Yesterday's Slimming World party and taster was great fun - Heidi brought three games with her including one that had a prize for everyone. Mine was a jar of Options hot chocolate which is quite nice added to yogurt.
Oh, and we had a snowball fight!!
After tidying everything up and making sure we left the hall in good nick, I headed over to Morrisons and the 'fun' began.
To be fair, although it was very crowded, everyone seemed in good humour and was happy to shift over, move out of the way, make space with a smile or a friendly word. It makes shopping so much nicer, doesn't it?
The bill, even after the deductions for points, More Card special prices, etc, was eye-wateringly scary but, when I got home and had time to sit down and think about it, I did get quite a lot for my money really.
The bill, even after the deductions for points, More Card special prices, etc, was eye-wateringly scary but, when I got home and had time to sit down and think about it, I did get quite a lot for my money really.
They had restocked on the half price beef, pork and lamb and I managed to get the last leg of lamb. I don't need it now but a whole leg of lamb for £15 is too good to leave. I did ponder more beef but didn't because I cut the last one into four small roasts which will do me and Alex nicely.
I got loads of Schloer zero because it was a very good special price and I almost always get a bottle each week.
There was alcohol, of course - that always costs.
I now have plenty of cheese - we all love cheese.
And nuts - raw nuts.
And they had veg at 10p a bag (really!) on my More Card so I got some - I need to get them prepped and in the freezer at some point.
What I didn't get was crisps. There's four days to go and crisps are my downfall. I'm going to walk round on Tuesday (must check opening hours) to get them and, already, a few extra items are on the new list - I'm nearly out of plain flour, for example.
Never ending, isn't it?
Once everything was away in fridge, freezer, kitchen cupboard or garden room, I sat down with a coffee to ponder the bill before jumping up again to do some baking,
I baked a loaf that I decided to keep freeform rather than in a tin - I always add some mixed seeds to the dough nowadays but yesterday I also crumbled in some chestnuts and it is delicious! I use a mix of strong white and wholemeal plus spelt and/or rye and it does make a nice, flavoursome loaf that doesn't sit too 'heavy'.
I used Thermione to make some sweet pastry for nine mince pies - one fall apart as I lifted it out so, obviously, I had to eat that one.
Then I made some oatcakes. There's a lovely YouTube channel called 'Ali lives well on less'. Ali used to comment on here occasionally; some might remember her.
Anyway, she does Money Mondays and Foody Fridays and her recipes are great. Simple, frugal and delicious. Often, the simplest recipes are the best and when I make them again, I will try using melted butter instead of oil and adding some finely grated hard Italian cheese (the basics kind).
Here's the link to the oatcakes recipe.
(boring picture, I know, but I love a home made loaf!)
Today's M&S offering is a cleanser, something I will definitely use, so that's good.
The Advent of Change today focuses on Winston's Wish, a charity that supports bereaved children.
Today you have funded a Memory Box giving a grieving child somewhere special to keep treasured memories of someone they love.
A lot of these Advent of Change charities relate to children and, after a lifetime of working with children, this means a lot to me. I'm definitely
doing this again next year.
And here's the puzzle for the last three days. Only three more to go and then I will carefully break it up, day by day, put it back in the little boxes and store it away to use another year.
As I said above, today should be an easy day. I have already made a batch of ordinary shortcrust pastry in Thermione (so it might work better than making it by hand) and I am going to make mince pie bites, an idea I got from another good YouTube channel, Budget Cooking UK.
Here's the link.
I know it sounds like I have loads but when I thought about it, there's four of us on Christmas Day, I have a friend coming to stay over next weekend and I probably have five of us here on New Year's Day. And I probably won't need to shop much until well into January.
The other two things I want to got done today is to make Beth's crumble topping for her savoury crumble and to make some of those mixed seed crackers that we loved so much.
And then I can catch up on my recordings, listen to some Christmas music, chill, knit and generally have a good relax.
I hope you have a nice a day as I plan to have. Stay safe, be happy and enjoy the vibe. xx
Two videos today - I always link these two together in my mind, probably because of the breath control needed to sing the choruses. I always need to take a sneaky breath halfway through!
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