Coupon Chief

Ever wonder where everyone gets all those great promo codes when purchasing items online? You know the ones all the other moms are bragging about..."I got free shipping at ___" or "I saved 20% at ___." Here's their little secret revealed....

They are using a site called couponchief.com to locate these codes. It is a database of coupon codes that are uploaded by members. They have a ton of stores listed and multiple coupon codes for each store. Ta-Da!

I love that they even have amazon.com promo codes and codes to other online stores that you just can't find anywhere else (literally everything from Victoria's Secret to Enterprise Rent-A-Car and all stores in between!). I refuse to pay for codes on ebay when there are great services like Coupon Chief out there.

It is a very user friendly website too. Everything is organized into category and you can also search by store name. They take all the guesswork out of saving. I have tried other coupon code sites whose codes always seem to be expired or invalid, and that is just not the case here. They use a peer-reviewed rating system to determine the success rate of the coupon and even allow you to read the reviews from others' successes to see how visitors used a coupon to benefit them most so maybe you can find an extra deal or 2 along the way. I always check Coupon Chief whenever I am making an online purchase. It is the best way to ensure that I am not missing out on any deals or bargains.

They also have a program called Coupons 4 Causes. I love this! When you login to Coupon Chief, you can select a charity that you want them to donate to, and if you make your purchase using one of their coupon codes, they will donate up to 20% of your purchase to the charity you choose!

Honey Nut Chex

I am a member of the Pssst  community for General Mills products, and they often send me coupons for products to try out, surveys on package styling, and sometimes free products to try out and review. Last week, I received a box of Honey Nut Chex in the mail. I am always excited to try out new gluten-free products. There are so many things that I wish I could still eat, but can't and companies like General Mills are going to great lengths to make new or revamp old products so that they are gluten-free. Many of the products are just not the same as their original. For example, rice and corn Chex get soggy very quickly in milk so I was a little nervous about these Honey Nut Chex, thinking they would be the same way or that they would have too much honey and be too sweet, etc. I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did the Honey Nut Chex have a subtle honey taste, they didn't get soggy! I preferred them dry though. I thought the flavor the milk absorbed from the cereal was a little gross. I will definitely be purchasing these on a regular basis as a mid-day snack. There was also a recipe on the box for a sweet and spicy Chex Mix using this new flavor that I have yet to try. Can't wait for even more gluten-free flavors to come out!

Click Here for More Info on Chex Gluten Free Products

Hormel Bacon

I found this product at Sam's club a few months ago, and decided to give it a try. Imitation bacon bits are just disgusting, and real bacon bits at the grocery store are outrageously priced. The $7 for 20 oz price tag is a little steep for my taste, but it tastes great, and my family loves it. It is one of my favorite splurges. This bag lasts me about a month and I use it on everything! It is great for salads, baked potatoes, pastas, egg dishes, and lots of other foods. 



Monin Peach Syrup

YUM! This was given to me to try, and let me tell ya, it was delicious! We followed some of the suggested recipes on the label, which included belini and peach tea. It can be used in mixing drinks, making smoothies, and as a dessert topping.

Kraft Homestyle Macaroni

I had been wanting to try these for my family since I can't eat macaroni or cheese. I hoped that this would give me a go to on those omg I need dinner quick nights. I found them on sale at Walgreens last week, and with coupons figured for $0.17 I would try them. It was easy to make, but when opening up the cheese packet, I was a little frightened. It looked like someone had left the velveeta packet open too long and then sealed it up and put it in the box. Discouraged as I was, I had high hopes for this dish since it looked so irresistible in the picture. Well, my son said it was good, and he would eat it, but that my from scratch mac-n-cheese is way better. The twins, however, were not so kind in their reaction. They both picked up a noodle, took a lick and proceeded to throw every single one onto the floor. Not a good sign Kraft! If these cheese-lovers rejected it, I can only imagine what it actually tastes like.

Silk Amond Milk

I am allergic to dairy and have tried every soy milk out there. I have tried a lot of the rice milk varieties too. I usually buy Silk vanilla flavored soy milk because it is the best flavor for the price ( I usually buy at Sam's for $7 a 3 pack of half gallons or they are typically 2/$5 at Kroger and when they have a coupon that is the cheaper route.). I had never tried the almond milk mostly because of the $3+ per half gallon price tag. This week Kroger had the almond milk marked down to $1.99 per half gallon in their mega sale, and a few weeks ago there was $1 off coupon in the Sunday paper. Score! I decided for $0.99 per half gallon I would give it a try. I bought the vanilla flavor, and I think next time I will buy the unsweetened. The vanilla is a little sweeter than I would prefer, but overall a good creamy flavor with a hint of almond. I eat homemade granola (check out the recipe here) with my milk, and with the honey it was too sweet, but since I have a few half gallons in the fridge I will be on a natural sugar high for the next few weeks!

Turbo Tax Deluxe

So I have never done my own taxes before. When I was single, my dad always did them for me, and last year my husband and I went to the tax center on post and let someone else input everything for us. This year, my hubby is gone and I had planned to go to the tax center myself. There was an online ad for Turbo Tax, and hell their commercials advertising the GPS style taxes is on every evening during my 30 minute TV break, so I thought I would give it a shot.

It was awesome! I will probably never have my taxes done by someone else again (unless I win the lottery or have a multimillion dollar business which isn't forecasted in the near future so Turbo Tax, you have a new customer!

I found I was eligible for deductions I didn't know about and the forms were so easy to fill out. It really was like a GPS navigating me through the ins and outs of taxes. Totally worth the 35 bucks for the deluxe (they do have a basic edition that is free).

Thanks Turbo Tax for saving me the pain of taking 3 kids to the tax center and questioning every keystroke the poor guys make!

Success Boil in Bag Rice

So I was given this product to try, and was really excited because who doesn't like brown rice, and it doesn't get much easier than boiling in the bag. With all of my food allergies, rice is one of the few items left on my approved list so I have become somewhat of a rice connoisseur. I have to tell you that I had to add a lot of seasoning to this rice in order to choke it down. I am also not a picky eater, but this was definitely one of the least tasty rice products I have had, and when reading the ingredients, I was appalled at the list. I think I will stick with Uncle Bens, Minute, Mahatma or other brands of easy to cook rice when I am in a hurry, and on days when life is normal, I am ok with a 30 minute cook time for my rice. In addition to Mahatma, I recommend ParBoiled long grain rice and for a splurge Lundberg's long grain and wild rice blend is awesome.

Presto Pressure Cooker

This was definitely my favorite kitchen purchase of 2010. I learned to can this year, and found this pressure cooker hiding on the shelf at WalMart. It is a 16qt and is very user friendly. The one I chose is made for use on smooth top stoves. Many others that I looked at cautioned you against using them on such cooktops. I love that I don't have to monitor a pressure gauge. This model just requires you to put a few metal disks on with the regulator top in order to maintain 5, 10, or 15 pounds of pressure. This is definitely not your grandma's pressure cooker. It is new, improved, and much easier to use than any I have ever seen. I hope to incorporate a few more sizes into my collection.

Raisinets

An oldie but Goodie

I signed up on the hosties and was invited to have a Raisinets baking party. Awesome! They sent me several bags of Raisinets including milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and cranberry, complete with a few recipes to get me started. (I will be posting these on the recipe page so be sure to check them out over here!) I think my husband was the most excited when the package arrived. He immediately opened up the box and began sharing the Raisinets with my twins girls. They were in love! I will definitely be adding Raisinets to the kids' trail mix. Our favorite recipe with Raisinets so far was the bread pudding. It was a big hit for the holidays.