Free Sample - GoodNights Boxers

Still got a bedwetter in the family? We do! Luckily, here's a free sample of GoodNights "Sleep Pants." Just answer a few questions and they'll send a freebie.

Giveaway Alert

The ever sensible and oh-so generous Mercedes over at Common Sense With Money has an awesome giveaway of Kiss My Face for Kids products. Kiss My Face products are all natural, no artificial anythings and environmentally sound. Go over there and check it out!

The Bounty Slows but Continues Nonetheless

The garden has slowed production somewhat - we are pretty well done with green beans. The last batch were fat and not very flavorful. I checked them again just to be sure but there was nothing but a few stragglers, not worth picking even.

The carrot department has ramped up its area, however and these were good pullin! They are so sweet when compared to even organic store-bought carrots.

Talk about planning ahead - I started making mental lists last night of what to plant next year. Definitely zuchinni, definitely green beans. Corn may be interesting, although it seems to take up a lot of space. Spinach may be a better lettuce variety.

Definitely not regular tomatos. Sources tell me that it just doesn't get hot enough in the Seattle area to grow decent tomatos. My neighbor (who has fabulous fruit trees) suggested cherry tomatos and I remembered that I wanted to do those this year but could not find the plants at the nursery.

What I planted that didn't grow well - sweet peppers, cucumbers, lettuce. Peas grew but as I mentioned in a previous post, they didn't last long and didn't yield a whole lot. Overall, it has been a really fun project and I highly recommend it for everyone who is trying to eat more local foods - this is the ultimate in DIY!

Back At It

Those of you who know me IRL know that I started back at work this week so I've been completely unable to pull a post together with any deals, freebies or any other good stuff.

I am hoping to be back up to speed next week and will post SOMETHING, ANYTHING for goodness sake!

Lavender-licious

Lemon Lavender Scones were the baking adventure upon which I embarked recently. We planted (ok, my mom did it - she plants, I reap) several different varieties of lavender last year and this year, including a couple that were labeled "culinary." I did not, however, keep track of which ones were which so I just guessed for this recipe.

I like to use a 1/2 and 1/2 combination of unbleached white flour and whole wheat pastry flour. I have a special place in my stomach for Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, it is a finer grained species of wheat flour. If you haven't tried this, I highly recommend it - much healthier for your family.

My original was not lavender-y or lemony enough so I modified the recipe so that more of the lemon and lavender flavor comes out. I glazed the scones with a lemon-powdered sugar glaze.

A word about flour prices: At my local Fred Meyer, prices for Bob's are actually comparable to the regular flour in the bakery section. This includes the bulk section where you can also find whole wheat, albeit not the "pastry" kind that Bob does.

Lemon Lavender Scones

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 stick of butter (cut in small cubes)

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons lemon zest

1 teaspoon dried lavender

Preheat oven to 425. Place dry ingredients and butter in food processor and pulse until pea-sized lumps form. Whisk egg and milk together and stream into dry ingredients until sticky dough forms. Turn dough out onto generously floured surface and knead approximately 12 times. Shape dough into a disk about 1/2 inch thick and cut into wedges. Place wedges on baking sheet (greased if you like) and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden. Cool on rack

Glaze:

Mix 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar, 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice and stripe glaze on scones.

These are a great breakfast treat or perfect for an afternoon of tea with the ladies! Enjoy!

Target Trip

Sorry for the late post but my internet guru (aka hubby) is not here to help so I had to fix it myself - phew!

Anyhoo, I went to Target this morning and want to say thanks to everyone for all the cool deal scenarios. It helped me really focucs my shopping. I got the Kashi waffle deal (no coupons tho - not sure where my Vocalpoint stash went) and the Luvs diapers. I shop Target a couple of times per week so I'm sure the gift cars will be put to good use pronto!

I also found another deal with the Vocalpoint Special K coupons that I received (when? who knows at this point, just found them in my coupon organizer). My Target has Special K bars on sale. A 6-pack is on sale for $2.75 per box BUT then I looked right next to those on the shelf and the 12-pack variety of bars is on sale for $3.79. Minus my $1 off coupons that means I got double the bars for ONLY $.04 more!

