Harris teeter meal deal - appetizer, pizza, soda and chips

This is the meal deal for this week - not bad:

BUY ALL 4 FOR $7.99:

• one (1) 12.55-28.01 oz. Freschetta Pizza;
• one (1) 7.6-14 oz. T.G.I. Friday's Appetizer;
• one (1) 13 oz. Mission Tortilla Chips; and
• one (1) 2 ltr Coca-Cola Product

Enjoy a great meal on us and save at least $8.73!

*Must purchase all 4 items in a single transaction with your VIC card to receive this great deal.  Limit one transaction per household. Offer good January 25, 2012 - January 31, 2012.

Harris Teeter SW Durham 54/55 has Barber Foods frozen chicken on clearance

Stopped by the Harris Teeter on 55/54 interaction today and they have Barber Foods frozen chicken - the original flavor - on clearance at half the regular price. For 32oz nuggets or fingers, this came to about $6 to $7. This is a really good price for a quick dinner meat entree. I like to make my own sweet and sour dipping sauce that tastes just like the dipping sauce from McDonalds. The recipe is here.

The nutrition info and some recipe ideas for the nuggets are listed here.

Tide Coldwater - good for the laundry, the budget and nature

I received a couple of days ago my Tide Coldwater detergent through a campaign with shespeaks.com and sponsored by P&G, the manufacturers of Tide products. The free sample was provided to me in exchange for testing the new formula in my washer and reviewing the outcome on my blog.

copyright Durhamonthecheap - the letter that arrived with the campaign kit

I am not a particularly brand conscious shopper when it comes to detergents. I have purchased Tide in the past, but I certainly buy other products depending on what is on sale. This may change somewhat now.
I have usually washed my clothes on hot/cold combination to make sure that they get clean, especially white cotton clothing. I have only used the cold cycle if the fabrics required it thinking that using cold water only may affect on how effective any stains or other dirt are removed. So when Tide Coldwater arrived, I was not overly confident about the outcome. My washer, a budget model that is now well past 10 years old, has a cold/cold setting, so cheating was not possible and I selected the all coldwater cycle and loading up the washer with a medium load of items that I normally would wash on hot/cold setting. I included fleece shirts, comforters and sweats of various colors. I had saved a couple of items from last weeks laundry for comparison. I did not intentionally stain any of my clothes, but working in the yard, my green fleece shirt had gotten dirty.

copyright Durhamonthecheap - the actual bottle. I like the fact that no dyes or perfumes are added!

The instructions are fairly simple, the bottle has instruction for how much detergent to use for medium and large loads. I did leave out the Tide Stain release capsules that I had started using since I wanted to rely on the detergent effect alone. After the laundry was done, I peeked a little bit at the laundry as I moved them into the dryer and the colors were nice and bright - also none of the clothing had any overt stains left. So I felt much more confident that I did not have to repeat laundry.

copyright - Durhamonthecheap - comparison of fleece sweater between Tide Coldwater and "another detergent"

The picture above shows a comparison of the two fleece shirts. The green shirt was washed in Tide Coldwater and has no stains and no left-over schmutz. The white shirt was washed the week before in another detergent and even though no stains are present and the washer was set to hot/cold with a comparable load, there is some schmutz visible and I will have to wash the shirt again. While one laundry is certainly not representative as a sample, I am honestly very impressed with Tide Coldwater. It effectively cleaned the clothes with less effect on the environment and I saved some money by using cold water in the washer. I will definitely continue to use Tide Coldwater, even if the clothes do not require the lower wash temperature.

Disclaimer: I was supplied a free bottle of Tide Coldwater laundry detergent through a campaign by shespeaks.com and sponsored by P&G, the manufacturers of Tide Coldwater. In exchange for an honest review on my blog, I may receive further reimbursement. Neither the free detergent nor any other benefit through my association with shespeaks.com or any of its campaign sponsors has influenced the opinions on this blog and the statements made in the product reviews are solely my own.


