How to buy clothes for free

Since I'm talking about clothes, I thought I'd use a "model like" picture. Not saying I look like a model, just posing like one......


**It's funny, I started typing this like 3 weeks ago and never finished, and Kroger is running the same sale this week. Something I have learned with couponing, sales will come back again. They might be after your coupons expire though, so that's why it's good to shop early.**

There's a really great deal going on at Kroger this week. Buy 10 participating items and you get $5 off. You can also stack coupons on top of this to make the items even cheaper. The last time this sale ran, I stocked up on Ozarka water, it was 50 cents for a 3 gallon bottle, Wisk laundry detergent which was $1.50 after a $2 coupon (wow!), Canned tomatoes which were 55 cents each for a 28oz can (usually 1.20), and there are plenty of others to take advantage of even if you don't have coupons. This time they are all different. Basically, the store takes 50 cents off the price of each item. But you HAVE to buy 10, otherwise it won't work.

I've gotten to the point that my stockpile for personal products is really quite large. If I stopped couponing today, I would have enough bath and body products and cleaning products, probably to last a year. So now, I am trying to buy only things that are either free or that I don't already have a stock of. I just finished reading a book called "How to shop for free", which was quite interesting. The author even talks about buying clothes, household items, redecorating things, etc for free. How you might ask? It's not easy. (I was expecting her to say she had a hook up in Mexico or something, but no.) One of the techniques that the author suggested was this. Say a really awesome sweater you love is on super clearance for like $12, and it's a $60 sweater. Buy 2 of them (and hopefully use a store coupon to make the amount even lower), sell 1 on Ebay for $22, and voila you recoup the money you spent on both items. Eventually. So you're having to spend some money on the front end. No doubt, this is a process. And having an ebay store costs some money as well. But I can see how this could work. She also talked about all of the store coupons you can buy on Ebay. Sometimes she'll go to Kohl's with stacks of $10 coupons, and apparently there isn't a limit (I don't know, I don't shop there a lot, but I might now) so she can get loads of stuff for free. And the coupons cost very little, you can do quite well buying store coupons on Ebay. For example, I saw a listing for 10, $5 off bed bath and beyond coupons for $4. At bed bath and beyond, you can use expired coupons, so you'll get $50 off for the $4 you spent (if you buy 10 items, one coupon per item, there are always rules). This is another way to technically shop for free. This woman has a budget of $4 a week she spends at the grocery store for a family of 5. Even though I read her whole book, I still have no clue how she does it.

So yesterday, my baby cat (not so much a baby anymore but acts like a toddler) got into some of our toilet paper and clawed and bit the hell out of it. I went to Walgreens and got this deal to replace it:

2 packages of Cottonelle Toilet Paper, large 12 rolls $5 each

$10
- $2.00 ($1 walgreens coupon in August coupon book, cash register takes off $2 since I purchased 2 items)
-$1.50 (had 2, 75cent off coupons for cottonelle from the Sunday paper)
= $6.50

- $4 (walgreens register reward)
- $4 (walgreens register reward)
= free (I had to buy a couple of candy bars to be able to use my $8 in register rewards so my total went up to $8).

This week, I would also like to get the following for free from Walgreens:

Expo Dry Erase markers, 6 pack, $3.99 each

$7.98 (buy 2)
- $6 ($3 off walgreens coupon in August coupon book)
- $2 ($2 off any 2 Expo markers, printed coupon)
= FREE

Keri Lotion, $6.99 (on sale all month)

6.99
- $2 (Keri coupon from paper, also was available to print)
- $5 (Register reward that will print out after purchase)
=FREE

It's more typical to find things for under $1 as opposed to free, I get things for under $1 all the time. So I'm on a free hunt.

Shopping Trip breakdown

Yesterday, I had two pretty good shopping trips, small shopping trips, but still very good, and I wanted to explain more in depth how I was able to get such awesome savings.

