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How to spend less – part 4. Cheat.

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By cheat I don’t mean steal. I mean there are many easy ways you can legitimately spend less on items you want/need. I’ll explain about a few of the ways we save money everyday:

1. Supermarket reward points – take advantage of these. There is no point in shopping in Tescos or Sainburys without signing up for a clubcard/nectar card. You get points without doing anything other than swiping your card at the till. With a nectar card you can even collect points via eBay, homebase and about a hundred other online stores. You can spend Nectar points in a lot of places such as Argos, Vue, Bella Italia or even easyjet so your points could be paying towards your next holiday. I’m not as clued up on clubcard points as some people but we do collect them and use them normally when we need to make a big purchase.

2. Price guarantee – both Asda and Sainsburys do a price guarantee. Asda give you a code on your receipt for you to check online, if there is a price difference you get a voucher off your next shop. Sainsburys simple give you a coupon at the till if you could have saved elsewhere. Bargain.

3. Find the secret spots. All stores have them and if you are thorough in your first few shops at your local supermarket you will find them. Always remember to check. I’m not talking about the short date reduced to clear sections although these are also great. Let me explain in our local Asda ( I’m not telling you which one) there is a section where there are always reduced goods normally with between 6months to a year left on the use by date. I was told that these products are usually end of line goods or simply a change of packaging by the manufacturer means they will no longer be able to sell it. I cannot tell you how many bargains I have found in this section. I have had boxes of Hershey’s cocoa powder ( amazing in cupcakes/ chocolate icing or just hot cocoa) for around 50p (rrp £3) jars of Gefen BBQ sauce for the same price (rrp £2.50) stir fry sauces for 10p etc. There are often ciders/wines etc too. These sections are never displayed prominently not do they have big yellow stickers but they are always there. Look.

4. Use your apps.

Voucher cloud – if you are out shopping or looking for somewhere to have lunch you will more than likely find a suitable voucher on this app. Just recently we had £10 off a meal for two in Chiquitos. You simply click on the voucher and show the code. It uses your location details to find the best local deals so make sure you have location services turned on.

Groupon – ok this is maybe not one for every day use but definitely worth checking out. We have purchased driving lessons, solar lights and meals using this app and all have saved us at least 50% off the actual price.

Priority moments – this is specific to O2 but its a huge selling point if you are looking to change networks. There are discounts and freebies listed every day on this app, ranging from a free coffee or chocolate orange to free cinema tickets as well as hugely discounted public transport ( £1 for an all day ticket in my area as opposed to £4.20) The freebies can be slightly random – a large bag of free Halloween Haribo sweets from Accesorize?! But heck it’s free. In December alone I used my app to get reduced entrance (45% off) at Odeon, at least 3 all day tickets with Firstbus, a free Chocolate Orange, 20% off at Debenhams and probably more. There was an advent calendar leading up to Christmas with something different every day. I really hope this is here to stay.

If you know of any more money saving apps please let me know.

5. If you aren’t fussy about having something second hand ( depending on what the item is of course and sometimes they are in fact new) it’s always worth checking eBay or your local Gumtree. We bought a gorgeous mamas & papas changing unit before Izzy was born which would have cost over £600 brand new for just £70 and it was in impeccable condition. We would have never have paid £600 for one. Ebay can be fun too just make sure you don’t get too carried away with the bargains you can find on there. We recently bought a Tommee Tippee sensor monitor which if new would have cost around £90 and we had it for just £20 in great condition. If using eBay always make sure you use PayPal for added protection, we found the customer service to be great when having a dispute over another monitor we purchased which was quickly resolved.