 

REMINDER: Starbucks sample event still ongoing for new blend "BLONDE"

Just a reminder that the Starbucks sampling event to introduce their new Blonde blend is still ongoing. I believe that if you prefer their Blonde blend to the current medium and dark roasts, you may be a sample of Blonde to take home with you. So stop by any Starbucks today and sample Blonde.

BTW I really liked their Blonde blend, it is smooth and very light. So if you drink a lot of coffee like I do, using Blonde is a lot easier on your stomach than some of the darker roasts. 

Yoplait Frozen Smoothie coupon $1off - try their new chocolate/banana flavor

Go to this site here and print off a coupon for $1 off any flavor of Yoplait Frozen Smoothie.

Disclaimer: I received this information and the coupon offer from Yoplait through MyBlogSpark.

Starbucks new Blonde roast and tasting event 1/12 through 1/14

The other day I was able to sample a new Starbucks blend called Blonde. It is sold as a new light roast by Starbucks and I have to say that I really liked it. I got the sample in the morning, but I could see the Blonde roast as a wonderful afternoon blend or after dinner coffee. It is very light and smooth, perfect for a relaxing.
You can find more information about Starbucks Blonde on their website here. They currently see two difference Blonde roasts, Veranda and Willow Blend and both promise very low acidity. Because of the low acidity, I feel that these coffees are perfect for later in the day. Coming from Germany, I was initially struck by the relative high acidity of some American coffee blends. Being used to Jacobs Kroenung, I remembered being able to drink coffee in Germany without sugar or creamer, yet having to add half/half to my coffee in the USA or it seemed very acidic to me. Starbucks, especially their Verona or Pike Place blends, were never acidic to me and that it why I started drinking Starbucks coffee soon after it hit the Midwest, but I still catch myself having to add creamer and sugar to my coffee. The Blonde roast I had last week as a sample was smooth enough that I did not need any sugar or creamer.
To advertise their new roasts, Starbucks is having a sample event this weekend - in the USA from Thursday through Saturday. They should have plenty of the Blonde roast available then and I encourage you to see for yourself and determine whether the Blonde roast is something you could get used - I know I can because I have been asking about Blonde everyday since I got my first taste of it. It seems that Starbucks may have little gifts for people that attend the sampling events because they promise in their website here that they will send people home with a little bit of something. Personally I am hoping for the VIA version of Blonde so I can have some more Blonde roast at home.

Book review: Tyndale by David Teems

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the book through booksneeze.com in exchange for an honest review. The opinion expressed in this review are my own and have not been influenced by either booksneeze or the author.

This book was my first exposure to the life and work of Tyndale. I chose this book initially because I like biographies and had not read anything about the person before this book. In addition, the subject matter interested me because I am Lutheran and wanted to learn how the original English translation of the Bible was accomplished. I was struck by the similarities between the struggle of Luther and Tyndale, both of whom faced significant opposition for their undertaking and overcame them at great personal sacrifice.
Maybe the most surprising part of the book for me was the discovery that during the translation of the Bible and through his work, William Tyndale also greatly contributed to the growth of the English vocabulary in general.

I rarely speak out a high recommendation for a book that is heavy on religious themes because I know that people may have strong thoughts for or against the book based on the religious component alone. Even though this book deals to a significant degree with religion and the character of William Tyndale is clearly associated with a strong religious belief and a contribution to Christianity, I highly recommend this book because of the complete picture of the person of Tyndale drawn by the author and the book is written almost like a history book, exposing the reader to the era overall.

New Bojangles in South Durham - near Lowes Home Improvement

For those liking fried chicken and biscuits, a new Bojangles is opening in Southern Durham. No more driving to the Garrett Rd location to get your helping of Southern Food and fighting with UNC and Duke students for a place at a table. Bojangles is opening a new location in Southern Durham at 176 Stratford Lakes Drive in Durham, NC 27713 near the intersection of Fayetteville and MLK.
The new location is already showing up on the Bojangles website, so one more fast food option in the Hope Valley Farms neighborhood. All we need now is a Sonic and an Arby's and we should be set ;)
See the write up in the Herald Sun here. May not be open in time for the New Years Day hangover, but sometime in January, fried chicken and biscuits should be available.