crocker® Cake Mix & Betty Crocker® Ready to Spread Frosting in any flavor
Sign up at Domino sugar for free coupons delivered to your email

I hope everyone is having a good start to their week!

C.Q.

Saving dough…

Its that time of year again, time to get out the mixing bowls and baking sheets and start on our holiday cookies. Whether your in a cookie exchange or just making goodies for your family you can always find a way to make your dough go further.

Nestle has a holiday recipe guide available for free while supplies last at their web site, as well as free e-cards.

A few Christmas’ ago….OK so maybe its more like 10.…my neices made something they called puppy chow and brought it to a potluck at my sister-in-laws. Sure looked like dog food but it tasted wonderful and its so easy to make and share.

Chex Puppy Chow:

9 cups Chex cereal, (any kind works)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Put the semisweet chocolate chips, peanut butter, and butter into a 1 quart microwavable safe bowl. Microwave uncovered on high for 1 minute. Stir until everything is melted. If stirring doesn't melt everything, place in the microwave on high for 15-30 seconds. Be sure to stir until it's well mixed and smooth. After it's well mixed, add vanilla. Pour Chex cereal into a large bowl. Pour the chocolate, peanut butter, and butter mixture over the Chex cereal. Use a spatula and mix until all the Chex are covered in the mixture. Toss like a salad to coat entirely. Pour the powdered sugar into a large zip lock bag (2 gallon). Add the Chex. Shake until all the Chex are well coated. While all the Chex are in the bag, clean out the original bowl so no chocolate residue is left inside. Dry the bowl. Add mixture from bag and place into the bowl. If the Chex are not fully coated with powdered sugar, add more powdered sugar to bowl and cover with cling wrap. Shake until well coated. To make for gifts put the mix in glass jars with festive labels.

Coupons for this recipe:
$1.00 off 2 boxes of Chex at the Betty Crocker web site.
Nestle Toll House chocolate chip coupon at the Nestle web site.

Not the baking type? Not a problem! King Arthur Flour has great mixes available, they even have a mix for dog biscuits so you can be Fido’s hero too! They currently have a great deal going, 15% off when you buy 5 mixes, no coupon code needed. These mixes also make great gifts for someone who loves to bake but has limited time.

Don’t even want to bother with mixes? That’s not a problem either. Pillsbury has coupons for their pre-made cookies, just heat and eat. The best part is you can decorate them any way you want and make them look homemade.

Remember, the cost of homemade is a lot less than store bought, on the average a dozen sugar cookies cost you only .95 cents when made at home, that same dozen jumps to $1.45 per dozen if you use a pre-made refrigerated dough and jumps again to a whopping $4.25 per dozen from a bakery.

If your planning on doing your baking over the weekend be sure to check your local grocers ads for savings on the things you will need. You can check out the Sunday paper inserts early at SundaySaver.com.

Hope everyone is having a great week so far!

C.Q.