Tuesday, July 27, 2010

44th Penny Pinching Party

I hope you all are getting your refinished furniture projects and posts ready for the August Refinished Furniture Party. I still have some furniture to finish, so this is a really good motivation for me.

44th Penny Pinching Party
For this Penny Pinching Party I have my own post to share. I recently did a bunch of research online to find the best affordable kitchen knives. It turns out you only need 3 and there are some really great affordable ones out there!




Rules:
*Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address.
*Link back to the party from your post so everyone can join in the fun!

Monday, July 26, 2010

3 Knives You Must Have!

Last month CSN Stores gave me a $60 gift certificate to buy anything I wanted at any of their 200+ stores. This was the post I did about it: Tons of Unique Items at CSN Stores. I had a very hard time deciding what to get, but it finally became very obvious to me what I really NEEDED to get.

Next month I will have been married for 14 years and I have never boughten myself a good set of kitchen knives. I have been using the same $10 Walmart chefs knife for 14 years and I have never had it sharpened. I have always been afraid of having sharp knives because I am a bit of a klutz and being the thrifty person I am I have never been able to justify hundreds of dollars on a nice knife set. I have spent a lot of time deciding where to put my dull knives and even did this post last year:


An an anonymous commenter pointed out to me that most kitchen knife accidents are caused by dull knives.

It was very obvious to me that I needed some new knives with my $60 gift certificate. I spent several hours researching which knives to buy and this is what I came up with:
All of the cooking blogs love Victorinox and the best part is that they are affordable! Just do a google search for "victorinox reviews" and you will find a ton of cooks praising them.
Victorinox is by the inventors of the Swiss Army knife and they have a whole line of kitchen knives. I knew that I didn't want a big block of knives and after some more research I found out from the professionals that I only needed 3 knives.

1. A chef's knife. I really wanted a Santoku knife for this. The santoku knife is a modified variation of the chef's knife with origins from Japan. It has a finer edge which allows for finer precision-cutting. The blade width and weight usually matches that of the handle so if feels more balanced in the hand. It is also made from harder tempered steel. It is shorter, lighter, and easier for smaller hands (like mine). I also love the divots on the sides of the blade that help prevent the vegetables from sticking to the knife.
I got this one for $34.99 at CSN Stores Cookware.com

I am LOVING this knife! It fits perfect in my hand and feels so light that I can cut a ton of vegetables without cramping. I can't believe how thin it cuts too. I did cut myself the first time using it though. I was used to my very dull chefs knife so when I used my fingers to slide the vegetables off of the knife it sliced my finger a little. The blade is VERY sharp. I have learned my lesson and am more careful now, so hopefully I won't have any more accidents.

2. An 8" or larger bread knife. I mostly use this for bread, but it comes in handy for slicing pineapple and other fruits.
I got this one for $22.99 at CSN Stores Cookware.com



3. Paring knives are great for fine precision work like peeling, coring, etc... I got a set of 3 (you really only need one, but they are so cheap and often come in sets). I have used these quite a lot and have enjoyed how easily I am able to core, peel and make precision cuts.
I got these for $12.00 at CSN Stores Cookware.com


Thank you to CSN Stores for my new knives that didn't cost a fortune! I wish I would have done this research 14 years ago, but better late than never.







Thursday, July 22, 2010

Free Friday Deals * July 23rd, 2010

Okay, so my scorching hot July Yard Sale is over and I have donated everything that didn't sell to charity. I am feeling a lot less cluttered and ready for FREE FRIDAY again!

Free Choose You Flower Pin
Sign up and join the Choose You movement to prevent women's cancer.
flower logo

Free Download of The 99 Most Essential Classical Pieces Movies

Free Sample Oxy Clinical


Free PH Test Strips



Kids Eat FREE at IKEA July 23-25
Kids Eat Free


Free (with rebate) Backpack at Staples beginning Sunday, July 25th.




