A while back I told you Toni-Lynn and I would be visiting Madison, WI as a guest of Oscar Mayer to learn all about the benefits of brown bagging. We all know, it is a great way to save money, but honestly it can be well, BORING! While we were in Madison, I learned a lot about deli meat and I can tell you I will never buy it from the counter again. That is just gross when you think of how many times it is in and out of the fridge, put on cutters that cut other things and just the general way it sits there for days! I have honestly been converted to a sliced deli shopper.

One of the really cool parts of the trip was that all the bloggers involved brought recipes to share and we video taped them. We also got some very cool cooking lessons (which is always a bonus for me) about how to make things quick, easy, healthy but most of all a little more FUN!

I have had a ball after Madison using some of the techniques I learned there and lunch has become a much more pleasant experience in my house because of it.

Toni-Lynn and I absolutely want to pass on what we learned to you so the best way is to show you all the cool videos we made as well as our new bloggy friends. We have a great contest for one of you to win: a party pack from Oscar Mayer so you can try these out as well!

So, make sure you first watch our video’s:

And then enter to win a $25 American Express Giftcard and 5 Free Product Coupons for Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh. Also in this lunch kit you get exclusive recipes made for us in the Kraft kitchen. The dessert is to-die-for!

Want to win it? Here is how:

Just watch either Toni-Lynn’s or my video and comment about it below. You can comment on each for two entries.

Hungry for more ways to win? (you have to do the above to be eligible for these extra entries)

• Tweet about the videos using @chaotic_barb and @toni_gpb in the tweet. You can do this only once.
• Fave us on technorati.
• Subscribe to our feed.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry. Giveaway is open to US and Canadian Residents only. Must be 18 years of age or older. We reserve the right to remove any entry from this giveaway that doesn’t have the requested information. This giveaway ends July 30, 2009 11:59 pm EST. Please allow up to 4 weeks to receive your item. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours another winner will be chosen.

]]> http://thecouponcupboard.com/reviews/2009/07/oscar-mayer-deli-fresh-state-of-the-sandwich/feed/ 108 http://thecouponcupboard.com/reviews/2009/06/summer-of-savings-guest-bloggers/ http://thecouponcupboard.com/reviews/2009/06/summer-of-savings-guest-bloggers/#comments Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:40:19 +0000 http://thecouponcupboard.com/reviews/?p=218

The Coupon Cupboard is kicking off the Summer of Savings for July and August. 2 months of expert posts on ways to save money! If you blog this is an excellent opportunity to gain new readers this summer!

We realize that we don’t know it all when it comes to saving money so we are looking for other experts in this field to help our readers save even more money this summer! Would you like to guest post?

Here is what we are offering guest posters:

• Exposure here at The Coupon Cupboard. With over 3,000 people online here at any given time that could really add up to a lot of exposure for you!
• A byline link at the top of the post
• An about the author box with up to three links to your sites
• A years silver membership to the forum to help you promote your blog all year long.

Here is what we are asking:

• 500 word post on the topic of saving money.
• No links inside the post unless they are relevant to the content. Meaning, it would like to the resource you are talking about. This is not the place for self promotion~that is what the author box is for
• EDITED for grammar and spelling
• No duplicate content. That hurts us both. You can re-purpose an already published article by changing it up, especially the title and first paragraph. For both our sakes, change 50% of it.

As you know, we write a lot about coupons on this site and that is great if you do too. We would really love to see some unique idea’s on other stuff as well: gas, clothes, back to school, energy, gardening. You name it, give us something different and our readers will probably become yours as well!

Our publishing schedule will be dictated by the amount of accepted guest posts. You will be notified if your post is published.

Submit your articles here!

Sure, ribeyes and porterhouses are juicy and delicious. But as food prices continue to rise and the stock market continues to sink, the thrifty shopper might assume that good cuts have gone the way of the brontosaurus burger. Not so. With a little bit of knowledge about “Butcher’s Cuts,” the average consumer can snap up a steak at pot roast prices.
1. The Reliable Chuck Eye Roll or Boneless Chuck Roll
Don’t be fooled by its reputation as a roast! This cut is greatly overlooked by the home cook and typically bought as a chuck roast to be slow cooked. But it’s actually a continuation of the expensive ribeye as it expands into the chuck, or front quarter of the side. The chuck roll is sold as a roast for half the price of a ribeye, and simply needs to be portioned into steaks by cutting across the grain. Ask your butcher to divide the steaks, or go at it yourself. Either way, you’ll end up with a top quality steak for the pan, broiler or grill.
2. The Flavorful Flatiron or Clod Heart
The flatiron is not quite as tender as the chuck eye, but has a superior beefy flavor. This cut is usually sold as a whole roast, but any butcher worth his steel can easily trim out the small layer of sinew and portion it into individual steaks. Fancy restaurants around the country have long depended on this delicious cut for their bar steak. Simply marinate your meat overnight in a zip-lock baggie with salt, pepper and a bit of dark beer. The marinade will make the meat even more tender and flavorful as it seeps overnight.

3. The Romantic’s Chuck Tender
True to its name, this small and tender cut is from the center of the arm chuck. Shaped much like miniature tenderloin, it’s the perfect steak to serve with herb-roasted potatoes and a nice bottle of red wine. Take care though, while this cut is tender it’s also very lean and must not be over cooked. Remove the meat from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking, and dose each side with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. The room temperature steak will cook faster and more evenly (3-4 minutes a side) with less chance of over cooking.
4. Skirt Steak for Monday Night Football
This cut is long, thin and narrow with a great texture and even better flavor. It really excels when marinated in a simple domestic beer, garlic and lime juice mixture and seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper. The longer you can let it soak up the flavor of the beer and lime the better, which also allows you to get the preparation done days in advance. It cooks fast and even, which makes it a satisfying meat to serve to the masses right before kickoff.
5. The King of All Butchers’ Treats: The Hanger or Hanging Tender Steak
Like the chuck tender, the hanger is a perfectly sized, quick cooking and beefy steak for two. And just like the flatiron, it has a small ribbon of connective tissue that runs through the center, conveniently dividing it perfectly into two elegant sized steaks. If you aren’t confident removing this portion yourself, ask your butcher. He or she can do it easily in a matter of seconds. This cut also benefits from warming to room temperature and seasoned with salt and black pepper before hitting the grill or pan.

A few meat cooking tips:
1. Remember that any steak will continue to cook one step farther after you take it off the heat. That means the medium rare steak you just took off the grill will be medium by the time you sit down to eat it.
2. Let meat rest for 10 minutes after cooking. Simply cover it with tinfoil to keep warm while the juices are redistributed into the meat. Otherwise, the juic e will run out as soon as you cut into it.
3. Pat the meat dry with a paper towel before you cook it to allow the flavorful browning to form faster on the outside of the steak. Skip this step and the steak will steam for the first few critical minutes instead of developing flavor.
4. Start a steak hot and finish it cooler. If you’re cooking it in a pan, start it on a high flame for a few minutes while it browns and then lower the flame to medium for the last few minutes. On a grill start it in the hot center of the flames and then move it to the cooler side once it has browned. This with insure a more evenly cooked, better tasting steak.

What do you think??? Get in on the conversation in the forum!