Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Nigella? Is that you?
Is it just me, or does Nigella seem to have finally morphed into the Ronni Ancona caricature of herself just lately?
Today's Bargains, and a Nutella note or two...!
A few bits worth looking for today...
ALDI
A generous 150g wedge of speciality cheese for just 99p
Our local branch had three varieties to choose from: White Stilton with Apricots, Smokey Cheddar or Wensleydale with Chives and Onions.
10" Stonebaked Pizza for £1.49. Pepperoni or Ham and Pineapple were available, but others may be available.
150g of Marinated Smoked Salmon currently on promotion, so a 33% discount brings the price down to £2.29. This is the good stuff, fit for offering to vicars or prospective Mothers-In-Law!
Fresh Chicken Leg Quarters just 99p for a pack of two. Ok, it's not going to be organic or free-range for that price, but if it's bog standard chicken you want, it's pretty good value especially if you plan to smother it with a sauce.
Bread: White Square Sandwich Loaf is still only 30p. Not the most exciting bread in the world perhaps, but ideal for comforting tea-time toast, or for making bread pudding, or even for filling up the freezer to keep it running economically, and at least it's edible unlike scrunched up newspaper!
Slightly more exciting is the Farmhouse Multigrain Batch Loaf at 85p.
And a quick reminder that Aldi Grandessa Jams and Marmalades have been winning awards for taste and quality, and are among the best value anywhere! Prices start at 59p
ICELAND
Still have a variety of 1kg bags of frozen veg for £1.
They also have a number of Young's products such as Admiral's Pie for £1 while their own individual ready meals start at 75p. Always a useful standby for a cold-weather lunch or supper.
MORRISONS
Shreddies 750g are on a BOGOF. At £2.39 they are not the cheapest cereal, but nothing beats the taste of the original version, and the less expensive copy-cat products usually come in a much smaller 500g box.
Simpson's Tinned Sponge Puddings (similar to H***z) are currently 2 for £1. Available flavours locally were Sticky Toffee, Strawberry and Chocolate.
Lancaster Corned Beef at £1.20 per 340g tin is a good quality product at a very reasonable price. Put it in the fridge for a few hours before opening for ease of slicing. This size tin comfortably makes a couple of rounds of sandwiches plus a good quantity of Corned Beef Hash without any trouble. Remember to save any fat from the can for frying your Hash. Ah, those good old Ministry of Food leaflets!
Alpro 1l Soya Drink is still only 83p.
4 pints 1% Fat Milk (Purple Top) is back on offer at just 50p. Perfectly good for tea and coffee and custards etc, even if you prefer a less skimmed milk on your cereal! I think this works out cheaper than buying dried milk!
Danepak Bacon, 6 Thick Cut Rashers (220g) £1.45. Normally £3, so this is better than half-price.
POUNDLAND
Nutella 200g in the plain drinking glass! A classic! Don't ask the price...
I used to buy this gorgeous goo when my children were young and it used to come in a decorated glass that featuered the cultural icons (for the under 10s!) of the era. Occasionally they brought out the product in a plain but elegant drinking glass as well, and that is the version Poundland has. I liked them too because they were fairly small (for my little hands, never mind the kids'!) I still have my Scooby Doo glass, but Bart Simpson went the way of all glassware a few months ago.
I shall buy the odd jar of this whilst thay have it in stock just so I can add to my supply of dinky glasses. I know I could probably buy the bigger screw-top jars at a lower-per-gram price elsewhere, but I shall kid myself that I'm doing my bit for the planet by re-using the glass instead of recycling a jar. Oh and I shall enjoy emptying it too...!
ALDI
A generous 150g wedge of speciality cheese for just 99p
Our local branch had three varieties to choose from: White Stilton with Apricots, Smokey Cheddar or Wensleydale with Chives and Onions.
10" Stonebaked Pizza for £1.49. Pepperoni or Ham and Pineapple were available, but others may be available.
150g of Marinated Smoked Salmon currently on promotion, so a 33% discount brings the price down to £2.29. This is the good stuff, fit for offering to vicars or prospective Mothers-In-Law!
Fresh Chicken Leg Quarters just 99p for a pack of two. Ok, it's not going to be organic or free-range for that price, but if it's bog standard chicken you want, it's pretty good value especially if you plan to smother it with a sauce.
Bread: White Square Sandwich Loaf is still only 30p. Not the most exciting bread in the world perhaps, but ideal for comforting tea-time toast, or for making bread pudding, or even for filling up the freezer to keep it running economically, and at least it's edible unlike scrunched up newspaper!
Slightly more exciting is the Farmhouse Multigrain Batch Loaf at 85p.
And a quick reminder that Aldi Grandessa Jams and Marmalades have been winning awards for taste and quality, and are among the best value anywhere! Prices start at 59p
ICELAND
Still have a variety of 1kg bags of frozen veg for £1.
They also have a number of Young's products such as Admiral's Pie for £1 while their own individual ready meals start at 75p. Always a useful standby for a cold-weather lunch or supper.
MORRISONS
Shreddies 750g are on a BOGOF. At £2.39 they are not the cheapest cereal, but nothing beats the taste of the original version, and the less expensive copy-cat products usually come in a much smaller 500g box.
