Update on Free Food

Back in the beginning of June, I wrote a post on “Budget Friendly Food” and I listed a bunch of free offers and discounts I’d gotten for signing up for restaurant email clubs, etc.  Well, since most of those clubs have other offers periodically, as well as birthday incentives (and my birthday was recently), I have a new list of “best of” offers to share:

-free Orange Julius drink

-free dessert at Buffalo Wild Wings

-free dessert at Fazoli’s

-free fried ice cream at La Mesa

-free Like It at Cold Stone Creamery

-free frozen yogurt at TCBY

-free cookie at Bruegger’s Bagels

-buy one, get one Blizzard free at DQ

-free burger at Ruby Tuesday (and you thought it was just going to be desserts!)

-free appetizer at Famous Dave’s

-free “Rooty Tooty Fresh ‘N Fruity” meal at IHOP (or meal of equal/lesser value)

And, for those of you who are more interested in lasting free stuff rather than just food (or, if you’re trying to stay away from empty calories!), perhaps this will appeal to you:  since signing up for Westroads Mall and Oakview Mall’s email clubs in May, I’ve received $50 worth of free giftcard offers.  I’ve only been able to redeem $30 worth of them due to schedule conflicts, but that means I’ve gotten $30 worth of free stuff at those malls since May!!!  The giftcards are redeemable at every store in those malls.  Totally worth the monthly update emails I get from their clubs. 

Smith Family Favorites: Meal Edition

The following recipes are all meals I grew up eating.  My mom was an amazing cook and definitely passed on her love of food to me.  Most of these recipes are of the comfort food variety, which is always a hit with me.  

Porcupine Meatballs

1 lb ground beef (I’ve been using ground turkey lately)

½ C long grain white rice

1 tsp salt

1 T minced onion (I use onion flakes)

1 can condensed tomato soup

2/3 soup can of water

Form first 4 ingredients into meatballs, not too big.  Mix soup & water; pour over meatballs.  Cover & bake at 325 degrees for 1 ½ hrs.  (Love served with garlic mashed potatoes!)

Sour Cream Enchiladas

½ C chopped onion

½ C sour cream

1 dozen tortillas

1 C diced cooked chicken

2 cans cream soup (chicken, mushroom, celery, etc)

4.5 oz can chopped green chiles

Combine soup, sour cream & chiles; stir til smooth.  Mix together chicken & onion.  Add spoonful of sour cream mixture down the middle of each tortilla, then add a spoonful of chicken filling.  Roll each tortilla & place side by side in baking dish.  Pour remaining sauce over all & bake at 350 degrees for 20 min.  (Can add cheese on top, but not in my house, of course.)

Mom’s Microwave Meatloaf

1 lb lean ground beef or turkey

8 oz tomato sauce

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 C quick oats

1 T minced onion (onion flakes)

1/8 tsp minced garlic or garlic powder, to taste

1 ½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients into a microwavable loaf pan (I have a Pyrex one); cook 8-10 min. 

Sauce:

1/3 C ketchup

1 tsp Worchestershire sauce

1 T brown sugar

1 T mustard

Blend well; pour over loaf.  Cook an additional 3-4 minutes.

Ham Balls / Loaf

2 lbs. ground ham or ham loaf mix

2 lbs. ground beef

2 C graham cracker crumbs

2 eggs

1 ½ C milk

Mix & spread into pan or shape into balls. 

Sauce:

1 can tomato soup

1 ½ C brown sugar

¼ - ½ C vinegar

Pour sauce over loaf/balls & bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes.

Baked Pork Chops with Stuffing (from Grammy P.)

6-8 pork chops

2 C bread crumbs

1/3 C marg/butter, melted

1 C hot chicken broth or V-8

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 tsp poultry seasoning or sage

Brown pork chops in small amount of oil.  Season with salt & pepper; place in baking dish.  Combine remaining ingredients to make stuffing.  Spoon a mound of dressing on each pork chop.  Bake at 350 degrees  for about an hour.

Bacon Chicken

1 pkg dried beef

2-4 chicken breasts

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 C sour cream

4 pieces of bacon

Line 9x13 pan with dried beef (I break up into smaller pieces).  Wrap chicken with bacon and place on top of dried beef.  Mix soup & sour cream.  Pour over chicken.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Serve over long grain & wild rice mix.

