Bachelor on the Cheap

Don't buy this.....

By Mike Thayer

I love these things!  Snack Factory, the originator of pretzel crisps created its flagship product back in 2004.  The flat pretzels are tasty by themselves, great for dipping and hold up like crackers with toppings!  

Eat them right out of the bag, dunk them in some Ranch dressing or French Onion dip, or enjoy them topped with meats, cheeses and/or veggies.

A 7.2 ounce bag of Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps will cost you around $2.99 at mainstream grocery stores like HyVee, Meijer or Kroger.  That's not a bad price, but why do that when you can get essentially the same snack and snack volume for $1 cheaper?

Enter Clancy's Pretzel Slims...

Buy this instead!

They cost just $1.99 at Aldi for the same amount of pretzels.  Sure it's a knock off, but they taste just as good, dip just as well, top every bit as nicely as the Snack Factory original.  I can't tell the difference in taste in a side-by-side taste comparison and the breakage in the bag is about the same.

For $1 less and no sacrifice in taste or quality, I'm buying the Clancy's version! 

$pend Wisely My Friends.....

By Mike Thayer

Blended and flavored whiskeys are red hot right now, consumer demand for brown spirits continues to rise with American Whiskey in particular seeing some phenomenal sales growth.

Regular readers know that I am a fan of flavored whiskey, I've always got a bottle of something in my freezer for a chilled shot or a flavored specialty in the liquor cabinet to enjoy on the rocks.  My favorite in all this tasting fun so far, has been Yukon Jack Jacapple.

After today's tasting, that may have changed....

Enter, Skrewball Peanut Butter Flavored Whiskey.

I think this was perhaps the best chilled shot in a flavored whiskey I've ever had....

Good whiskey and peanut butter of all things, is an OUTSTANDING pairing!  As the whiskey maker's website boasts, "Little did you know, these two blend together quite phenomenally."

That is absolutely, 100% correct!

My neighborhood liquor store has been offering this in the sample size to see if it's popular enough to put on the shelves, and it's been selling like hotcakes!  TIP:  Taking advantage of those sample size offerings is a fantastic way to find out if you like a particular liquor enough to buy a full size bottle.  Samples typically cost between $1 and $3.  If you find you don't like something in the sample size, there's no full size bottle buyer's remorse.

Skrewball is a bit on the sweet side, I liked it on the rocks as well, but it is best as a chilled shot.  It's also quite good in making some unique drink combinations.  Mixed with some cranberry juice, you get that peanut butter and jelly feel.  Mix a half shot of Creme de Cacao and a half shot of Skrewball together and you get a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup kind of thing going on.  Here's a few other ideas:

Suggested Drink Recipes:

Peanut Butter & Jelly Old Fashioned

1.5 oz. Skrewball Whiskey
.75 oz. Rye Whiskey
4 Dashes of Angostura Bitters
1 Maraschino Cherry and a splash of juice

Combine all these familiar ingredients over ice in a cocktail glass. Stir and allow these old friends to mingle until chilled. Garnish with a cherry and an orange peel.

A Peanut Butter White Russian

1.5 oz. Skrewball Whiskey
.5 oz.Vodka
.5 oz. Coffee liqueur
1 oz. Cream of coconut
1 oz. Heavy cream

Allow all ingredients to collude in a mixing glass with ice. Shake. Pour into cocktail glass. Garnish with cinnamon and sugar (optional).

Priced at about $25 for a 750ml bottle, it costs a little more than your average flavored whiskey, but it's WELL worth it.  I'm giving Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey 5 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  Peanut Butter and Whiskey, what a fantastic pairing!

By Mike Thayer

When you don't want or need to cook up a big bird or perhaps you prefer to carve bone-free meat, buying a boneless turkey breast has many advantages.

Plenty of bird for two people plus leftovers, I picked up a 3 pound Kirkwood turkey breast at Aldi for $8.99.   Found in the frozen section, the turkey comes with a gravy packet and is wrapped in a butcher's twine net.  The net holds the breast tightly together, which helps keep the breast moist during cooking.  There's advantage number one, you don't have to net it yourself.