Simpson's Tinned Sponge Puddings (similar to H***z) are currently 2 for £1. Available flavours locally were Sticky Toffee, Strawberry and Chocolate.
Lancaster Corned Beef at £1.20 per 340g tin is a good quality product at a very reasonable price. Put it in the fridge for a few hours before opening for ease of slicing. This size tin comfortably makes a couple of rounds of sandwiches plus a good quantity of Corned Beef Hash without any trouble. Remember to save any fat from the can for frying your Hash. Ah, those good old Ministry of Food leaflets!
Alpro 1l Soya Drink is still only 83p.
4 pints 1% Fat Milk (Purple Top) is back on offer at just 50p. Perfectly good for tea and coffee and custards etc, even if you prefer a less skimmed milk on your cereal! I think this works out cheaper than buying dried milk!
Danepak Bacon, 6 Thick Cut Rashers (220g) £1.45. Normally £3, so this is better than half-price.
POUNDLAND
Nutella 200g in the plain drinking glass! A classic! Don't ask the price...
I used to buy this gorgeous goo when my children were young and it used to come in a decorated glass that featuered the cultural icons (for the under 10s!) of the era. Occasionally they brought out the product in a plain but elegant drinking glass as well, and that is the version Poundland has. I liked them too because they were fairly small (for my little hands, never mind the kids'!) I still have my Scooby Doo glass, but Bart Simpson went the way of all glassware a few months ago.
I shall buy the odd jar of this whilst thay have it in stock just so I can add to my supply of dinky glasses. I know I could probably buy the bigger screw-top jars at a lower-per-gram price elsewhere, but I shall kid myself that I'm doing my bit for the planet by re-using the glass instead of recycling a jar. Oh and I shall enjoy emptying it too...!
Thursday, 2 September 2010
A Very Domestic Day!
I have had a wonderfully domestic day today catching up on my housework and, to my surprise, I actually enjoyed it!
I suppose it is an indication of just how far the house has progressed in its journey towards the completion of its renovation and refurbishment that it is actually possible to get it looking like something approaching respectable these days, although I am aware that we still have a long way to go. For example, we currently have an open-plan bathroom...the door would have been fitted by now except that I changed my mind about having the door opening inwards and now want it to open outwards. This obviously entails modifications to the doorframe (sorry David!) and because of a peculiarity of the floorboards outside the bathroom requires the fitting of rising butt hinges which can't be got locally, it seems.
It would be acting very much against our frugal instincts to make a special journey just for rising butt hinges, so the door won't get fitted for a week or two yet - I just hope the vicar doesn't call while I'm in the bath...!
Anyway, I tidied and sorted and polished and mopped and vacuumed for all I was worth today, and scrubbed the bathroom vinyl on my hands and knees to make the white squares white and the black squares black, as well as doing a couple of loads of washing and getting them pegged out, dried and put away (okay, I haven't ironed the T-shirts and trousers yet) as it has been such a gorgeous drying day.
The sun is now an orange disc lowering towards the horizon, and the sky is a multi-layered candy floss sandwich of pinks and oranges, purples and mauves, reflected in a dead calm sea - impossible to photograph with my unsophisticated point-and-shoot, so you'll just have to imagine unfortunately...
The dinner is bubbling away in anticipation of David coming home and I've even remembered to put the beans to soak for tomorrow's meal!
I can't remember the last time I had such a satisfying day, and it makes me feel very contented even though I know the tidiness won't last long unless I follow David around picking up and cleaning up after him as he works on the house!
God willing, once the house is all done, there will be more days like today, and it will be less of a marathon job to keep the house looking more like a home and less like a building site!
I suppose it is an indication of just how far the house has progressed in its journey towards the completion of its renovation and refurbishment that it is actually possible to get it looking like something approaching respectable these days, although I am aware that we still have a long way to go. For example, we currently have an open-plan bathroom...the door would have been fitted by now except that I changed my mind about having the door opening inwards and now want it to open outwards. This obviously entails modifications to the doorframe (sorry David!) and because of a peculiarity of the floorboards outside the bathroom requires the fitting of rising butt hinges which can't be got locally, it seems.
It would be acting very much against our frugal instincts to make a special journey just for rising butt hinges, so the door won't get fitted for a week or two yet - I just hope the vicar doesn't call while I'm in the bath...!
Anyway, I tidied and sorted and polished and mopped and vacuumed for all I was worth today, and scrubbed the bathroom vinyl on my hands and knees to make the white squares white and the black squares black, as well as doing a couple of loads of washing and getting them pegged out, dried and put away (okay, I haven't ironed the T-shirts and trousers yet) as it has been such a gorgeous drying day.
The sun is now an orange disc lowering towards the horizon, and the sky is a multi-layered candy floss sandwich of pinks and oranges, purples and mauves, reflected in a dead calm sea - impossible to photograph with my unsophisticated point-and-shoot, so you'll just have to imagine unfortunately...
The dinner is bubbling away in anticipation of David coming home and I've even remembered to put the beans to soak for tomorrow's meal!
I can't remember the last time I had such a satisfying day, and it makes me feel very contented even though I know the tidiness won't last long unless I follow David around picking up and cleaning up after him as he works on the house!
God willing, once the house is all done, there will be more days like today, and it will be less of a marathon job to keep the house looking more like a home and less like a building site!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)