Ocado home shopping

I've done my shopping online a few times, particularly when I was stuck at home with a broken ankle & couldn't get to the supermarket, much less push a trolley around.  Our choices have been pretty limited though, and as far as I knew only 2 of the big supermarkets, plus the frozen place actually delivered to our area.

Recently I learned that 2 other supermarkets have expanded their delivery areas to cover us, and that means TREATS!  Supermarkets that are a little too far away for me to visit regularly, but stock lovely things I like.  And when Ocado offered to send me a delivery of surprises, well, what do you think?

My first shock was receiving a text telling me when to expect the delivery, and giving the driver's details, the second was that he was bang on time, which has never happened with other deliveries. Chirpy, helpful, offered to put my chilled stuff away for me, very amused by the fact that the whole delivery was full of surprises, and I was so overwhelmed I forgot to take his photo. Bad blogger, no biscuit.  Even so, he stocked me up with loads of exciting veggies, and a whole host of healthy lunchbox treats for Miss Squeaky.  It was actually at the top of my shopping list for the week to restock our lunchbox stash, so couldn't have come at a better time.

The delivery itself really impressed me.  While all deliveries separate cupboard items from chilled and frozen (different areas of the van, see), they were in identified bags, so even if I got sidetracked, I'd be able to tell straight away - and a very useful concept for my next "in person" shopping trip.  The receipt print out also showed everything by date order, so I could see at a glance which items needed to be used up quickest.  I thought that was a great asset, it's happened before that I've ordered things with a plan for a few days hence, and found that the ingredients all needed to be used straight away.  By listing the use-by dates, it meant I knew that the best dated products had been chosen, and that I'd be able to use them while they're at their best.

Yogurts, fruit yoyos, wholewheat cookies, veg crisps and dairy free choco mylk (yes, that's how they spell it) for Squeaky.  Peppers, avocados, samphire, girolle mushrooms, berries and rainbow chard for the grow-ups.  Chard?  Wait a minute, I thought Chard was a place in Somerset! I grew up watching adverts for the now defunct wildlife park "Cricket St Thomas, near Chard", and now you want to tell me it's a vegetable?  You'll be telling me Cheddar is a type of cheese next!

Squeaky has already tucked in to a couple of the snacks with enthusiasm, and can't wait to go back to school to show off a whole new set of choices (which make me very happy due to their fruit content, low sugar levels, and all round Good Mummy lunchbox friendly status)  We don't mention the healthy aspect, due to her general mistrust of anything natural, green, or that has ever been introduced to a vegetable, but we're slowly winning the battle.

The selection of lovely veggies deserved a special meal to show them off to their best.  And I am trying to become a real and proper cook, not just someone who reheats things from the freezer.  So, what did I rustle up?  How does baked cod fillet dusted with Polish breadcrumbs, on a bed of rainbow chard, with girolle mushroom couscous, topped with samphire sound?  Trust me, it tasted even better, and made a refreshing and healthy change from roast chicken.

I made this!

Would I reconsider online shopping? Definitely. Our local supermarkets are becoming a nightmare to park, and to get around, especially with Squeaky in tow.  Would I use Ocado? On this basis, absolutely!  Looking on their website, they have a price promise to beat Tesco, the Essential range looks to be great value for money, and if I can pick up some treats along the way, even better!  I'll never lose my bargain hunting streak and still have to pop in to the actual stores to look for the ooopsies and bent bargains, but for the proper shopping, I think things are going to change.  It'll help the budget as well, if I meal plan in advance, don't you think?

Disclosure: I was gifted with a mystery delivery of Ocado products free of charge for the purposes of this review.  I was not told what to write, and all opinions remain my own. Links are provided for convenience, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme and will not receive reward for their use.

Newlife Foundation

You all know, I hope, that charity shopping is one of my favourite pastimes. I can't resist a bargain, and if I can do some good at the same time all the better.  This means that when I was asked (ages ago now *shame*) if I would like to write about the Newlife Foundation, I was only too pleased to say yes.

I've known about Newlife for ages, because their main base is just around the corner from my in-laws' house in Cannock, Staffordshire, so I make a point of popping in to their retail superstore when we're visiting.  However, the store was about all I really knew, so I loved the chance to find out a bit more, and spread the word a little.

The Newlife Foundation are a specialist charity, providing essential aids for children with disabilities and life limiting illnesses.  Things that can't be provided by social services or their local health board, for whatever reason.  That could be a wheelchair, a special bed, communication equipment, depends on the needs of the individual child.  They also have loan packs of sensory toys to enable parents to find out what works best for their child before purchasing.  The charity are totally funded by donations, and receive no statutory help, which is why they need to raise funds through their store.  While their base is in the West Midlands, they help children and families throughout the UK.

Take your pick!