Advantage number two, because it's only three pounds and it's boneless, there's far less thawing time.  A big 15-20 pound bird can take days to thaw in the refrigerator - 24 hours for every 4-5 pounds of bird - and think of all that space being taken up waiting for that big turkey to thaw out!

I brined my turkey, guaranteeing a moist bird no matter the cooking method, be it a traditional oven roast, grilling, smoking or frying.  For my brine recipe, click here and review the poultry page.  There's another advantage, you don't need a huge container to brine a turkey breast.  Not everybody has that kind of refrigerator space, let alone a second refrigerator to brine.  You could do a cooler set up, but that can be a hassle.

After brining for 24 hours, dabbing the turkey breast dry and applying a dry rub it was ready to go in the oven.  Only 90 minutes is needed at 350 degrees, skin side down in a cast iron skillet.  I basted the bird with a combination of garlic, butter, a squeeze of lime juice and a hint of cayenne pepper.

Letting it rest for about 10 minutes after taking it out of the oven, the bird carved up super easy and boy was this bird moist and delicious!  And using the cast iron skillet crisped up the skin perfectly.  Yes, sneaking bites of turkey while carving was a MUST!

A bit before that bird came out of the oven, I started to prepare the gravy that came in a packet with the bird.  The packet recommends using pan drippings in the preparation and that is a MUST do, as the gravy was a bit unremarkable on it's own.  Along with some of those pan drippings, additional adds of garlic, black pepper and another pinch of the cayenne pepper made the gravy pretty decent.  It was a bit meager in portion however, barely enough for two people, nothing leftover.

Very reasonably priced, the Kirkwood boneless turkey breast is easy peasy to prep, roast, carve and enjoy!  It's definitely a repeat buy  and I give it 4 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.

By Mike Thayer

What to do with leftovers?

What else can you do with it?

Lots.

There's the obvious, make a sandwich.  Some turkey, Muenster cheese, a little mustard between a couple slices of bread or in a bun....  It's another dose of YUM!

You could grab a box of scalloped potatoes from your pantry, make the potatoes per the box instructions, chunk up some of that turkey, throw that in before popping those taters in the oven and boom!  Dinner.  To add a little kick, finely dice up some jalapeno pepper to include in the mix.  TASTY!

You could do a similar thing by grabbing that box of mac & cheese from the pantry and in about 10 minutes, you'll have another lunch or dinner.  With noodles in mind you could also simply grab a jar of Alfredo sauce, boil up some noodles for an impromptu Turkey Alfredo.  Heck, add some chopped turkey to a package of chicken flavored Ramen for a quick meal.

Dice some turkey up and put it in the fridge for later use.  You can quickly grab that diced turkey for a number of dishes.....  Diced turkey on a salad;  turkey fried rice; turkey & assorted veggies along with some broth in the crock pot for a nice soup; Grab some tortillas to make turkey & cheese quesadillas; open up a tube of crescent rolls and bake them up with turkey, cream cheese and green onion; try some turkey, peas, carrots and gravy over biscuits.

There's all kinds of things you can do with leftover turkey, have fun with it!

Here's one of my favorite recipes for leftover turkey, Scalloped Turkey!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked turkey meat, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2-1/4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 box of turkey or chicken flavored stuffing mix
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 cup celery, chopped
• 1 small can of mushrooms (4 ounces), drained
• 1/4 Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, then stir in the flour, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, lower the temperature while constantly stirring until the mixture is bubbly and golden.  Gradually whisk in 2 cups of the chicken broth and the cup of heavy cream, continuing to whisk, simmering for about 4 minutes.  Add the turkey meat and set the sauce aside.  In a saucepan over medium heat, saute the onion, celery and mushrooms in the olive oil, stirring for a couple minutes until the onions and celery starts to caramelize.  Add the garlic powder, the seasoning mix for the stuffing, the bread cubes and the remaining 1/4 cup of chicken broth.  Stir to incorporate.  Pan spray a large casserole dish, pour in the bread/veggie mixture, then pour in the turkey sauce.  Top with the grated Parmesan, cover and bake for about 45 minutes.  Uncover and bake another 10 minutes until the Parmesan is golden, brown and delicious.  Enjoy!

$pend Wisely My Friends.....

