I have to admit, when I first heard about SwagBucks, I wrote them off as a waste of time or an Internet scam. Over the past few months, I have been reading more and more about them. People I know report that they are getting lots of Amazon Gift Cards just by using their search engine. One money saving blog I read even reported that she buys all of her diapers for her children exclusively paid by SwagBucks. I do love Google, but if another company is going to pay me to use their search engine, I’m all over it.

Today is actually an awesome time to sign up, because they have special codes they will release throughout the day worth quite a few SwagBucks. If you aren’t already a member, you can get 50 SwagBucks just for signing up. Just go here and sign up and enter the code SwagToSchool (code to be entered when registering).

What does this have to do with food? Personally, I like to order some food items from Amazon. They frequently have nice almond butters at great prices (cheaper than you can get in stores), and once I get a few Amazon gift cards from trading in my SwagBucks, I’m going to get them for free!!!

How about you? Have you earned any free stuff from SwagBucks?

My family loves to go to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina for vacation. We have been going there since I was a child, and of course have our list of favorite restaurants that we *have* to hit each trip. Last year, we tried out a new place called The Sea Shack, a small hole-in-the wall kind of place that consistently has lines running out the door because of their excellent food. The food was certainly good, but one particular item struck my interest: Sweet Potato Cornbread. I LOVE sweet potatoes, and how can you have a meal in the South without a nice piece of cornbread?

It was delicious! It was a moist sweet bread, with a maple glaze over the top, and a slight spiciness that really set it off. With every bite, all I could think about was how much it tasted like Carrot Cake. That was a little strange for a corn bread, but it made a wonderful accompaniment to the fish entree I ordered. I was very impressed, and almost bought a copy of the chef’s cookbook that they sell inside the restaurant. When I got back to the condo, I looked up the recipe online, and sure enough… he had given an interview to a local newspaper, and included the recipe!

Unfortunately, the recipe in the article was horribly written. It was difficult to follow, and seemed to be missing a couple of instructions. So, instead of simply linking to it, I am providing my recreation below.

This was my first attempt at duplicating that incredible cornbread, and I do intend to give it another shot. I think the course corn meal I used may have been a little too course for my taste, leaving some chunky pieces, but all-in-all it turned out pretty well. I think with a little tailoring, this could definitely be one of my “keepers”.

Value is an interesting word to define. It’s based partly on market standards, but grounded in individual perspective. An old phrase comes to mind: “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. While that is kind of taking the whole value thing to the extreme, I think it perfectly illustrates the significance that an individual’s taste affects the perceived value of an item. Truly, an item’s worth is simply dictated by what others are willing to pay. Today, I had to ask myself – Can FREE food ever be bad?

Over the past few months, I have been learning about the art of couponing. I’m not talking about clipping a coupon here and there and saving a couple of bucks. I’ve been playing the grocery / pharmacy games, where somehow I buy hundreds of dollars of products for just a few bucks out of pocket. As much as anything else, it has been an interesting learning process, and really, just a fun game that I play to see what I can really get for FREE (or even make money on the deal). You may remember my first couple of forays into this new world… I shared my deals here and here.

Well, I made a trip to Kroger last week, and wanted specifically to take advantage of a special sale. Their Mega Event promised a $5 credit, applied directly to the bill when 10 items from a specified list were purchased. If you pair that with some nice coupons, you can actually get most of the items very cheaply.

If you haven’t yet guessed, this is where the attached image of the Spaghetti-O’s comes into play. The deal I put together for that shopping trip was:

• 5 packages of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 4 cans of Spaghetti-O’s
• 1 half gallon of Breyer’s Ice Cream

What do you do with 5 packages of cream cheese? Why, make a cheesecake of course. Really though, I just bought them because buying 5 prompts the printing of a $5 off catalina coupon. And the Spaghetti-O’s, well, I had 2 $.50/2 coupons, which meant that after the Mega Event deal, they would be free… how bad could they be, right? All in all, I spent $6.88, and got back a $5 catalina coupon, meaning that really, I only paid for the ice cream (which was $1.88).

I am probably one of the least picky eaters you will find. I love to eat just about anything, and will always at least give new foods a try. And to even take it a step farther, I can almost always find a use for FREE food. Well, I tried the Spaghetti-O’s, and am convinced that I paid too much for the 4 FREE cans! They were awful. Seriously, I eat all kinds of crazy mixtures of foods, but could barely choke them down. Being an expecting father, I am becoming increasingly aware of the foods parents feed their children, and I can now positively say that I do not intend to EVER feed my son that garbage. How can kids eat that stuff??!!!??

