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!!

Spicy burgers and jazzed up courgettes

Tonight for I had to !make burgers with my minced beef so they could get frozen. I brought the beef reduced, it's only supposed to be 12% fat so I chose to make burgers from it thinking they'd appreciate the taste more than a chilli...

So I mixed 400grams of beef (£1.75 from Morrison's) with one onion (from a 5kg bag Morrison's), a tablespoon of mustard and another of ketchup, a sprinkle of garlic, oregano, chilli powder and black pepper.
I made 12 altogether, then put 4 back as one and mixed in one chopped up green chili (from a medium bag of loose ones, reduced to 25p from Morrison's)...

Stuck it in the frying pan with one tablespoon oil and surrounded by sliced courgette.... Cue a hot and spicy party!

Yummy!!

Black Friday Madness

It's been an interesting evening, starting off with staying up late and heading down to my local Tesco for 12am. As my store is a 24hour store it was already open and there was a nice little crowd forming.
As per usual the Tesco staff were not at all prepared, I got there at roughly 11:50pm and by 11:58pm there were even more people and the products weren't all on the shelf... Then more madness struck.
12am hit and it was a mad dive, the three flat screen TV's just disappeared and a few coffee machines too... And there was an alrpund muttering of "But wait there are any prices"
So we all stood there, waiting. Some people grabbed things whilst they waited other just stood confused. a slight bit different to other Tesco store who had surges of people and crazyness. Some of the photos I've seen of those stores, well *shudders* I'm glad that wasn't mine.

So the Tesco staff come back with prices around 12:10, and I got two NowTV boxes for half price. A pretty good deal really when one month of NOWTV entertainment costs £7.99 and the box I brought contained a three month pass. That's three months for £10!!
Now my other bargain wasn't as simple. There was just one left and no price still. It was a heavy item so I didn't fancy holding it but bent enough to be touching it and got more protective every time someone else even glanced at it.... Eventually the crowd (all 30 or so of us) settled  and people started to go off to buy there things. I hung back and spoke to some Tesco employees only to hear that what I wanted wasn't coming through at a reduced price. But after more chatting and checking it did... Retail is £179.99.. The price I should have paid last night? £69.99
Yes!

So I go down the cashiers, and I'm also told that there's a few TV's down there as well but I'm not interested, and it's quite a FAFF to sort. It won't scan through at the reduced price :( in the end they did a manual override for a wonderful £69.... Yes even cheaper (99p is still cheaper!!)
So I'm wonderfully happy, the only sad thing is that because it didn't go through as the original item I didn't get any bonus points like with the NOWTV boxes ... Oh well!

Ohh Christmas....

It's getting closer, just a month to go!
My presents are nearly all brought, wrapping paper too ready to get going... And the tree and decorations went up at the weekend.

Cue one very excited Toddler! Who when asked what he wanted for Christmas replied "a lovely lovely baby". Yep a real one. Ohhh dear.

Homemade Bread in a Bread Machine

We own a Panasonic bread maker SD206....

It was given to us by a relative who no longer uses it and though we might. although we've had it a while we haven't made much, 2 basic loaves (1 on rapid & 1 on normal setting) and 1 cheese and bacon loaf.

We did get an instruction manual with the machine but its half English half German and has a major lack of recipes. I think there may have been another manual. Anyway some searching on google lead me to this blog and a option to download a scanned in copy. Result :-)

Although I like the taste of homemade bread I find it goes stale quite quickly. The last loaf made was a plain and we ended up with both crusts at the end. They had started going stale so I chopped them into small cubes and stuck them in the over to go crispy - wahoo croutons for our salad! 

This is the ingredients list for the basic loaf (medium size I think) including what it cost me to make :

1 TSP yeast (5g)                                3p
425g Flour.                                       23p
1 tablespoon  Sugar (15g).              1p
1 tsp Salt (5g).                                    1p
15g Butter.                                          3p
1.5 tablespoons Dry milk (22g).    13p

Water 310ml

Total cost - 44p

The next thing I want to try is making bread in the slow cooker... 

what's cooking?

So I haven't yet written my post of the frugal things but I will do shortly. In the mean time...

Here's what's cooking today at mine! Breakfast & tea are to feed three, dinner just two of us.

