Wednesday's Learn and Earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

maffick \MAF-ik\  ~  verb

DEFINITION: to celebrate with boisterous rejoicing and hilarious behavior

EXAMPLES :Fans mafficked for hours outside the stadium, celebrating the team's dramatic victory in the division championship.

"In half an hour, after the mildest of mafficking, the last visitors of the exhibition's last day had gone out of the gates and the staff began their final acts of closing up shop." — From an article in The Guardian (London), October 1, 2011

DID YOU KNOW? "Maffick" is an alteration of Mafeking Night, the British celebration of the lifting of the siege of a British military outpost during the South African War at the town of Mafikeng (also spelled Mafeking) on May 17, 1900. The South African War was fought between the British and the Afrikaners, who were Dutch and Huguenot settlers originally called Boers, over the right to govern frontier territories. Though the war did not end until 1902, the lifting of the siege of Mafikeng was a significant victory for the British because they held out against a larger Afrikaner force for 217 days until reinforcements could arrive. The rejoicing in British cities on news of the rescue produced "maffick," a word that was popular for a while, especially in journalistic writing, but is now relatively uncommon.

Find more great words at Merriam-Webster.

~THE REBATE~

Tyson always seems to have some great rebates and this one is no exception.  From now until September 30, 2012 when you purchase Tyson Chicken Tenders and at least $5.00 of gas Tyson will send you $5.00 back.  Just fill out the rebate form and mail it in with your original cash register receipts from the grocers deli for the Chicken Tenders and from the gas station for the gasoline purchase; the receipts need to be dated between 5/28/12 and 9/30/12 with the purchases circled.  There is only one rebate allowed per household and the requests need to be postmarked by the 9/30/12 date.

I hope you are all having a great Wednesday!

C.Q.

Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

bildungsroman  \BIL-doonks-roh-mahn\  ~ noun

DEFINITION: a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character

EXAMPLES: While the author’s previous novel was a bildungsroman, her most recent book focuses on trials and tribulations of a family through multiple generations.

"Jonathan Safran Foer's exuberant, wildly stylized novel 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close' (2005) incorporates intertextuality, meta-fiction and a young boy’s spiritual education -- what we English major folks call 'bildungsroman' -- in reconciling national trauma." -- From a review by Ryan Lattanzio in The Daily Californian, September 8, 2011

DID YOU KNOW? "Bildungsroman" is the combination of two German words: "Bildung," meaning "education," and "Roman," meaning "novel." Fittingly, a "bildungsroman" is a novel that deals with the formative years of the main character -- in particular, his or her psychological development and moral education. The bildungsroman usually ends on a positive note with the hero's foolish mistakes and painful disappointments over and a life of usefulness ahead. Goethe's late 18th-century work Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre (Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship) is often cited as the classic example of this type of novel. Though the term is primarily applied to novels, in recent years, some English speakers have begun to apply the term to films that deal with a youthful character's coming-of-age.

~THE REBATE~

From now until December 31, 2011 you can get a $2.99 rebate from La Creme coffee creamer.  Just mail in your original store receipt with the item and price paid circled together with the completed rebate form.  The rebate should be there with in 6 - 8 weeks, only one rebate per household.  If you need to check the status of your rebate go to CMSPromoCheck.

I apologize for missing the blog yesterday, I started out the day behind schedule and never caught up, I am back on track and should be on schedule for the rest of the week at least now.  Have a wonderful day everyone!

C.Q.

Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

hyperborean  \hye-per-BOR-ee-un\ ~ adjective

DEFINITION(S):

1: of or relating to an extreme northern region : frozen
2: of or relating to any of the arctic peoples

EXAMPLES: Pauline possessed an impressive tolerance of cold winters, for which she credited her hyperborean ancestors from northern Canada.

"She came through the door tugging him awkwardly by the wrist … and settled into a chair in the waiting room while Elvira's parrot gnawed at the wicker bars of its cage and the little air conditioner I keep in the front window churned out its hyperborean drafts." -- From a story by T. Coraghessan Boyle in his 2010 collection Wild Child

DID YOU KNOW? In ancient Greek mythology, the "Hyperboreoi" were a people who lived in a northern paradise of perpetual sunshine beyond the reaches of the god of the north wind. Their name located them within the Greek world; it combined the prefix "hyper-," meaning "above," and "Boreas," the Greek name for the north wind. When "hyperborean" first appeared in our language in the 15th century, it named those legendary folk. By the late 1500s, though, the word was being used more generally for anything relating to the far north or the people who lived there

~THE REBATE~
 

Lean Cuisine has a great program called Delicious Rewards that runs through December 31, 2011.  When you purchase specially marked packages you can enter the codes online for points that are redeemable for great stuff like their colorful lunch bags, Sweepstakes entries, kitchen gadgets and free Lean Cuisine meals. 
 
I hope you are all having a great week!
 
C.Q.

Snacking on cash...

