Bank Holiday Monday as a #MorrisonsMum

I'm Cheaper, are you?

Having spent my student years, and a fair few years after graduating living in the wilds of West Yorkshire, I have to admit to having a bit of a soft spot for Morrison's, as much as it's possible to like a supermarket in that way.  They're the reason why I call the reduced cans display "Bent Bargains", the source of all sorts of odd products I can't find anywhere else, and slightly more logical than the average supermarket.  I was quite upset when I moved south and they hadn't yet expanded to the rest of the UK.  However, those days are long gone, I've grown up, and Morrison's are everywhere now.  There's even a rumour they might be planning to build a new store in our town, where the bus station is at present, if and when the roadworks finally finish (I'm taking this with a pinch of salt, mind you, there have been rumours about Markses going in every big bit of vacant land in town for the last ten years and it still hasn't happened) The likelihood of the roadworks finishing this side of the next millennium is pretty slim considering the speed they're working, so I'm not holding my breath.

Well, this isn't meant to be me wittering on about my long-lost youth, or the state of the Merthyr Tydfil road network, this is me talking about Morrison's now.  Morrison's have taken on the country's economic what-have-you, and introduced a huge range of savings across the store.  Not for a day, or a week, but permanent reductions on over 1000 everyday items, as well as some treats, in order to put a bit of cash back into our pockets.  I was given the chance to have a look for myself, and I'm never one to say no to a trip to Morrison's, even if it's a 15 minute drive, past 3 other supermarkets on the way, and through more roadworks than you'd really believe possible.  I'm going to stop talking about roadworks in a minute, honestly.

Scary Knife lady

Armed with a shopping list (quite unusual for me), Squeaky and I hit the aisles in Ebbw Vale, our nearest store, and one I enjoy popping in when I'm passing. I'd been told to look out for the "I'm Cheaper" stickers, and I was expecting to see a few scattered through the store, but they were everywhere.  Fruit & veg, coffee, cereals, bread, freezer section, everywhere.  I managed to resist the siren call of the deli counters, though I'm a bit upset about that, because I missed out on a couple of my favourite things, though I'm not sure I would have had the chance to eat the huge amount of pork pie or blackberry tart along with everything else I bought.

We stocked up the cupboards to siege levels, ready to withstand any invading zombie hordes, took advantage of the 3 for £10 meat offers to get our weekend roast, chicken for a Mexican Saturday lunch, and some mince for a spag bol later in the week, watched a knife demonstration (and came away with a free garnish knife), filled the freezer with the important things in life (or turkey aeroplanes and Arctic Roll to you & me), bought Daddy some razor blades, and even picked up a few treats.  And still came out to just under £70!  This is the point where I would normally have made a mad dash to the wines & spirits section and grabbed some vitally important Pinot Grigio, but I'm meant to be being healthy at the moment, so I resisted.  I don't do a "big shop" all that often, and when I do it tends to be at a discount supermarket, so I was pleasantly surprised how much I was able to get for my money.

Instead of buying enough wine to pickle myself for the rest of the weekend, we rewarded ourselves with a trip to the cafe, where Squeaky had what she declared to be the most delicious teacake she has ever tasted (and she's tasted a LOT of teacakes!), and I stuck to coffee.  I've still got some voucher money left over, so I'm going to have a word with our local foodbank and see if they have any special requests for the leftover balance - I think that would be a good thing to do, don't you?

The most delicious teacake ever

Bank Holidays throw my timing out of the window, especially when coupled with a Sunday afternoon birthday party, and Daddy working shifts.  So we had Sunday On A Monday roast dinner.  Would you like to join us?

Try my Perfect Roast Potatoes, and Never Failed Yorkshire Puddings  (Honestly, this is not just an excuse to link to a couple of my old posts, they are the recipes I use every week because they really work, and are far better than any others I've tried)  However, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you how to throw a chicken in the oven, and you've already seen my Yorkshire Puds & Roasties, so instead I've decided to share with you the recipe for the Totally Amazebowls Tomato Soup I made as a starter.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the supermarket

Totally Amazebowls Tomato Soup - serves 4. Cost per serving 35p
Ingredients:
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 medium sized potatoes (or 1 baking potato, depending on what's to hand)
1 sweet potato
1 onion
3/4 pint of veg stock
2 tablespoons Soured Cream, and a little more to serve.

Method:
Peel and dice the potatoes, sweet potato and onion, and place these, along with the stock and tinned tomatoes into a large saucepan.
Bring to the boil and simmer for around 15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through.
Blend with a stick blender, or potato masher if you are more patient than me.
Stir through the sourced cream.
Pour into bowls and add a swirl of soured cream to each bowl to serve.

Totally Amazebowls!

Disclosure: I was provided with £80 of vouchers to carry out a shopping trip in order to write this post. I was not told what to write, and all opinions are my own. Links are provided for convenience only, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme and will not receive reward for their use.