6.Money Saving Expert- If you aren’t already signed up to the mailing list of this pretty marvellous website then do it. You only get one email per week and its normally full of great bargains. There are a lot of great sections on the MSE website but my favourite part is the Forum. I don’t tend to post on it ( rather unfair of me) but I check the Grabbit forum most days and there are superb bargains to be had. Again the key is to not buy things you don’t actually need as this defeats the object. About 6/7 months ago there was a thread/discussion on the forum about a major clear out one big supermarket was having, it seemed they were clearing a lot of their lines of stock but not showing the reductions very clearly. Some of the regular posters had meticulously listed every reduced item in store which helped the rest of us thrifty ones massively. I went shopping with my sister and between us we found most of the items and they were huge bargains such as bottles of olive oil for 40p or bags of dried garlic & basil linguine for 20p etc. I have only just run out of oil and pasta after all this time and probably only about £10 spent. It’s worth checking the forum when you get a spare few minutes.

7. Discount/Promo codes – everytime you go to purchase something online firstly run a google search to see if there is a code. Simply type in Topshop (for example) discount code and more often than not you will get something, be it free delivery or 10% off. Be wary of the ones that are £5 off if you spend £50 etc.. If you were only planning to spend £20 this is not really money saving.

8. Avoid travel agents – sorry if you are a travel agent but it is so overpriced. I am at my worst for bargain hunting when it comes to holidays. My holidays are precious to me as I’m sure they are to everyone so I want them to be the absolute best I can get for the money I spend. I have used various websites over the years but most recently I have found that LowCost holidays tend to come out on top – plus there is always a discount code to be found meaning bigger savings. Always trip advisor your hotel before you book as the most expensive ones are not always the best rated.
I also use Homelidays for searching for house/villa rentals.Airport car parking can be super expensive but a quick search online will find you some great alternatives normally within a few minute drive and they will drop you off and pick up at the airport. If going from Bristol airport I recommend Goblin Combe Farm.

A gorgeous house we stayed at in France 2012:

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9. Change your tv/broadband provider every time the contract expires. I always do this and it means I get the newest, up to date equipment and normally a voucher for M&S or similar for signing up. Also if your provider increases their charges mid contract you are normally able to cancel without any termination fee. Check your terms and conditions for more details.

10. BzzAgent – there are probably more than a few different types of review services out there but I am a bzzagent. You don’t have to write about it on your blog or write sponsored posts, it’s a simple procedure where you complete surveys occasionally ( very short and not very often) to determine what kind of consumer you are and then you will be invited to join campaigns. So far I have had free products from Tesco bakery, Toni & Guy and Dove colour radiance and all they ask if you for to create Bzz by talking to friends/family about the products, normally you have money off vouchers to share with them too. I have enjoyed being a part of it this year and it costs nothing to sign up so worth considering.

You probably think I’m a lot more frugal than I actuallynam but I really do like to get something for less. Don’t we all?

I would really love to hear about your money saving tips? Perhaps comment and I will share them in a future post.

How to spend less – Part 3. Eat in month.

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I’ve decided to join in on a challenge that I recently read about on a lovely blog that I follow written by Brittany of A Healthy Slice. I’ve followed this blog for a while and I always really enjoy her posts. This recent post about Eat in Month which you can read here made me look at another blog called The Chic Life written by Diana who started this challenge 4 years ago. You can read more about it here

I don’t eat at expensive restaurants a lot but we do eat out quite regularly, whether it is a toasted sandwich at a cafe when we are out for the day with Izzy or a quick evening meal when we don’t feel like cooking. We also order takeaways perhaps once a month and quite often when I’m not in work I go out for lunch with my mum or sisters. Add onto this a hot chocolate or bottle of juice/pop for me when we take Izzy to the soft play (my treat) then the £’s definitely add up.

So this is a big challenge to me. No eating out for the remainder of the month.. Aaarrrggghh.

Well actually Diana says you should adapt it to you and you are allowed one cheat meal so that will be my parents anniversary meal and also I’m going to allow bought snacks when we visit the zoo with Izzy later this month. I’m going to limit rather than cut out hot drinks when we are out & about. I’m going to allow myself 4 bought hot chocolates for the month and I have already given up on fizzy pop (soda) so that should be easy. Even by having these exceptions I think we will save a lot.

