Mr men magic

Finally I went to Tesco to use my Tesco Orchard voucher and I left a very happy bunny!

I went to a biiiig Tesco extra (in Redditch) and spent about 2 hours in there with the little man, there was SO MUCH CHOICE!
It was fun going round looking at everything and grabbing some last minute stocking filler presents, I even found a few pieces on offer - even better!
I got some smelly wash products, nivea and Lynx items were on offer. I got the Apollo and Africa body wash (I love the smell of Apollo!) also found some tool sets reduced down... Like this one  which i got for just £0.75!!!
I treated !myself to a new dish drainer, bright red so very festive and matches the red saucepans perfectly.

The beat bargain of the day though was this lovely duvet set. It was already on offer from £14 down to £7.50 then I was lucky enough to use my £5 gift voucher against it making it just £2.50

I can't wait to see the little mans face when it's on his bed. The quality feels great so hopefully it should wash up brilliantly too. I love all the vibrant colours it really will cheer the room up.

Slow cooked chicken curry using coconut milk

Today's experiment is... Curry in the slow cooker & using coconut milk for the first time!

I haven't yet made a curry in the slow cooker, normally I would just use a cheap jar of curry sauce (one of those 20p ones) and that's it but I wanted to try to shake it up a bit. I came across some recipes for curry that used coconut milk and kept thinking about trying up and then one day when I was shopping in the clearance section was a dented tin of coconut milk. Perfect!

I used the following recipe and added my own twist :)

INGREDIENTS

1 large onion, cut into 10 wedges
1 red bell pepper, cored and cut into squares
2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
1 1/2 lb (675 g) skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into cubes
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons (10 ml) chili powder
2 teaspoons (10 ml) curry powder
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground turmeric
1 can (398 ml/14 oz) coconut milk
1 tablespoon (15 ml) honey
Salt and pepper

I didn't have any turmeric so that was missed out. My chicken was some breasts which were reduced and separated then frozen (costing approx 44p).
I also added some potato to mine, I used 2 medium ones chopped into small chunks and placed these at the bottom of the slow cooker.
I fried the onion and red pepper on the hob quickly then added to slow cooker.
Then I added all the spices and honey, followed by the chicken which I had also par cooked on the hob. Finally in went the coconut milk and a little splash of water.

It went on high around 11 am and by 3pm was done!

Before dishing it was reheated to temperature and had some defrosted peas added.

Served with plain white rice and some reduced bread slices.
Yum!

Freebies at Christmas... Magical

Sometimes the things you get for free are awesome...

This month as part of the Tesco Orchard programme I received some vouchers to spend on Christmas presents!

How amazing is that? Especially when at this time of year people are struggling to manage everything, it just all piles up.

So i was very excited about it when they asked if i wanted to participate, who wouldn't be? Finally they have arrived and exceeded my expectations.

I knew i was going to get a £5 voucher and that it would be a minimum of £5 spend but that's OK cause "Every little helps" right? The extra three £1 off for family and friends vouchers are definitely an added bonus.

Now its just a question of what to spend the vouchers on, so ill be Christmas wrapping later (checking my list and all that) to see whats left to buy - because I'm one of those "organised" types who likes a bargain :D

My partner wants a Nerf gun for him and the little man... Guess we'll just have to see what Santa brings!!