E-clubs: Do you like to dine out?

If you dine out often, sign up with these restaurants to get a deal! Click the restaurant name to link to the e-club website.

Restaurant	Birthday Deal	Sign Up Deal
Applebee’s	Free Dessert	---
Arby’s	Free 12 oz milkshake	---
Au Bon Pain	Free sandwich or salad	Free travel mug
Auntie Anne’s	BOGO Pretzel	---
Bahama Breeze	---	---
Baskin Robbins	Free one scoop of ice cream	---
Benihana	$30 gift certificate	---
Bertucci’s	Free Dessert	---
Bonanza	BOGO coupon for one free steak or buffet	BOGO coupon for one free entree
Bonefish Grill	Free order of Bang Bang Shrimp or Jen’s Jamaican Coconut Pie	---
Bruster’s Real Ice Cream	Free Sugar or Cake Cone when you buy a Waffle Cone	Free Sugar or Cake Cone when you buy a Waffle Cone
Buffalo Wild Wings	Free Chocolate fudge cake or scoop of ice cream with chocolate or caramel topping	---
Burger King	---	---
California Pizza Kitchen	Free Dessert	Free Small Plate
Chic-Fil-A	---	---
Chili’s	Free dessert of choice	Free Queso
Coldstone	Buy one get one Creation - any size	---
Corner Bakery Café	FREE Bakery Fresh Sweet, like our Baby Bundt Cake, Whoopee Pie or Fudge Brownie	Free Freshly Baked Cookie
Cosi	---	---
Cracker Barrel	---	---
Dairy Queen	Buy one get one medium Blizzard, $3 off a blizzard cake	---
Denny’s	Free Grand Slam Breakfast	---
Dunkin Donuts	Free medium coffee, latte, tea, Coolatta or hot chocolate	---
Eat ‘n Park	Free dessert with purchase of entree	10% off
Elevation Burger	Free Milkshake	---
Friendly’s	Free single cone with any Friendly's purchase.	---
Hooters	10 free Boneless Wings	---
Houlihan’s	Free entrée up to $15	---
IHop	Free Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N Fruity breakfast	Free Rooty Tooty Fresh 'N Fruity breakfast
JB Dawson's	Free Dessert	---
Joe’s Crab Shack	Free Appetizer	---
KFC	---	---
Krispy Kreme	Free Donut and Coffee or fountain drink	---
Longhorn	Free Dessert	Free Appetizer
Maggiano’s	$10 off	---
Margarita's (Tio Juan’s)	$10 off	---
Max and Erma’s	---	$5 off 20 or more
Miller's in Lancaster	Buy one get one dinner	---
Moe’s Southwest Grill	Free Entree with purchase of drink	Free Cup of queso
Noodles and Company	Free Noodle Bowl	---
Old Country Buffet	Buy one adult dinner and drink, get one adult buffet free	---
Olive Garden	---	---
On the Border	Free brownie sundae or queso	Bowl of original queso or sopapillas with the purchase of one entree
Outback Steakhouse	---	250 reward points
P F Chang’s	---	Free Lettuce Wraps
Panera Bread	---	---
Pizza Hut	Free Breadsticks or Cinnamon Sticks or Baked Cinnamon Sticks with icing on next online order	Free Breadsticks or Cinnamon Sticks on next online order
Ponderosa	BOGO coupon for one free steak or buffet	BOGO coupon for one free entree
Popeyes	---	---
Qdoba Mexican Grill	Free Burrito	Free Chips and Salsa
Quiznos	---	$1 regular or $2 large
Red Lobster	$5 off two adult dinner entrees	---
Red Robin	Free burger	Free burger
Rita’s	Free regular Italian Ice	BOGO regular Italian Ice
Romano’s Macaroni Grill	Free Dessert	Free Dessert
Ruby Tuesday	Free Blondie for One, or two Gourmet cupcakes	Buy one get one free entrée up to $10
Ruth’s Chris Steak House	---	---
Sonic Drive-In	Choice of free medium Tots, 14 oz. CreamSlush Treat, or a medium Soft Drink	---
Starbucks	Free beverage, buy something within 12 months of  Rewards Card registration, birthday postcard in mailbox in 3-7 days	---
Subway	---	---
Taco John’s	---	---
Ted’s Montana Grill	---	$5 off any $20 purchase or more
Texas Roadhouse	Free appetizer or sidekick of ribs with entrée purchase	Free appetizer
TGIF	Free dessert with purchase of an entrée	Free appetizer or dessert up to $8 value
The Melting Pot	Free Chocolate Fondue	---
Tijuana Flats	---	---
Uno’s Chicago Grill	$10 off $25 or more	---
Waffle House	Free Waffle	Free Waffle
Wendy’s	$1.00 off any Premium Combo	$1.00 off any Hot ‘n Juicy Hamburgers or Premium Chicken Sandwiches
Wings to Go	5 free wings	---
Zaxby’s	Free Nibbler	Free Meal Deal

If you know of any other restaurants or can fill in some of my blanks, leave me a comment, and I'll update! I am signed up for all of these, so some I have forgotten what was received for signing up.  