I have already been given one big helping hand after winning a simple retweet competition on Twitter, I am the lucky winner of £100 box of 100 calorie tasty little numbers goodies. I haven’t tried them yet as waiting for my delivery but I’ve had a look on the site here and they look good! Therefore I have no excuse for buying snacks in work and these are low calorie too so should help will my other goal which is to lose a stone by March. Totally achievable I think 🙂

Anyway do any of my fellow UK based bloggers fancy joining in on the Eat In Month 2013?

How to spend less – part 2

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Today has been another day of preparation and decluttering. It makes you feel good doesn’t it? I still don’t feel well but instead of moping around on the settee I pulled out my kitchen drawers and started to sort through them. Over the past two years I have accumulated so many food magazines and recipe cards that I have no idea where anything is. So I threw a lot out ( well recycled) and looked through the ones I’d kept and wow I found lots of cheap, family friendly recipes that I had forgotten about so I’m looking forward to sharing them all with you.

First of all I thought I’d share a new slow cooker recipe with you which I kind of made up on the go and it seems to work well:

Slow cooker Thai curry

You will need:

2 boneless skinless chicken thighs £1.50
2 tbsp green curry paste (£0.65)
3/4 tin of coconut milk (£0.79)
2 cups of chicken stock ( from store cupboard )
1/2 sweet potato diced ( £0.40 )
1/2 onion diced ( £0.15 )
A handful of mushrooms chopped roughly (£0.60 )
2 spring onions diced (£0.30)
1 handful of frozen broccoli (£0.40 )
Seasoning ( from store cupboard)

Lightly brown your chicken thighs in a hot pan with a little olive oil and your onion. Place in your slow cooker and add all of the remaining ingredients mixing together thoroughly. Turn your slow cooker onto low and cook for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. If your curry is thinner than you would like add some cornflour mixed with water toward the end of your cooking time. Thai curries are traditionally thinner than say an Indian curry bit it’s all about personal preference.

This would feed 3-4 people quite easily and is extremely budget friendly at just £4.79 – based on my most recent shop at Asda. You could add more meat if you wanted or different vegetables depending on what you have to use up.

As this recipe came out at under a fiver I thought it would be fun to share one or two of my Sainsburys feed your family for a fiver curry favourites. Do you remember the campaign? The adverts were with Jamie Oliver and I loved the recipe cards you could pick up instore. Now I say favourites as I love the recipes but due to my cluttered drawer I haven’t used them in some time!

Chickpea & Spinach curry

You will need:

1kg pack new potatoes ( £1.50 )
1 onion (£0.20) chopped
410g tin of chickpeas (£0.69)
500g jar of tikka masala (£1.00)
300g of frozen spinach (chopped) (£0.75)
Olive oil ( from cupboard)
1 tsp chilli powder
Pepper
Naan breads x 4 (£1.20)

Slice potatoes in half and boil until tender. Drain and set aside. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan and onion and chilli powder, cook until soft. Add your spinach and heat through until it breaks up. Add your drained chickpeas and potatoes and stir through until warm. Pour in your sauce, heat through and season. Serve with warmed naans.

I did a quick price check on sainsburys website and now it comes out at £5.34 ( well inflation after 3yrs is to be expected) but you do get a lot of curry and its tasty and easy even if you aren’t a huge fan of the kitchen.

And finally..

Red Lentil Curry

You will need:

1 x 390g carton of chopped toms with basil & oregano ( £0.69)
2 tbsp red curry paste ( £1.75 for a whole jar, approx £0.75 for this serving)
1 x 28g pk of coriander ( chopped with a little reserved for garnish) ( £0.80)
1 x pk of 4 pitta breads ( £0.40)
200g dried red lentils (£1.09)
1 onion, finely chopped (£0.20)
2tbsp olive oil ( from store cupboard)
1 pinch of curry powder ( from store cupboard)

Preheat oven to 200 degs C/ gas mark 6.
Heat 1 tbsp of Olive oil in deep frying pan. Add your onion and coriander, sauté for a few mins and stir through your curry paste. Add lentils and 500ml of water. Simmer for 5 minutes and stir in chopped tomatoes. Simmer for a further 10 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Meanwhile brush your pittas with olive oil, sprinkle with curry powder and bake for 5 minutes. Just before serving sprinkle with coriander and serve with hot pittas.