5 Hour Oven Stew

2 lbs stew meat

2 tsp salt

1 onion

2 T tapioca (not pudding - just tapioca granules)

6 potatoes

3 stalks celery in large diagonal cuts

1 T sugar

6 carrots in large chunks or baby carrots, cut into chunks

1 large can V-8 juice

Put all ingredients in an oven dish or pan and cover tightly.  Bake at 325 degrees for 5 hours.  Uncover midway & stir.  Serve with biscuits or corn muffins. (This is a very thick stew.)

Baked Potato Soup from The Machine Shed

2 ½ lbs baby red potatoes, quartered

½ lb bacon, diced

1 jumbo yellow onion, diced

¼ bunch celery, diced

2 oz chicken soup base

1 qt milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 ½ sticks marg/butter

¾ C flour

1 C heavy whipping cream or ½ & ½

¼ bunch parsley, chopped or dried parsley

Boil potatoes in 1 qt water for 10 min.  Set aside.  Do not drain.  In a large pot, sauté bacon, onions & celery over medium-high heat until celery is tender.  Drain bacon grease & return bacon, onions & celery to pot.  Add milk, potato water, chicken base, salt & pepper.  Heat over medium-high heat until very hot.  Do not boil.  In large saucepan, melt marg/butter.  Add flour.  Mix well & allow to bubble, stirring for 1 min.  While stirring soup, constantly add the flour & marg mixture slowly.  Continue stirring until soup is thick & creamy.  Stir in potatoes, parsley & cream.  Serve while hot.  Garnish with shredded Cheddar, fried bacon bits & chopped green onions.  (We love Tastefully Simple’s Bacon Bacon for bacon bits.)

Savory Beef Skillet

1 lb ground beef

¾ C onion, chopped (or onion flakes)

1/8 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp oregano

Dash of pepper

1 ½ C tomato juice

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 C Minute Rice

In large skillet, brown meat & onion; drain grease.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil; simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Mexican Chicken Casserole

3 C cooked chicken, diced

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can Rotel tomatoes or 12 oz salsa

1 medium onion, chopped

Broken up Doritos or tortilla chips

Shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)

Mix soups & salsa/tomatoes together.  In dish, layer ½ Doritos, chicken, onion, soup mixture & cheese.  Repeat, ending with cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 

Sunday Dinner (aka Pot Roast)

4-5 lb beef roast (arm roast preferred)

1 pkg Lipton’s beefy mushroom soup mix (or beefy onion or onion)

Peeled potatoes

Peeled carrots or baby carrots

Small peeled onions, if desired

Brown roast on both sides in Dutch oven or roasting pan.  Sprinkle dry soup mix over roast.  Cover tightly and put in oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  After an hour, put carrots, potatoes & onions around roast.  Cover tightly & return to oven at 275 degrees for 2 -2 ½ hours.  After removing meat & veggies, use drippings to make wonderful gravy. 

Hot Chicken Salad

3 C cooked chicken, cubed

1 C diced celery, optional

1 – 2 C cooked long grain rice

1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained

½ C milk

¾ C Miracle Whip

1 T lemon juice

2 T finely chopped onion (or onion flakes)

3 hard cooked eggs, diced

1 can cream of chicken soup

Mix all ingredients together & put in 9x13 dish.

Topping:

1 C cornflake crumbs

¼ C melted marg/butter

½ C slivered almonds

Spread on top & bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Seafood Pasta

4 T marg/butter

½ C flour

Milk, as desired

1 can chopped clams

Other seafood, such as shrimp or crab

Garlic

Salt & pepper, as desired

Melt marg/butter, add flour & garlic; stir over low heat until flour has been absorbed.  Add milk while stirring over low heat.  It will bubble and get thick so keep adding milk & let cook until it’s the thickness you like.  It’s good if it’s fairly thick before adding the clams because the juice will thin it down.  Don’t let it boil after you add the clams, to avoid the clams getting tough.  Add rest of seafood, salt & pepper, to taste.  Serve over cooked pasta. 

