20% off every order!

PCDC is now …
HG Preferred

It's NOW Homemade Gourmet® YOUR way!

Homemade Gourmet® has made some adjustments to the preferred customer program to allow you to receive the products you want, WHEN you want as well as adding some additional special features.

Here are the details of the new program:

20% off every product purchase.
YOUR choice of shipment options: Monthly, Bi-Monthly, or Quarterly (after your first monthly shipment).
Your choice of products through custom orders.
Delicious meal plan and grocery list in every Featured Product auto-shipment!
FREE subscription to the Kitchen Connection magazine.
Exclusive member's only offers.
FREE member's only gifts*! (*monthly members only)
No fee to join!
Chance to win a $50 HG basket!! read below for deatails.

There is no minimun order amount if you place an order in between your shipments. If it's under $50 you still get 20% off.

You no longer have to wait for an order (you wouldn't have to wait for me to place my next order) ...Order when you want. Home office is getting orders out within a few days!!

You can send your order anywhere you want it go....great as holiday gifts, birthday gifts, to the new mom-to-be, or the newlyweds as a house warming gift. When you place your order you simply change the 'ship to' information.

You can cancel at any time.

Membership includes a monthly auto-shipment of pre-selected products along with corresponding meal plan and grocery list! Each auto-shipment will be approximately $50 (before 20% discount) plus shipping and taxes.
The auto-shipment will be processed on the 25th of each month (or the next business day if the 25th lands on a weekend or holiday).

~OR~

You may choose to place a customized product order of $50 or more (before 20% discount) to stop that month's auto-shipment.

After your first monthly order, you may choose to change the frequency of your automatic product shipments to be Bi-monthly or Quarterly. Do nothing and you will remain on the Monthly shipment plan with its additional benefits!

Two ways to get started:

1. go to www.homemadegourmet.com/marylou and click under HGP and enter your info and place your initial order....if you don't customize it you will get the autoship bundle.

2. go to this link http://content.ll-0.com/espoonful/HGPMemberForm.pdf?i=073107202446 and print out this form. Fax it to me at 281-412-9995. I'll enter your information for you. Once you get your email confirmation you can then place your 1st order.

Addition benefits for being my HGP customer:
Need a mix in a hurry...You still get a 20% discount from me
Get 20% off your meals at a Fill Your Freezer day
Earn double hostess rewards
One of my HGP customers will win a spa trip to New Mexico next September*

Everyone that joins in August will earn a chance to win a HG basket (about a $50 value!)

You can begin your enrollment after 5pm on August 1, 2007!!

*ask for details on how you can join me!

Family Reunion 2007

I can't wait to go back next year!!! I got so much out of it and told myself I will attend every year.

Family Reunion is always held in the Dallas area. We stayed at the Hilton Anatole. This hotel was huge!!

My Room. It was nice having this king size bed all to myself, but I must admit it was lonely without my kids and husband. At least I wasn't being pushed off the edge :)

First day of training...This is Tami Van Hoy...she is Homemade Gourmet's founder. She started HG 10 years ago because she had a need...she needed to make $100 a month to help with her family grocery supplies. She used her Grandmother's recipes to package her favorites mixes. One day when she was renting a booth a lady approched her about selling these mixes for her....and it exploded from there! Our top leaders share their hardships and successes of their business. Here's the lovely group of ladies that I rode down with. I can't wait to see them grow thier business. Here I am with my Director, Nancy Allen. She's the best. This is the Administration building. It is located in Canton, Tx. Which was about a hour from our hotel. We loaded 6 buses and had adult beverages on the way there.
This banner was hung at Home Office. It's a great feeling to know what a kind spirited company I'm a part of. This company truly cares for it's employees and for it's distributors. There's not many companies out there that represent these values.
I'm in front of the production facility. It's right across from Home Office. It was very neat to see how are mixes are package and the assembly lines. This building is in the stages of expanding. It was funny to hear and see pictures of Tami's story how she had bags of sugar and flour stacked throughout her 1,600 sq foot house.