A perfectly simple vegetarian curry. Delicious and again very cheap. Everytime we have eaten this we have always had leftovers for lunch the next day. A bargain at £4.93 or £3.93 if you consider that you can use the rest of the curry paste on a different meal.

Some money saving tips for you when buying ingredients for curries:

* check out Indian supermarkets for bulk buying rice/spices
*buy lentils from the world foods section of your supermarket
*buy coconut milk and chickpeas from bargain shops such as home bargains or again in the world foods section of supermarket.

I bought 2kg of red lentils some time ago for a fraction of the price above by shopping in the world foods section. I store mine in a jar and I think it looks quite attractive.

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I hope you try these recipes out and I’d love to hear your food budgeting ideas.

Happy new year.

How to spend less – part 1

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I tried to think of a witty name for this blog post but nada came to mind so here it is the first in a series of posts about how I’m going to spend less on everything. This is not a New Years resolution, it started a month or so back with trying to meal plan and the idea is evolving each day.

Today we did the weekly food shop and it came to £95.33, for some of you this may seem to be not too high and for others it will seem extortionate. I think that I didn’t actually overindulge but I wasn’t exactly careful. Far too much money is slipping out of my bank and into Asda, Sainsburys or Tesco and I am still wasting too much food.

Time to change. Drastically ( for me anyway).
I went into my kitchen and did a job I’ve been dreading for weeks – I sorted my cupboards. Forgive me for sounding obsessive here but I wrote down every item in my cupboard and the amount of said item. For example:

2 tins of coconut milk
4 tins of chopped tomatoes
1 pack of arborio rice
3 packs of dried spaghetti

And so on.

Then I did the fridge.. Then the freezer. Sad? Maybe.. Necessary? Totally.

I found items I’d forgotten, items almost or already past their sell by date and well just a lot of STUFF.

An apt notebook ?

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Whilst having a difficult evening with Izzy ( 4 nappy explosions in 30 mins? ) I sat down, worked my way through my many lists and meal planned using only items I already had – for the next 20 days! That’s right I have enough food in my house for the next 20 days between my cupboards, fridge and freezer.

Sooo instead of doing my weekly shop next weekend and spending another £90 I am setting myself a challenge of spending just £20 per week on essential fresh goods ( milk etc) and not doing another large shop for 3 weeks.

Ill give you a quick idea of some of the meals we have in store for us over the next few weeks:

* Thai green curry
* Lasagne
* Vegetable Balti
* Butterbean crisp
* Beef stew with dumplings
* Jerk chicken with coconut rice
* Spaghetti and meatballs
* Sweet potato risotto

Sounds good to me. I’ve broken each meal down to each ingredient and made sure I have it at home so overspending on the weekly budget should not happen.

Reading this back I sound a little obsessive but I want spare money to be used for family fun or meals out to somewhere special.. Or bills on occasion and not on food being thrown in my bin 2 weeks after purchase. As Christmas is now more or less over my weekly meal planner will be back on the weekend and I’d love it if some of you joined in.

There are lots of areas in my spending that I need to start to gain control so any help or tips you may have I would appreciate. We all waste money and I don’t imagine I will stop completely but if I save an extra £20 a week then that’s a day/night out!

Budget friendly recipes will follow over the next few days.

Hope you have all enjoyed the festivities and thank you for reading this year. It’s been fun.

Happy new year 😉

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How many toys is too many toys?

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This seems an apt time to ask you how many toys does your child have? And secondly how many do they play with?

