Food and sofas

 

It's been a while but I got a large Approved Food order this week.  Lots of GF products at a fraction of the cost because they're either just out of date or slightly damaged packaging or the brand is re branding.  I was a bit annoyed that I discovered a huge part of my order was missing so I'm 'discussing' that with them by email as it's on the receipt as being in the box!!  They're a wee bit guilty of charging you for something when it's out of stock and only giving you credit.  My GF Old El Paso GF wraps were out of stock so I got credit for those but my protein bars aren't so I better get them as I don't want £30 credit!!

I cleaned out my kitchen larder cupboard in readiness to store it all.  I do love cleaning out my storage jars ready to refill.

Plenty of room for the things DS and I use daily.

And the rest is stored in my guest bedroom cupboard! 😁

I really need to get back on a healthier path.  I've let the GF part lapse a bit these last few months.  A pizza here, a bit of cake there.  My digestive system is really not healthy right now.  Nuff said!! 😧

I also spent a little bit of my inheritance on a new sofa.  I rather love it!!

It's girly pink and I love it so much I've ordered a matching footstool too!  I worked out I haven't bought a new piece of furniture in about 15 years.  Most of my furniture is either passed on from family or it came from the old marital home.  So buying something new, just for me without asking anyone else's opinion was really lovely 😊

Sometimes it's the small things that feel big 💗

December, eeeek!

It's been a busy few weeks and all of a sudden it's December!!  The end of the year is fast approaching.  Christmas seems to have arrived late here or maybe it's just because I usually avoid shops.  Now Sainsbury's is playing that piped music, aargh!!  But I did score a couple of fruit bargains the other night.  Can't knock a 10p pineapple!

It's currently dehydrating.  I really must try to use my dehydrator more and not rely on my freezer to preserve fruit and vegetables.

Tonight's meal was a use it up veggie risotto.  Rice is the sushi rice I got from Approved Foods ages ago.  Veggies were an onion, half a courgette, quarter of a sad red pepper and the end of a bag of frozen broccoli.  At the end I stirred in some creamy goats cheese my lovely mum brought me yesterday.  It was delicious and I have leftovers for 2 more meals.

On the decorating front I'm nearly finished making 2 pairs of curtains for my living room.  Mum and I spent 4 hours on just measuring and cutting!  I've 'misplaced' the curtain heading tape so had to order more online as nowhere in town stocks it.  Clearly people don't make their own curtains in Stirling!! My living room is nearly done 😊

This picture popped up on my Facebook page.  It pretty much sums up my work life at the moment.  Except change flu outbreak to diarrhea and projectile vomiting!!!  So far I've had 6 kids absent with it.  I have 3 weeks of school to survive then I get 3 weekends and 2 whole weeks off.  Really really looking forward to the break.

Thinking outside the box

It was always my intention to use the contents of the boxes of the enchilada kit in different ways.  I can't eat the wraps but they'll be useful for guests.  I opened one yesterday.

Interestingly the sell by date on the box is 28-10-17 but this is just the wraps' date, the tomato puree is 2nd May 2018 and the spice mix is 19th March 2020!! 

I used some wraps at lunchtime to make tuna crunch wraps for OH's daughter.  The rest of the opened pack is now in the freezer.  I used half of the pack of spice on some chicken and veggies for last night's meal.
 

Today was chilly so I made a huge pot of  Taco soup, based on a WeightWatchers recipe I found on Pinterest.  Lots of veggies, the other half of the spice pack, the tomato puree pack and I added a can of the red kidney beans from my AF order.  It was delicious!!

In between the heavy downpours today 🌂 I've been scraping away the moss between the monoblocks.  Boring but very satisfying to see the difference!  My back garden is a bit of mess so I'm trying to get it tidy by the time I go back to work. 

Approved Food Order

I haven't placed an Approved Food order for ages, over 2 years in fact.  Mainly as there's not much I would eat due to my dairy and gluten issues.  I do look every now and then but have never found enough to justify an order.  But since I'm on holiday I took the time needed to really search the site.  Plus they had a code for free delivery, SUMDEL50 usable until the end of the month I think

And here are the contents of those 2 boxes!  Most of it is for me and OH but there are a few things I got to suit The Teenogre.  Inside each large box were some smaller boxes. I've worked out all the prices as individual pack prices for comparison to supermarket prices although some were case or pack deals.

The first box had 10 packs of gluten free spaghetti (75p), 4 boxes sushi rice (50p), 5 packs of bread mix and a case of snack packs of Oreo Thins (12p)

Next box: 6 Enchilada Kits (99p), 4 packs soup mix (50p) and a case of snack packs of raisins (20p)

8 tins of Branston Baked beans (25p), 9 tins plum tomatoes (33p) 

2 boxes of buckwheat flour (99p), 5 boxes granola (99p) 

6 tins red kidney beans (50p), rice protein powder (£9.99), Tetley Immune tea (99p)

From the Approved Food site:

"Every year in the UK over 7 million tonnes of food and drink is thrown away, a lot of which has past its 'best before' date, but would still be perfectly good to eat.
We specialise in surplus and short-dated stock, food that is either near or just passed its 'best before' date – allowing us to pass on huge savings to our customers.

• We have over 2000 products including - Big Brands, Cupboard Fillers, Ex Supermarket & Department store products across a wide range of Food, Drinks, Household & Toiletries, Gifts plus much more.. all at huge discounts.
• Our regular customers typically save around £60 on their monthly shop compared to high street prices. That's over a whopping £700 per year you too could be saving.
• Our stock is constantly updating so we'll always have something new for you - all at incredibly low prices.
• We do not sell anything past its USE BY date.
• Quick & Easy online ordering - delivered direct to your door"

Everything I bought is still in date.  A few tins of tomatoes had a dent but everything else was in perfect order.  Everything is a big brand name that works out cheaper even than supermarket own labels.  My invoice said I've 'saved' £95.22.

