5 for Friday (even though it is Wednesday!)

Amy emailed me and let me know of the following deals she found around town:

1. At Harris Teeter, Stove Top Stuffing is on sale 5/$5 or $1 each. Use the $0.50 Stove Top coupon from SS 4/13 and you get it for Free! This deal will last until Tues, 4/26.

2. At Walgreens, Hasbro On the Go games are on sale for $6.99 ea or 3/$13.98. Use (3) $3/1 Monopoly, Connect 4, Guess Who?, Operation coupons from the Take Time to Play (4/10) insert and you can get 3 travel games for just $4! You can also find the coupons online here. This deal will last until Sat, 4/23.

3. Another tip Amy has found is that her dentist usually has high dollar coupons for toothpaste and brushes, which when combined with drugstore deals turns it into a freebie or a money maker! This week Amy had (2) $1/1 Aquafresh coupons that she used to get some free toothpaste!

4. Diapers are urgently needed at the Stony Brook North Mobile Home Park. I wrote about the tornado damage and needs here. If you have some diapers in your stockpile, please drop them off. You go down Capital and turn (if headed downtown) left onto Brentwood (beside CVS). Then you go .2 miles and turn left and you are there. Tents are on your left and this is where you want to go to drop off your donations.

5. Here is another Easter Cookie recipe that Pat emailed me. These cookies are to be prepared the night before Easter and like the Resurrection Rolls I posted about here, these meringue cookies use symbolism and the physical activity of making the cookies to explain the Easter story. I remember making these with my Anna when she was a preschooler.

Ingredients needed:

1 cup whole pecans

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vinegar

Ziploc bag

3 egg whites

wooden spoon

tape

pinch of salt

Bible

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. This is important! Don’t wait until you’re half done with the recipe.

2. Place Pecans in Ziploc and let children beat them with the wooden spoon. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, he was beaten by the Roman soldiers. (Read John 19:1-3)

3. Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp of vinegar into a mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, he was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30.

4. Add egg whites to the vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11.

5. Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the mixing bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers, and the bitterness of our own sins. Read Luke 23:27.

6. So far, the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add the cup of sugar. Tell the children that the sweetest part of the Easter story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.

7. Beat the ingredients in the bowl with a mixer on high speed for 10-12 minutes, until stiff peaks are formed. Tell the children that the white color represents the purity in God’s eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

8. Fold in the broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto a wax paper-covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid to rest. Read Matt. 27:57-60.

9. Put the cookie sheet in the oven and close the door. Turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door (use masking tape or something easy to pull off.) Explain that Jesus’ tomb was sealed. Read Matt. 27-65-66.

10. Now, GO TO BED!!! Explain that it’s okay to feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. Read John 16:20 and 22.

11. On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matt. 28:1-9.