By Mike Thayer

Intrigued by the use of Sourdough bread, I've been wanting to try this sandwich offering from Spangles, I love Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches and I wanted to see how the Spangle's version stacks up to the classic and iconic East Coast sandwich.

There is no description of the Philly on the Spangles website, which is a HUGE missed opportunity by the Kansas based restaurant.  Why on earth Spangles does not promo their product on their own website, only Spangles management knows....  Taking the time to describe a menu in delicious detail pays HUGE dividends on Google, which drives 70% of online search business.  Type in "cheeseburger" for example on a Google search and McDonald's pops up in the top spot.  Why?  Because they've taken the time to describe their burgers, far beyond just a picture and a price.  Type in "chicken sandwich" and you get McDonald's, Popeyes, and Chick-fil-A in the top spots.  Descriptions matter.  Spangles, are you paying attention?

So in describing the sandwich because Spangles doesn't care to, their Philly Cheese Steak sandwich is made with a generous portion of perfectly seasoned steak, sauteed with fresh green pepper and red onion, it's a marriage of flavors complimented with not just one but TWO slices of melted Swiss cheese and all that goodness is served on grilled sourdough bread that is golden, brown and delicious.....

There you go Spangles, THAT is how you promo your own menu items, and rise up in the Google search rankings.....  'jus say'n.

I got the Value Pak on this Spangles visit and the sandwich really is as good as described above.  Every bite was delicious, nicely seasoned, balanced in all those flavors, with the Swiss cheese putting it all over the top and that Sourdough bread a fantastic spin on the classic East Coast Philly hoagie roll, with the crispy-on-the-outside-fluffy-on-the-inside slices of Sourdough delivering BIG TIME on grilled and buttery notes of bread.... It was YUM in every bite!

My medium sandwich, fries and drink cost me $8.48, which is reasonably priced.  The Spangles Sour Dough Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich, packed with tender steak is worthy of a repeat buy and I'm giving it 4 out of 5 stars.

The Spangles visited on this occasion is located at:

1240 S. Rock Road, Wichita, KS. 67207.

I did the drive-thru at the dinner hour, with a few cars ahead of me the process was efficient, from time to order to paying and receiving taking maybe 5 minutes.  Service was professional, courteous and done with a smile.

By Mike Thayer

I've always got a variety of cheeses in my fridge, be it American, cheddar, provolone, pepper jack, etc. 

Cheese makes a great snack, a slice of cheese and some lunchmeat all dressed in a bit of mustard for example is very satisfying and holds off the hunger until dinner time.

If you're not familiar with Muenster cheese, you should be. It's SO versatile, it's good cold and it melts beautifully!  It's fantastic on a cold sandwich, awesome on a burger and it cubes up real nice for a cheese tray.  

Finlandia’s Muenster Cheese is deliciously creamy and buttery and it's my preferred brand to pick up. 

Here's a great combination of flavors, ham, Dijon mustard and Muenster!  It's excellent as a cold sandwich, even better as a grilled cheese!

Muenster is also excellent in a Mac & Cheese preparation.  I usually do three cheeses, American, mild cheddar and the Muenster.  It's another dose of YUM!

Costing me $7.99 at Costco for a two pound package, I'm giving Finlandia Muenster Cheese 5 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  That's a VERY wallet friendly price and a lot of cheese!  It's always a repeat buy for restocking my fridge.

$pend Wisely My Friends.....

By Mike Thayer

I've always got some kind of lunch meat on hand in my fridge, be it oven roasted turkey, black forest ham or classic deli style roast beef.

Lunch meat is a go-to snack for me, such as three slices of some turkey meat, a slice of cheddar cheese all dressed in a bit of mustard for example.  Then there are always those times when you don't feel like or have time to cook, so it's easy to craft an impromptu sandwich with a stash of cold cuts at the ready.

So shopping one day at my local grocer and in the lunch meat section, I was looking for a little change-of-pace, not wanting the regular menu of turkey, ham or roast beef.

Enter Kroger Hard Salami.....

I picked up a 7 ounce package of the salami, a meat I haven't had in quite awhile, visions of salami, mustard & cheese sandwiches piled high started dancing in my head....   Yes, I went shopping hungry.....