Shopping trip #1: Target

$7.29 each, pack of Schick Quattro for Women razors, bought 2 of these
$2.50 1 room essentials standard bed pillow

$7.29 x 2
$2.50
Total Retail: $17.08

$17.08
minus: $7.29 (buy 1 get 1 free schick disposable razor coupon from the paper)
minus: $2 (target printed coupon for target pillows, so pillow was 50 cents total)
minus: $5 (gift card promotion given for buying 2 schick disposable razors. remember, I was able to get one of them for free with my coupon, but the deal still works regardless of if you actually pay for both)
minus: $1.10 (leftover on Target gift card given to me from a previous transaction)
Final cost: $1.69 (plus some tax, so just at $2)

Phew. It looks more complicated than it really is, math comes a lot easier to me now, which is a good thing! If you are wondering about out of pocket, I paid $6.69 (plus some change for tax) when I checked out, but my "total" cost is down because of the giftcard I was given. Just like extra care bucks or register rewards, you can use the giftcard on anything you want.

Shopping Trip #2: Walgreens

$2.99, 3 pack of Noxema bikini razors, bought 2
$2.99, Glad cling wrap, bought 2
$1.99, 80 page composition notebook, bought 2
$2.00, G-U-M 200 yd dental floss

Total Retail: $17.94

$17.94
minus: $2.99 (Noxema razors were buy 1 get 1 free walgreens promotion)
minus: $2.00 (coupon from paper for Noxema razors)
minus: $2.00 (Walgreens coupon making Glad cling wrap $1.99 each)
minus: $1.00 (coupon from paper for $1 off 2 Glad products)
minus: $2.60 (Walgreens coupon making notebooks 69 cents each)
minus: $2.00 (Register reward given for buying G-U-M dental floss, makes it free)
minus: $5.00 (Register reward from purchase last week)
Final Cost: $0.35 (plus tax, so 54 cents total)

I paid $2.54 cents out of pocket and was given the $2 register reward for a purchase next time. I have learned something though, say I wanted to go back today and buy the floss again, if I use my $2 from yesterday it will not give me another $2 register reward. I can pay out of pocket for it and keep getting the register reward, it's just something with their system. Since the register reward is "courtesy of G-U-M" or proctor and gambel, or whoever, when you buy the item again the system will kick out the register reward. If it didn't, you could technically keep going back to the store all week for free floss and not pay anything out of pocket after the first transaction. That's just too good of a deal for it to be real :).

Just FYI, even though it looks like I scanned a lot of coupons, both transactions were very quick and not complicated. All of my coupons went through without a fight, unlike HEB lady on Sunday, and the cashier was actually impressed, so that's always nice. One of the Walgreens that I go to, the employees there coupon also, so they know how it is, and can actually help you. I'm going to go back before the end of the week and get more bikini razors and free floss. The razors end up being 50 cents a package when you buy 2, and I don't have any in my current stock.

More couponing basics

I've gotten some more questions about my couponing, so I just wanted to elaborate a little more on how I'm able to save so much money.

Extra care bucks and Register rewards- I explained a little about these in the last post. Basically, you should think of these as a giftcard the store gives you to bring you back into the store. Yes, you have to go back. But if you're shopping with coupons, it's definitely worth it to go back! Last week for example, I made a small trip to CVS to buy some makeup and a birthday card:

Oil of Olay Foundation: $15.99
Loreal ColorStay Lipstick: $4.99 (usually $10, on sale for 50% off)
Birthday card $3.99
Total: $24.97
Minus:
$1- oil of olay coupon
$2 on loreal product
$11- extra care bucks from previous transactions
Total paid out of pocket: $10.97

Technically, that's over a 50% savings, and on stuff I would have bought that day anyways. I was out of the foundation, the lipstick was just a steal, and I needed the card for a coworker. So how did I get the extra care bucks in the first place? Every week in the sale ad, CVS and Walgreens will feature items that they give extra care bucks or register rewards on when you buy them. If these are products I use, I then look for any coupons I have on them to make the deal even better. Sometimes you can get things basically for free. I say basically because you do have to pay out of pocket up front, but you get the money you paid out right back to spend on something else.

CVS deal last week:

Oral B Pulsar Toothbrushes, on sale $5.99 (usually $9.99)
Buy 1, get $4 register rewards
minus $2 coupon
Pay $3.99, get $4 register rewards

You can also get things for free just by having enough coupons to cover the whole price. Here is an example of another great deal I got last week:

Walgreens

Tylenol Precise Pain patches, 4 pack, $7.99
minus $5 coupon (printed from online)
minus $3 Walgreens coupon (July coupon book, available at stores all month)
= free! (0 spent out of pocket)

