Saturday 20 February 2016

Sewing, cheap food and collecting stuff.

Hello. I did my three miles earlier today while it was still light. It was surprisingly warm, I needn't have put a jacket on. I'm up to 148 miles for Jan and Feb, but I know there are people who have done more than that. Keep going peeps, only another ten months and ten days left to do. 
I am getting a reputation in this village as someone who is collecting fabric for crafting purposes. A friend of a friend rang last week and offered me a bag of mixed pieces that she didn't think she would ever use. I went and picked them up. There are some nice colours. I promised her I would make her a shopping bag.
Today I delivered two shopping bags, but she wasn't in, so I folded them carefully and pushed them through the letter box. I hope she enjoyed the surprise.

I called in at the Cash and Carry on my way to town yesterday, I haven't been for ages, so I wondered if they had anything new in. I found these porridge in a mug sachet's, £1 for three boxes, 15 sachet's. Not quite as cheap as a 1kg bag of oats at 75p, but I thought they would make a nice change because they are apple and blueberry flavour.  They have a best before date of 27th Feb, which is fine.  
I already have some of these Vegetable Granules in my cupboard, they are handy to add to all sorts of meals. I picked up five more jars at 20p each. They were out of date in April 2015, I don't care.

These noodles were priced up at four bags for £1. There are four separate servings in one bag. I thought four bags would be too much for me, so I bought one bag for 30p. That's 7.5p per serving. The date is best before today, 20th Feb 2016.

And my fourth bargain is a 500grm slab of mature cheese, priced at £2.50. I usually buy a 350 grm pack of cheese for £1.59 from Aldi. The date on this is 25th March 2016, so well in date. I can't find this on the Tesco web site, but they have Cathedral which is similar at £3.50 for 350grm, so I think this was a good buy.

As well as people wanting to give me fabric, it seems I am also the drop off point for friends who are de cluttering. They know that I help with the fundraising for the cat rescue, and anything we can't sell I will take to the charity shop. A bin bag of stuff was delivered to me today, some of which we can sell. Set of new glasses in a box, white ceramic bowls, a money box, and other bits and bobs.  
Rocky wasn't too impressed with his Santa's hat which was in a bag of Christmas decorations, ha ha. 
I think it's time we went out for a last bimble before bed time, so I'll say cheerio for now. Thanks for popping in. Catch you soon. Toodle pip.

23 comments:

  1. Great buys and Rocky makes the perfect Santa. :)

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  2. Rocky looks terribly sweet in his hat. Good that people know what a good recyler you are and drop their stuff to you .

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  3. Glad to see Rocky again, I was wondering how he was doing. JanF

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  4. What beautiful fabric and what elegant shopping bags. Really lovely.

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  5. Love the Shopping bags!Rocky looks so cute!

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  6. Mornin' Ilona. I love those pretty floral bags. They would make shopping fun... did I ever say that I loathe shopping? How people can wander around shops all day trying on clothes and shoes is completely beyond me. My neighbour would shop till her arms dropped off (her quote not mine) I am in the process of making a Moussaka using an adaptation of this recipe. I use a fraction of the meat that he uses and I bet it would be gorgeous made simply with veg..I will cut mine into six portions and freeze four.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_GcsR7Q99s

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  7. Those bags are beautiful and the fabric pieces , I got some reduced cheese yesterday the date was up so grated it and froze it ideal for lasagne and pizzas xxx

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  8. Gorgeous shopping bags! I bet she loves them.

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  9. Love the shopping bags..I got quite a few reduced bits last night too. Massive mangoes at 45p each and each will make 4 smoothies for my breakfasts. I often do a liquid diet to detox. other interesting things found at the back of a shelf, two bottles of vodka priced at £6.00 each instead of £11+. They can be put away till Chistmas as they don't go off and in a posh bag will make great presents.

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  10. Nice you will have lots to sell at the cats fete and its coming to you rather than you have to fetch it from somewhere, I had a good deal on my delivery saver with t/scos this year, I built up enough points so I get delivery free for the year, but every week I seem to find some coupon or offer that I wouldn't get in the shop, this week I got a free pizza and a £2 coupon, last week was 250 points for being a renewer of the scheme which would then double up to £5 in the boost. I probably would not feel its worth it if I was on my own, but as a family of four I play with it to get exactly the same amount each week, getting the best deals. when I was shopping I used petrol time and effort and didn't have access to half the offers but did have access to reductions if they were there, so its swings and roundabouts for me really. it is rather nice for someone to pick it, pack it and delivery it for free though, whilst you lie in bed with a cup of tea, :) Julie T

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  11. Rocky is a sweetheart, have you every used Approved Foods?x

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    1. Hi. No I haven't. I had a look once but didn't find enough to make up an order. A lot of it is stuff I wouldn't eat. There is a lot of junk there. No thanks.

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    2. Speaking of junk those Oat so Simples are absolutely laden with sugar. It's healthier to buy a big bag of plain oats and make your own.

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    3. Thank you for telling me what I already know, Anon. I only bought them for a change, don't intend eating them forever.

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  12. Love Rocky in his hat. Natalie

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  13. Hi there

    been reading you for a couple weeks now, but never commented...Love your blog.

    re those expiry dates, pretty sure I have read much research (in past yr), that they do not matter, unless it is a milk product, or some meds.

    the dates are put on for the convenience of store/manufacture. When date pops up, they can convince consumer to chuck it, and BUY NEW. Great deal for them.

    However, for stores that sell it cheap at that date, good deal for you..grin.

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  14. sorry to mention the quick oats..sigh

    but, over here in North America, they all have Iron added. In fact, the boxes I bought last (and not again, sigh as I love them) actually say they have coated the oates with Iron.

    While you may think this extra Iron is a good thing, sadly it is not. VERY few folks need extra Iron, especially adults.

    Check out "iron needs", etc..

    the human body has no way to excrete extra iron (except if cut and bleeding), and the excess is stored in organs, such as brain/liver/heart etc etc...Causing lots of problems.

    Many folks of European origin also have a genetic tendency to Iron Excess/ Iron Overload...

    If you look on say a box of cereal (in North America) the labels will tell you what per cent of ONE bowl of cereal equals a day's "iron needs". Usually two bowls will put you over. Never mind that one also gets iron in every thing else one eats...sigh.

    Do food labels where you live have this sort of info?

    You have scored some amazing deals, but it is (from what I have read) only because you work at it, and have trained your brain / eyes to spot it..

    way to go.

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    1. Hi. There is no mention of iron on the box. Our food labels have a list of ingredients, and nutritional information. I don't study them in great detail. Most of my food is vegetables and dairy, so a bit of junk now and again will be alright. I don't eat meat.

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    2. well, not surprised if yours don't have it added, as I noticed from different folks, these things are different all over (vitamins added/iron added)

      for you it likely no matter,
      but for a long time
      they were my "big treat" I would buy from time to time, and would eat two at a time. Especially for a night snack. I knew of course about sugar, but thought, it is not too bad as a treat.

      I hadn't found a sale for a long time, then did. so I had them several days in a row, and suddenly realised I didn't really feel so well when I ate them. It was only then I read "my" quick oats nutritional panel and discovered that even two of them would give me HUGE amount of iron..

      ah well...

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  15. oh sheesh

    forgot to mention, those are really lovely bags you made as a thank you for the fabric. (and that fabric is lovely too).

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  16. The photo of Rocky in his Christmas hat would make a great Christmas card :-)

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