A snack of salami & muenster cheese

Getting back to my apartment and putting away the groceries, I had to sample the salami.  This is GOOD stuff!  The test of a good cold cut is how good it tastes on it's own, no mustard, no cheese, no bread, nothing....  This a VERY GOOD salami!

Costing under $3, I'm giving Kroger Hard Salami 4 out of 5 stars and it's definitely worthy of many repeat buys.  For the money, this is perhaps the best salami I've ever had.  Thanks Kroger!

$pend Wisely My Friends.....

By Mike Thayer

Budgeting can mean a variety of different things to different people.....

For some folks, budgeting means pay yourself first by putting 10 or 15% away in savings every paycheck, leaving the rest for bills and living.

For others, budgeting means using an accordion file or the envelope system, putting dollars in segmented categories for bills, clothes, rent/mortgage, food, entertainment, etc.

For still others, budgeting can mean "I'm going to go on a diet of Ramen for awhile so I can afford to buy that new couch."

But there's something all these budget approaches have in common that make them work....

Discipline, the ability to tell yourself "No" when tempted to purchase that delivery pizza for dinner or buy that item of clothing just because it's trendy or on sale.

That's no easy task.  But as finance guru Dave Ramsey so aptly puts it, "When you see planning a budget as simply spending your money intentionally, you can actually find more freedom to spend! Once something has been budgeted for, you’ll be able to spend that money without feeling guilty."

It's a frame of mind.

Always keep your goals in mind when tempted by impromptu and/or frivolous satisfactions like a convenient fast food meal or buying a new fishing rod that you really don't need.

The ability to say "No" leads to success.  Never mind that telling yourself "No" is WAY better than saying, "Oh Shit, I don't have enough money for the electric bill!"

Once you've covered the basics in a monthly budget, food, transportation, utilities and shelter, it becomes easier to tell yourself "No" on other things, those feel good or impulse buys. 

Here's another way to look at it, ask yourself three things before buying something that really isn't in your budget or what you haven't saved up for:

What do you have?

What do you want?

What will you give up?

Asking yourself these three questions help you think through making a purchase you may regret later. 

If you have some food in your refrigerator, but you want to order that delivery pizza, are you willing to give up that $20 you need to put gas in your car to get back and forth to work next week?   Oooops, don't get the pizza, don't go digging in the couch cushions for gas money later....  Just don't....  Eat the leftovers in the fridge.

Or how about:

You have $1,000 in savings.

You love to fish and want to buy a fishing kayak.

Will you give up the comfort of having some money in the bank should some kind of emergency pops up?  What if you need some kind of car repair?

And don't think about putting a car repair bill on plastic, that only compounds your problem.

Learning how to tell yourself "No" is WAY better than accumulating debt.

Budgeting a.k.a. planning ahead, isn't a bad thing, it's simply smart money management.  Learning how to tell yourself "No" however is the hardest part of budgeting to master.  Once you get that down though, you'll enjoy financial success.   To quote Dave Ramsey again, "Once something has been budgeted for, you’ll be able to spend that money without feeling guilty."

By Mike Thayer

Sometimes, you just don't feel like cooking....

Enter Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie, prepared on a night where I didn't feel like cooking or stopping at a fast food restaurant for junk.

This is comfort food, not fast food junk, check out the details:

• Tender White Meat Chicken
• Golden Flaky Crust Made From Scratch
• Made From Scratch Sauce
• Carrots & Peas, it wouldn't be a pot pie without!

This isn't the low quality stuff like the Banquet or Swanson brands of pot pies either, those brands skipping out on having a bottom crust and/or don't care to use just all white meat chicken in a pie....  you know, the cut of meat that most folks PREFER in a GOOD pot pie. 

Marie Callender's delivers on quality and flavor!

You get the BIG chunks of tender, all white meat chicken, a perfectly seasoned, creamy sauce and the crust is indeed golden, flaky, delicious, with the pea & carrot veggies nicely balancing everything out.  This is a well-put-together pie, a TRUE pie, with both a bottom AND top crust!

I did add some additional touches, brushing on some garlic butter and dusting the pie with Parmesan cheese for the last 10 minutes of baking....