So I've said before that coupons are cyclical, and right now a lot of the coupons are for body wash, razors, cleaning products, etc. In the month I've been couponing, I've been able to create a stock of the following items (in addition to the food items I mentioned in the last post): 6-8 month supply bathroom cleaner (toilet and counter), 1 year supply laundry detergent (that might be pushing it, but if you go by the amount of loads on the bottle, it's well over a year!), 4-6 month supply of liquid dish detergent, 3-4 month supply of dishwasher detergent, 4-6 month supply of shampoo and conditioner, 4-6 month supply of body wash. Those are estimates, this is my first time to do this so I'm not positive how long these things will last. I also have about 10 boxes of toothpaste, 8 toothbrushes, 6 bottles of lotion(and even more girly ones), 12-14 razors, 7 women's deodorant, 8 men's deodorant, 6 bottles of shaving cream (men and women), several hair style products, a couple month's supply of renuzits, 6-8 month supply of dryer sheets, 7 rolls of scotch tape (i got a ridiculous deal on these, 50 cents a piece and they're normally priced at $3.56 at Walgreens), a couple of bags of pens, 2 boxes of envelopes, several air freshener devices, extra batteries in several sizes (i got these for 44 cents a piece), a small supply of toilet paper and paper towels, and extra makeup of all kinds, foundation, all kinds of eye makeup, moisturizer, powder, nail polish, and some Sally Hanson makeup tools. All of that could add up to hundreds of dollars, maybe even over 1000. I haven't spent more than $150. Granted, I would never have bought all of this stuff if I wasn't couponing, so people might say that I didn't need all of these things. No, I didn't, not right this second, but I will. All of it i'll use. And many of these things I've completely stopped buying, because I just don't need a bigger supply, the next great deal will come around again before I'm out of it. Most of these things I would grab at the grocery store, or during a $100 trip to target or walmart, so I know I've saved myself a ton of money in the future.

Random coupon finds

At Target this week, I was able to get pillows for 50 cents a piece. There was a $2 Target coupon for the pillows, and they were on sale for $2.50. I wouldn't recommend these pillows to sleep on, not much support, but they were perfect for decorative shams, and I needed 2 for my guest bedroom. So $1 and my bedding set is finally complete. That's pretty awesome. The bad thing about this one was that I had to go to the store 2x, you can only use 1 Target coupon per transaction for the same item. But that's the thing about awesome deals, you do have to go out of your way sometimes to get the best ones. Fortunately, Target is literally across the street from my house, so it's on my way to and from work, so it's really not out of my way. Just an extra stop on the way home which I'm happy to make for 50 cent pillows :).

Scissors are my new best friend

So since I'm no longer marketing this site as a "food only" blog, I decided to do an entry about my new hobby- couponing. A lot of people have asked me how I'm getting such good deals- here you go!

Poor Filipe. He is so sick of hearing the word coupon, he wants to strangle me everytime I say it I'm sure. I started about a month ago and I FREAKIN LOVE IT! I get to shop till I drop for very little money. Granted, I'm not buying clothes, but I am buying things Filipe and I use everyday.

It all started with our grocery bill. Filipe and I used to spend $120, every week on groceries, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. That's $500 a week for 2 people on food, which is a lot. Now Filipe didn't think so, we buy a lot of fresh stuff; meat, fish, produce, and low fat or no fat items, which are typically more expensive. We also eat out rarely. But I still thought it was way too much and wanted to find a way to get our bill down. We'd been spending this much for 4 years and I thought that was way too long.

By now, most everyone has heard of the show extreme couponing. And think that the ladies on it are nuts. It is a bit over the top, but it's how I got started. I saw a commercial for it and decided to watch it one night. The first night I watched it, a lady bought $1100 worth of stuff at the grocery store and paid $26. What??? The items she got were not all junk food either, which is a typical belief of people that coupon. So I decided to do some research. Turns out, there are 100's of sites out there to help people use coupons to their advantage. And most of them are free.

So first things first, I had to start buying the newspaper on Sunday. I buy 2 newspapers a weekend now, so this hobby is costing me $4 a week. Though I'm saving 100's, so I get the money back in the end. Next, I have to start reading the sale ads. This is how you get the really awesome deals and things for free. There are TONS and I mean tons of websites out there that do this part for you, and all you have to do is collect the coupons they tell you to. There are sites dedicated solely to WalMart, CVS, Target, etc, and others that are just deals across the board. There are also lots of coupons online, though the best ones are in the newspaper. The way the system works is you match store specials with manufacturer's coupons. Example:

Honey Nut Cheerios on sale for $1.50
I have a coupon for 50 cents off honey nut cheerios
= $1.00 a box

$1.00 for a box of cereal is great, and this is a deal people would stock up on. Now, I have no kids and live in a small apartment, but I'm still able to stock up on certain things. I've had to make some room, but it's working out fine.

