Some questions from my readers answered

Where can you get the garlic roaster: Target, Fred Meyer… pretty much anywhere that sells anything kitchen. You can also order one online at amazon.com. It is the easiest tool to use. You just cut off ¼ of the garlic, put cut side down. Drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle salt, then close lid and hit the button. 20 minutes later you have perfectly roasted garlic. EVERY TIME! We got mine online at amazon for $20.

If you could have just one kitchen gadget what would it be: Kitchen aid mixer 100% all the way, no questions asked. I use it 5 or 6 times a night, sometimes more. It is my life. If it ever were to break I would hop in my car and go get another one immediately. From whipping, to making pasta, cakes, folding soufflé’s… this puppy does it all. It comes with basic attachments, but I have bought pretty much all the extras too.

What is my opinion on the pasta roller, hand or electric? For me, electric all the way. Only because if you have the kitchen aid you can whip out fresh pasta in under 15 minutes. Course you have to cook it after but still. It is so easy. The only pasta attachment I have that I do NOT use is the ravioli one. It is really a pain and does not do a good job. I prefer to roll out the ravioli by hand. Plus my dear friend Maria gave me a pasta stamper and it is a lot of fun to use. Any way here is what the pasta attachments look like:

They run you a $100 though. But I use mine like 3 times a week. I am told a hand roller works though. I just know it will take a lot longer, and it seems like your arms would get tired. I would do it if I had to though. To me boxed pasta tastes like cardboard now. Plus homemade pasta is so much healthier. Boxed pasta is made from flour and water. Homemade is eggs and flour, plus I throw in spinach or sun dried tomatoes or whatever veggie I want and it makes it even better for you. Not that pasta is GOOD for you, but I can’t live without pasta, so I might as well make it as healthy as I can right?

There is also a pasta press and I have it, but I have never used it, cuz I LOVE fettuccine the best and the press is for spaghetti and angel hair etc. I will use it though, just haven’t got to that point. Here is what the press looks like:

What is the grocery game and how will it help me?

The grocery game is a site someone put together to make coupon clipping and saving a snap. First let me say that you can sign up and cancel AT ANY TIME. First month is free, so if you don’t like it, then cancel before your month is up and you won’t be charged. You add your stores in your area. For me it is $5 a month per store. I just use 2 stores. Once you sign up, you log in, you'll get a weekly list (called Teri's List) of the lowest-priced products at your supermarket matched with manufacturers' coupons and weekly specials -- advertised and unadvertised. The Grocery Game does all the hard work and research, and presents it to you in a straightforward format. The List is color-coded. Black items are a good price. Buy these if you need the item now. Blue items are for stockpiling. We do not expect this item to go lower so stock up while the price is at rock bottom. Green items are free. These are not "Buy one get one free" but are actually free after sale and coupon. To try it out you go to www.thegrocerygame.com clip your weekly coupons, print off coupons, and add coupons to your store club card. I saved $800 last month by doing this. I don’t have time to do this myself. From The Grocery Games Site:

Why can't I just do this on my own?

Coupon pros spend hours preparing to shop. They research ads and match their coupons to sales, only to discover twice as many un-advertised sales once they get to the store. More hours are spent standing in the aisles sifting through their files for coupons to match those sales. They save a lot of money, but most of us don't have the time for this type of shopping.

Members of The Grocery Game eliminate those time-consuming hours and usually save even more than the coupon pros. For example, just because an item is on sale doesn't mean it’s time to play your coupon. Our databases track the sales history on nearly every item in the supermarket, waiting to use a coupon on rock-bottom sales. Now, the best possible savings are quickly accessible to busy professionals, overworked moms, single adults or anyone who wants to cut their grocery bill by 50% or even more.

Look, I used to NEVER clip coupons, didn’t have the time, now I just open the weekly list. Click what I want, print it, meal plan according to what it on sale, and my family eats expensive gourmet food for under $250 per week.

If you have any more questions email me!!

Leftovers today. My fridge is packed! I have a ton of work to do. I am finishing up my dog clothes catalog today... (fingers crossed)More cooking tomorrow.