My family also grew up loving cooked broccoli with Hollandaise sauce (refer back to the previous Brunch post for the Hollandaise sauce recipe).  The creamy texture and crisp lemon acidity is a perfect accompaniment to the chewy green broccoli.  And, though I never loved it due to my abhorrence of sauerkraut, most of the rest of the gang loves Canadian bacon or bratwurst & sauerkraut pizza.  Just a few of our favorite things!

Smith Family Favorites: Brunch Bunch

Continuing what I started, I’m now going to give you some of my family’s favorite breakfast or brunch recipes.  Some of these may strike you as odd, but I assure you they’re delicious!  Our family has sometimes been known for the “odd” but also known for good food (I like to think).

Mom’s Microwave Monkey Bread

¼ C butter/marg

½ C brown sugar

½ tsp cinnamon

1 T water

7.5 oz Pillsbury Flaky Layers biscuits (comes in 4 pack)

Microwave butter, sugar, cinnamon & water for 1 min or until butter is melted & sugar dissolves.  Cut biscuits in half with kitchen shears.  Mix well.  Spread into greased microwave bunt pan (must have!).  Microwave 2 ½ min or until biscuits are no longer doughy.  Flip over onto plate to serve.

German (Baked) Pancakes – similar to a popover puff

1 C flour

6 eggs

1 C milk

4 T melted marg/butter

½ tsp salt

Place all ingredients in blender until well mixed.  Pour into greased pan (bar pans work best – double the recipe for a jelly roll size pan).  Bake at 450 degrees for 20 min.  Serve with melted butter & powdered sugar.

Scrambled Pancakes

4 eggs

1 C milk

1 tsp salt

2 T sugar

4 T butter/marg

1 ½ C flour

Beat eggs well before adding milk, salt & sugar.  Add flour & mix well.  Melt marg/butter in skillet until hot.  Pour batter into skillet.  Stir & chop as it cooks until contents are similar in size & shape to scrambled eggs.  Serve with syrup or melted butter & powdered sugar. 

Homemade Hashbrowns

Potatoes, unpeeled & washed

2 T canola oil

Cookie’s Seasoning

Cut potatoes into small chunks.  Heat oil in large skillet.  Spread potato chunks into skillet; sprinkle with seasoning.  Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are soft.  Sprinkle with seasoning, if necessary.

Matt’s Oven Bacon – truly amazing!

1 lb. thick sliced bacon

Brown sugar

Line jelly roll pan with tin foil.  (He says Walmart’s brand heavy duty foil is the best for nonstick.)  Spread bacon slices over foil.  Sprinkle with brown sugar.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 – 30 min (the thicker the slices, the longer it will take to bake).

Goldenrod Eggs

6 T butter/marg

½ - ¾ C flour

3-4 C milk

1 hard boiled egg per person + 1 extra

Bacon bits

1 piece of toast per person (or more, depending on how hungry you are!)

Melt butter/marg in large fry pan; after melted, add 1/2-3/4 c. flour, enough to absorb the butter.  Stir in some milk on low heat until thickened.  Then add more to make a good sauce.  Separate egg yolks from the whites.  Slice the whites and add to the sauce, then mash the yolks.  Pour sauce over toast & sprinkle with mashed yolks and bacon bits. 

Eggs Benedict

English muffins

Canadian bacon / ham

Eggs, cooked over medium or poached

Hollandaise sauce:

3 egg yolks

6 T butter/marg (butter works best)

3 T lemon juice

On low heat, stir in lemon juice with egg yolks; add butter ½ at a time, stirring the whole time.  It will slowly start to thicken.  If it separates, stir in 1 T hot water.  Pour sauce over muffin that's been topped with Canadian bacon and an egg.