After touring Home Office facilities we went to a Ranch. Isn't it just beautiful! Here we got to try all the new Fall products..yum yum.


Me, Tami, Kim, and Nancy enjoying the music.

This was at awards night...my last day there.

Dinner Solutions

Since I was out of town and then my son fell and needed stitches, I haven't found time to go to the grocery store! So, last night I needed something quick to make...everyone was starving and I didn't want to 'go out to eat'. I looked through my HG mixes and found 2 that I wanted to try. I pulled out our Easy Fried Rice and our Rice and Bean casserole mix. I checked the directions and saw that the Fried Rice only took 20 minutes and the casserole 1 hour to bake. I decided on the Rice. It took only minutes to get it together. Since it had to simmer for 20 mintes I decdided to go ahead and prepare the Rice and Bean casserole. I was done preparing the casserole and put it into the freezer before the Rice was done! I even had time to sit and watch the Disney Channel with Kathryn! Now I have a quick meal for this weekend. The Rice and Bean casserole did not return this season, but I'm sure glad theCreamy Italian did. I think the Burrito Skillet mix replaced the casserole. I was able to try it at Family Reunion and it's really good!

TIP:
I love the Glad freezer to oven to microwave pans!! Keep these on hand. I like the 8x8 size. They are fairly priced and are reusable! They help to have keep your freezer full. So go ahead and prepare a few casseroles at a time. You can bake them at that time then freeze to reheat when needed, or put in freezer to bake at a later time. Make sure to cover with foil paper before placing the lid on. I also taped the label on it so I'll have the directions handy.

Hostess/Customer Specials

Hosting Bundle Preview:

Hosting Bundle for August and September, FREE to hosts who have a $400 Home Show!

FREE Homestyle Spaghetti Sauce Mix, Italian Mozzarella Meatloaf Mix and PBJ Crumb Bar Mix - a $14.50 value!!

Customer Special for August:

Harvest Time Bundle, $26 retail value for only $22.25!
Celebrate the coming of the fall harvest with this great collection of Homemade Gourmet® classics! *Recipes available in the August issue of the Kitchen Connection magazine.

The Harvest Time Bundle includes:
Homemade Gourmet® World Vision Basic Bread Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Spiced Dip Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Basic Cheesecake Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Texas Cornbread Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Old Fashioned Apple Crisp Mix
FREE Homemade Gourmet® Coleslaw Dressing Mix

Preferred Customer Member Price is $20.80(includes members only 20% discount).

Available August 1 through August 31, 2007.

Hosting Special for August:

If you host a Homeshow with $400 or more in retail sales, you are eligible to purchase the
Harvest Time Bundle, $26 retail value for only $15.60! That's 40% off!


Available August 1 through August 31, 2007.


This is the busy season for me and I'm already booking events through December. If you would like to host a show contact me now to reserve your date!!

NEWS straight from Family Reunion!

New Catalogs:
New catalogs are out let....me know if you would like one. New Products will be available August 15, 2007. The buffalo wing mix is YUMMY, I also love the new white chocolate raspberry cheesecake! Also as of the 15th there is a price increase.

Order your favorite mixes now and have your payment to me by the 30 of July. I will place an order on August 1...so if you would like to save on your favorites do so now! See attachment.

The new and returning products are listed below. Most are seasonal.Through Dec 31.
• NEW! Chocolate Oatmeal Drops Mix

• NEW! Ambrosia Mini-Muffin Mix
• NEW! Skillet Burritos Mix....very good!!

