Birthday Freebies!!

I LOOOOVE birthday week.  One of my favorite birthday memories was actually not on my birthday, but the hubby's. We went to Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse in Spring Arbor a couple of years ago with some friends on hubby's birthday - we were so excited to have a sushi place so close to home! So there we sat, eating our sushi and chatting...somehow the staff figured out it was Brean's birthday. So all of the sudden, out comes one of the staff with the most AMAZING sight...they had cut a a pineapple in half and made it look like a fish, complete with chocolate fudge and whip cream with a cherry for the eye. Not only was it the yummiest pineapple I ever had, but I couldn't believe how cool it was for them to do that! Such a great memory, and one of the reasons that we love Ichiban. (which is not on the following list because they are closed during the summer months)

 Last year, I found out that several restaurants give away free things on your birthday, and so my day of birth was spent tootling around the Jackson area getting free food. This year, I'm taking it a step farther and have spent a week researching what restaurants in the area give away free stuff and what you need to do to get it. I have compiled a slightly exhaustive list of restaurants in the Jackson/Spring Arbor area (and a few in Ann Arbor for kicks and giggles), and want to share it with you! For those not in the greater Jackson area, there are chain restaurants on the list that should be in your area. If you think of any that are missing, please let me know! I would love to add them! :)

The list is broken down into three categories: 1) Freebies that do not require any purchases, 2) Freebies or discounts WITH purchase of some sort, and 3) Restaurants that do not provide birthday deals at this time. They are organized within these categories, and then alphabetized, so just look for your favorite haunt! Without further ado....

Restaurant	Freebie	Purchase if necessary	Action needed	Date applicable
Freebies, no strings attached
BD's Mongolian BBQ (Ann Arbor)	Free Stirfry	No purchase necessary	Member of Club Mongo, printed coupon	Coupon good for 2 weeks
Big Boy	Free hot fudge cake	No purchase necessary	Photo I.d, can get it to go	Valid only on birthday
Biggby	Free Coffee	No purchase necessary	Member of E-wards, coupon or drink on rewards card	Valid only on birthday
City Crepes	Free sweet Crepe	No purchase necessary	Photo I.d,	Valid only on birthday
Cooper St Coffee	Free Coffee	No purchase necessary	Photo I.d,	Valid only on birthday
Culver's	One scoop Sundae	No purchase necessary	Photo I.d.	Valid only on birthday
Denny's	Free Grand Slam	No purchase necessary	Photo I.d,	Valid only on birthday
Dunkin Donuts	Free Coffee/hot chocolate		Member of fan club, printed coupon
Fazoli's	Free dessert	No purchase necessary	E-family member, coupon, printed or on mobile device
Jackson Coffee Company	Free Coffee	No purchase necessary	Member of rewards program/or show I.d.	Valid only on birthday
Lenny's Sub Shop	Free sub	No purchase necessary	Signed up for Lenny's e-mails, printed coupon	Valid only on birthday
Lone Star Steakhouse	Free appetizer or free dessert	No purchase necessary	Member of E-club, printed coupon, carry-out ok	Coupon good for 2 weeks
Maggie Moo's	Free ice cream, kid's size	No purchase necessary	Fan club of Maggie Moo's, printed coupon	Good until birthday
Outback Steakhouse	Free dessert	No purchase necessary	Member of Tablemates, loaded on member account	Good through the end of the month
Panera	Free bakery item	No purchase necessary	Member of My Panera, freebie will be loaded on the card
Starbucks	Free Coffee	No purchase necessary	Registered Starbuck's Card, loaded on the card	Have 1 month to use it
Steak N Shake	Free Double Steak meal	No purchase necessary	E-club member, print coupon
Deals WITH purchase
Anna's Gifts and Porch Cafe	5 Dollars off	Any purchase at the gift shop	Photo I.d., they'll give you a punch card	Anytime during the birthday month
Applebee's	Free dessert	with entree purchase	Photo I.d,	Valid only on birthday
Arby's	Free Shake	With purchase	Member of fan club, printed coupon	Coupon good for 1 week
Bone Island Grill	Birthday Drink	With purchase	up to 3 dollars	Valid only on birthday
Chilangos	Discount on entree	With purchase	Member of fan club, printed coupon	Valid only on birthday
Coldstone	Buy 1, get 1 free	With purchase	Member of fan club, printed coupon	Coupon good for 1 week
Cracker Barrel	Free dessert	With purchase	Photo I.d,	Valid only on birthday
Finley's	Free $8.49 @ lunch, 10.49 at dinner	with purchase of entree	Photo I.d,	Valid only on birthday
Fortune Tommy's Ice Cream Shoppe	Free ice cream	With a group of 3 or more	Photo I.d,	Valid only on birthday
Hard Knock Grill	Free dessert	With purchase of any food	Photo I.d,	Valid only on birthday
Hugo's Bar and Grill	Free Brownie Sundae	Purchase of 1 entree	Photo I.d,	Valid only on birthday
Melting Pot (Ann Arbor)	Free Chocolate Strawberries	Valid with purchase of > $60	Fan club of the Melting Pot, printed coupon	Coupon good for several months
Olive Garden	Free dessert	with purchase of entree	Photo I.d,	Valid only on birthday
Qdoba	Buy 1, get 1 free entree	With purchase	Member of rewards program, printed coupon	Coupon good for ~1 week
Red Lobster	$5 off two entrees	Purchase of 2 entrees	Member of Fresh Catch, printed coupon	Good until date stated
Slice of Spice	Free dessert	With purchase	Photo I.d,	Valid only on birthday
Steaks Eatery	Birthday Cake and Ice cream	With purchase	Photo I.d,	Valid only on birthday
No Deals
AKA Sushi	No deals
Blue Moon Cafe	No deals
Bob Evans	No deals
Buffalo Barbeque Wings	No deals
Burger King	No deals
Cafe Lilla	No deals
Crazy Cowboy	No deals
Cuppa	No deals
European Bakery	No deals
Grand River Marketplace	No deals
Hinkley's Bakery	No deals
House of Tacos	No deals
Hungry Howie's	No deals
International Dog House	No deals
KFC	No deals
Klavon's	No deals
Lucky's Chinese	No deals
Marino's Pizza	No deals
McDonalds	No deals
Old Country Buffet	No deals
Papa John's	No deals
Pickle Barrel Deli	No deals
Pizza Hut	No deals
Schlenker's Sandwich shop	No deals
Steve's Ranch	No deals
Subway	No deals
Taco Bell	No deals
The Hunt Club	No deals
The Parlour	No deals
Tim Horton's	No deals
Wendy's	No deals

