Steven Helmer Publications

  My wife and I made a trip to Costco this past weekend (our first in weeks) and, when we were in the freezer section, I made a beeline just to purchase this particular frozen lasagna (sold in a 2-pack for $16.89). I ended up making one of them last night and once again confirmed it was a great choice. I try to keep dinner relatively simple on Mondays and Wednesdays because my wife and daughter have martial arts classes until almost 8. Since I like lasagna, I tend to buy quite a few frozen varieties. Most of them aren't worth the money. This one is. The thing that really stands out for me when it comes to this brand is how filling it is. The lasagna is thicker than most frozen brands I've come across and has a lot more cheese (though maybe not as much shown on the box) and plenty of sausage and beef. I usually feel full after only one serving and we have yet to make one of these and not have leftovers. Anytime I can get two meals out of one purchase, I feel it helps justify the...

  I don't normally talk about apps, mostly because I really don't use a whole lot of them on my phone. However, this is one I've had for a while now and figured it was worth taking the time to mention. I've tried to use other shopping apps before, and the results were mixed. A lot of them promise big cash rewards, but they also require purchasing products that I wouldn't normally purchase and, sometimes, at stores I wouldn't normally shop at. That's one of the reasons why I like Fetch Rewards. With this app, any purchase I make/receipt scanned earns me points. If I get gas in my car, I get 25 points. If I stop for a fountain drink on my way to the office, it's worth 25 points. It doesn't matter where I shop, what I purchase or what I spend. The app does, however, have plenty of items that earn you bonus points. This includes things like Pepsi, Kleenex, McCain Potatoes and Meow Mix cat treats. Unlike many of the other apps I've used, a lot of thes...

To tell you the truth, I had to debate whether or not to renew it this year. I like Costco, but the closest one is more than 30 minutes away and going there always requires some pre-planning (or remembering to check out their website). As a result, we don't go nearly as much as we probably would prefer to. Then, on top of it, the cost of the membership increased recently too. However, after some reflection and a bit of math, I did decide it was worth spending the money on it again. Actually, when it came right down to it, the decision wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. All I ultimately had to consider was my wife's contact lenses. She wears them daily and has the one-and-done kind (wears them once and throws them away). I can buy a 6-month supply of those at Costco for what it would cost me for a 1-month supply at any of our local vision places. That savings alone pays for the membership for us and any deals we get at the store later are just icing on the cak...

I had originally planned on making chili in the slow cooker yesterday. But, I realized I didn't have enough time at lunch to do everything I needed to do and, calling an audible, wound up picking up a ham steak instead. I needed something to go with that and, after some consideration, picked up a bag of these sweet potatoes. I'm actually not a big sweet potato fan. However, my wife loves them so, on occasion at least, I'll pick some up for us. The thing I found I liked about this particular brand, however, was the fact I could make them, in the microwave, without taking them out of the bag. And, since they were on sale, I thought that convenience would make them worth the money. I did wind up making these last night as planned and, cooking wise, it was as easy as I anticipated. It took about 8 minutes in our microwave and the potatoes were ready to be eaten (the ham steak was done by then too). As far as taste goes, as I said, I'm not a big sweet potato fan so...

Product Description : Frozen beef stew with prime rib, potatoes and vegetables and from the Sam's Choice brand. The stew is prepared using a slow cooker. I purchased this product for $9.68 while doing some other shopping at Wal-mart yesterday afternoon and wound up making it for an evening dinner for my wife and me. You can read the review here:  https://wizzley. com/review-of-sam-s-choice-slow-cooker-beef-stew/

My wife and I didn't have solid dinner plans last night so, as is usually the case when that happens, I wound up stopping at the grocery store on my way home and picking up a couple frozen pizzas for dinner. Since my daughters just like cheese pizza, I wound up getting them a cheap brand. But, I was in the mood to try something a little different so, after some consideration, I purchased the Pep's Drafthaus Prohibition Special for my wife and I. At $8.99, this pizza was more expensive than I would normally prefer to spend on a frozen pizza and, because of that, I did have some second thoughts about my purchase. However, cooking this pizza on our pizza oven last night and giving it a try, I do have to say I was very impressed with it. One of the reasons I took a chance on this brand when I saw it in the freezer was it looked like it had quite a few toppings on it. This included a lot of cheese, sausage, mushrooms, pepperoni, peppers and onions. Since lack of topping...