• NEW! Skillet Lasagna Mix

• NEW! Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake Mix

• NEW! Minestrone Soup Mix

• NEW! Buffalo Wing Sauce Mix

• NEW! White Pizza Sauce Mix

• NEW! Old Fashioned Meatloaf Pantry Staple* & Refill
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Country-Style Pancake Mix

• RETURNING FAVORITE! Chocolate Truffle Cake Mix

• RETURNING FAVORITE! Breakfast Pastry Puff Mix

• RETURNING FAVORITE! Spiced Cider Mix

• RETURNING FAVORITE! 5-Minute Fudge Mix

• RETURNING FAVORITE! Grandmother's Great Gingerbread Mix

• RETURNING FAVORITE! Pecan Praline Mix

• RETURNING FAVORITE! Cinnamon Cream Squash Soup Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Lucky Bean Soup Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Creamy Corn Chowder Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! No Alarm Chili Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Tomato Basil Soup Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Tomato Basil Bread Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Strawberry Bread Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Brownie Pie Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Spiced Molasses Cookie Mix

• RETURNING FAVORITE! White Chocolate Cran-Orange Cookie Mix

• RETURNING FAVORITE! Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Mix

• RETURNING FAVORITE! Carrot Cake with White Chocolate Icing Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Beef and Barley Stew Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Tortilla Soup Seasoning Pantry Staple & Refill
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Spiced Dip Pantry Staple and Refill
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Five-Minute Fudge Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Pecan Praline Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Shepard's Pie Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Grandma's Buttermilk Pie Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Creamy Italian Casserole Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Cornbread Casserole Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Southwest Casserole Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Mom's Chicken & Rice Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! Bonnie's Blue Ribbon Chili Mix
• RETURNING FAVORITE! White Chicken Chili Mix

There'a also a new Fall 4 Meals in 4 Minutes collection!!


New Preferred Customer Club – called HG Preferred or (this is an awesome program!) Sign up for your discounts!!!
Benefits:
No sign up fee!!
20% off every product purchase
Delicious meal plans and recipes
Free subscription to the Kitchen Connection magazine
Exclusive members-only offers
Free members-only gifts (A free gift will automatically be sent to each of the HG Preferred monthly members on a quarterly basis. Monthly membership is required for these exclusive gifts (such as free shipping, coupons etc.)
Membership includes a monthly auto-shipment of pre-selected products along with corresponding meal plan and grocery list. No more printing off the "In The Mix". Each product bundle will be approximately $50 (before 20% discount) plus shipping and taxes. The auto-shipment will be processed on the 25th day of each month.
OR
You may choose to place a customized product order of $50 or more to stop that month’s auto-shipment. If you place a custom order by the 24th of the month it will cancel the auto-shipment.
After your (initial) first shipment, you may choose to change the frequency of your automatic product shipments to be every other month or quarterly. Do nothing and you will remain on the monthly shipment plan with those additional benefits. You can change the frequency at any time you needs change.

Signing up under the new program begins on August 1.
The Quarterly program will be on the first month of the “calendar” quarter so those shipments will be: January, April, July, and October.
If someone signed up in August and either places a $50 custom order or received the August auto-shipment and if they switched to Bi-monthly, their next shipment would be October. (Just so happens to be the same month if switched to Quarterly too. J)
After they place their “commitment order” of $50 or more, each order after that will also receive the 20% discount… doesn’t have to be $50 though! J

Free gift for all new August Distributors:

For all the distributors who sign up in August, if they place a $400 retail order, they’ll receive a FREE 4m4m Collection! That’s a $138.50 retail value!!

Quote of the Day...And Time Savers

"Food is essential to Life. Make it Good!" Truett Kathy

I saw this quote today while I was sitting at Chick-fil-A. I thought, "How perfect."


Dinner today was easy again. I made my enchilada casserole. I pulled my cooked, Taco seasoned ground beef out of the freezer last night to thaw. Today when I got home I pulled a can of tomato sauce, my meat, shredded cheese, enchilada seasoning, and corn tortillas...about 5 minutes later dinner was in the oven! Warmed it up for 20 minutes. This is always a family favorite. Kathryn took one bite and said, "this is so good" Jose had seconds.

Time Saver Tip:
It doesn't take any more time to brown 5 lbs of beef then it takes to brown 1 lb. Just bag the rest in quart sized freezer bags in 1 to 2 cup portions. Then sprinkle 1-2 tablespoons of either Homemade Gourmet's Taco or Garlic Basil Seasonings in the bag.
Forgot to thaw....defrost quickly in the microwave(yes, in the freezer bag)!