I have always thought that drugstore prices on everyday things (things besides medicine) were very high. But CVS and Walgreens have these things called extra care bucks and register rewards, which you can use just like cash the next time you go in. Here's an example of a great deal I got this week:

Venus Razors (usually $13.99) on sale for $9.99
had a $2 off coupon= $7.99
Buy 1 at $7.99, and get $5 in Register rewards.
Final Price: $2.99

And then you can go in the next day and pay for the razors with your register rewards you got the day before, since this is such a great deal, and only pay $2.99 out of pocket, and get another $5 register reward. At CVS you can't do this as most deals you can only take advantage of once, they track this through your CVS card, but Walgreens does not have a card so you just have to go back the next day or go to a different store the same day. Long story longer, you can end up getting enough razors to last you several months for the price of one on a regular day with no sale and no coupon. It almost sounds stupid not to take advantage.

Since I've started doing this, I've heard from a lot of skeptical people. It's very easy to be skeptical, things that sound too good to be true typically aren't. But this one really is true! Now free groceries are not going to suddenly appear in front of you. You have to read sale ads, buy coupons, cut coupons, organize coupons, make lists, go to the store, sometimes several stores. It is a process and it takes some time. Anything that is going to help you is going to take a little work. I think people just don't want to work for anything anymore, the damn internet has gotten us so used to getting everything handed to us the second we ask for it. But anyways, the way I see it is as a hobby. Something to do with my time instead of just starting blankly at the TV. Also, the shopping trips you see on extreme couponing are not typical. Everytime, the person will say "this is my biggest haul to date". They will also say they spend 30-40 hours a week doing this, and many of them have been doing it for years. Your everyday person doesn't have 30-40 hours a week to do this, they have a job to do 40 hours a week and can only do ths in their free time. But just because I only spend a couple of hours a week couponing does not mean that I can't save money also. Again, I don't have a family to provide for, but I do use all the same things a family would use (except diapers), just on a smaller scale. So instead of 25 razors, I buy 4 razors. Instead of 22 bags of croutons I buy 6 bags. I'm technically not saving as much because I'm buying less, but percentage wise, it's exactly the same.

That's another thing that's frustrating, on Extreme Couponing people save 85-95% at the store, sometimes 100%. And people get started in this and "only" save 50% their first time out and they're pissed and give up on the process altogether. 50% is great! If you pay $30 and usually you would have paid $60, that's a win! I haven't saved 85% on a shopping trip yet, but I've been in the high 70's. Just because I'm not operating at the level the crazies operate doesn't mean I shouldn't do it. Let's break it down and see what the difference is in my shopping:

$120 a week for 52 weeks= $6,240.00 a year on groceries
50% savings= $3,120.00 less spent a year

It might not be 85%, but that is very significant!!

Stockpiling- or organized hoarding as some people would rather call it. As I mentioned before, when a deal is at rock bottom, you should take advantage of it. Even if you don't have a huge family, you should have a small stock of several things because we go through household goods either weekly or monthly. When it comes to food, you just can't stock pile everything. Fresh meats, veggies, dairy, etc. You can freeze a lot, but if you're like me your freezer just isn't big enough to stock pile much. Lucky people with houses and deep freezers, I'm definitely getting one when we buy a house. But by stock piling other things, basically anything in the center aisles of the store, this will get your grocery bill down just by doing that. If you can keep your weekly shopping to the outside aisles, all the fresh stuff is on the outside, and always have things like pasta, rice, canned goods, cereal, snack items, nuts, etc on hand, you won't have to buy them weekly which gets the overall grocery bill down. That's pretty much what I'm trying to do right now. The coupon cycle right now is not really for food, it's mostly household stuff, but I still have a small stock of these items: rice, mayo, ketchup, mustard, bbq sauce, salad dressing, croutons, baking mixes, foil, sandwich bags, cereal, crackers, beans, canned tomatoes. I think that's it. And thats during a non food cycle, so I can't wait till I can really start taking advantage, and won't have to buy anything in the center aisles during my weekly trips, because I'll already have it.