Izzy has lots of toys. I should state that we haven’t bought her lots but I’m from a large family and things get passed along quite regularly. I have always welcomed this as I know that lots of people aren’t lucky enough to have family to share and spoil. The last few days I have been thinking more and more about how many toys she should have out readily at her disposal to play with. I’m not a mean mammy I just don’t want her to be spoilt. Christmas is really what made me think about this.
We only spent about £30 on Izzy this year including stocking fillers as I knew it would be hard for her to appreciate it being only 16 months old. We bought her a few books,some stacking cups and a few bits n pieces. On Christmas morning she enjoyed opening presents and kissing pictures of Upsy Daisy .. By the end of Boxing Day she had approximately an extra 25 presents. Only 2 of which were clothing. The presents are gorgeous but on top of what she already has I don’t know how many she should be able to play with at one time. We are planning to keep some in her bedroom for her morning play ( she always plays in her cot for at least 30 mins on waking while we get some extra snooze and loves having separate toys up there) and perhaps leave some of her older toys with grandparents so that she always has something familiar to play with. I will keep all her books out as she loves to read ( well look at pics) and I want to encourage that but any tips on what to do? Should I pack some away for a month or two? I don’t want to be mean but I don’t want her to grow up to expect this either. Hmm its difficult.

What did your little one have for Christmas? What are your thoughts on this?

I should point out that I was of course grateful for all of her gifts and some of them really were beautiful and thoughtful it’s just very hard to know what to do.

I also may steal her hungry caterpillar cup for myself as its so damn cute.

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She loved her “ipad”- the Haribo selection pack in background belongs to Daddy!

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Wearing great Nans Christmas hat

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Also do you have any funny names for your child’s toys? The pic below shows Izzy in her baby Einstein activity centre ( passed onto by family) which we call “the one that can’t move” for example if I’m cooking and my OH needs to pop upstairs or out I will say ” Put her in the one that can’t move for a few mins” it’s been brilliant as she enjoys it for short bursts and still hasn’t figured out how to get out.

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Thanks for reading, I’d love your comments 😉

Cooking at Christmas time

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Has Christmas Day really come and gone already? It seems like we prepare for an absolute age and then it’s gone in a flash! I hope all your wishes came true and your dinners were delicious.

I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with family so I didn’t get a chance to cook which I missed! Yesterday I just relaxed and spent time playing with Izzy or watching tv with my OH but today I really wanted to get back in the kitchen. I was spoilt this year, spoilt by the wonderful time I got to spend with my family and the fabulous food I had to eat and once again spoilt with perfect presents from my OH and Izzy.

I won’t list all my presents but I will tell you that I will be experimenting with new recipes, cooking methods and playing with kitchen gadgets for quite some time!

Some of my books:

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Already bookmarked around 30 MUST TRY recipes.

I was also lucky enough …after numerous hints to get a new waffle maker so it would have been rude to not try that out. It’s very different to my old waffle maker (my mums) so my first attempt looked like this:

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I blame the waffle maker instructions. It said use 1 tablespoon of mixture .. Clearly not enough so I doubled it for attempt 2 which was a major improvement :

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Both tasted delicious. For those interested the recipe I use for waffles is here and I often add extra ingredients such as vanilla or cinnamon… Or even chocolate chips.

Waffle making was not enough I needed to make something delicious for dinner so I tried a recipe which I have heard fave reviews about. Ham in coca cola. Sounds weird, tastes dreamy.
I used Nigellas recipe which you can find here I made a few small adjustments. Instead of using molasses followed by mustard powder and sugar I simply rubbed in a tablespoon of English mustard after I had placed my cloves in the scored fat and then followed by rubbing in 2 tablespoons of molasses. Worked well for me and the end result was so good I was amazed.

Here are some pics :

Bubbling hot hot hot

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Just ready to go in the oven

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Begging to be eaten but best leave it cool…

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Worth waiting for

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And one more just because it looked so pretty

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If you have a ham lurking in your fridge you must try this, if not then well there are lots of hams in the shops at the moment. Buy one, try this. You will not be disappointed.

My kitchen addiction only seems to be growing so expect more and more recipes very soon.

I am aiming for healthier recipes in January. Until then enjoy.

P.S thanks for the feedback from you lovely people who tried my sprout recipe on Christmas Day. So glad you loved it too!

Merry Christmas

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A very quick thank you to all you have followed, commented, liked or read my blog this year. My blog is only 6 months old but I have thoroughly enjoyed writing it and I really hope you have enjoyed reading.

Merry Christmas to you all, I hope you get everything you wish for!