Quick meals to make with your precooked meat.
Taco Seasoning:
Taco soup
tacos
enchiladas/or enchilada casseroles

Garlic Basil:
meaty spaghetti sauce
spaghetti casserole

Family Reunion

Homemade Gourmet's national conference is called Family Reunion. This will be the first time I attend one. I'm so excited!! Being our 10 year anniversary it's going to be extra special. I leave Thursday to Dallas!! Dallas is where our Home Office is located.

One of the activities I'm looking forward to is the tour of our facilities. We will get to see HMG in action. See where our fabulous mixes are made--did you know... they are still individually poured by hand into each bag. I will be taking lots of pictures to share. Another benefit will be that attendees are the first to try the new Fall products.....which will be released August 15, 2007......I can't wait to tell you more about them when I return.

I must say, I sure hope that the Creamy Italian Casserole returns this Fall. It has been a few months since I made one. Due to my lack of preparation....I needed something FAST to make tonight. I found my Creamy Italian mix, grabbed a can of chicken, milk, water and some shredded cheese(I didn't have mozzarella so I used Monterrey Jack and topped it with shredded Parmesan cheese instead...love our versatility!) mixed it all together, threw it into a casserole pan, and Presto! dinner was done. While it baked in the oven, I was able to sit and read a couple chapters of my book. I had forgotten how much I liked this casserole!!

Well, all new incentive programs, hostess rewards, and customer's specials are released at Family Reunion so I can't wait to report everything when I return!!!

The Grocery Game

One of the main reasons I love using Homemade Gourmet products is because its so economical. Especially when using the Pantry Staples(lot of bang for your buck)! So, when I learned about http://www.thegrocerygame.com/ I was immediately drawn to it. Why not save even more money by clipping a few coupons every Sunday? So when I heard I could save about 50%-75% off my groceries, I was all for it! I literally joined the other night.

This it how it works. You enter your zip code and it gives you a list of stores in your area. You pick how many store list you want to participate with. Kroger, HEB, CVS, and Walgreens are available in our area. You pay per list. You can get a 4 week trial for $1.00. Then its $10 every 8 weeks for 1 store. Every Sunday you are to get the Sunday Chronicle and clip the coupons for that week.

Sunday is the day that you go into the website to pull up your list. The list is composed of the the store's sales for that week-usually Sunday-Tuesday. It gives you a column of regular price/sale price/ which day the coupon was in/ and the final price. You simply click which product you need to buy and print it. Then you find your matching coupon and head to the store.

The Grocery Game is set up to give you maximum savings. It tells you when to use which coupon. It knows when a certain product will be at it's lowest price.

I clipped Sunday's coupons and put them into an envelope labeled 07/15/07 to make them easy to find.

Goto http://www.thegrocerygame.com/ to take a look at a sample list.

I hope to report great savings to you soon!!
I would love to hear about your savings too!

7 Reasons Why Dinnertime Should Be Family Time

by Jim Burns, Ph.D.

I’m happy to announce that over the past few years, more and more families are making the intentional effort to have regular, family-mealtimes. Here are seven reasons why doing so is a great idea:

1) Kids who live in families that eat dinner together regularly are less likely to be involved in at risk behaviors. According to the 2000 study done by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), children who don't eat dinner with their families are 61 percent more likely to use alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs. By contrast, children who eat dinner with their families every night of the week are 20 percent less likely to drink, smoke, or use illegal drugs.

2) Families who eat dinner together regularly are more likely to have stronger, happier family relationships. As families struggle to find amounts of quantity and quality time together, family dinnertime provides the opportunity for both. When families hang out together and communicate, they grow strong and healthy.

3) Families who eat dinner regularly develop a stronger family identity. Eating together serves to build a family identity. Additionally, this family “routine” provides a sense of stability and security that provides kids with a positive environment where they can grow into healthy adults.

