AuntJamelle

We buy EVERYTHING from Menards!!!! We call ourselves "Menardians" Super excited for BF! Looking to do mainly online sales this year again!

Thank you SO much! Not quite sure how I missed that!!! Thank you, thank you!

I totally apologize if I am missing this! I'm having a really hard time telling when some stores are starting their sales - for example, Target. Yes, it starts on 11/22 but what time? What time zone? I've looked at the sale ad fine print and no joy. The Kohls ad was super clear on dates and times though. Just trying to figure out what my level of sleep deprivation is going to be! I thought in the past that there was an area here on the forums dedicated to planning online shopping strategies but I'm not seeing that either? Was surprised as I thought with things as they are this year that more emphasis would be on shopping online than ever before. If that info is gathered and available somewhere and someone can point me to it I truly appreciate it!

Is it just me or were certain things a better deal in the early sale? Versus the BF prices? The throws for example for one...

AGREED, Suzy!! NOT impressed by the ad at all. BOGO50% does not trip my trigger, let me tell you! lol I also loved the baking supplies deals!

This is something my MIL has made for ages - all the boys in my husband's family love it - it is really very good- especially if served with Cool Whip or freshly whipped cream! She adds celery to hers - I have NOT included that in recipe below - just not my thing in a recipe like this - but rhubarb is a nice alternative. Or you can just omit and it works out fine! Cranberry Jello Mold 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts 1 bag cranberries, fresh or frozen 1 large box black cherry jello 1 large box orange jello (mandarin flavor) 2 cups peeled, chopped apples 2 cups grapes (purple seedless cut in half) Optional: 1 cup finely diced rhubarb, frozen is fine 1 cup frozen OJ concentrate 1 cup sugar Wash and putt cranberries in food processor or just very finely chop- then put in 3-4 quart pot with orange juice, sugar, both boxes of jello and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar and jello are dissolved. Take off heat and cool. When cooled add rest of ingredients and put in mold and chill until firm. Cranberry Gorgonzola Tossed Salad This salad is GOOD! It serves a big crowd! 2/3 c. vegetable oil ½ c. seasoned rice vinegar 1 ½ tsp. Dijon mustard 2 cloves garlic, pressed 3 - 5 heads Romaine Lettuce, rinsed, patted dry, torn into pieces (just fill a BIG bowl) 2 Granny Smith apples, diced 2/3 c. coarsely chopped walnuts 1 bag dried cranberries (use less if desired, just eyeball it!) 8 oz. crumbled Gorgonzola cheese 12 oz to 1 lb crumbled bacon ½ med. Sweet onion, thinly sliced Dressing: Combine oil, rice vinegar, mustard and garlic several hours in advance (mason jar good for this!). Refrigerate. Chill remaining ingredients before combining in a large bowl. Pour dressing sparingly over salad; toss gently. Serve immediately. Roasted Butternut Squash with Kale and Almond Pecan Parmesan 2-2.5 pound butternut squash 2 lg. cloves garlic, minced 2-3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley or 1 T dried 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt (Kosher salt works well too - if using table salt reduce to ¼ tsp) 1 cup de-stemmed and roughly chopped Lacinato kale (you can omit this if desired or you can’t find, I've used regular Kale too) Almond Pecan Parmesan 1/4 cup slivered almonds 1/4 cup pecans 1 tbsp Parmesan Cheese (grated from the can) 1/8th tsp fine grain sea salt (Kosher fine, Table Salt I would just use a pinch) 2-3 tsp extra virgin olive oil 1. Preheat oven to 400F and lightly grease a casserole dish with oil. 2. Peel the squash. Thinly slice off the bottom and top and then slice through the middle lengthwise to make two halves. Remove seeds & guts with a grapefruit spoon or ice cream scoop. Chop two halves into 1-inch chunks and place into casserole dish. 3. Add minced garlic, parsley, oil, and salt into casserole dish and stir until well combined with the squash. Do not add the kale yet. 4. Cover casserole dish with a lid (or tin foil with a few holes poked) and bake at 400F for about 45 minutes. 5. Meanwhile, process the parmesan ingredients together until chunky (or just chop by hand and mix in a bowl). Make sure to leave lots of nut pieces for texture. 6. After about 45 mins (or when squash is just fork tender), remove from the oven and reduce heat to 350F. Stir in the chopped kale and stir the parmesan mixture gently into the squash. Bake for another 5-8 minutes, until the nuts are lightly toasted. Watch closely so you don’t burn them. Remove & serve! This. Is. HEAVEN on a plate! #truth

Free shipping on $50 order or more for me - so that worked out well! Got 2 throws and several tops for DS - not a bad start to BF 2019!!!!

Does anyone know if they are still doing rebates on things during the 1 day sale today?

I hide everything upstairs in black trash bags - once wrapped I put back in the trash bags Everything I buy is tracked on a Google Word doc that I can access from anywhere...I keep track by each person what I have gotten, what I plan to get, what is wrapped so far, stocking stuffers (if applicable), etc. It's worked well!

My baking list this year is as follows: Chunky Chocolate Gobs (Big chocolate cookies with chopped up Oreos, Mounds candy bars + choc chips) Browned Butter Mocha Caramel Cookies Sea Salt Butterscotch Pretzel Cookies Lemon Snowballs Gingersnaps (SO good - nothing like store bought!) Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Cookies Kieflees (Spelling wrong!!! How DO you spell that word??? - OLD recipe - dough wrapped around sweetened ground pecan filling - SO good) Pecan Sandies Cocoa Kiss Cookies White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies Drop Style Sugar Cookies Chocolate Cherry Blossom Cookies Butterfinger Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe made with Dark Choc, Dried Cranberries and slivered Almonds I bake and freeze ahead of time - have for years - which is the only way I get this long list done in time!!!

A Christmas Story!!!! ??? "Seeing is believing, but sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we can't see."

I'm getting excited too!!! I think I'll go back and review my shopping lists from Black Friday's past - just to pass the time I'm curious to see what the weather ends up being like here for BF this year - all signs point to an early and colder winter from what I'm reading and hearing people say. We might just have a white BF and a white Christmas (finally!!!) this year!

Sept 1st!!! Even though it is always still hot!!! Will be getting out Halloween this weekend!!!

I started wrapping early this year - knew I'd be focused on our Disney trip in Sept. Have a nice stash upstairs all ready to go. I only have to hide DS's presents - DH never goes up there Going to try and wrap some every weekend between now and Christmas, as possible. Even if only for an 1/2 hour - every little bit helps. I can leave the supplies out upstairs which is helpful.