I didn’t think I would see the day when my taste buds beat out my frugality, and forced me to turn down FREE food, but I just can’t eat bring myself to eat any more. To make it even worse, now I have to decide what to do with the extra cans… do I give them to a food bank? Take them to my church for kids to eat at potluck dinners? I hate to throw food away (if you can call it that), but I also am not so sure how I feel about encouraging others to eat something so awful.

Question of the Day: Are there any foods that you would turn down, even if they are FREE?

As much as I love eating crawfish, it came as a surprise when I realized that I had never actually cooked with them. They were on sale at my local grocery recently, and so I picked up a pound and a half. Even with the hot weather we have been having, I knew that either a gumbo or bisque was in the making. I don’t know about you, but for me… a good, rich, bisque can be a truly wonderful thing.

They were actually really easy to work with, but (most likely due to my improper technique) were very time consuming to shell. I just boiled them for a few minutes, cooled in an ice bath, and started digging in. I tried using several different techniques, but for me, the easiest method was to slide the tip of a knife down the lower portion of the body, cutting between the pairs of legs. That would loosen the tail enough that the meat would slide out.

In the end, this is what you are looking to get. Just a lot of little shrimp-like tails. They don’t provide much meat, but they sure are tasty. I read in several locations that you should reserve the yellow “stuff” found in the head area. This is apparently a mixture of fat and the pancreas. This fat adds a lot of flavor, and should be mixed into the water; however, if you just can’t deal with that, a little bacon grease could be a good substitute.

Through this Saturday, June 5th, Chick-fil-A is giving away coupons for FREE Spicy Chicken Sandwiches! Just go to getspicychicken.com and sign up. The coupons are limited to a certain number per location, but hopefully there will still be some left at your local store.

As you can see, I picked one up tonight. Simply put, I loved it. Chick-fil-A has always had one of the best chicken sandwiches in my opinion, but when you toss in a spicy kick to their breading, oh wow! Don’t worry, it’s not too hot, but you will notice the spice is there. Overall, I was very impressed and will definitely buy one again in the future. I really try not to eat fast food very often (especially fried), but I think I could allow one of these every once in a while.

Even if you aren’t lucky enough to get one of these FREE coupons, I definitely recommend giving this one a try. It will be available as a menu item starting June 7.

Time to finally share my most recent creation. My wife and I have been baking up a bouncing baby boy! We are about 21 weeks along now, and everything is going well. Obviously, at this stage, we don’t really know a lot, except that he currently weighs just under 1 lb. Well, that, and that the ultrasound lady saw boy parts, so there is a little boy chef on the way.

Couldn’t wait to share with everyone.

Stay tuned for more… in about 4 months.

Is it possible to find a new favorite recipe with only 3 ingredients? Try this one, and then let me know if you can resist making it again, and again, and again…

My Mom first made this for us years ago, and I immediately begged her for the recipe. As I was pleading on my hands and knees, she informed me that there really was no recipe. Just take brown sugar and soy sauce, mix them together, and spread over a big piece of salmon before baking.

You know how pretzels and chocolate are just kind of made for each other? It’s that whole salty and sweet thing. Well, that is exactly what you get with the brown sugar and soy sauce. I love it!

This is one of my favorite “go-to” dinners, because I can have a delicious, nutritious meal ready with only a couple of minutes of prep time. Seriously, you could take about 5 minutes to prep the salmon, toss it in the oven, and start cooking some rice/orzo, and some frozen green beans/broccoli (or whatever vegetable). Then, about 15-20 minutes later, come back to the kitchen and find an amazing meal ready to go.

Of course, there are lots of ways you could play with this mix, changing it up each time. Maybe try adding any of these:

• pineapple chunks
• garlic
• terriyaki sauce
• bourbon
• red pepper flakes
• lime juice and/or slices

As I am posting this, we are about to run out the door to see Wicked. I read the book years ago, and given the rage everyone has made about the musical version, I guess we needed to check it out. They are only in town for 3 weeks, so tickets sold fast, and I was barely able to get seats.

And, I have to ask, what better way to celebrate seeing Wicked than with an aptly colored meal? This is one of those no-recipe posts. Just basic waffles and fun playing with food coloring. BTW, yes, those are green eggs sandWITCHed between the waffle halves.

Those of you who have seen Wicked, what did you think?