Now, I mentioned the retail superstore. Superstore is the right word. Put all thoughts of the average charity shop from your mind, with its stretched jumpers, eau de mothballs scent, mismatched crockery and grouchy pensioners getting in the way of the bargains. Oh no.  For a start, all the stock is new.  Stock is donated by major high street retailers (I'm not sure if I can say who, but if you've got a good eye and know your High Street fashion, you can tell who some are), de-labelled to remove the original retailer's details, and put up for sake at bargain prices.  Some items are end of range, or previous season, others are slight seconds. All are a bargain.  Seriously, I've had some beautiful clothes from there, for a fraction of the high street prices.  As an example, I bought a hoody with a silly pattern on the front last time I visited for £4.99. I hadn't seen it in stores, but googled it out of interest, and found that the "new" price if I'd bought it in my local store was £35.00.  Definitely a good deal.  You do have to pay for membership on your first purchase, but even so, this quickly offsets against the level of savings.

East European Hooker Shoes.

Its fun too.  Something like a good quality jumble sale, with added East European Hooker Shoes. No, really, there's always shoes that could only seriously be worn by someone who never actually stands up in them, in lurid shades of lime, fuchsia and gold glitter.   I shouldn't call them that, but you know the kind of shoes I mean.  The polite term might be "limo shoes", but I think mine's better.  The jumble sale aspect is mostly due by the sheer quantity of clothes on display. They're mostly sorted by size groups (e.g 10 & under, 12 & 14, 16 & 18, 20+), with a few racks where they've got a job lot of the same item in various sizes.  If you're the kind of person who likes to pop in, grab the one thing they know they want, and run, then it's probably not for you. But if you like to hunt and find a real bargain, it's bliss.

Gorgeous skirts, every size but mine!

This is the point where you realise that I'm not joking when I say I should have written this post ages ago, because I had a clutch of photos on my old phone that I took in the store last time I visited, but I've completely lost them to the mists of time, and the vagaries of modern technology.  And they were all jumpers & winter stuff.  So that seemed like a good excuse to go back (hey, what can I say?)  So the photos you can see here are from my most recent visit.  Admittedly, all I bought for myself was some sensible sandals & a pair of pyjama pants, but I managed to stock up on a few items for Miss Squeaky as well, at a price I'm happy to pay.

The charity are always looking for volunteers to help out with the store's activities. If you're in the West Midlands, love clothing and doing something great for others, you could get involved with sorting & delabelling clothes to go on the shelves, or wherever you are, you can host a party selling items from the store, they are happy for people to get involved or host a coffee morning, or whatever takes your fancy really.  Or you could just go and spend your cash!  I hope I've inspired you in some way, and I'm sorry it's taken me so long!

Disclaimer: I have not been compensated in any way for this post. I am a genuine shopper and member of the retail superstore. I was invited to write about the charity and their store, and I have given my time free of charge in order to support their cause.

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.

Mmmondays with St David's Centre, Cardiff

I love shopping. You know that, don't you?  And food.  I definitely love food.  So what better way to make me happy than to combine the two?  And I don't mean going food shopping.  Every Monday in August, St David's shopping centre in Cardiff is hosting Mmmondays, a tasty celebration of all things food.  We popped along this week to find out what it was all about.

I registered on their website before going, and received a voucher which gave me discounts in many of the cafes and restaurants in the centre, as well as access to other special discounts & treats, including 20% off in Hamleys (very welcome, one of our favourite stores).  The vouchers and offers change each week, so it's worth checking what's on offer before you go.  It doesn't matter if you hadn't got a voucher beforehand, as there was a stall in the centre of the main arcade where you could register and get your voucher on the day - handy if you weren't expecting anything going on.

We started out with a spot of lunch in Prezzo, a restaurant I hadn't visited before, but one taking part in the promotion.  They had 2 different children's menus, depending on the age & appetite of your child. At 3, Squeaky opted for the smaller meal, and the garlic bread, pizza & ice cream were just her size.  It makes a refreshing change for her to get through a whole meal out, and the combination of the right foods, and the right portion sizes made a big difference.  They even gave her child sized cutlery, a big plus in my book.  I had goat's cheese bruschetta & penne arrabiata from the adults' set menu, and there was so much I couldn't even finish it - unknown for me!

Then off we headed into the main shopping centre.  There was a definite carnival atmosphere to the Mmmondays experience, with a Test Your Strength game, where you could win prizes from various restaurants (we won a free drink from Nando's), a picture postcard posing place (I don't know... there's probably a word for it!), and a spin the wheel game, where you could win Krispy Kreme doughnuts or packets of sweets.  All really good fun, attracting lots of attention, but not too distracting from the important job of shopping!