I was in the grocery store the other day and about fell over when I saw the price potato chips have risen to and got to thinking about the 2 most popular snack foods, chips and popcorn. A box of Old Dutch potato chips was on SALE for a whopping $3.48 and Orville Rednbacher's microwave popcorn was also $3.48 on sale. In the Orville Rednbacher's package there are 3 bags of popcorn, that makes each one $1.16 when in comparison you could by a 30oz jar of the same popcorn for popping for about $5.00 with no coupon. Breaking down the cost for the jar with 7.5 servings the popcorn the cost is about .65 cents and there are no carcinogens in it. You can make the popcorn as per the instruction on the jar which takes really no more time than microwave popcorn, you can also microwave on the fly in a bowl with a plate over it and just put a thin layer of kernels in the bottom of the bowl and microwave away, or you can make your own microwave popcorn to bring to work and have the best and freshest popcorn in the office.

Fresh Microwave Popcorn:

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn
2 to 3 tablespoons melted butter
Popcorn salt or table salt, to taste
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese or other cheese sprinkle
(optional)

Pour the popcorn in the paper bag and fold the top of the bag over twice to close. (Each fold should be 1/2 inch deep; the kernels need room to pop.) Seal the bag with two small staples (no more, no less), making sure to place the staples at least 2 to 3 inches apart.

Put the bag in the microwave and cook on high power for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the pops are 5 seconds apart.

Remove the bag from the oven and open it carefully, avoiding the steam. Pour the popcorn into a bowl and drizzle it with butter, then toss with salt and cheese, if desired.

That brings me to the potato chips. A 5 pound bag of potatoes at my local market is $2.98, already less then the box of chips, but lets keep going... of that I only need about 5 potatoes or about 1/2 the bag, so my equivalent cost is $1.49 for a box of homemade wonderful tasting no preservative chips. You can also substitute sweet potatoes for an extra gourmet touch.


Classic Homemade Potato Chips Recipe:

4-6 white potatoes
water
vegetable oil (for deep frying)
salt

Wash and scrub the skins of your potatoes well. Remove potato skins. Using a paring knife or food processor, cut thin round or oval slices. Remove any bad spots. Fill a large bowl with cold tap water and soak your slices in the water for 30 minutes. Remove slices from water and pat them dry with paper towels. Turn your deep fryer on and set the temperature at 350 degrees. When the oil has reached the desired temperature, place a handful of slices into the frying basket and drop down into the oil. Deep fry your slices until they are crisp and lightly browned. This usually takes 2-4 minutes. Remove the basket from the oil and let drain over the deep fryer for 2-3 minutes. Line a large plate with 3-5 thick paper towels. Pour the chips onto the plate and use a separate paper towel to blot off excess oil. Season with salt if desired.

**If you like your potato chips seasoned with Old Bay or any other spices, place some the spice in an old salt shaker. Shake the desired amount on the chips. Wait 1 minute, flip the chips over and season the other side.

There are a ton of different recipes on line for a lot of the snacks we like to purchase in the grocery stores, its worth the time to find some that sound good and try, they are healthier and far less expensive, they can also provide something fun the whole family can help put together on the weekends to have on hand.

Hope this gets you all thinking.

C.Q.

Its in the cards....Part three

Yesterday I had some problems with the blogger program dropping some of my loyalty programs links so I have included them in today's information. I am also posting the information about discount programs that offer savings up front but often are not free to join. Its important with discount cards that charge fees to know if your going to use it enough to make back the fee over the course time until the next fee is due. Barns and Noble for example charges a $25 annual fee, for me this is not a problem, I can usually make up the $25 in under 2 months, but if your not an avid reader this program would not work.

Wyndham Hotels

Choice Hotels

Hilton Hotels

Priority Club which has Holiday Inn Hotels and a few others like the Indigo Hotels which I am looking forward to trying sometime when I can't find a Kimpton Hotel where I am staying.

Hyatt Hotels

MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas

Amtrak

Every major US airline has a reward program and it can be hard to sort through all the information to find the one that's best for you, especially since they all partner with different hotel chains, car rentals and some even with cruise lines and department stores. There is a web site dedicated to helping you find the one that is right for you, its called Frequentflier.com

Discount Cards:

Barns and Noble again, there is a $25 annual fee for the card so make sure you can save at least that much per year. The discount card also works in the coffee shop section so be sure to use it for any snacks as well.

F.Y.E. you can only join at the brick and mortar store but you can use the discounts on line, there is a $25 per year fee.

PetCo is free to sign up.

PetSmart is also free to join.

Starbucks Coffee, they have several levels to their program, each offering different discounts. The cards are free at the base level but there is also a Gold level which has a $10 fee for the year.

Sears offers a program for all their Craftsmen products.

Spencer Gifts

GNC Nutrition stores, there is a $15 fee for this card and it is very limited in its use.

There are quite a few different grocery stores that offer discounts, in the Midwest where I live there are only has a handful that offer any type of frequent buyer program, but if you have one near you its worth checking out, they are all free to join to the best of my knowledge.

Harris Teeter

Winn-Dixie

Ingles

Safeway

Giant Eagle

This will be the last blog until after Thanksgiving to give me time to prepare the feast. I am going to try to make as much from scratch as possible, frozen fruit salad, cream of carrot soup, zucchini bread, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce all from scratch, hopefully the house will still be standing when I am done.

Hope you all have a fun and safe Thanksgiving, and for those of you heading out for Black Friday I wish you all the best.

C.Q.