Here are some other non-restaurant deals:

Movie Tavern - Free Ticket for your birthday month, free popcorn for initial sign up

Luminosity - 35% Off

AC Moore - 250 points with a purchase of $5 or more

Hot Topic - $5 off $30 or more in birthday month
 

DSW - $5 off any purchase amount in birthday month

CVS - $3.00 in birthday month, must have extra care card, will print on your receipt or at the coupon center

Favorite Foods: Vol 4

Candy Bars are not only bars.  They can be small, long, square, or circular chunks, but are in perfect snack sized packages.  They are usually chocolate based and mixed with one or two other ingredients.  Here is my list of favorites:

Reese's Peanut Butter Cup
Reese's Pieces - I pronounce it 'Ree-sees Pee-sees'
M & M's - Plain, I sort them into colors before I eat
Snickers - Nugget, caramel and peanuts
Milky Way - Nugget and caramel
3 Musketeers - Just plain nugget
Hershey Bar - Plain, but great milk chocolate
Hershey Kisses - Same great chocolate in a cool form
Twix - Absolutely the worst nutrition-wise
PayDay, Nutrageous and Baby Ruth - All nutty! What is the difference between these?
Kit Kat - Break me off a piece
Butterfinger - Hey, don't you lay a finger...
Heath Bar and Skor - They are the same darn toffee thing!
Whatchamacallit - Crispy crunchies with a caramel and peanut butter
Krackel - Chocolate with crispy crunchies throughout, I wish they sold larger forms of this
Crunch - Nestlé’s larger version of Hershey's Krackel
Raisinets - Addicting
Zero - I always think this should be frozen at zero degrees
York Peppermint Patty - Mint is an acquired taste and can also make me sneeze!
Tootsie Roll - To the left, to the left...

Chocolate Company Winner: Hershey's
Second Place: Mars
Third Place: Nestle

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Ice Cream

The picture on the left is just about the perfect ice cream dessert for me.  It is found at Friendly's and includes:

1. Waffles
2. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
3. Reese's Pieces
4. Peanut Butter Sauce
5. Whipped Cream
6. Cherry
7. Two scoops of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup ice cream

Ice cream has become more and more a special treat for me especially with all of the new specialty items out there.  Just like in the fro-yo shops, there are many flavor choices and toppings to choose from. It's not just a simple vanilla and chocolate Dixie Cup.  I feel like I have more options, and with variety, I enjoy the experience more.  This is true about most food and is dangerous because I will eat more and don't get sick of it.

Any ice cream with peanut butter and/or chocolate involved is great for me, as long as the toppings are abundant. 

Here are some other flavors and goodies worth checking out:

Ben & Jerry's Karamel Sutra - Core of Soft Caramel Encircled by Chocolate and Caramel Ice Creams and Fudge Chips

Nestle Drumstick - A complicated ice cream cone that is more chocolaty goodness than ice cream.

Chipwich - Where-oh-where is the original found?  These were bought out by Nestle and now have their own Toll House cookie version.  The original is the best: two chocolate chip cookies sandwiching vanilla ice cream and chocolate chips around the edges of the ice cream. 

A Silent Car

On a Thursday night coming home from work and housesitting, I had car trouble.  I entered the highway and proceeded in the right lane going about 65mph.  Any other day I'd be like the speeders going 75mph in the left lane.  It was around 6:15pm, so it was still pretty heavy with work traffic, and I decided to just stay there in the right lane.  I had just dealt with exterminating some ants, and needed to relax for once on my ride home.  Going for about a mile on the highway, suddenly my car went quiet.

What? No, oh no, oh no.  All kinds of lights come up on my dashboard, and I realized there was no shoulder or exit any time soon.  I had just passed the service road entrance too.  I put my flashers on, and I started to drift slower and slower.  Was this really happening?  My gas pedal didn't work, and I didn't even want to try the brake.  Cars started flying around me.  I eventually came to a halt and tried to start it up.  A bunch of quiet air hissed at me as I turned the key.  I was a sitting duck!  I always wondered what would happen if my car just died in the middle of the highway. 