Shopping, ah yes, shopping.  As I said, there was a discount in Hamley's, and loads pirate activities, which they've got going on throughout the holidays, yarrrrrrrr.  We made the most of the opportunity to play on some of the toys they have available to try out on the shop floor, even though it did take quite a battle to get Squeaky back out of the store again.  And the Disney store opposite were promoting their latest film, Planes (which Squeaky is now desperate to see), as well as generally being the sparkliest, spangliest place on the whole planet and a three year old's idea of bliss.  Squeaky bought herself a Minnie Mouse helicopter toy with the Tooth Fairy's gift (and a bit of help from Mummy, because the value of money is still a mystery)

We hit a few shops, and spent as much as my wallet could take when it's still a fortnight til payday, and then made our way to the treat zone.  Treat Zone?  Yep!  If you spend more than £10 (in one transaction, as some were finding out), you can take your receipt to the Treat Zone, and choose from popcorn, snowcones or candy floss as a way of saying thank you.  Candy floss for me, every time!  Not sure Squeaky was quite so convinced, but then again the candy floss was bigger than her head.

Want to see more?  St Davids have put together a little film to tell you all about it.

If that's whetted your appetite, maybe we'll see you there next week, there's still 2 more Mmmondays to go!

Disclosure: I was invited to attend this event and provided with a complementary meal on attendance.  I was not told what to write and all opinions remain my own.  Links are provided for convenience only, I am not a member of any affiliate scheme & will not receive reward for their use.

Poundland Weekly Essentials Challenge

Poundland is one of my favourite shops.  Not only is it the first (and therefore last) shop I see when I walk into town, but I can rarely resist the siren call of a bargain.  Poundland have just launched over 100 new grocery lines, and they sent me a £15 voucher to find out for myself just how much can be saved by switching your weekly shop to Poundland.  Never one to back down from a challenge, here's what I bought.

Breakfast Essentials

Kelloggs Corn Flakes.  The same 250g packet in the supermarket costs £1.39, so a saving of 39p
Shreddies. Squeaky's favourite cereal. Price marked pack £2.29, a saving of £1.29
Bacon (I've got a few days off work, it's allowed!) Supermarket value brand costs £1.64, a saving of 64p
6 Free Range Eggs I could have had a bigger pack if I didn't want free range, too.  Supermarket cost £1.48, a saving of 48p
Coffee I need my coffee in the morning.  And the afternoon, and early evening.  Supermarket own brand roughly equivalent costs £1.50, so a saving of 50p.  I know there's the supermarket value coffee, but have you ever tried it?
Canderel Price marked packs £1.29 each, but I got 3 for £2, so a saving of £1.87

Tomato Soup!

An absolute must in our house, one of the few vegetable-based foods I can get Squeaky to eat.  One big can for us all to share, and two little cans for when there's only 1 adult in the house.  Both the large & small cans are different sizes to the ones in the supermarket though, so it's calculator time.  The big can is 800g, and the little ones are 300g, and 2 for £1.  The supermarket can is 400g for 89p.

Big can 800g for £1, supermarket works out to £1.78 for the same amount, a saving of 78p

Small cans 2 x 300g for £1, supermarket works out to £1.34 for the same quantity, a saving of 34p

Lunchtime Essentials

Ye Olde Oak Ham Normally £1.99 in the supermarket, though it's on offer this week. A saving of 99p
Mattessons smoked pork sausage I only discovered Squeaky likes this last week, but it's firmly on our shopping list now.  Supermarket price £2.49, a saving of £1.49
Heinz Tomato Ketchup Without this, there would be no mealtimes in our house!  Supermarket price £1.85 for the same size (though different shape bottle), a saving of 85p
Spaghetti. Price marked at £1 for 3 cans, but I can't find even a supermarket own brand that matches that!  Supermarket own brand priced 40p a can, so that would be £1.20 for 3, a saving of 20p

Essential Treats!

Vimto for Daddy, who is stuck in the 1970's.  I can't stand the stuff, but thinks I'm wonderful if I buy him some.  £2.69 for 6 in the supermarket, which is £1.35 for 3.  I paid £1 for 3, a saving of 35p
Jaffa Cakes These are for me & Squeaky to share.  Maybe.  If she's good.  Price marked pack at £2.59, a saving of £1.59.

So, I got loads for my £15, more than I thought.  If I'd bought all of that at the supermarket, Id've spent a whopping £26.76!  By switching my essentials (and a couple of little treats) to Poundland, I've saved an amazing £11.76.  I was expecting a couple of pounds difference, but not that much.  I'm really surprised.  I've shopped at Poundland for quite a while, but didn't realise it could make this much difference to my weekly shop.

There was another upside to this challenge.  I needed an onion as well as these items, so because I'd been to Poundland rather than the supermarket for the rest of my shopping, I popped into the local greengrocer for the onion instead.  I supported a local business, and saved another 6p, based on the average price on the supermarket website!