When we still lived in Cincinnati, we found a little bistro that served the most amazing French toast.  And you’re thinking, “Cari hates bread.  How could she say ‘the most amazing French toast?!’”  And you’d be right on target.  I do not love French toast.  But let me describe this particular dish and see if you can’t understand why even I craved this French toast: two slices of Texas toast, dipped in vanilla bean batter, rolled in Frosted Flakes crumbs, cooked to perfection, covered with crème brulee sauce, topped with sliced bananas & whipped cream & dusted with cocoa.  Seriously.  Amazing.  Even my sister, who is not the biggest fan of bananas, loved this meal.  It also comes with a side of fresh fruit and we always ordered their homemade seasoned hashbrowns for something that cut the sweetness a bit.  Every person we introduced to this French toast has loved it.  How could you not?!  Last time we went back to visit “the Nati”, the bistro had moved, but we hunted it down and had our way with that French toast.  And we look forward to doing it again.  And again.  And again.

Smith Family Favorites: Dessert Style

I recently visited my younger brother in Illinois and while I was there, he inspired me to write a few posts with recipes that are a bit unique and beloved by our family.  Our family loves food, thanks to a mom who was a great (and, at times, innovative) cook!  I thought I’d start off with desserts.  None of this ‘saving the best for last’ nonsense!

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Cake Batter:

1 ½ C flour

1 C sugar

¼ C cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 C water

1 T vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 C oil

Mix; beat well.  Fill foil-lined muffin tins 1/3 full with batter. 

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 egg

1/3 C sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

Beat well, adding chips last to prevent melting.  Top each muffin cup with heaping spoonful of filling.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 min.

Coconut Cream Cake

1 white cake mix, plus ingredients to make cake

1 can sweetened condensed milk

4 oz cream of coconut (not coconut milk)

8 oz Cool Whip

Flaked coconut

Bake cake mix according to directions. Poke holes in it while still hot.  Mix together cream of coconut and condensed milk.  Pour mixture over cake.  Allow to cool.  Spread Cool Whip over cake and sprinkle with flaked coconut.  Refrigerate til ready to serve.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake

2 eggs, well beaten

1 C sugar

1 ½ C flour

1 tsp salt*

1 C sour cream

2 T cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Beat together; add ½ C boiling water.  Bake in 9x9 pan at 325 degrees for 20-25 min. 

*For 9x13, double recipe, but do not double salt.  Bake for 1 hr.

Frosting: (Vanilla Buttercream)

3 C powdered sugar

1/3 C marg/butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla

1-2 T milk

Mix sugar & butter in medium bowl; stir in vanilla & milk.  Beat until smooth & spreadable.  Frosts one 9x13 cake. (I halve the recipe for the 9x9 cake above.)

Butterscotch Blondies

1 C butterscotch chips

¼ C marg/butter

1 C brown sugar

2 eggs

½ tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

1 C flour

¾ tsp salt

Melt chips & butter together (I use the microwave, stirring every so often).  Add brown sugar & cool for 5 min.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Mix well.  Spread into 9x13 pan & bake for 25 min at 350 degrees. (I put into a slightly smaller bar pan; otherwise the bars will be very thin.)

Oatmeal Fudge Bars

1 C sugar

1 C brown sugar

1 C marg/butter, softened

3 C oatmeal (I use quick oats for better consistency)

2 eggs

2 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

Chocolate filling:

1 C chocolate chips (I use semi-sweet)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

½ C butter/marg

Cream sugars & marg/butter.  Add remaining ingredients & divide mix in half.  Spread half in an ungreased 9x13 pan.  For filling, combine all ingredients in saucepan & stir over low heat until melted.  Pour filling over mixture in pan, then sprinkle/crumble remaining mixture on top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min.  Let cool before cutting.

Texas Sheetcake Brownies

2 C sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 C flour

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

½ C oil

½ C buttermilk

½ C butter/marg

4 T cocoa

1 C water

Frosting:

½ C butter/marg

4 T cocoa

6 T milk

1 lb. powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Chopped nuts, optional

Beat eggs & add sugar, then remaining ingredients.  Melt butter & water together.  Combine butter mixture with egg mixture.  Spread batter into a greased jelly roll pan.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  For frosting, bring butter, cocoa & milk to a rapid boil.  Remove from heat.  Add powdered sugar & vanilla.  Frost while brownies are hot & sprinkle with nuts, if desired.