Free music downloads from Amazon

This weeks FREE music and samples at WalMart

And don't forget that it is Mega Swag Buck Friday!
Here is my tip that will get you more Swag Bucks.
If you don't know what Swag Bucks are they are like frequent flyer miles for the internet. You basically get paid for searching the internet. Click on the button below to start a free account and get 30 FREE Swag Bucks.
I just cashed in some Swag Bucks for $10 at Amazon!
Search & Win

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

43rd Penny Pinching Party

I am always so inspired by all of the talent and creativity that links up here every Wednesday. I think that Wednesday has now become my favorite day of the week. I can't wait to see what you have all come up with this week!

Don't forget that August will be the Refinished Furniture Party and grab a button if you don't already have one!
The Thrifty Home Refinished Furniture Party

Friday, July 16, 2010

FREE Friday Deals * July 16th, 2010

There are a ton of freebies out there this week as usual, but right now it all just looks like worthless junk to me. Maybe that is because I am getting ready to have a Yard Sale this weekend and I am sick of things. Maybe I am just too busy going to the same play every night for 2 weeks because my 2 older kids and husband are in it.  Maybe it is because it is past midnight right now and my son still won't go to bed because he is too worked up from the play and he is driving me crazy. Whatever my problem is, I just don't feel like posting any new freebies today, so I will post a few oldies but goodies.  Hope you are all having a great Summer!


Free music downloads from Amazon

This weeks FREE music and samples at WalMart


Home Depot Emails
Special Offers, Promotions, Newsletters, Coupons, and more
Just join their e-mail list

FREE two-year subscription to LEGO Club Jr.

Every year until your child is ten, you will receive a party planner with a special offer, and a card and gift from Geoffrey. When you take them to Toys R Us your child will receive a paper birthday crown and a Geoffrey balloon and an announcement over the intercom that a special birthday guest has arrived.
My kids have been signed up for this for the last 5 years and it has become one of their favorite birthday traditions.

Loving the Swag Bucks right now and I just cashed in for a couple of $5 Amazon gift cards!
Search & Win

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

42nd Penny Pinching Party

The Refinished Furniture Party will be starting on August 1st and will be an ongoing party! Inlinkz will be up permanently and you will have all of August to finish your projects and post them. I will select the best ones to be featured on my blog and post a permanent side bar button directing to that post. Every once in a while I will update the post with new projects that are linked up after August. I want to have a really huge post with lots of refinished furniture projects that anyone can go to for ideas and inspiration.

If you have more than one project, please make a post on your blog with all of your projects in one post and include my Refinished Furniture Party button in the post. I will only be featuring those who have this button. You can of course always link up more projects later. Does this all make sense???

If you have a Refinished Furniture project that you have already posted at one of the Penny Pinching Parties, post it again.

I would LOVE it if you would help spread the word for me and post the Refinished Furniture Party button on your blog (located in the top right of my sidebar). This button goes straight to the party.

 And now for the 42nd Penny Pinching Party!


Rules:
*Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address.
*Link back to the party from your post so everyone can join in the fun!

Refinished Furniture Party

The Refinished Furniture Party will be starting on August 1st and will be an ongoing party!


Inlinkz will be up permanently and you will have all of August to finish your projects and post them here. I will select the best ones to be featured and post a permanent side bar button directing to that post. Every once in a while I will update the post with new projects that are linked up after August. I want to have a really huge post with lots of refinished furniture projects that anyone can go to for ideas and inspiration.

If you have more than one project, please make a post on your blog with all of your projects in one post and include my Refinished Furniture Party button in the post (I will only be featuring those who have this button). You can of course always link up more projects later. Does this all make sense???

If you have a Refinished Furniture project that you have already posted at one of the Penny Pinching Parties, post it again here.

I would LOVE it if you would help spread the word for me and post the Refinished Furniture Party button on your blog (located in the top right of my sidebar). This button goes straight to this post, which is where the party will be.