I don't watch or follow football, but I do see headlines and various stories -- the NY Jets have been pretty underwhelming for a very long time!

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Haven't tried everything yet but figured I'd give a report.

On meats I've tried the kielbasa, top sirloin, chicken breast and pork chop.

The kielbasa is very good but done differently than what I'm used to and a bit milder than what I'm used to. I'm used to the long sausage like what you would use in kielbasa and kraut. They are about the size of a Bratwurst which makes them nice for a sandwich.

The boneless chicken breast is a chicken breast. Nothing negative I can say but nothing special; seems the same as what you would get in a grocery store.

Pork chop is quite good and very tender. I didn't eat whole as I cut it up and used in a simple Teriyaki stir fry.

Top sirloin is extremely tender and tasty but thicker than what I'm used to having. They are about the size of a large filet but over 1 1/4 inch thick. I judge doneness by touch and, due to the thickness I was a bit under but still within my range.

On other stuff I've tried the stuffed baked taters, butter garlic baguette and apple tarts.

I like the stuffed (twice baked) taters. Normally these would have Cheddar cheese but it tastes like they use either Parmesan or Mozzarella. I find that I like this as Cheddar often overpowers a tater.

The baguettes are quite good but can't really be used as a bun as I hoped as they are diagonally partially sliced which I guess is needed for the butter/garlic to get in. Still very good as a dinner bread.

The apple tarts are to die for! Think of an apple pie but with pastry dough instead of pie crust.

Still other stuff to try but, so far, I am quite pleased.

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This is working out well. I'm mostly following instructions but not on everything. For instance the green beans with red peppers and onions says to bake but I did stove top instead. Same with the breaded chicken as I did in oil instead of baking.

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OMG! I have found that I love Omaha Steaks apple tarts. Just placed a new order and found what may be even better as I'm a berry freak. Don't know if I just didn't see or if the item is new but it is the same pastry dough tart but with blue berries, raspberries and blackberries.

Also ordered some sided I haven't tried such as Brussels sprouts with bacon and shallots. Also added a 'tray' of whipped sweet taters. When I cook I'll top with mini marshmallows. I've always loved that! It is sort of a faux candied sweet tater. Another new item for me is 2 1 pound packages of sirloin tips. Can use the tips in many ways but hope they will be good for a Stroganoff. Need to hit the local liquor store for Stroganoff as Burgundy is needed. I don't count stuff like cooking wine as part of my average food costs as I always tend to have due to doing a lot of cooking with wine. I just happen to be out right now.

I'll still have to hit local stores for some stuff but this is actually saving me money over doing all my shopping locally and the quality is really good. Let's see... what else new am I trying. Some will sound off the wall as I had no clue that they had stuff like this...
2 (14 oz. tray) Creamy Pecorino Orzo
8 (2.81 oz.) Pepper Jack Risotto Cakes
4 (3 oz.) Gourmet Jumbo Franks

What is totally cool is that I spent ~$285.00 on the order which is over $100.00 less than what I'd average at the local grocery. Even with local odds and ends I'm still saving money and eating really well.

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Very good, Jay! The tarts sure sound good!

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Glad you're enjoying your online order I've never heard of stroganoff with wine before, can't help wondering if thats a substitute for the dijon mustard that would typically be used this side of the pond... or perhaps a substitute for the optional brandy that some like to add?

As an aside, last week i finally tracked down a fish merchant in the UK who sells frogs legs and will ship them anywhere in mainland UK (typically in Europe you can only find them in a fishmonger, weird i know!).
Not cheap at £12.95 per kilo + shipping so they won't be a regular purchase (it would probably cost more than that for 2 frogs legs in a restaurant so i see it as cheap), i haven't had them for about 40 years since i last worked as a commis chef in a french restaurant and i've wanted to cook them again for almost that long but i could never find anywhere that sold them to the public, also my wife has never tried them before (some people are so squeemish about food lol) so i want her to at least try them once in her life because they are beyond delicious if cooked right.

If you look at old school recipes for stroganoff it is very simple with beef, shrooms, red wine, sour cream and nutmeg. Never saw an old school recipe that called for Dijon mustard but there are many 'new school' recipes that are not true to the dish. Red wine adds richness while the nutmeg adds the 'mystique' to the dish. There are also new school recipes that call for ground beef and other lower cost items but these are just not true to the dish.

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Don't know about being new school, i'm thinking of the way stroganoff was made in the 70's & 80's on this side of the pond.

While i'm sure many will disagree with much in the link below it does tend to show that historically red wine was not an ingredient and dijon mustard was often used:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/beef-Stroganoff

Wikipedia has a page on stroganoff but how accurate it is is open to debate, that said, it does mention mention wine in some interpretations but none of them include red wine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_Stroganoff

At the end of the day it doesn't matter how anything is cooked, all that really matters is that the person eating it enjoys it

I just do it mostly how my German grandma did. It also pretty well matches a Betty Crocker cookbook I wish I still had from the 1950s. Not unusual to have recipes from different regions be different. Italian cuisine is a good example of this.

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Since I have been using and have decided to stay with Omaha Steaks on-line store for the majority of my groceries it was time to figure out how best to use them to my advantage. Did the numbers today. I don't cheat but, if their 'store' allows, it it isn't cheating. It is just due diligence.


First I need to join their 'Steak Lovers Club' at a cost of $39.00 USD/year which is only $3.25/month. Without this there is a minimum purchase of $159 USD for free shipping and something free which isn't really a big factor but comes into play. Joining the club will drop the minimum order to zero and the cost of purchase of $159.00 USD for free shipping and the free item drops to $80.00 USD. They also 'award' points on each order and with the club the points are doubled. These points can be used as a discount on future orders.


