Household Ideas, Discounts, Coupons & Life

Follow Jeannette Tomanka on your social media network of choice via the links below.

Mom, housewife & life hacker! Corporate drudge escapee writing recipes, tips & discount alerts. Still bring home the bacon & cook it up in 101 healthy way. You’re also going to find out that I’m a total Disney geek. I don’t know if it started with the Read-Along records (“When Tinker Bell waves her wand – bbblllliiiinnnggg – turn the page!”) or the Disneyland book my grandfather gave me around age 3, but however the innoculation happened, it was very effective. I’m happy that my kids share my passion, and I’m even happier that Portland has one of the fancy-shmancy new Imagination Park Disney Stores!

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Author Page for Jeannette – Page 3

May 08,

2014

Recipe for Coconut Cream Pie Day

by Jeannette

Coconut Cream Pies are simply the best! That soft, dreamy texture — the pudding-like consistency paired with some toasted coconut flakes — nestled in a flaky pie shell with some sort of meringue or whipped-cream top! It’s a sort of tropical island comfort food that you could imagine Betty Crocker moms cooking in Hawaii, or Mary Ann serving up on Gilligan’s Island.

There are many standard versions of this recipe, but I like adding just a bit more nuttiness in the flavor profile of my version. Read More→

Categories : Recipes

Tags : coconut deserts, coconut recipes, deserts, pies

Apr 20,

2014

Poems to Celebrate Lima Bean Respect Day

by Jeannette

The poor lima bean. Picked out of vegetable soup, snubbed by children everywhere – it just doesn’t create much culinary excitement. Some people (ok, one band) have even blamed it for the extinction of the dinosaur!

Lima Bean Respect Day

For Lima Bean Respect Day, my family decided to pen some poems to honor this maligned legume. They made me promise I wouldn’t say who wrote which, but it’s pretty easy to figure out who wrote the last one.

Categories : Events

Tags : Lima Beans, poems, vegetables

Apr 09,

2014

I May Sound Like My Mother, But…

by Jeannette

When I was a teenager, I played outside, went to the lake, “laid out,” fretted over my dreadfully white skin. Sunscreen was practically unknown then, so I was no stranger to Noxema (which seemed to be the sunburn treatment in that generation). I kinda laughed at my grandparents and even parents who mowed the yard wearing long-sleeved shirts and wide-brimmed hats. As I got older, I heard them talk about skin cancer checks and suspicious moles, but that sort of things was still years in my future. Read More→

Categories : Life Hacks

Tags : health tips, tanning

Apr 07,

2014

Chocolate Diamonds Are Just Clever Marketing

by Jeannette

I like to think that I am unique, but I am just like many other women in one respect: I have a weakness for shiny things and pretty rocks. I always wished I’d been born in April so the diamond would be my birthstone, but fortunately it’s a gem that isn’t confined to one month.

I’m not a big fan of colored diamonds, or at least I wasn’t until I saw my first chocolate diamond. “Ooo,” I thought, “how exotic! How special! Just like me!” My sweet husband surprised me with a gorgeous necklace one Christmas, nestled in a box of my favorite chocolates. “Best of both worlds,” he said, “for my best girl.” Could it get any sappier? I wore that diamond every day for months. Read More→

Categories : Bling

Tags : brown diamonds, chocolate diamonds, diamonds, jewelry

Apr 01,

2014

April Food Celebrations

by Jeannette

I will admit that I enjoy any day that celebrates food, because I haven’t met (ingested) many foods I haven’t liked. But April is, I think, my favorite month of food. I think you’ll see why before we even get through the first week!

April Food Celebration Days:

National Sourdough Bread Day. Sourdough is actually a fascinating culinary science project –
National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. ‘Nuff said.
PB & J
National Chocolate Mousse Day. Oh.yes. And don’t panic: here’s a yummy swap.
National Caramel Day. The possibilities are ENDLESS!
National Caramel Popcorn Day. Try Dirt Candy’s delicious Popcorn Pudding recipe, serviced with caramel popcorn on the side!
Coffee Cake Day. I haven’t actually tried any of these yet, but I’m leaning toward the Blueberry.
National Empanada Day. You can make empanadas with everything from beef to fruit to s’mores! Be creative!
National Cinnamon Crescent Day. These are really so easy to make, but I have a cheat for the sugar/spice mixture: a friend gave me Spiced Vanilla Bean Sugar from the Savory Spice Shop, and it’s really hard to beat. I do add extra cinnamon. Read More→

Categories : Events

Tags : April Food, food days, food events, food festivals

Apr 01,

2014

Ten Awesome (and Harmless) April Fool’s Pranks

by Jeannette

I’m not a consistent April Fools’ prankster, but I do always enjoy reading or seeing good pranks – as long as I’m not the victim! Here are some of my favorites.

Freeze your kids’ morning cereal. [ http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikespohr/awesome-april-fools-day-pranks-your-kids-will-totally-fal #4]
Replace the cream filling in Oreos with something nasty like toothpaste. [http://www.viralnova.com/awful-april-fools-pranks/ #15]
Cut a bunch of brown construction paper into the shape of the letter E and put in the container you usually use for baked goodies, then tell your family you made “brown Es.” No, they won’t appreciate that these “special” brownies have extra fiber!
Put googly eyes on everything in the refrigerator. Read More→

Categories : Events, Life Hacks

Tags : April Fools Day, pranks

Mar 29,

2014

Chess Pie Recipe Video

by Jeannette

I just created a video how-to for my Chess Pie Recipe that I recently wrote about. Check it out and let me know what you think!

The final, finished product — chess pie with one slice removed already!

Here’s the video:

Categories : Recipes

Tags : chess pie, desserts, pies

Mar 27,

2014

Are Coupons Worth It?

by Jeannette

I like to think of myself as a frugal shopper. I look at the sale circulars, subscribe to “deal” websites, and clip coupons. Going to the store is not a simple task for me, because I will actually read the “unit price” labels on the shelves and evaluate my options. I have felt the thrill of saving almost $100 in one trip to the grocery store by adding coupons to store specials. I’ve even watched a couple of episodes of “Extreme Couponing.” It’s obvious some people can really make coupons work for them.

I’m not one of them.

Compared to these people, I’m a very lazy shopper. My epic trip to the store was exhilarating- but exhausting, especially when I got home and had to figure out where to put all the extra stuff I’d had to buy to get the deals (you know, “save $2 on 3 boxes of blah-blah”). On my next trip to the store, I actually looked at shelf labels for products that I’d essentially ignored, thinking them inferior: store brands. In my mind, store brands equaled the white generic boxes from my childhood. The few of those my family tried did indeed turn out to be inferior; the toilet paper was thin and almost sandpaper, the crackers were pretty much the same, and the mac & cheese….well, I prefer to keep that memory blocked. Read More→

Categories : Coupons

Tags : coupons, discounts, domestic life, extreme couponing

Mar 21,

2014

Tillamook Cheese Factory | Fun Things to Do In and Around Portland

by Jeannette

I’ve lived in a few places in my life, and always tried to find interesting things to do and cool places to take visitors. Being the foodie that I am, one of my favorite places around here is the Tillamook Cheese Factory, about an hour and a half west of here. The drive itself is a treat, taking you through the Tillamook State Forest on Highway 6. Read More→