And I don't know about you, but I like to dunk that pinched crust edge into that pie sauce, let it absorb all that creamy sauce goodness....  It's another dose of YUM!  Marie puts plenty of sauce in this pie to do just that.

I picked up a box of eight pies at Costco for $10.99.  That's just over $1.37 per pie and it's a meal, hearty and delicious!  I don't care that Banquet or Swanson is cheaper, averaging about $1 per pie and sometimes cheaper if on sale.  You get what you pay for.  Hands down, Marie Callender's is THE best of the store bought pies!

Oh, and oven baked is ALWAYS better than microwaved!  Don't be in a hurry, enjoy the oven baked way of preparing your pie, it SO makes for a better crust which is after all, the essence of a pot pie....  'jus say'n.

I'm giving Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pies 5 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  It's the best store bought pot pie out there to be had, most definitely a repeat buy!

$pend Wisely My Friends.....

By Mike Thayer

So a friend of mine invited me down to a restaurant where she tends bar.

She works at Prost in Wichita, an authentic German restaurant and beer garden located in the Revolutsia Container Park located at the corner of Central and Volutsia.

Opening in November of 2018, Prost takes pride in serving authentic German dishes, desserts and German beer! 

I've never been to this place before and I was really looking forward to it because I'm a big fan of schnitzel and of course, beer!  I know, shocker, right?  Having served in the military back in the day, I had the honor of serving via a temporary duty assignment in Wiesbaden, Germany in the early '90's and have fond memories of the food and beer experience there!  Arriving at Prost a bit after 5pm on a Friday night, I was greeted with the view of Steins flowing with beer as soon as I walked in the door and great looking plates of authentic German food being delivered to hungry patrons.

What a great sight and smiles throughout!

Wandering up to the bar, I found my friend Lori, filling up a Stein.  Yes, that's Stein, with a capital 'S'...  These aren't little pretend mugs, they're the real deal and huge.  As she finished the pour (a perfect one I might add), we said "Hi" and she asked me what I wanted to start off with.  Not really knowing, I let her make the choice for me.  As I found a seat at a nearby table, she served up a 1/2 liter "1516" which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was introduced to another patron, a regular named Larry and the owner of the establishment, Austin.  That's one of the great things about this place, they have authentic German tables/seating, a picnic bench style of seating if you will, great for striking up conversation with family, friends and strangers!  It's a VERY friendly, laid back and cozy atmosphere. 

Having checked out the menu on the Prost website prior to my arrival, I pretty much knew what I was going to order for my Friday night meal and went with the Jagerschnitzel, which is described on the menu as a breaded & fried pork cutlet topped with creamy mushroom gravy served with homemade spatzle & warm red cabbage.  Austin, the owner was proudly talking up the scratch made spatzle and being seated close to the kitchen, I  could hear the pounding and scratch making business going on!  The aromas wafting out of that kitchen were awesome too!  My meal arrived in short order and Prost NAILED it!  I haven't had schnitzel or spatzle this good since Germany!  Nicely done!  The cutlet was perfectly cooked, seasoned well, with a nice crunchy on the outside but tender and juicy on the inside delivery in each bite.   That creamy mushroom gravy was incredible and a perfect pairing for both the pork and the spatzle....  OH and that spatzle.....  It was OH MY GOOD!  And I'm not a huge cabbage fan, but let me tell you, this place knows what they're doing, it too was delicious.

Needing another beer to compliment my meal, Lori made another great choice for me and to be honest, I can't remember the name of it, nor can I remember the name of the third and final beer I tried of the night (she promised to keep a list for me of what I sampled) but each beer was better than the beer prior.  It was a "great," "greater," "greatist" beer tasting adventure!  Lori's beer selections were spot on because like fine wine, beer can be paired with your dinner choice, or as Lori did, provided me with appetizer, main course and after dinner beers.

Prost is OUTSTANDING! Great food, TOP NOTCH beer and the people are SUPER friendly! I'm kicking myself in the hind end for not checking this place out sooner and Prost gets 5 out of 5 Metro Pursuit stars!  A first time visit will most definitely turn into repeat visits.  Thanks Prost!

Prost

2721 E Central Ave, Wichita, KS, 67214

Side Note:  And when you visit, don't forget to check out Ze German Markt upstairs featuring great German treats to take home!