Mudballs

1 C peanut butter

½ C butter/marg

2 C powdered sugar

3 C rice krispies

1 tsp vanilla

1 C chocolate chips (I use semi-sweet)

Melt chips & butter together.  Add other ingredients & mix well.  Roll into balls & refrigerate for 15-20 min.  (This is great to make with kids!)

Mom’s Ice Cream Mix

6 eggs, beaten til foamy

½ C sugar per egg, added gradually

1 pint whipping cream

1 quart ½ & ½

½ tsp salt

2 T vanilla

Fill with milk up to line on canister

Granola Bars

1 C brown sugar

¾ C butter/marg

4 C oatmeal (I use quick oats for better consistency)

¼ C honey

1 C chocolate chips (I use semi-sweet)

½ C chopped pecans, optional

Melt butter/marg, then stir in brown sugar.  Add remaining ingredients, chips last to prevent melting.  Stir well.  Press firmly in an even layer into a 9x13 pan (I use a slightly smaller bar pan for thicker bars).  Bake for 25-30 min at 350 degrees or until golden brown.  Cool before cutting. 

Aunt Jeanie’s Fudge

3 C semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 ½ tsp vanilla

Chopped walnuts, optional

Dash of salt, optional

Melt chips & milk in microwave, stirring occasionally.  Add salt (optional).  Add walnuts (optional).  Add vanilla.  Mix well.  Spread into 9x9 pan.  Cool & cut.

Fresh Peach or Strawberry Pie

Graham cracker crust or baked pie shell

Fresh fruit, ready to fill crust

1 C sugar

3 T cornstarch

1 C water

2-4 T peach or strawberry jello (I usually use regular, not sugar-free)

Cook sugar, cornstarch & water until clear.  Add jello.  Pour over fruit in pie shell or crust.  Chill.  Serve with Cool Whip.

Funfetti Cookies

1 pkg. Pillsbury Funfetti cake mix
1/3 c. oil
2 eggs
1 can Vanilla Funfetti frosting

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl combine cake mix, oil, and eggs. Stir by hand until thoroughly moistened. Stir in sprinkles from cake mix (if separate). Use cookie scoop for desired size of cookies. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with bottom of glass dipped in sugar. Bake 6-8 minutes until edges are golden brown. Cool 1 minute. Remove from cookie sheet. Frost while warm. Store in tightly covered container.

Candy Time!

Who doesn’t love candy?!  Its melt-in-your mouth (or hand) delicious!  One of life’s simple pleasures.  But my husband and I can have very different candy preferences.  I will always choose the almond variety over the peanut butter (aka M&M’s, among other things).  I sometimes like fruity options rather than just rich, chocolaty ones.  Jake really isn’t into fruit in any form.  Sometimes I just want a good, smooth chocolate, which is pretty much something he’d never choose for himself.  And when it comes to milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips in our cookies, we’re split on that decision as well.  (I prefer traditional semi-sweet.  Which is odd since I grew up with giant milk chocolate chips, but I always wanted the “Nestle Tollhouse” ones I saw on TV instead, so that’s probably where that comes from.)  Most times I also like a little crunch in my munch, either nuts or wafers or cookies, even pretzels. (Hello, Take Five!  Though I haven’t loved the new pretzel M&M’s yet for some reason.)  Jake is a peanut butter cup, 3 Musketeers, Reese’s Fast Break guy.  I don’t even understand the Reese’s Fast Break!  Peanut butter, nougat – where’s the substance?!  Where’s the nutty layer breaking those other two up?!  Nasty.  And no matter how old I get, hard candy has never and apparently will never appeal to me.  Thanks but no thanks, suckers!  (This does not apply to the rock candy mentioned below, however, which is in a category of coolness all its own.)

Here are a few of my favorite (candy) things:

-Skittles & Starburst tie for my favorite fruity treats.  Though they are very different in form they have one thing in common: the strawberry options are by far the best.

-Of the Almond variety: M&M’s, Mars bars (WAY better than Snickers if given the option), Almond Joy, Hershey’s bar with almonds.

**Nestle used to make a white chocolate bar with almond pieces that was simply amazing; similar to the Hershey’s Cookies & Cream bars but even better.  Can we get a petition going to bring it back?!