Looking for a super easy, one-pot meal that will cook itself while you are at work? How about a healthy spaghetti? This meal literally took me about 3 minutes to prep, and then I cooked it in the crock pot while I went off to work. When I came home, a healthy, low-cal dinner was ready. Does it get any more perfect than that? Well, I guess that if you think about that it probably cost about $4 to make, providing 4 servings, then that would count as being better.

Have you ever tried spaghetti squash? Know what it is? Well, it’s a yellow, gourd-shaped vegetable that when cooked, provides slender strands of flesh that look like spaghetti noodles. Hence the name. While it doesn’t taste exactly like spaghetti, it is still a fun way to get some extra vegetables into what would otherwise have been an extremely carb-heavy meal.

The instructions for this one can’t be simpler. Cut the squash in half, place in a crock pot, cover with spaghetti sauce, add olives (optional), and cook. The original recipe called for serving it with canned tuna sprinkled on top, which I tried this time, and actually really liked it.

Adapted from this recipe.

I just wanted to brag share the most recent round of incredible deals I have been playing with at the grocery. In the picture above, you can see:

• 1 box of Lucky Charms cereal
• 1 box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal
• 2 bags of Chex Mix
• 1 sugar cookie mix
• 1 box of Go-Gurt yogurt
• 2 cups of Greek yogurt
• 1 can chocolate cake frosting
• 8 boxes Stove Top stuffing
• 4 boxes of instant mashed potatoes
• 1 Warm Delights brownie mix
• 8 boxes of 100-calorie snack packs

But get this: my total for all of the above was -$0.94. After taxes and all of the catalina (on your next order) rebates, the store actually paid me $0.94 to take all of those items home!

Several of the items are things I would not ordinarily purchase (i.e. the instant mashed potatoes, cookie mix, and cake frosting), but if the manufacturers want to pay me to take them, then I will be more than happy to oblige. Besides, my coworkers would love it if I brought in a cake or some cookies to pawn off on them share. And, if I can do that for free, then all the better!

You will still be able to get some of these deals, but you would have to act quickly. For example, Meijer has a promotion where you can get a $10 catalina coupon (on your next order) for purchasing $20 worth of any combination of Betty Crocker, General Mills, or Yoplait products. So, buy $20 and get a $10 off coupon. That is great, but the criteria does not say that you have to actually PAY $20, you just have to scan $20 worth of products. So, if you buy things that are on sale, and combine with a coupon, you can very likely get these products for either next to nothing, or FREE like I did. Here are a couple of quick ideas you could use:

• Several GM cereals are on sale for $2, combine that with a $0.55 off coupon (Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms, etc.) – $1.45
• Yoplait Greek yogurt cups are on sale for $0.99. Grab a $0.30 off coupon, and it should double, making them only $0.39 each.
• The Betty Crocker instant mashed potatoes are on sale for about $1.75, and most had a coupon sticker on the front for $1.00 off of 2. I could be wrong on this, but I think you can acutally use those coupons on each, making them just $0.75 each, but just in case, I only scanned one $1.00 off coupon per pair. Also, they were printing an additional $1.00 off your next order catalina coupon when you purchase 2 boxes of those potatoes. I’m not sure if that extra coupon is still printing, but if so, that is a great deal!
• Betty Crocker Warm Delights brownie and cake mixes are on sale for about $1.75. Use a $0.50 coupon, which will double, and make the total about $0.75 each.

These are just a few of the combinations you can make, and I did not maximize the savings as much as I could have Yes, you could actually end up receiving more money back than I did on this deal. Check out Erin’s Coupon Database for some coupons. Just do a search for “cheerios”, “lucky charms”, “greek yogurt”, or “warm delights”, etc.

This offer is only valid through May 19, so like I said, you would have to act quickly.

We actually went back yesterday and used this promotion again. My wife loves Cheerios, and when we noticed they were on sale for $2 (that is for the big 14 oz. box), we decided we needed to go stock up. I had a bunch of $0.55 off coupons for Cheerios, so I think we ended up buying about 5-6 boxes. But, hey, after you count the catalina coupon, they cost us well under $1 a box. I am very happy to pay that for a big 14 oz. box of Cheerios!

I am still just beginning this coupon / catalina stuff, and am mainly participating in some of these offers just to start learning how to “play the game”. As I mentioned, I wouldn’t normally have necessarily purchased many of those items, but as I learn more about how to do these things, I will tailor my deal hunting more to my food preferences.

Now, I want to hear from you. Where do you like to look to find out about these deals? Please feel free to link up in the comments.