Also splashed out £2 of one of their Mystery Boxes. Last time I got one - many years ago - it was full of weird things that I wouldn't use and I ended up giving most of them to youngest daughter.This time £2 bought these.
I did make one mistake costing 59p - got this, didn't realise pinhead oatmeal was so different to porridge oats. I rarely eat porridge, for some reason it never seems very filling to me and hadn't had any in the cupboard for a while, but thought it was time to try it again.
Counting everything in the whole order individually there were 78 different things. Delivery is £5.99, that means *brain whirring* 7 and a bit pence to add to each thing. Did I save money - yes a little. Never as much as it looks at first glance, and not as much as the £46.55p quoted on the receipt, but at least I don't have to buy any flour, brown sugar or kitchen roll for the rest of the year.
Just remembered a post I did all about Approved Foods Waaaaaay back in 2013 when my first blog was a baby which is HERE if you are curious.
Thank you for all the comments on Wassailing and Hello and welcome to a new follower.
I went over to visit small grand-daughter yesterday, in 12 days she has gone from one or two steps to walking really well. Got over to Leiston by a roundabout route after finding a big yellow sign......."Framlingham Town Centre Roads Closed". When a B road is closed the signed Alternative Route has to be by roads not smaller than a B road so I should have gone miles out of the way to get round, luckily I nipped through some small back roads so didn't have to go so far. There are many road repairs going on in Suffolk at the moment that it's getting really common to suddenly find a road closed. Very glad to have lived here long enough to know my way round without a map (or a sat nav) Must be awful for newcomers.
Wassailing was done...........As dusk fell I went outside and draped bread soaked in apple juice on the apple trees and poured a bit on the roots, chanted the rhyme and patted the trees to give them some encouragement. Didn't bother with the air rifle or banging pots and pans! Might have frightened the neighbours.
What a chilly day it was yesterday and forecasting even stronger winds but thankfully no snow this far south and east. The squirrel proof feeder did NOT arrive ..... Col's fault! for ordering cheap stuff off ebay .....left it to him to sort out on the lap top in hospital.
TODAY ...Editing in to say.....................Oh my goodness, how windy is this weather! I got up at 6am when the electric kept going on and off. Can I can hear tiles sliding around? I hope not. Power still on at the moment think I'll wait a while to hear if any roads are blocked by trees or overturned trucks before going anywhere. This is when Local Radio really comes into it's own as people ring in with information.
Hope you are all safe
Back Soon
Sue
Pinhead oatmeal is wonderful for parkin. Loads of recipes on the net.
ReplyDeleteThank you
DeleteI loved your older post about Approved Foods. It very much reflects my own feelings about it, that there isn't much saving unless you get a load of junk stuff. I did well once: I got multiple bags of Hovis granary flour just as Hovis stopped making it, at 40p a bag and I put all but one bag in the freezer. I have just finished the last bag which made me feel sad as I did love the bread it made.
ReplyDeleteIt's windy here too and cold but the house is pretty protected so I think things are OK. Take care and stay safe.
J x
They've got cheap baking powder on there now which I need - but nothing else so no more orders
DeleteWind is howling here in Hadleigh too. My husband set off at 6.30am, hoping to make it into Ipswich before the traffic is completely snarled up due to the Orwell Bridge being closed. Hope your roof survives unscathed!
ReplyDeleteThey said the bridge was only closed for a couple of hours, Must have been pretty hairy driving over it with a high lorry before it was closed
DeleteI agree about the approved food site...We have a cupboard still full of things that seemed such bargains but weren't what we'd normally eat...still one day they will go...either in us or the bin! The wind was really bad here around ten o'clock last evening...glad we still have a roof...albeit one that needs replacing. I do hope your fruit trees appreciated being wassailed! x
ReplyDeleteNo more AF ordering for me for a long time I think
DeleteWe have six inches of snow here in North Yorkshire Sue but thankfully no wind at all at the moment. I shall cancel my hair appointment and stay indoors.
ReplyDeleteGoodness a fair bit of snow, Staying safe is best. Hope the snow goes soon so you can get out
DeleteApproved Foods are only worth ordering from if like you did, you find flours or something you actually use in amongst all their pages of junk foods ... which there seems even more of these days. My best buys were large bags of scone mix, and once I mistakenly ordered a 12.5 kg bag of chocolate sponge mix, thinking it was 2.5kg. We made quite a bit of money selling chocolate muffins at car boot sales 😊
ReplyDeleteNo damage here that we've spotted yet, but there were some alarming big bangs in the night so something's fell over somewhere. Polytunnel is intact though ... phew..
Half a sack of of choc sponge mix must have been quite a shock!