		Enjoying birthday Freebies 2012

New Orleans Corn Bisque with Smoked Sausage

So this soup turned out SUPER yummy...NOT however enough for the proposed 8 servings, and pretty high on the calorie count for frequent consumption. I would say it makes closer to 4 -6 servings. The hubby actually made this one and he's very good at following recipes as directed, so there aren't any changes made this time. My future changes are below. :)

New Orleans Corn Bisque with Smoked Sausage

Ingredients
Original recipe makes 8 1-cup servings

 1 (16 ounce) package Hillshire Farm® Smoked Sausage
 1 medium onion, chopped
 1/4 cup butter or margarine
 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
 1/2 teaspoon salt
 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
 1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
 4 cups milk
 2 cups cubed potatoes, cooked, drained
 Chopped parsley (optional)
 Shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions

1) Cut sausage into 1/2 inch cubes.
2) Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook and stir until tender. Add flour, salt and pepper; cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute.
3) Add milk. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Add corn and sausage; return to a boil.
4) Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in potatoes; heat through.
5) Top each serving with parsley and cheese, if desired.

So, for me, the potatoes kind of over-powered the soup. I'm not sure if that's because they were in pretty large chunks, or whether it seemed like there were too many chunks compared to the amount of soup. In order to make enough for 8 people, I think I would add some chicken broth- maybe a cup or two. And possibly another 1/2 can of corn - but I really love corn, so that could be a contributing factor. ;) In order to make it more of a bisque, once I added everything but the sausage, I would blend it until mostly smooth, then add the sausage at the end. We did not add the cheese or parsley, and I think it was excellent without it.

Hubby and I just returned from my most FAVORITE ice cream treatery....Maggie Moo's! If you are in the Jackson, MI area, I highly recommend it. Speaking of which...it's BIRTHDAY week! So as an extra treat for you, I am going to share my project that I have been working on today. I have compiled a list of all the freebies (mostly food related) available in the Jackson/Spring Arbor area that one can get on their birthday! But I'm making it it's own post...so go check it out! :)