This has been a long long post. But it's difficult to really explain in just one email or facebook post, and a lot of people have asked me what I'm doing, so here it is. Let me know if you have any questions!

LOVE, HARMONY

Things are about to change.

Now that I'm married, not a lot has changed with me and Filipe. We still love each other. We still live our life together. I still cook for him all the time. But there has to be something different in this new life that I've started.

Recently, I was contacted by a company that creates cooking show pilots. They are not a television network; they produce, direct, and film pilots and then work with getting the pilots on national television. I had sent them an email with a link to my website, and they called me for a phone interview. In the interview, they asked about my cooking style, what kind of show I would want to make, asked for specific recipes, etc. They threw around names like Food Network, Bravo, Spike, and The Cooking Channel. They then took me and my idea to their "executive board" who decided they wanted to proceed with having me come to New York to film the pilot. In a month. For payment. Like I said, this isn't a network. Then they called me the next day saying World Wide Distributors had shown an interest in the show and wanted to watch me shoot, though they had never seen a picture of me or seen my website. I was drawn to the company because they provided many services I am clueless about. Filming. Branding. Production. Marketing. Meeting Sponsors. Distribution. A lot goes in to making any television show work, a lot more than you think. This is quite a long story, but I'll try to shorten it.

So I started asking a lot of questions. I wanted examples of their work. Names, networks, websites. I wanted to know where they shot the shows and where their business office was. I asked for an itemized budget of where the expenses were going. I wanted to know how many pilots they'd shot, what was their success rate, if people could live off the salary from these shows, how long they took to film, etc. They had some kind of answer for everything and were good about getting to me quick. But in the end, they were only able to provide me with websites for 2 shows, 1 of which hadn't been updated since 2009, the other hadn't been updated since 2010. I contacted both, and no response yet. I also found out more info from the producer this way about the disposition of the shows. They weren't able to give me other websites because most people did not continue past one season. The networks they work with are on a very small level. RRTV is one of them (have you ever even heard of that?).

In the end, I decided not to use this company. It was way too risky, and I thought some shady business might be going down since I was getting all these facts and figures from them but with no proof. They said they had an 80-90% success rate at getting shows on the air, but only have 2 websites to show me? And they've been in business 11 years? I don't know how that is possible. But in the week that I spent debating this, and emailing with the producer, I did learn a lot about cooking shows, television in general, and how this whole thing works. I am not an expert, but I know a few things.

It is going to cost me some money to get started in this game. I am not a chef. I've never been to cooking school. I'm not famous. I don't own a restaurant. Those 4 examples are where a good portion of cooking shows come from. Those are the kind of people that are given offers to get paid to do a show, as opposed to financing their own. That being said, there are MANY cooking shows that are hosted/written by everyday people. Food writers. People who just have a passion for cooking and lots of ideas. Having one of those first 4 traits just makes the process a hell of a lot easier. So basically, if I'm going to do this for real, I have to start at the bottom and work my way up.

My blog has never been that serious. I put recipes on here, but I also write about my life, and it's pretty much just for fun. I am going to keep dreaming of kumquats as my personal blog, I love the name, but I am going to start a new website solely dedicated to my cooking. Of course, I'll still keep some of my personal life there, but I really want to focus ONLY on my recipes and my food knowledge through this new site. I'm going to have professional pictures taken, just for this site. I'm also going to do some short cooking demos, that way when the site launches there will be some examples of my cooking out there. I'll have a you tube channel that will house all of the videos and link back to the site. Eventually, when I have enough recipes, I'll make them into a book. I may never find a publisher, but the book will be written for me. You can do amazing things now a days, I can create a hardcover book with pictures and recipes and order a box of them for not too much money, and just give them to my friends and family, or sell them for $5. This is about doing something that I love, but trying to turn it into something more.