-Nostalgia wins:  rock candy, Black Jack gum or anything black licorice-flavored, Big League chew, circus peanuts (my dad used to hide these in his office drawer at the church for special treats).

-Anything coconut will catch my eye.  My sister-in-law, Christine, used to spoil me with Key Lime Coconut patties that were dipped in chocolate on one side.  Fantastic!  I believe she purchased them at Cracker Barrel. 

-Lindt’s Lindor Truffle balls are my very top chocolate pick and the White Chocolate are the only way to go for me.  They do have many flavors for the white chocolate haters, though.  The melt-in-your-hand-then-mouth creamy center is a truly eye-drooping indulgence. 

Easy Stuffed Cornish Hens

Now that it’s getting to be a bit more “fallish” weather out, my cooking mind is turning to those cool-weather comfort recipes.  This one is sometimes a special treat for us if we stay in on Valentine's Day or something.  It looks and tastes pretty fancy but it’s really so simple.

Stuffed Cornish Hens

6.2 oz pkg fast-cooking long grain & wild rice mix
1 small onion, chopped
2 T butter/marg, divided
1 can cream of mushroom soup
4 oz can mushrooms, drained
2 to 4 Cornish game hens
salt & pepper

Cook rice according to pkg directions.  In small skillet, saute onion in 1 T butter/marg until tender.  Stir in the soup, mushrooms & prepared rice.  Sprinkle inside & outside of hens with salt & pepper.  Stuff with rice mixture.  Place in a greased shallow roasting pan; cover with foil.  Bake at 400 degrees for 40 min.  Remove foil.  Melt remaining butter; brush over hens.  Bake 25-35 min longer or til juices run clear & meat thermometer reads 180 degrees for hens & 165 for stuffing.

**Notes:  I sometimes skip the onion part, just adding onion flakes & the 1 T butter to the rice mix.  I also use spray butter for the outside of the hens.  You can leave out the mushrooms if you don’t like them, and you could use any kind of cream soup.

My favorite part is the stuffing, especially the part that gets crispy on the outside of the hen, but is still infused with the meat juices.  Yum.  Hope you like it! 

Brand Battles

Maybe it’s because my mom always bought generic brands of food items or maybe it’s because it’s they’re cheaper, but I have no problem buying a generic brand of food, with very few exceptions.  Really, I have more brand loyalty when it comes to paper towels (Viva!), toilet paper (Charmin Ultra Strong, though I’ve recently been tempted to buy the Ultra Soft instead) and Clorox Wipes (HAS to be Clorox – they don’t streak like even Lysol ones do).  

However, my husband doesn’t have the same carefree attitude about generic brands, especially when it comes to Macaroni & Cheese.  For him it has to be Kraft original.  Nothing else will do.  (And, yes, he eats original Kraft Mac ‘n Cheese, even though it’s CHEESE.)  Even when the store is out of Kraft original and I’m forced to buy a couple generic boxes.  He swears that they (generics) taste funny and so he’s scared to even try them.  They sit on the shelf until I break down and just eat them myself.  And they taste the same to me.  And are about a third of the price.  Whatever.

Recently I had a discussion with some friends about ketchup.  Apparently they will only buy Heinz and definitely will NOT buy Hunts.  Funny since my husband has the same hatred of Hunts.  But his mom will only buy Hunts.  That cracks me up.  I also remember having a conversation some years back with a friend in Cincinnati that will only use Philadelphia cream cheese.  She swears to its far superiority over generic brands.  I cannot tell one little bit of difference. 

Here is a short list of items that have had brand war waged over them in our house & others:

-         Oreos (only brand name for us)

-         Soda (no generics here)

-         Ranch dressing (only original Hidden Valley Ranch will do & in large quantities at that)

-         Pickles (I just discovered that our Walmart does carry more than just Vlasic and a generic brand – Claussens are located in the lunchmeat section.  Weird.  How often have I shopped there & never noticed that?!  Definitely try Famous Dave’s sweet & spicy pickles sometime – they’re amazing!!)

-         Cereal (we go generic on this as much as possible, though not with Cheerios or Honey Nut Cheerios – those generics are always off on texture for me)

-         Cool Whip (I’m good with generics usually)

Have you waged any brand battles?