Spent ONLY $5 for 2 – $25 gift certifcates and 1 – $10 gift certificate. Hello deal! Snagged them for Sluggers – my fav dive bar down the street, SORA Sushi – down the street from work and Tacos Guaymas – a bomb Mexican restaurant over in Greenlake.
:: Head to restaurant.com. :: Enter your zip code to find restaurants in your area.:: Place the certificates in your shopping cart.:: At checkout use coupon code BONUS to save 80%, bringing them to just $2 each!:: You will be able to print and use your certificates right away. If you’ve never used Restaurant.com vouchers, I recommend you read this post. You need to know that there are some exclusions and details in using these certificates, so they aren’t like a gift card. I like to think of them more as really great coupons, and less as gift cards. I’ve personally purchased and redeemed these and have had good experiences.
Started calling around to some of my favorite brands to get coupons from them. Seems like the stuff I prefer to buy never has them. Called up WestSoy and within 30 seconds, I had their coupons coming my way! I love their unsweeted vanilla soy milk – use it every day in my Earl Grey tea. Speaking of tea, signed up for the Bigelow Tea email group and will be getting coupons through them as well.
Figure $3 for tea and $3 for soy milk (even less with those coupons!) works out to .30 per cup! Suck on that Starbucks.
Forgot to buy the paper last Sunday and missed out on the Albertson’s double coupons. Doh. That’s not going to happen again! Works out to $1.58 an issue, which def works for me!
Attended my first offical Passover Seder at the Brown Residence last night. I’ve worked many a Passover Seders at the UW Hillel back in my catering days, but this is the first time I’ve had my butt in a seat participating in the entire thing. Lots of singing and reading. Forgot how nerve wracking it was to read aloud to a crowd of people. Luckily, I got through it fairly flawlessly. Go me and my second grade special reading class!
Brought a ton of Chateau wine with us – you’re suppose to drink 4 glasses of wine throughout the Seder and you know I excelled at that! Also brough these matzo treats – can’t come to a party without something yummy! I’ve made these before using graham crackers but figured it should be about the same with matzo and boy, was I right. Super delicious. Don’t leave me in a room with these – hence why there isn’t a picture.
Matzo Toffee Treats
1 c. butter (2 sticks) 1/2 c. brown sugar 4 large matzo crackers 3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 c. chopped almonds 3/4 c. toasted coconut Sea salt
Toast coconut in a 350 degree oven for approximately 10 minutes, stirring half way through. Take matzo crackers and arrange on a foil-lined baking sheet with sides touching.
Melt butter and brown sugar in a sauce pan on medium high until combined, reduce to low for two to three minutes until it becomes syrupy. Pour over matzo crackers in an even layer then sprinkle with almonds.
Bake in the oven for 12 minutes at 350 degrees until it bubbles. Remove from oven and sprinkle with chocolate chips, toasted cocount and sea salt.
Let cool for 1 hour then cut into pieces to serve.
Spent a few hours pullin’ weeds and composting the flower beds this weekend. There were some pretty scary looking dead annuals creeping around in there! It looks so bare right now though if you look closely, things are starting to poke through (which I failed to realize until I’d stepped on a few hostas, crap.) Trying to contain myself from running to Flower World to buy more plants. Gotta wait until the end of April (at least that’s what I keep telling myself) so they’ll have a chance at making it with a bit more sun. Though with all of this rain we’ve been having, I’d probably be better off buying swamp plants. Ugh.
Trying to keep my cooking skills sharp by attempting to bake something new each weekend. Sweet treats have been the norm lately – perhaps it’s in rebellion to the Weight Watchers program that I’ve been sadly ignoring.
Found these puppies on one of my favorite food blogs and bookmarked it for Sunday afternoon. They were quite easy to make with the help of Cindy’s Kitchenaid. There’s nothing the Sugiura family likes more than cookie dough!
Topped most of them with walnuts and a few with sea salt. Wished I would have done them all in sea salt! Next time around…..
CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH TRUFFLES
1/2 cup butter 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk 1 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips chocolate bark, to melt for dipping additional sprinkles, sea salt, nuts etc., optional for topping the truffles
1. In a large bowl, use electric mixer to cream together butter and brown sugar. Add vanilla. Beat in flour, 1 cup at a time, until it is incorporated and you no longer see chunks of brown sugar (if you spot any, squish them). Beat in sweetened condensed milk and mix until well-combined. Stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips.
2. Cover bowl and refrigerate until dough is firm (at least 1 hour). Use cookie scoop to scoop out heaping Tablespoonfuls, roll into balls and place on a waxed paper-lined cookie sheet. Place all of the rolled balls back into the refrigerator until you are ready to dip them in chocolate.
3. Melt chocolate bark in a glass bowl- easiest to do in the microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring after each heating time, until smooth. Use a spoon to help you dip the chilled dough ball into the chocolate and roll it around to cover all sides. Place it on a waxed paper-lined platter. Sprinkle with any desired toppings. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls. Keep them refrigerated until ready to serve.
Yield: 3 to 4 dozen truffles
Tips: *I used the Ghirardelli Candy Making Dipping Bar- both Double Chocolate and White flavors. It’s available at Sam’s Club- they may have it at Costco too. *You may wish to speed up the chilling process and place the balls into the freezer, but it’s not such a good idea. The dough freezes up and then when it begins to warm up again- it expands and may cause the chocolate coating to crack.
Source: RecipeGirl.com (Adapted from Food Network)