So, first things first. What am I going to call the site, and what is going to be my theme, or "schtick". Getting focused on one specific avenue of show (or project) is important. Ideas so far:

1. "Man" cooking show- Ever seen the show manswers on spike? They talk about things only men wonder about and have sexy women act out things? It would be something around those lines. Hot girl, cooking in some louboutins with the red sole, cooking up rich hearty dishes that would get to any man's heart. Something like that. My husband reads men's health, and there are always recipes in there, so I know there are men that like to cook. The appeal of the show would be the sexiness of the host, but the food would still be mine. The recipes could have different trends, low fat, high protein, what to make after a workout, what to make when you have a girl over for dinner, something easy you can make for your kids when mom isn't home, etc. The main problem with this show is that it only appeals to a small audience. There are girls out there who like to look at other sexy girls (i'm one of them) but we're a rare breed. It would be 100% targeted for men, and I'm not sure how many networks would go for that in the end. The positive side of this, is that it's new and really hasn't been done before.

2. Trophy wife worthy cooking show- Ok, none of these names are the final show names, this is just giving you an idea of what the show would be about, so lack of a better name, that's what I'm using for now. This show would be like a "wife next door" feel, not a stepford wife, but more of a conservative view than I'm used to. As much as it pains me to say it, I like taking care of my husband. I like cooking for him after a long day, and cleaning up the house so it's nice for him when he gets home. I like to look pretty for him. I like to surprise him with treats (if he'd ever let me use sugar and butter). My viewpoint in life has always been that of an independent woman, and though I still feel that in me, I love having a partner in life. This show would be like, the host is what every wife wants to be and what every man wants to come home to. I'm not saying that's me, but I'd make it look that way the best I could. The food would feature everyday dinners, romantic dinners, food that uses minimal ingredients, or ingredients people typically have on hand. This is probably the better option. Have to work on the name though.

So that's what I have so far. The big thing is making a show that is different. There are 100 cooking shows out there. Everyone wants fast and easy. Everyone wants 30 minute meals. But you can only have so many of those shows. Timed cooking I think is losing it's vogue. We had 30 minutes meals, then we had Quick Fix Cooking that featured 15 minutes meals, and now we have 5 ingredient fix. Time is not the answer when it comes to distinguishing a show. It's gotta be something else.

So there it is. I will keep this blog for personal stuff, rants and all that, but the cooking site will be somewhere else. I estimate it'll take me a couple of months to get it up and running, and to have the pictures and videos taken. In the meantime, if YOU have any ideas for the theme of my cooking show or any input on the ideas I've listed, please let me know!

Love, Harmony

I've been a little busy................

So for the past year and a half or so, I've been planning my wedding, and excelling in my career, thus, putting my blog on hold. I didn't stop writing during that whole time, no, but Dreaming of Kumquats has been neglected and for that I am sorry. I read through my old posts and the last recipe I put on here was for Velveeta cheese dip. VELVEETA CHEESE DIP. What the hell was I thinking??

I'm starting this up again no longer as Ms. Harmony Nicole but now as Mrs. Harmony Nicole Bezerra. Dreaming of Kumquats will continue to be your favorite destination for new recipes and unending sarcasm, but I may have to put my cheesy newlywed spin on things every now and then. Now Paula Deen will tell you that she first started cooking as a young bride, who never had much cooking experience before then. I've heard horror stories from men about the first meal their wives cooked for them, and how they couldn't even eat it. I can remember this Blue Collar Comedy episode where Ron White, a.k.a. tater salad talks about his first meal from his first wife. He said, I gave it to my dog Sluggo, and he started licking his butt. And my wife asked, what's he doing?, and he said "I think he's trying to get the taste out of his mouth". Hehe.

Now my first meal for my husband was made LONG before he was my husband. Filipe was my boyfriend the first time I cooked for him, and it was chicken in mustard mascarpone marsala sauce with fettucine. College boys should be so lucky to have this from their dorm room girlfriends..... A Giada de Laurentiis recipe, and still one of my favorites. He'll tell you to this day that there wasn't enough sauce, but hey, it could have been ramen noodles. Which happened to be the first meal I cooked for him as his new wife. Our apartment we stayed at in Fortaleza, all it had in it was some cookies and Brasilian ramen. Thank God there was a microwave and some coffee cups..........


This is what the Ramen looks like in Brasil:


So in addition to having new recipes and how-to's and all that, I want to let you know how the wedding was, how the food was for that, and what type of fun kitchen stuff I now have from the registry. I've had this blog since 2008, and not that long ago I said point blank "there will not be toasters or George Foreman grills on my registry because I have every kitchen item known to man". (which is true, I do, or did) But then you walk into Bed Bath and Beyond with a scanner and suddenly everything you have is old and decrepit and you need new things. So despite my prior proclamation, both a toaster and a George Foreman were on the registry, and we got both of them. Along with a boatload of other kitchen gadgets. My kitchen looks amazing.....

