Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Whole Foods Market for July 4th - Good Grillin'

*I am an ambassador for Whole Foods Market and may have received compensation for this post. All opinions are mine.

It's Grilling season! And with Independence Day around the corner, many of you may be making plans for Bar-B-Q's and Cookouts!

Whole Foods Market has a huge selection of fresh meat, produce and seafood. What makes Whole Foods different with their selection of meat, is they require 3rd-party animal-welfare inspections for the beef, pork, chicken and turkey farms and ranches that supply the fresh meat case. Whole Foods has over 100+ Animal Welfare standards. This means a more humane, natural environment for the animals being raised for your dinner table.
All seafood is the most sustainable, wild-caught seafood available, with 100% traceability for wild-caught seafood from the fisheries to our stores. The only national retailer that can say this!
Want to know more about the high quality standards and quality of all fresh produce, meat and seafood, go to www.wholefoodsmarket.com

All good grillin' starts with a good marinade.
- Marinade thicker cuts of meat overnight
-only marinade fish for 30 min or less
-set some marinade aside for drizzling on top of finished dish.

Charcoal? or Propane?

Fresh fish! Ready for your grill!

Whole Foods has a beautiful selection of fresh fish...

Seasoned and pre-marinated meat and chicken...


...top cuts of flavorful steak, chops and ground beef.

May you have safe, and delicious Fourth of July celebrations!

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Kids Garage Sale and Craftapalooza Sale - Wichita


Two events coming up this weekend,
one is the Kids Only Garage Sale on
Saturday June 27, 2015, at the Bel Aire Rec Center 48th & Oliver 9 am - 1 pm
This is the 3rd Kid's only sale hosted by Trendy Tots at the Bel Aire Rec Center and is a chance for kids to buy, and sell their own items, making this a great life learning experience on how to run a business, handle money, and maybe even bargain and negotiate.  This is kid to kid only.
See more info at the link http://www.snapretail.com/retailer/templaterenderer.aspx/Consumer/874144
and sign up for booth space.


It Crafts, Vintage, Retro and Junk is your thing, the Craftapalooza & Fabulous Vintage Market is SATURDAY ~ JUNE 27th, 2015
10AM TO 4PM
CENTURY II CENTER
NORTH ENTRANCE ~EXHIBITION HALL

This is the 10th event for Craftapalooza and features handmade, vintage, jewelry, home decor, repurposed and funky junk! Admission is $3 and 12 and under are free! 
Check out more info at www.montagefestivals.com 


Monday, June 15, 2015

Dad's Day gift ideas *Gordman's Giveaway!

Gordman's has you covered when it comes to Father's Day this year. Find something for any type of Dad: the sporty dad, the fashion conscious, the retro hipster Dad, the Superhero, the grill master Dad and whatever category you put your Dad or children's Dad in.
A way to display his favorite memories.

Something for the "mancave".

Accessories like hats, ties, wallets and belts.

A way to display to everyone how you feel!

And maybe a way to relax by the pool, or a hammock in a bag for afternoon naps?

And there was also a great selection of bar-b-Que tools and accessories and their college team and sports section has something for every type of fan.

I have a $25 gift card available to a lucky winner. Just follow the instructions to comment and share.
Good luck!

Follow this link for a coupon for your shopping trip!  COUPON

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Staying in your budget with bulk buying at the new Costco Wichita


*I may have received compensation for this post, all opinions are mine.

It was a packed house tonight at the V.I.P. Preview Party for the new East side Costco. This event was open by invitation and was the first opportunity to check out the newly constructed store. All the shelves were stocked, and piled high ready for their first day of business which is sure to be a
huge day for Costco company wide. I think Wichita is super excited about this store!

Along with getting to browse the aisles, there were unbelievable amounts of food to be sampled. Most of their Food Court menu, Deli foods, and specialty meat, pasta and bakery was out and ready to sample. Plates and plates full. It was a full on eating extravaganza of all foods Costco. These weren't just samples, these were per person meal servings. My family tried some of the sausages, the Deli pizza, and deli hot sandwiches, bakery cake and cookies. Everything was wonderful and seemed to carry through on the excellent taste and quality of all the products. (I highly recommend going to their V.I.P. event if another Costco opens in your area.)

I price compared in my head as much as I could and found that majority of all the items I checked were a much better deal at Costco, so I have my list ready of the items I will have to have from there.

I am planning on revisiting the eye wear department. It has a large selection and prices were much lower than many places I have been recently. I also saw great buys on good quality sheet sets, bath towels, socks and underwear for the whole family.  Produce and the meat department prices per pound were right on to win my business.

The huge walk-through climate controlled freezer sections for produce and dairy are super cool (no pun intended) and were a bit shocking since we didn't expect it to actually be that cold.

Pre-prepared meal and snack foods were all reasonably priced.

You could quite easily spend an entire afternoon here, and judging the popularity so far, I would plan on it, and assume you'll be stopping for lunch or a snack at the Snack area.

 Bulk buying doesn't have to break your budget and Costco could be a great option for fitting the foods and supplies your family needs into your finances. I know when my budget seemed to get tighter and tighter what with food prices going up, warehouse bulk buying was my first thing to cut.

With the grand opening of Wichita's first Costco this week, I did some research on how to make your money count when shopping for bulk items.

COMPARE. Compare your price per unit per item.
Know the prices of the items your buying at your usual store per unit and also their sale prices.
*You also can use coupons at warehouse stores, so you may consider the benefit of store only coupons (such as Dillon's register receipts or Target coupons), and whether it would be more efficient to use those on less.  Remember to compare per unit or per ounce. Costco lists this on their price tags throughout as do most other stores. If they don't just get your calculator handy and you can figure it.

NO WASTE! It's easy to walk into Costco and immediately see things you know you need and can use, but, you gotta' make a list and stick to it. If you want to have a back stock of high use items, you can start your bulk storage a little at a time by focusing on what you are out of or almost out of now.

Not bulk for everything.
There are some items that are just obviously not good to buy in bulk, but consider the following:
spices
White Rice
Nuts (these are freezable)
Condiments (if used within 6 months)
Meats (freezable also)
Vegetables and Fruits (educate yourself on how to freeze veggies and what you can and can not freeze)
Paper Products
Pet supplies (dog/cat food, cat litter, dog treats) The few dollars more for the much bigger quantity makes this a must buy.
Baby items like diapers and wipes. (sometimes the store brand is just as good as the national brand and sometimes it's better)

Search for recipes that you can use to make make-ahead freezer recipes. Pinterest has tons, and All-Recipes has a recipe finder where you can enter the ingredients you want.  This is especially great for fresh produce buys.

And lastly consider sharing your bulk food purchases with a family member or friend. I love to do this with my parents, as they like the quality at Warehouse stores but can't always use the quantity. It sometimes make more sense to split up some items versus others.

Visit the new Wichita Costco today and take advantage of this shopping experience you'll go back to again and again!
*I may have received compensation for this post, all opinions are mine.


sources:
http://premeditatedleftovers.com/deals-money-saving-tips/the-dos-and-donts-of-buying-in-bulk/
http://funcheaporfree.com/2010/07/saving-craving-savings-tip-of-day_19/