4) Families who eat dinner together regularly can keep in touch with each others’ lives. Everyone – kids and parents alike – can keep up-to-date during your family dinnertime on what is going on with school, jobs, family life, and friends.

5) A regular family dinnertime provides natural opportunities for planning and problem solving. Scheduling family meeting times to discuss planning, needs and problem solving can be difficult. A regular family mealtime can offer a natural solution to the challenge.

6) Eating dinner regularly fosters learning. When families who eat dinner together engage in a variety of conversation topics, learning is encouraged. Kids who are exposed to regular family discussion times learn a broader vocabulary.

7) Kids are likely to receive better nutrition when eating dinner regularly with their families. A simple, but true rule applies: when kids eat with their families, they eat better. A family dinnertime means kids are more likely to eat a nutritionally balanced meal, lower in sugar and fat content, than if they prepare or purchase meals on their own.

Dreams ARE What YOU Make of Them...

Once upon a time, an ambitious gentlewoman entered a very successful shop that had
a reputation for beautiful, fine quality merchandise. She walked right up to the owner and said,
“Sir, I am very impressed with your establishment. I would like to come on board and
build a career here. I can promise you that I will love my work, the people whom I will
work with, AND I will represent your wonderful products with total ease and complete
confidence!”…

“In return, all that I ask for is the following:
First…I would like 25% profit on everything that I sell. I would also like an extra 10% of
my sales available to me for incidentals. In fact, if I sell more than $1,000 in any given
month, I would like to be rewarded for that, too. Then… when I bring in and train any
new sales people, I feel that 2% to 8% of the royalties from everything that they sell
should come to me as well. Thirdly… when I do well, and trust me, I will! I expect lots
of praise and recognition, not to mention your wonderful products, special awards and
gifts, and, Oh yes! and …Dream vacations to exotic locations! Oh, and one more
thing! …I’m afraid that I’m not quite “IN TO” the “9 to 5” scene. I’ll want to set my own
schedule and I will only work when it best suits ME! It goes without saying, Sir, that my
family always comes first.

Okay, I think that’s about it. When can I start?!”

After the shop owner recovered from the audacity of her seemingly impossible proposal,
he roared with laughter! Once he caught his breath, he blared out, “Lady you cannot
be serious! (The gentlewoman remained firm!) …Madam, you are living in a dream world
if you think that anyone is going to give you THAT kind of job!!”

He was wrong. …While that woman was not me, it very well could have been. I found
that exact opportunity as an independent Distributor for Homemade Gourmet.
Dreams ARE what YOU make of them. This job is an answered prayer AND a dream
come true for me! Perhaps it is for YOU TOO…

If you would like to see yourself in this “dream job”…I will be honored to sponsor you
and help show YOU the way! …“Just Ask!”

Join my Team…Join the Homemade Gourmet Dream!!

July Hostess Special!

Hosting Gift:

Just a reminder, the Hosting Gift (FREE with every $400 in product orderd) for July remains the Backyard Bundle! Invite your neighbors over for tasty burgers.....they'll rave over them!

July Special!

Help us celebrate our companies 10 year anniversary with this
"Party" selection specially priced for the year we began!

The bundle is available to Hostesses, Customers, and PCDC Members for ONLY $19.97 in honor of the founding of Homemade Gourmet® in the year 1997!!!!




10th Anniversary Bundle- a $38.50 retail value for only $19.97 is available to any Hostess, PCDC Member, or Customer! That's almost 50% off for everyone!

Available July 1 through July 31, 2007.

The 10th Anniversary Bundle includes:
Homemade Gourmet® Vanilla Ice Cream Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Orange Dream Pound Cake Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Tropical Dip Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Citrus Fruit Salad Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Italian Cheeseball Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Cilantro Lime Chicken Salad Mix
Homemade Gourmet® Mediterranean Pasta Salad Mix

Everything you need to host a celebration in your home this summer!!

Order online:

www.homemadegourmet.com/marylou

or Call me:

832-640-4324