A Word About Rewards Cards

It seems like every retail store has some kind of rewards program. This can be a bit annoying when all you want to do is pay for your stuff and go, but the cashier is obligated to offer you the opportunity to sign up for this money saving opportunity and when you say, "No thanks", an "Are you sure? You'll get money saving coupons and the rewards add up fast!" is sure to follow. Now you feel like a jerk and a bit annoyed that your initial polite response was ignored, but you have somewhere better to be! Well, go if you're short on time, but if you have the extra couple minutes and the rewards program is FREE, fill out the paperwork! Here's an example:

I don't shop at Famous Footwear. Ever. I can't even tell you where one is although I'm sure there are some on my usual routes. I think I ordered some shoes online a year or so ago because they had some deal on something I wanted with free shipping. Somewhere in the online transaction it asked if I wanted to become a rewards member. Yes. I like rewards and discounts and whatnot. So I took the extra couple minutes to fill out the forms. What I quickly learned is that they send out $10 off your $10 purchase cards every so often. Yay! Today I cashed that in for some shoes for my daughter that are EXACTLY what I have been searching for for about 4 months (brown Mary Janes in a toddler size... didn't think it would be that hard, but it is!). They were $14.99 (which was 50% off) + $10 off + shipping and tax, my total came to $9.80. YAY! You may say, sure you saved money, but you SPENT money by signing up for that rewards card at that store that you NEVER used to shop at. True, but I got exactly what I wanted that I haven't been able to find anywhere I usually shop, and do you know how fast toddler feet grow?! We always need shoes!

Another example: I have a total of 1 retail store credit card. It's the place I shop the most for clothes for our whole family. The reason I have it? It's not to pay interest on the stuff I buy - it gets paid off almost as soon as I get home from the store. The rewards add up fast and I get $10 off your $10 purchase cards ALL THE TIME. You have to check each store's policy on what coupons and rewards can be combined because sometimes they just see your "reward" as a coupon.

Final example: The grocery store rewards card is ESSENTIAL. Their prices can be ridiculous and their discounts deep (because of the ridiculous prices). Even if you don't coupon or make a plan around the sales, you'll save about 10% every time you go. At least that's the truth where I shop. And if your total comes to $100, that's $10 that the grocery store doesn't take out of your wallet! (I love simple math.)

Bottom line, if it's free and you need the product anyway, or you're always buying things from that store, take the time to sign up for the rewards card. The worst that can happen is you get a few extra emails and you have an extra card or two in your wallet.

Tomato Cream Sauce for Pasta

In an effort to use up perishable items before leaving on vacation, I decided to try out this recipe. I had to use up some heavy cream, tomatoes and broccoli and happened to have all the other ingredients on hand. I used this recipe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/tomato-cream-sauce-for-pasta/detail.aspx with these modifications:

I forgot the sugar. Probably better for my gestational diabetes anyway. No canned diced tomatoes. Instead I used whole cherry tomatoes heated in a skillet with my frozen grilled chicken strips. If you go this route, add the tomatoes (and the broccoli) to the skillet when the chicken is done. Heat until tomatoes are about to pop or skins blister. You don't want them all to explode and some will burst when you stir them into the cream sauce.

The sauce was great. My husband actually said, "I want to know when we're going to have this again. I want 2nds and 3rds of this!" Unfortunately, we had just enough for dinner. I successfully accomplished having just enough food to get us through the day we leave for vacation!

Sorry there's no photo here of what I made. I had to serve it in inappropriate bowls because all the "right" ones were in the dishwasher. But since it's already been requested for a future meal, I'm sure I can get one up here sometime. :)

Baked Pork Chops

Keep reading if you want melt in your mouth pork chops. Stop reading if you don't like your recipes to take too much time, because this one takes 1 hr 30 min bake time, but only 15 min of prep. Are you still with me?? Good. Read on.

So me and my deal matching self got a good price (for the City of Chicago) on pork chops. I decided to look for a recipe that didn't involve the crock pot since the last 3 or more meals I made came from it. (What can I say... it gets crazy around here!) Allrecipes.com comes through again :) Here's the recipe http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-pork-chops-i/detail.aspx This recipe calls for a can cream of mushroom soup, which I didn't use. I used a homemade cream of chicken that you can find here on my blog. But there is a catch... I didn't have chicken stock, or bullion. What to do?! I didn't want to use water (totally bland boring yuck). I used some of the white wine the pork chop recipe calls for... quite fragrant! The wine was Barefoot's Sauvignon Blanc - it was on sale :)

here's the browning process

 

post soup application

right out of the oven

here's the end result... pork chop goodness!

These were exactly what I was looking for. Not tough bland pork chops. These pretty much fall apart and have plenty of flavor. Even my recipe substitution of wine instead of chicken broth worked out just fine.

I do recommend browning your pork chops until there is a deep brown crust that has formed. That's REALLY good. 

These were even awesome as leftovers... maybe even better. You know how food does that sometimes? Yeah. Real nice.

So, give it a try if you have the time.