In a scattered mind, I took out my AAA card to get a tow truck to come.  I started dialing the number, but looked back and saw all of the impatient drivers swerving around me so fast. I quickly dialed 911 instead.  They would come quicker than AAA.  I told them the situation and said they were going to send someone. I called the boyfriend and left a voicemail.  I wasn't scared until I was hearing myself leave that message.  The longer I stayed there, the worse I felt.  I thought that I can't possibly push and steer the car by myself.  A minute or two later, a van driving on the service road stopped and backed up near me.  A guy got out and walked across to me.  He asked me what happened and checked my battery to see if it was loose.  It wasn't, but tried turning the ignition again - still air.

The guy ran up ahead to see if there was an exit or shoulder I could be pushed to.  There was an entrance ramp to the highway, but far up.  He pushed the car while I steered.  He had so much courage having rush hour drivers directly behind him cutting around to get into the left lane.  I was now scared for him too.  He took a few breaks, but we made it up to the area where cars were merging onto the highway.  We had to time it just right so that the car could be pushed over and then back into the service road and onto the shoulder without hitting cars coming onto the highway.  When it was clear, we proceeded.  As I was being pushed back, there were two eager beaver vehicles coming up fast on the service road.  I pressed the brakes, but the car didn't slow down because of no power brakes at this point.  I heard the nice guy pushing the car yelling to stop, and I pushed the brakes even further down until it finally stops.

After another clear opening, I was finally safe on the shoulder.  I had nothing to offer the nice guy who pushed my car.  His name was Zach (could be Zac or Zack too). I shook his hand and thanked him so many times.  Thanks Zach!  I won’t forget your kindness, and I will pay it forward!

As he walked back to his van, a cop car pulled up and talked to him.  Meanwhile I called AAA.  I talked to the cop, but there wasn’t much he could do at this point since I was now in a safe spot.  The boyfriend came to sit with me and take me home.  The tow truck guy got lost finding where I was, but finally found it and towed my car.

Because of an unfortunate delay with my mechanic, I finally got my car back after more than three weeks.  My car is smiling and good as new now :)  Thank you to all who helped me!

Favorite Foods - Vol 3

When I get the munchies, salty snacks are my weakness.  Here's a list of my favorite chips:

PopCorners: Somewhat new to the market and not found everywhere yet, these unique chips are the best snackable by far.  These are popcorn in the shape of a chip that comes in six flavors: butter, kettle, white cheddar, cheesy jalapeno, and caramel.  Kettle is my favorite and my ultimate, healthier go-to snack.

Eat Your Vegetables -  The unique texture and vegetable serving make these addicting and healthy.  I like the sour cream flavor, but don't mind the sea salt as well. I've only found these in Wegman's, so stock up there.

Utz Kettle Classics - Dark Russets: These are a close, second favorite snackable.  Though not as healthy as any popped, baked or veggie chip, these kettle cooked dark russet chips are so crunchy and salty with the right amount of flavor.  It's easy for me to pig out with a bag of these.

Frito-Lay Munchies - Totally Ranch: These made a comeback after a few years of being non-distributed.  I snagged a bag recently and reminisced about downing a whole bag of these as I crammed for exams in college.  The honey bbq Fritos are my favorite in the mix.

Grand Tortilla Chips - I just discovered these and are now my favorite tortilla chips.  They are yellow corn with not too much salt and the perfect crunch.  Dip in guacamole!

Sweet Potato Kettle Chips - I seem to be brand loyal with the above choices, but I can interchange with sweet potato chips.  After having the dark russets in comparison, I realized these aren't my top choice anymore.  They are good with an excellent amount of Vitamin A, but I'd prefer crispy sweet potato fries with maple syrup!

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Since I am thinking of sweet syrup now, on to the sugary snacks:

Bugles - Caramel and Chocolate Peanut Butter:  Either flavor can get you hooked.  I could eat a whole bag of caramel if there were no consequences.  Regular Bugles are salty and plain in flavor. 

Skinny Cow Dreamy Clusters:  At only 4 Weight Watchers points a bag, it is a satisfying snack.  Caramel and chocolate explodes into your mouth with each bite-sized piece.  You can get either milk or dark chocolate.

Luna Bar:  I've tried many of the diet bars, but they substitute flavor for the nutrients. You get the best of both worlds in a Luna Bar.  It doesn't taste 'healthy,' and it curbs your hunger.  Nuts Over Chocolate and Smores are my favorite flavors.

Oreos - I love these dipped in milk, or in a coffee mix (limited time at Dunkin Donuts).  Get Fried Oreos at any fair nowadays.  Move over funnel cakes! 

Ice Cream Flavors and Candy Bars - These are whole new categories of sugary snacks.  Stay tuned for Favorite Foods: Vol 4!