Because, apparently, "I went another year without strangling your grandkids" isn't enough of a present.

After 9 years, our previous mattress was starting to get a little bit uncomfortable (I would wake up feeling as though I slept on an uncomfortable futon all night). So, as an anniversary gift, my wife and I picked out a new one a couple weeks ago. It was delivered yesterday and we both had a comfortable night's sleep on it last night. Of course, as you can see from the photo above, the cats seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.

A word of advice if you shop online using credit cards - make sure to check your statements closely and on a regular basis. And, after last week, I can say this from experience. Someone apparently stole my credit card information and decided to do some last-second Christmas shopping at Bloomingdale's and Macy's. Fortunately, I never shop at those stores (online or otherwise) and caught the transactions hours after they happened, giving me time to dispute them ASAP. Ultimately, however, I had to close my account and get a new card. Just a suggestion for stores (if anyone from a major retailer is reading), if you are going to allow people to make purchases online and pick up the items in store, please require them to show you the credit card used to make the purchase along with a picture ID. I say this because, in this particular instance (as I learned via a letter I eventually received from Bloomingdale's regarding one of the purchases), the thief made the purchase onl...

We leased our new car through Costco's auto program and, as part of the deal, we ended up getting a $700 Costco cash card. That finally arrived today! I'm not sure when we are going to use it though. I'm tempted to drive to Sun Prairie this weekend and use it for some last second Christmas shopping. But, I might end up waiting until next weekend and driving down there to get stuff for New Years and to stock up on school lunch stuff.

I am a soda addict and, even though I have pretty much given up being able to kick the habit completely, I've been making an effort to at least cut back on how much I drink. And, as part of this, I have been trying to take healthier alternatives with me to work. This included a drink box of Kirkland Signature Organic Apple Grape Juice. I purchased this product during a recent Costco trip because (bought in bulk), I thought it was a good deal and would be something my daughters could take with them to drink during skating or dance lessons. After trying it this morning, I probably will end up needing to buy more of them. One of my biggest concerns when trying this juice this morning was the flavor. Since it was still early, I wasn't in the mood for anything that was too sweet or too tart and I have had other discount juices that fit into that description. This juice, however, was what I was hoping it would be. There was enough sweetness in it to give me some of the sugar...

OK, to be fair, I don't blindly put things in my cart and do take a moment to at least glance at an expiration date or look for mold (especially with produce). However, I had to do some grocery shopping yesterday evening and was beginning to feel as though I was in an episode of the Twilight Zone. It seemed as though every aisle I walked into had someone closely inspecting some sort of food item. And, when I say inspecting, I mean they looked at the food the same way an antique collector would inspect an item to determine its authenticity. Photo Courtesy of Pixabay For example, I needed some buns (I made brats for dinner) and, when I went into the bread aisle, there was a woman already there. I waited patiently for her (she was blocking the aisle) as she took probably a dozen loaves of bread off the shelf and examined each and every one of them before settling on one. I thought this was a bit odd and, when she walked away, ended up (out of sheer curiosity) picking up one ...

My wife had to make a run out to Wal-mart earlier today so, while she was there, I asked her to pick up something simple for dinner. She saw this in Wal-mart's freezer section for $5.98 and, thinking it looked good, decided to pick it up. We ended up having it after I got home from work and our overall opinion of it is mixed. One of the biggest attractions with this product was the promise of convenience. And, for the most part at least, I think it lived up to that promise. There were a couple different ways of making this product. She chose to use the boiling method and the food was prepared in a reasonable amount of time without any significant effort. As far as taste goes, I was admittedly surprised by this product. I don't think I would ever mistake this for homemade. But, considering it was a frozen product, it definitely exceeded my expectations. The sweet ketchup glaze had a good flavor to it and the meat (unlike many other frozen meat products) wasn't to...