As Summer Ends

Summer is winding down and I am getting the urge to bake and make warm comfort food for dinner. It hits me at this time each year. Yesterday I was looking on Pinterest to find a bread I could make with my rather bountiful supply of applesauce. I came up with the following recipe and it is yummo!

Recipe

Applesauce Bread (keelymcquire.com)

1/2 cup of softened butter
1 large egg
1 1/2 t baking soda
3/4 t nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t kosher salt
1 1/2 cups of applesauce
1 t of pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, first blend together the butter, egg, & sugar.
Then add the flour, baking soda, spices, & salt.
After it starts to from a crumbly dough, pour in the applesauce and mix together.

I used two loaf pans which I had sprayed with cooking spray. You could also use parchment paper if you would prefer that. The loaves were baked for 40 minutes and came out perfectly. The bread is moist and doesn’t need butter unless you want it. Great with a cup of tea!!

Note: The loaves aren’t very high. I think the next time I make it I will double the batch and still divide it into two pans so that I get  higher loaves. That, of course, would change the baking time and I will need to check for doneness a few times.

Techy Stuff

I have discovered an app for my smartphone called Tasty. It is the app that has all those neat videos of recipes that are always being shared on Facebook. It is super cool and I love checking out the Recipe of the Day, Courses, Cooking Skills, Recipes and Lifestyle sections. All the videos are really well done and informative. Check it out!

My place for prescriptions has always been Rite Aid. It is convenient and the people are friendly. I recently downloaded their app for my phone. I was checking out the different features and thought I would try to order a refill on a medication that I needed. Before I knew it I was done ordering it and received the message that it would be available for pick up at my local pharmacy after 4pm. All I did was scan the bar code on the label. Zip, zap and just like that an Rx is ordered! Wow! I checked CVS and they have the same feature. I imagine that you would find an app for your pharmacy too.

Money Savers

• Did you know that many workplaces and organizations such as unions have agreements with cell phone providers to give a discount on service to employees or members of the organizations? Yep, I have been saving 19% on my Verizon service for years through my employer. It is worth checking. You can do it online. You submit the name and address of your workplace or organization and they will get back to you and let you know if it is a participating member. Let’s figure this out. If I saved $19 per month for a year that would mean that I saved $228 over the year. That is a considerable savings.
• I recently received my flu shot at Rite Aid pharmacy. (No I am not getting a kickback from Rite Aid for mentioning them twice but I wouldn’t mind that. Hint, hint Rite Aid!) They had a promotion where you received a $4 coupon off  a purchase of at least $20. That is a full 1/5 off of your purchase! That coupled with the Plenti points that I have accumulated (search earlier posts for info on Plenti points if you don’t know about them) is quite a savings. Right now I have 974 Plenti points built up which translates to $9.74 I could get off of my purchase. So if I buy $20 worth of merchandise right away I am only paying $6.26! Now, I just might have coupons I could use too. You know me, I probably do and could save even more!
• I mentioned in one of my first posts that you should sign up for loyalty clubs wherever you might shop or eat. They always send you something for your birthday. My birthday is around the corner so I have started receiving my little goodies. Department stores send you a $10 gift card which is good for $10 off a $10 purchase. Now they’re hoping that you will spend a lot more and that by them giving you $10 which wholesale is a third of that in cost for them that you’ll spend a lot more money. The trick here is to head right for the 75 to 80% off rack and find something even if it’s for the season that is just ending. You can wear it next year or layer it. Get something that costs maybe $12 and you only end up paying $2. You also could get something like a pair of earrings as a gift for a friend’s birthday. You just have to be smart and not fall into their trap. Now, restaurants differ a  little bit in that Denny’s for instance gives you a free grand slam and Ruby Tuesday’s gives you a free Garden salad or a burger. For me it’s not that much of a problem just to stick to that because that’s all I can eat anyway but if you’re in a group and a lot of other people buy appetizers or desserts then they are making extra money off of you. Just for me though it works.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Projects

I have finished my French shopping cart!

As you saw from last week’s post it was originally green. My friend Geri that I got it from loves green. However, me not so much. Therefore, I used Berry Pink Rust-Oleum paint and spray-painted the cart. As a nod to Geri, I saved a green spot where the manufacturers label was.

Now, in the summer on the deck or the front porch I have a lot of ideas for using this little pink baby. During the winter I am thinking about uses inside. Possibly books. What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let me know.

See you next week and in the meantime enjoy!!!