Xxx

Sprouts Recipe – Bacon, Chestnut & Cream

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Hands up if you love sprouts? I love sprouts, love them love them love them. I only used to eat them on Christmas Day, why is this? I know it’s traditional but they are soon good. I intend to eat them at least a few more times this winter..especially after the quite frankly (pats self on back) amazing recipe I used them in today. I’ve seen a few variations of this kind of sprouts recipe in restaurants over the years and I decided to have a play and create my own. So here is my take on some incredible sprouts which I’m sure could persuade even a hardened sproutaphobe ( that’s not a word – I made it up ) to have a nibble.

Sprouts Recipe – Bacon, Chestnut & Cream

You will need:

200g of fresh sprouts, quartered
A handful of chestnuts diced ( I used vacuum packed chestnuts)
100ml of double cream
6 rashers of bacon, diced
1 squeeze of garlic puree or 2 cloves, minced
25g butter
pinch of black pepper and seasalt
A pinch of dried chilli flakes

Sauté your diced bacon and chestnuts in a little oil until golden, add your sprouts, garlic and butter and cook for a further 10 minutes on a medium heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add your double cream, chilli flakes and seasoning and cook for a further 2 minutes.

This is so tasty. It would of course be wonderful served with your traditional Christmas dinner but it would also make a really delicious side dish with any meats, vegetables or even on its own.

If you love sprouts you will love this, if you hate them I say give it a whirl – it just might change your way of thinking.

sprouts recipe

Update: This is a fairly old recipe, one of the first on my site in fact. It is however one of the recipes that I continue to go back and make over and over, as such along the way I have made slight amendments to my original recipe. Now it is even better!

Follow this link for even more sprouts recipes.

Takeaway Tuesday

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I love cooking but sometimes you cannot beat a takeaway. You may be surprised to learn that although when cooking I love to try new things when I have a takeaway I tend to pretty much always order the same dish.. Chinese chicken curry. I love it. Maybe we will order different accompaniments or extra dishes but I always order this too.

Last month we visited the BBC good food show in London Olympia and we came across a stall for Wing Yip sauces – their slogan is ” All the Chinese you need to know” and they had a fabulous show offer on with 5 sauces for £5 so I thought it would be fun to give them a try. One of the sauces I found was a concentrated chinese curry paste and tonight we gave it a whirl and wow so good.

It’s so simple and cheap that I can imagine a lot of evenings where my takeaway craving will be satisfied without the need to pick up my telephone.

The recipe is simple:

Fry onions and chicken ( or vegetables) in a pan. Whilst this is browning mix 1 part paste to 3/4 parts water and then add to your chicken and onions. Et voila.

I added chopped butternut squash and frozen peas to mine for extra nutritional value and also to me a Chinese takeaway curry is not complete without peas!

I served with half rice and half chips. Really tasty and a fraction of what I would spend on a takeaway.

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I am unsure what the standard prices are for Wing Yip products but they are worth checking out as we only used around 1/4 of a jar tonight so it’s definitely purse friendly even if you are paying a little more than the awesome deal we had.

We also had their sweet chilli sauce which is pretty good too and some other treats which we are yet to sample.

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* this is not a sponsored post I just thoroughly enjoyed the product*

Meal planning week 2

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A few blogs that I follow in America post a weekly meal plan, I always find it interesting to see what others are eating and I pick up a lot of good ideas as well as the idea for having a meal planning blackboard. I’ve decided to try posting mine weekly and hope some of you will join in perhaps commenting or even writing your own post. If you can link to any favourite recipes even better!

So here is this weeks plan:

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Monday Spaghetti aglio olio ( recipe here )
Tuesday Thai green curry ( this is a new creation including peanut butter – recipe to follow)
Wednesday Pulled pork ( recipe here )
Thursday Fishcakes with sweet chilli sauce
Friday Beef stew ( slowcooker stew – recipe to follow)
Saturday Fajitas ( Jamie Oliver style)
Sunday we are at a food festival so whatever treasures I find I will cook!

I’d love to hear what you are all eating this week or your thoughts/tips on meal planning.