DeleteI once ordered a 3kg bag of veggie jelly crystals!! We ate jelly for about a year!! :-)
DeleteWe accidentally picked up pinhead oatmeal instead of oat bran. May use it for porridge ot use instead of pearl barley in things.
ReplyDeleteI wont waste it
DeleteWe had a wild old night too. I got up for the loo around 2 a.m. and it was hurtling past the house like an express train. Quiet this morning but the river will be right up.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one who looks at the Approved Foods lists and can see nothing I would normally buy or use. I stocked up on all flours before Christmas so will have plenty to take me through. We are well stocked generally which is just as well as new car is imminent . . .
They seem to have some very weird and expensive things nowadays, not so good as 5 years ago
DeleteThe wind was really bad here , The only good thing about wearing a cpap mask is it blocks some of the sound from outside so it wasn't until i got up i realised just how bad it was, we have a very, very, heavy obelisk in the garden and it was on the ground with the ball on the top smashed so it had to be really strong xxx
ReplyDeleteOh what a shame about your obelisk. Nothing serious here
DeleteA really rough night here in the Midlands - in fact I got up at 4am as I couldn't stand the noise any longer. We've lost part of a fence panel and I was pleased to see the little hedgehog igloo was still in place - which as far as I know contains a hibernating one! Will tip some more bark chips on it later just to keep it a bit more sheltered. Of all the different weather, it's the gales I hate the most.
ReplyDeleteThe wind was howling so loudly I got up early too.
DeleteSorry the wind is giving you a rough time, here we may be over most of the really cold winter. Well at least I am hoping that is the case.
ReplyDeleteStay safe.
God bless.
Very cold and windy but no snow in Suffolk
DeleteIf you don't like the pin head oatmeal the birds love it.
ReplyDeleteI'll try it after soaking
DeleteNot a fan of Approved Foods really. I ordered once but wasn't over impressed.
ReplyDeleteVery windy here too last night. Lots of loud bangs going on but I can't see any damage anywhere.
Hugs-x-
No serious damage here, just a small dead tree down from our boundary over next doors drive, they've cleared it away to get their car out
DeleteWe are using pin head oatmeal at the moment for our breakfast porridge. Soaking over night in some almond milk, but any milk will do. Cooks up a treat, adding grated apple or pear, a few walnuts, totally yum.
ReplyDeleteJean
House your house renovation going?
DeleteHope you get back to blogging sometime
I prefer to find the occasional food bargain in Aldi. In the last year I have had bags of Matthews Cotswold flour which I have never seen anywhere else. I will stick to Unicorn our local food cooperative shop.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to have such a thing - one of the advantages of living in a city I guess. Apart from the supermarkets all we have in the countryside is Farm Shops which are always ridiculously expensive
DeleteToast the oatmeal in some fat (butter or olive oil in our case) and stir through new potatoes. Add some syboes/spring onions/scallions. Yum. Catriona
ReplyDeleteCranachan a Scottish yummy pud easy to make toasted pinhead oatmeal on top out of this world.
ReplyDeleteI watch prices too especially when ordering online. Is it worth a bit more so I can get free shipping? It is if I use the last product I add. I'm a watcher of prices even at stores that I think may have lower prices. Not always lower. Our weather is rainy here I Oregon. The coast which is 1.5 hr drive from here is full of high wind and rain. So we'll be getting stormy too. Hunkered down at home not work due to feeling blah today. Crud colds and flu all around. Stay warm and well!
ReplyDeleteI am an American and the differences in our English vs British English are interesting to me. As a result of just this post I looked up pinhead oats (we call them steel cut), Parkin, golden syrup, black treacle and Approved Foods. There is a small shop near me that sells British foods, I have gotten vanilla sugar and Bird's Instant Custard there. I would have to pay them a visit if I decide to make Parkin, for the syrup and treacle. We soak the steel cut oats over night in water, then in the morning, mix in regular oatmeal and cook. Gives the oatmeal a better texture, I think.
ReplyDeleteCindi - you can make your own Vanilla sugar by using ordinary sugar and putting it in a glass jar with a couple of vanilla pods. These will last forever and you can just keep topping up. Should save money too.
Deletebread made with pinhead oats is nice. you can also make crusts on meat and fish with it
ReplyDeleteI hope you didn't lose power after the recent storm as the news showed that Suffolk was quite badly effected.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful your little grand-daughter is now mobile - her mum will be doing some mileage now!!
The electric flickered on and off but stayed on - surprisingly. It was off about a mile away so a lady who came to the library van said.
DeleteI heard it was really windy and they closed the Orwell Bridge again leaving a mess in Ipswich. Always seems to be that way. Regarding road works - good thing you moved. Mum said it's been a mess on the Norwich Road as they are doing road works again!
ReplyDelete