I'm also going to do some entries on what I call "bare bones minimum cooking". This is what everyone in the world should know how to do in the kitchen, whether you call yourself a chef or a novice. Bake a chicken. Mix basic cookie dough. Grill a steak. Prepare fish or shrimp. Make al dente pasta. Toast bread (I might not go that far). Anyways, I take it for granted that everyone knows how but I know, now, that's not true. And you have to walk before you fly, so you have to be able to toast some bread before you bake a souffle.

Tonight for dinner, I'm baking chicken breasts which will be my first bare bones minimum cooking instruction:

How to Bake Chicken (bone in, skin- on chicken breasts)

Why bake? Baking is a great way to keep chicken moist. It takes longer, but it's something you can put in the oven and go do other things while the food takes it's time.

Why "bone- in, skin- on"? Any meat with bones in it is going to have more flavor. Period. I use boneless, skinless chicken breasts all the time, but it's not necessary. For one thing, bone- in chicken is always cheaper. For another, I love to eat the skin when it's nice and crispy. Sorry Filipe, but I do.

T.T.C (time to cook) About 45 minutes at 400 degrees. Varies on the size of the chicken breasts.

Cooking Equipment needed: preferrably, a slotted baking pan so the fat can drop into the bottom of the pan and not soak your meat. Or, you can also cover a regular pan with aluminum foil, a little fat won't kill you. An oven. A sharp knife for after it's cooked. And if you're really a cooking bozo, a meat thermometer. (I say that in the best possible way)

Ingredients:
-bone in, skin on breasts. You can take off the skin if you prefer, just take your sharp knife and cut it off the chicken breast before cooking.
-seasonings. This is where you can get creative. Salt and pepper, or salt/pepper/garlic powder (Paula Deen's House Seasoning)works everytime. When I bake chicken in the oven I use My Favorite Chicken Spice Rub

Here's how it works: Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray your slotted pan or aluminum foil with cooking spray. Cover chicken in desired seasonings. Place chicken on prepared pan, breast side up, skin facing up. Once oven is preheated, pop the chicken in and cook about 45 minutes. Cook until the juices run clear. With the slotted pan, this will allow the fat to run off the chicken and the skin on top to stay crispy. Done.

Easy as pie right? You don't know how good a nice baked chicken can be after a hard day at work. Add some garlic mashed potatoes and some stir fried veggies, you have a healthy feast with very little work needed. I might need to do a bare bones minimum on mashed taters, as that seems like a necessary recipe for everyone who eats food.

So that's it, thanks for reading and taking me back! More next time.........

I've been in a cooking rut.

It's difficult when you have stipulations on your cuisine. Only low fat cheese. No cream. No meat with more than 3% fat. Blah Blah Blah.

But I love Filipe. And part of loving Filipe is loving his hot body. And that body doesn't stay hot with Ina Garten's recipes.

So tonight, some boys came over to watch a UFC game, I dusted off my cooking gloves, and hit the kitchen. To hell with the low fat options, it's Saturday night. Even my baby has a cheat day. If you're in a cooking rut, sometimes it's good to make something fun to get you out of it. Like, pineapple chicken sandwiches, or bleu cheese burgers. Not necessarily gourmet, but different and still fun and pleasing at the same time.

Now I'm probably posting a recipe today that you ALL KNOW. Nothing new and original about this, but this blog is real, and this is what I made tonight. Chicken wings and Velveeta dip. The chicken wing recipe isn't mine; it's a Rachel Ray standby. But they are delicious. Just look for her Honey Mustard chicken wings, in her "30 minute Get Real Meals" cookbook. Apparently, they're supposed to be healthy too. Or at least low carb. I hope you're not too disappointed, but sometimes it's ok to take it down a notch. Have a little fun on Friday night!

A little bit healthy Velveeta dip

1 lb. 97/3 ground turkey meat
Salt and Pepper
32 oz package of 2% milk Velveeta cheese
1 can Rotel tomatoes with chilies

In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, add turkey and season with salt and pepper. Cook until brown. Don't worry about draining; not much fat will be in the pan, and the little amount that will be will add great flavor. Once meat is brown, add Rotel, don't drain it. Then add Velveeta in cubes. Let melt slowly. Serve with tortilla chips.