Weekend Cookery

As I mentioned on Twitter (and thus Facebook), I often spend a fair amount of time cooking on the weekends.

I do this because a) that's when I have the time, and b) it helps keep the weekday bitching-at-mom to a minimum. Don't get me wrong, the kids are still going to bitch, because that's what they do, but yeah - a minimum.

There are three things I typically make during weekend cookery: Waffles, muffins, and wraps. I don't really use "recipes" - mostly I just throw things together and hope for the best - but I'm going to do my best to explain these concoctions in "recipe form" for you now. Ready?

Waffles

Bisquick "Heart Smart" low-fat baking mix

Nonfat or 1% milk

Eggs

Protein powder (23g per scoop, please, and vanilla whey is great)

Nonstick spray

Waffle iron (I got mine for $3 at the Goodwill)

Here's where I'm going to upset the But How Much of What People: I don't know how much of what. Sorry. I dump a bunch of Bisquick into a bowl (3/4 of the box, or maybe more), add six or seven scoops of protein powder, two or three eggs, and then enough milk to make it into an acceptable batter. Use the waffle iron and nonstick spray as directed.

Once I've turned all the batter into waffles, I bag them two-by-two in ziptop bags and stash them in the freezer. They can be toasted or microwaved, and best of all: The people I live with can accomplish the toasting or microwaving themselves! Okay, the real best part is that the kids are all do ya like waffles yeah we like waffles! Because waffles are exciting! And full of carbs! Which seems to be the criteria by which all foods are judged if your name happens to rhyme with Schmee Shay - when really they SEEM like carb-bombs but they're high protein and served with sugar-free Maple Syrup Flavor Product. Because that's how I roll.

Muffins

1 box Pillsbury "Moist Supreme" Reduced Sugar cake mix (Devil's food)

1 15oz can Libby's pumpkin (not pie mix)

Nonstick spray

Muffin tin

That right there is the basic recipe. Actually, the Real Basic Recipe uses regular cake mix, but I prefer the low-sugar, so there. So yeah. Mix those two ingredients together, fill muffin tins 3/4 full, bake for 20 minutes at 350. I modify that recipe as follows:

2 boxen above noted cake mix

1 large or 2 15oz can(s) of Libby's pumpkin

1/2 cup sifted dark cocoa powder (unsweetened)

Protein powder (23g per scoop, this time I use chocolate flavor)

1/2 c mini chocolate chips

2/3c hot water

I mix the pumpkin, water, and the dry ingredients, then fold in the mini chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes - this makes 22-24 hefty muffins, which should be cooled completely before storage (sidebar: I have this green-handled ice cream scoop I got from Sam's Club which is the PERFECT muffin batter scoop. I have no idea what the ounce measurement is.) Look! Again with the high protein, and this time vitamin A, too! The kids are all "ooh ooh can we have a MUFFIN?!" and I'm like "oh... okay... I guess..." and then I do a little mom-touchdown victory dance when they're not looking.

Both of the recipes above are very forgiving and modify well with all kinds of substitutions. I've added ground flax meal, soy flour, Egg Beaters, and various other things with no real change in quality.

Meredith's Must-have Wrap

1 La Banderita Fat Free Tortilla

1 T Philadelphia Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese

1 T Hormel "Real Crumbled Bacon"

Diced tomato

Fresh spinach

Spread the cream cheese on the tortilla. Sprinkle with the "bacon". Add tomato and spinach to your liking, roll it up, slice it in half, wrap it in foil/plastic wrap. I make these on Sundays and they last the work/school week.

So, there you have it. This week's weekend bulk cookery. Enjoy!

Making the Most of Your Amazon Cart: Let's Save Some Money

Did you know that Amazon's prices fluctuate daily? Sometimes multiple times per day for any given item? I didn't. I kinda sorta maybe did, but I didn't realize that it occurs as often as it does, and I didn't have a good handle on how I could use that to my advantage.

So after a good number of years of watching Phillip post about price fluctuations in his cart, it dawned on me that maybe he was on to something, and maybe this information would be useful for me to share, too. So yeah, I know I'm not discovering anything groundbreaking here, and that people have been doing this forever and ever.

This practice is new to me, however, and I was quite surprised at just how much money I could save on my holiday purchases if I camped my shopping cart. So, dear reader, I offer it to you. Ready?

You should start early - I don't think it's too late to start now for this year's holiday purchases, but I like to start at least 6 weeks in advance.

It's important for me to mention that I have an Amazon Prime subscription. As I do more than 75% of my holiday shopping online, it pays for itself each year - and then birthdays and other purchases are just a bonus. If you tend to do most of your shopping offline, then a Prime Subscription is not for you.

Next, I look for the items I want to purchase on Amazon, taking care to ensure that they are Prime items, and I add them to my cart.

Here's where the magic happens: Don't proceed to check out and purchase everything in your cart. Sit on it. For WEEKS. Really!

Every day, take the time to go and view your cart at least twice a day. Amazon will notify you (at the top, in red) of any price changes which affect items in your cart. The prices don't change in just one direction - in the space of a few hours an item can price can go up or down as much as 50%. It kinda sorta smacks of playing the stock market, to me - you have to sit and watch as prices go up up up and down down down, and judge for yourself when the best time to buy might be.

When you feel like you've watched long enough and have reached the best price you're going to get, move every other item (the ones you don't intend to purchase) to your "Saved Items to Buy Later" by clicking the button. Make sure all that's left in your cart are the items which have hit your purchase point that you're ready to buy. And then, check out! Go! After you complete the purchase, go back and move the items back into your shopping cart by clicking the button.

For example, I placed an order today, for 4 items that have been in my cart for 25 days. I'm not going to tell you what the items precisely are, because hey! It's pre-Christmas! (and my husband reads this!). For purposes of this post and the sake of standardization, we'll assume each item carries an average shipping cost of $3.99. I'm not going to include the purchase price of the Prime subscription, as my subscription for 2009 had already "paid for itself" by September.

Item Price (when added to cart)	Shipping cost	Subtotal	Actual Price (at checkout)	Savings
$49.99	$3.99	$53.98	$32.99	$20.99
$29.99	$3.99	$33.98	$16.99	$16.99
$19.99	$3.99	$23.98	$8.99	$14.99
$9.99	$3.99	$13.98	$4.99	$8.99
$109.96	$15.96	$125.92	$63.96	$61.96

If I had completed my purchase at the time I added the items to my cart, I would have spent at least $109.96. I ended up spending only $63.96. That's worth spending some time loading a web page, if you ask me.

So, to sum up:

-Add items to your cart but don't complete the purchase.
-Log in to your Amazon account at least twice daily to check for price changes.
-After awhile, you'll get an idea of what the highs and lows are. Keep track.
-When you're ready to buy, move the non-intended items to "Save for later".
-Make your purchase!
-Move the remaining items back to cart.