Besides having a lot of patience, here’s how my kids measure flour and sugar:

Dip the measuring cup into the container and use the back side of a knife to level it off.

Then dump it in and start mixin’

After a few days in the fridge I needed eggs for muffins.  Do you see the problem?  There’s a cracked egg.  So, I repackaged the eggs into traditional dozen egg containers.  But guess what was left…..

Yup.  I was left with 4 cracked eggs.  Yuck.  Now I was lucky that I didn’t have any more breakage, but I’m sad to loose 4 eggs right off the bat.  So, the lesson of the day is this…if you buy eggs in bulk, repackage them once you get home.

Now through the end of the year,  Max and Erma’s is offering a $5 bonus card for every $25 gift card you purchase.  The bonus card can only be used from Jan through March 2011.

And….as a bonus, many locations offer Kid’s Eat Free on Tuesdays.  Check out the list (PDF) to see if your local restaurant is participating.

These are very simple to make.  So, dig out the dehydrator and let’s get ready.

My method is simple…

1. peel bananas
2. remove bruised parts
3. cut in even slices
4. place on dehydrator tray
5. turn dehydrator on
6. wait about 24 hours (or until bananas are dry)
7. remove dried bananas for storage and eat a few on the way
8. store in quart or pint sized freezer ziplocs
9. enjoy!

Some people say to dip the bananas in a solution to prevent browning.  We don’t care about how the banana looks and we didn’t like the sugary solution I once tried.  So we just keep it simple.  Just bananas.  Kids still eat it like candy.

Try it.  I hope you like it too.  Leave a comment below with your experience.

Did you miss the last Honeyville Grain sale?  Have no fear, it’s back!  For a few days you can get 10% off your order.  Check out my friend Jenn’s blog at Be Prepared Cincinnati for details.

Through the month of August,  Kids eat free at IHOP from 4-10pm.  Check their website to see if your IHOP is participating.

Some of the small print:

• kids 12 and under
• 1 free kid’s meal with each adult entree
• drinks not included

I just got a note about the latest deal on Entertainment books. You know I love them. They are a great way to save up to 50% off on hotels, restaurants, sporting events and more. You can buy one for your hometown, or for a vacation city. Traveling later this year? You should look into an Entertainment book for your destination city.

This sale is only good through July 14th.

Note: Most coupons in the book expire in November. If you’re traveling for Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, or Christmas, you’ll probably want to buy next year’s book.

Here’s a few markdowns I’ve seen at my local Kroger store:

• Kroger Value brand boneless skinless chicken breast $1.19/#
• beef stew meat (premium) $3.19/#
• beef stew meat $2.39/#
• Tbone steak $6.99/#
• bottom round steak about $3/#
• 73% lean ground beef 1# rolls $0.89
• 85% lean ground beef $1.99/#

Really sweet strawberries only last a short amount of time. But I like them year round.   To preserve strawberries I flash-freeze and foodsaver them.

1. Line jelly-roll or 9×13 pan with wax paper or Exopat/Silpat non-stick baking mat

2. wash, cut and core strawberries and place on pan in a single layer.  You don’t want them on top of each other.  I can fit about 2# of cut strawberries on a jelly roll pan.

3. lay flat in freezer for 24 hours.  This is flash freezing.  You want to completely freeze each individual strawberry piece.

4. After strawberries are completely frozen, remove them and fill a quart size FoodSaver bag.

5. Using FoodSaver, remove air and seal the bag.  It’ll look something like this.   Notice how there aren’t air pockets?

6. Store in the freezer for a LONG time.  This is the beauty of storing in FoodSaver bags.  It reduces the amount of air that comes in contact with your food and therefore reduces the likelyhood of freezer burn.   And in my book, that’s a good thing.

I store these bags in my deep freeze and pull out when I want to cook with strawberries.   Usually they go into smoothies, so frozen is just fine.  If you want to thaw them out and eat like a fresh fruit, you’re going to get a different consistency.  Not gross, but more watery and not as firm.

I froze a LOT of strawberries last year and have been using them off and on throughout the year.  I just opened a package from 12 months ago for smoothies.  They taste wonderful.  No freezer burn either.

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Linked to Tammy’s Kitchen Tip Tuesday