Now comes the magic... Actually I'm pretty good at getting the best deals. Every week I get 2-3 emails from them with $30.00 USD coupons. So now that I will have no minimum purchase and only need to order $80.00 USD for the free shipping and free item it makes no sense to order once a month. Ordering once a month is done. I will order at least twice a month and possibly every week but will try twice at first to be sure there is no restriction as to how many coupons I can use in a month. This way I can use a $30.00 USD off coupon 2 or 4 times a month. This will give me a coupon discount of $60.00-$120.00 USD a month instead of $30.00 USD. Also I will get 2-4 free items instead of one. Let's say that I'm spending $320.00 USD/month with them without using a coupon. If it works out and I go all the way to 4 orders per month that amount drops to $$200.00 USD per month due to the coupons and I get 4 free items instead of 1. The free items are not trivial. Sometimes it is 4-8 free ground filet Mignon burgers which are REALLY good. Right now it seems to be either 6 Philly cheese steak sandwiches or a 2.5 pound boneless country style ham. I can literally get more groceries for well over $100.00 USD locally.


First experiment with this will be tomorrow when my Social Security and military pension hits my bank.

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That sounds like a really good plan. The coupons should specify any terms regarding limits in any fine print or perhaps there's a FAQ on their site. I would think the limitation would be only one coupon per order - "cannot be combined with any other offers" -- for example. I imagine that their cost to ship is quite low as a negotiated rate with the carrier. And their profit margin on regularly priced items is likely to be pretty high, giving them loads of wiggle room to offer the coupons.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Oh, yes! One coupon per order but the free shipping and free items are not a part of the coupon. That is automatic regardless of if a coupon is used or not depending on the order amount. The thing is... say that I need a minimum order for free shipping and/or free item. The requirement is based on the order cost before the coupon is applied. The coupon does not affect the free stuff at all.

Sure they are VERY high priced if you but individual items which is why I order bundles. When you buy a bundle the cost per item is cut in half.

<edit>

I think that the real question is whether or not I can use the $30.00 off coupon more then once a month. Since each coupon I received has a different authentication code I think I probably can. Sure, there are things that I won't likely buy such as their 10oz rib eye steaks as I'm not about to buy a 4-pack for $100.00. Still, with what has happened with beef prices in Wyoming due to the FDA, the price isn't really that far off. A year ago a 10 oz rib eye would locally cost me around $12.00. Today it would cost me close to $20.00. The cost difference is getting to be not far apart. Even at that, through online, the price would drop to under what I'd pay here. Say that I bought a pack of a dozen rib eyes... The cost per steak could then well be lower that what I could buy locally.

Still have to test some things but it is looking, even having to buy some stuff locally, like I just may be able to cut my grocery cost drastically.

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A 10 oz Rib Eye would be in the $20 range here, too. Not too long ago it would have been around 10.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Just placed an order and found another discount. Being a military vet I get an additional $10.00 off each order. LOL! At this rate they are going to end up paying me...

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Hmmm, Looking again and you get points on each order. These points can be redeemed for discounts. Right now I have 959 points. Each 400 points can be redeemed for an additional $10.00 off an order so I already have over $20.00 worth of points in only about 2 months. Got involved in the military discount thing today and forgot to sign up for the Steak Lovers Club thing which will double my points per order.

LOL! Getting even closer to them paying me...

Going serious, if you take advantage of bundles and discounts and such they are really pretty cheap yet have great quality. As an example my today's order which totally $222.00 yet, with applied discounts, I paid $182.00. Not a full month's worth of food but that is not what I want. What I ordered will be good for 2.5-3 weeks as I ordered with the full intent of ordering again to do discounts again. For $182.00 I just can't see how I could match locally. This is what I got...

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I believe your next to last sentence has a typo. Yes, for $182, that's a pretty good selection of food.

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Yeppers, a typo now fixed.

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This has nothing to do do with groceries but, since I found a military discount at Omaha Steaks, I decided to look at other on-line places I shop. So far I've checked Amazon and New Egg. While Amazon does not offer New Egg does ranging from 5-10% depending on the product. Next time I order from New Egg, which happens pretty frequently, I'll have to sign up for the discount. Of course stores that give military discounts don't just take your word for it and you have to verify your status.

There is a site called ID.me that handles this. Normally I would not put my Social Security number anywhere on-line but this is a reputable outfit that is linked with the Veteran's Admin, Social Security along with other federal and state benefit systems and a Social Security number is absolutely needed for military status verification.

The way it works is that you click the link for a military discount on the seller site and it opens a log-in for ID.me. Log in and the ID.me knows that it supposed to verify from the seller site. From my past I know how this parsing of info is done but no need for details, it just works.

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Latest Omaha order arrive today, a day early which is good as I was out of food and figured to get Chinese from across the street.

Anyway this order's free item was 6 Philly Cheese Steaks. I was expecting sandwiches but but it is just a package of six four ounce layers of super thin sliced sirloin. This is even better as I always have some sort of rolls, onion, cheese and bell peppers. With just getting the meat I can make my own as I want. Boils down to my freebie being a pound and a half of sirloin.

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Well Omaha Steaks messed up. My last order was missing a $60.00+ package but I can't complain. They readily agreed to their mistake and offered me a refund for the package or a $75.00 email gift card. Of course I took the gift card which was in my inbox within an hour. I'd call that pretty good customer service. Funny thing is that the missing package was 4 Filet Mignon that I actually ordered by mistake. Not really a fan of that cut. Give me a marbled top sirloin or rib eye.

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