For breakfast it was 2 portions of porridge (water and splash of milk - reduced ready brekk approx £0.20 for both portions) and one portion of cheap Lidl weatabix (2 of them mixed with milk, got a box of 48 for £0.92 in the half price weekend deal so that's approx £0.05)

Total cost: £0.25

Dinner

4 fish fingers (Asda 10 for 0.60 = £0.24)

Homemade chips (2 baking potatoes from Aldi, 2.5kg bag for £2.69. Approx 400g used with drixxle of oil and black pepper = £0.43 )

Peas (Frozen from Asda, 98 per kg bag, 25g used = £0.02 )

Sweetcorn (Frozen from Morrison's, £1.75 per kg bag, 25g used =£0.04 )

3 slices bread (Warburtons reduced from Tesco, 19 slices for £0.60 = £0.09)

Total cost: £0.82

Tea

Chicken (Aldi £4.69 for large chicken, approx grams = £1.50 )

Stir fry (reduced from Tesco £0.10)

Bamboo shoots (reduced from tesco, £0.06 per bag, 1\2 used = £0.03)

Spinach (reduced from Tesco, £0.20 for approx £0.05)

Egg noodles (£1 for packet of 6, shopotize cash back made them 50p. 1 used = £0.08 )

Plus oil & flavourings (£0.10)

Total cost: £1.86

Today's total cost: £2.93

Easy Reading - Wicked Games

So tonight I managed to devour a whole book. Yes a whole book and even better it was free on Amazon Kindle.
It was an easy read, fast flowing story with captured my concentration enough just to see who would indeed win.
I don't want to give any spoilers away but I did love the other view at the start of the chapters. I liked the writers style and how easily it all seemed to flow, it didn't take me more than 2 hours to read all 172 pages... And that was with distractions!

Its very light hearted with a touch of naughtiness as well - which is definitely my style. Romance and humour, what's not to love?! A quirky best friend would have been all the better 

What let me down was that there were so many characters it got confusing just to see a name every so often without details into them... There was a lot more that the writer could have done, areas that could have been expanded and explored. Like the games themselves or other characters. There was also time after the show which could have been included and in fact what the main character, Abby, was like before she went on the show would have given more insight to her character.

I've noticed there are more books in the series which appear to be of a similar style... Guess I know what I'm going to get next... :-D

Wicked Games - eBook by Jessica Clare

"Abby Lewis never pictured herself on the survival game show, Endurance Island. She’s just not the ‘survival’ type. But when her boss offers her a spot on the show and the opportunity of a lifetime, she packs her bags and heads to the tropics to be a contestant."

Dinosaur Park Adventures

Today we headed to a local attraction - All Things Wild

The little guy knows this as "the dinosaur park" and always gets super excited. He wants to go all the time which is okay as we brought a membership pass back in May so I don't have to pay for entry every time.
Today we went with friends which meant crazy toddlers running around! There's been a real surge lately with the facilities and it's ever improving. Real value for money :-)

If you're ever nearby with kids to entertain check it out

Xoxo

Tesco Orchard - Autumn Harvest: Free Food

So recently I joined the Tesco Orchard scheme. The scheme is basically that you try Tesco products for free or a reduced price and then give Tesco and the world your feedback about said products.

I joined up just before the "Autumn Fall" programme began and my vouchers came through in the post just before my holiday in October.
My vouchers were for £1.50 off Elfe Finest potatoes, £1 off any autumn fruits, suggested apples or pears, and £1 off root vegetables, suggested parsnips or carrots.
Alongside these I also have 3 more vouchers for 50p off each of the above to give to family or friends so they could enjoy the products too.

I spent my vouchers on a big shop one week after I came back from holiday. I brought the finest potatoes, everyday value parsnips and carrots, red gala apples and pears (can't remember the brand anymore). The apples and pears were on offer for 75p each. I have to say that the dates on the items were reasonable and in fact all of the items have lasted way beyond that anyway. I even have a few carrots, apples and pears left!

I tried the potatoes as jacket potatoes (though there weren't many large sized ones), chopped up and fried for a fry up, as chips (sliced up and put in the deep fat frier) and also as roast potatoes. Yes that one bag went that far for the two of us and the little guy. Very impressive!
We also used some of the carrots grated with soft cheese (everyday value) mixed in as a bagel filler, surprisingly this was quite filling!

Exciting Things to Come - Tesco Orchard Christmas Presents

So I was very very excites last night when I checked my emails... I have been selected to participate in another Tesco Orchard scheme.
This new programme is all about Christmas gifts... I am excited! Bring on December 1st when Tesco will release MORE details for me to share - Yay!