Giveaway: Burt's Bees Sample & Coupons

To celebrate my new blog I am giving away one of the aforementioned samples of Burt's Bees Milk & Shea Butter Body Wash as well as 2 of the $1.00 off coupons.

Please leave me a comment and one lucky commenter will receive this great smelling body wash sample and coupons!

Thanks for reading and good luck

Product Review: Burt's Bees Milk & Shea Butter Body Wash

One perk of being on maternity leave has been that I've been able to get in to Seattle, the city proper, more often than usual for shopping or whatever. While on the street the other day, someone was handing out free samples of Burt's Bees Milk & Shea Butter Body Wash. I happily accepted several free samples from the gal who was generous enough to give me several, which also came with $1.00 off (any full size product over $3.00) coupons attached!



The wash has a fresh, almost coconut-y scent, probably from the Shea butter. Most body washes are thick, almost shampoo-thick but this one is thin and light and rinses off clean. If you judge soap's ability to cleanse by its foam, this one will make you question how clean you are getting - it barely foams at all and only with much agitation. At $8.00 for 12 fluid ounces on the Burt's website, this will not likely become my regular soap but would make a great indulgence for yourself or as a gift!



*I'm not paid by Burt's but just reviewing product samples that I receive.

Food Deal: The Pain Au Chocolate (Croissants)

Chocolate croissants are a special treat around here. Partly due to the calorie and fat content (high) as well as the price (also usually high). Sold at Starbucks for about $2.95 per croissant or you can get 15 from Williams Sonoma for $39.95 (not including tax/shipping). That comes out to approximately $2.66 per. Unfortunately for your thighs, Trader Joe's has remedied the price issue!

These buttery beauties sell 4 for $3.99. Sold frozen, all you have to do is set them on your baking sheet the night before to "proof" or rise. Then in the morning, they bake in about 20 minutes. They are light, very flaky, with a good pocket of chocolate running through the middle - just like the ones you would get from a French bakery! Dee-licious

What are some of your favorite "luxury" foods and have you found them for less?

**I don't work for Trader Joe's or get paid by them. Just sharing my favorite food finds at a good price.

Free Ice Cream!

On September 25, from 5-8pm, Cold Stone Creamery is giving away a 3oz. creation. There are two "Make a Wish" combos to choose from: Nutter Butter ice cream mixed with yellow cake, Kit Kat candy bar and white chocolate chips or marshmallow ice cream mixed with 0reo cookies, chocolate chips and fudge. Mmmmmm - (cue Homer drooling sound)

Check with your local CSC to see if they are participating: www.coldstonecreamery.com

The line at my closest one is out the door on a regular day so I'm betting the line on this day will be wrapped around the block! If you know a secret one, go to it and enjoy!

Summer Harvest

Over the winter, after an awesome conversation with one of our cabin partners and inspired by Michael Pollan's writings, I solidified my plans to plant a garden. This is only the second time I've attempted vegetable gardening. I figured that since I would be on maternity leave for the WHOLE summer, I would have plenty of time to tend to this venture. Reality check was that I didn't even really have to "tend" it at all - it tended itself. Ok, my mom and Michael [DS] planted it when I was too huge to do it and she watered it most days but after that, the weeds have been minimal and easily pulled at the first sign. There wasn't much to do except let the harvest roll in.

Since we did not use any fertilizers or anything on this garden, I consider it organic.

We've had more zuchinni and green beans than we can count. Not so successful were the peas, which, according to my parents, peaked quickly and while we were on vacation. Romaine lettuce never grew quite as large as expected and did not yield but one good head, which we mixed with some store-bought for a fantastic Caesar salad.

Where are the savings you ask? Well, I looked at my local Safeway store and they sell organic Italian squash for .61 per squash. They don't list organic green beans except the frozen variety, which sell for $3.50 per pound.

Technically, if you add up the materials used to get the garden started, including the seeds and building the raised beds (thanks to my trusty and oh-so handyman husband), I'm probably not saving a lot this year. And I didn't add up my total yields for each vegetable. But let me tell you how absolutely THRILLED Michael has been to go out to our garden to watch the progression of the veggies as they have grown and now that we actually have something to show for it - as the cliche ad goes, "Priceless."