A few things are a bit experimental.  The bread mix was only 49p and turns out there are actually 2 packs in each box!  So I can make 2 loaves for 49p.  My usual bread mix is £2.50 to make one loaf so I can make 10 loaves for £2.45!! Worth trying.

I googled the sushi rice to see if you could use it for risotto.  You can!  Gallo risotto rice is £2.50 a pack so for 75p it was worth a go.  I'll report back on it.

And I've never tasted Branston beans!  Definitely an experiment!

I don't know how much time I've spent on searching the site, researching the equivalent supermarket prices and googling the products and their uses.  But I do know that when I'm on holiday I have that time so I should use it wisely to stock up and make life a bit easier for me when I do go back to work.

Approved delivery

 

I've struggled lately to make up an order from Approved Foods as they don't have a lot of dairy and GF stuff.  So imagine my delight when I was able to get a huge box of goodies delivered yesterday.

 

Biscotti, rice crackers and dairy free mint chocolate.

 

Pudding mix, GF flour and Alpro 'cream'

 

Crispbreads

 

So 8 boxes biscotti, 8 boxes of crispbreads, 8 packets rice crackers, 4x1kg flour, 4 bars chocolate, 4 boxes pudding mix and 4 cartons of Alpro cream came to £22.92.  That was a saving of £62.76 on the full prices.  And everything is in date except the flour which was the end of March but that's going in the freezer to stay fresh.  Even with the £5.99 delivery charge that's a great deal :-)

 

 

I'm still working in my garden.  I dug a wee trench and used an old scaffolding plank to divide the veg patch from the stoned area. Historically my back can't cope with digging but I'm pleased to report this morning I'm ok.  All that core work in the gym is working!! :-)  

 

I've also been working on my front garden, removing a lot of overgrown plants and emptying pots that were full of roots and not much else.  I've moved a lot of pots round to the 'fruit garden' area and just kept the blue ones at the front (to match the raised beds).

 

I'm really pleased with the progress of my wee garden this week.  It's been hard work but I've been able to do most of it myself, only needing the Teenager to move a few really heavy things :-)

Does this look like cardboard food?

 

A few of my friends on FB were having a debate re tasteless GF food.  I think they were mainly talking about convenience foods that taste like cardboard.  But my efforts to try to convince them that GF and dairy free food can be tasty fell on deaf ears.  Here's my home made lasagne.  Hand on heart it didn't taste or look that different from my old traditional one.  The beef mince was cooked with onions and carrots in tomatoes, red wine and herbs.  (I added some leftover roasted veg to it too). I made my cauliflower based white sauce, the lasagne sheets were made from corn and rice and I sprinkled grated goats cheese on the top.  It hasn't photographed well but it was really tasty!

 

An unplanned late night shopping trip with OH scored these yellow stickered bargains!  The salmon was put in the freezer straight away.

 

Remember those gluten free sausages for free?

 

I cooked them and served them with some GF red onion gravy I got from Approved Food for pennies.

 

Another GF and dairy free meal that DIDN'T taste of cardboard!

 

With some planning and good bargain hunting you can eat very well for less on a restricted diet.  I do not feel deprived in any way and my stomach appreciates not being continually in distress.

How I spent my holiday

I can't believe how quickly this week has flown by.  I've achieved some things but not as much as I wanted.  Plum and apple chutney is lovely.  Once I find my labels I'll put them away.

 

A before shot of the ceiling.  So far it's taken 4 coats of white paint to cover the pine

 

And a ready to paint newly plastered wall.

 

Unfortunately I've managed to put my back out this morning so no finished shots yet.  But I'm nearly done! Seems DIY has the same effect on me as housework

 

I had a big delivery from Approved Foods yesterday.  Best deal was definitely the case of 16 cartons of chopped tomatoes for 49p.  I got lots of pasta (for the Teenager), GF sauces, mixed herbs, dried fruits, onion bhaji mix, rice crackers and 4.5kg of porridge oats.  All ok for me on my GF and dairy free regime.

 

I also got lots of drinks for the Teenager.  This is his 'drinks fridge' (it's the fridge part of my black fridge freezer!) He likes a variety of stuff so this lot should keep him going for ages.  If he drinks it all within a week then he can just drink water for the rest of the month!!

I do love Approved Food.  This lot cost me £45, full prices would have added up to £104.  I just need to get my big store cupboard reorganised now.

Stocking up

 

I shouldn't really be stocking up at a time when I'm trying to run down my cupboards in preparation for moving but I just couldn't pass up the chance to buy 12kg of bread flour for £2!!  Approved Foods had a great offer on 3kg bags of Hovis bread flour, so good it was limited to just 4 bags per customer.  It's now sold out but I'm glad I got some.

 

And few other things fell into my basket to make up the weight ;-)  Coconut milk powder is great for adding creaminess to curries and less wasteful than the tins of coconut milk as I only use a spoonful at a time.  Chocolate milk for the Teenager and soya dessert as a treat for me.

 

Oodles of noodles (20 packs!), tuna (dolphin friendly of course) and dumpling mix never go wrong.  I also got a 3.5kg bag of Yorkshire batter mix which had burst in transit.  I managed to rescue most of it and it's now in a big tub but AF refunded my 99p.  Lol!!

Remember my 10p bargain Bird's Eye Chillies? Now dried and ready to use.  Details of how to dry them are in Ali's Soup Kitchen

Now only 11 days until moving day!!!!!!