Hello Dear Reader,
Thanks so much for the tips about cooking potatoes in a slow cooker and your variety of ideas for potato fillings. Does anyone remember 'Spudulike'? I never went to one and wished I did. It's just the miserable kind of weather that's driving me to carbs...............most of which will leave me locked in the bathroom for hours!
Our local stores don't have much 'alternative' food so I tried the nearby Waitrose in search of gluten free alternatives such as rice noodles. It was an eye opener. I did manage to top up on the Ecover products I usually buy, for a lot less than I usually pay, as they were selling cleaning products on a buy three and pay for two basis. I bought at least three months supply for a third less than I could pay anywhere else. The rest of Waitrose was almost surreal, however I did manage to buy Xanthum gum so I can make some pastry. Waitrose..........so that's where the Lexus drivers hang out! By the way, I checked out Tesco online to find the price of baking potatoes and they are, on average, 40p each. We rarely buy potatoes as they have become increasingly expensive so I still stand by my opinion that a ready baked potato for 50p each really isn't that expensive. It's just the two of us so buying a sack just isn't an option although I fully accept that as the best and most economical way to buy for a family.
As promised, I'm testing some recipes and this is just stunning!
Baked Potatoes with Sweet Chilli Sauce.
Ingredients:
·
2 McCain
Ready Baked Jackets
·
200g
juicy cooked prawns - I buy these frozen and eat them with salad for lunch so I usually have these.
·
3
tbsp low fat mayonnaise - I always have some in the fridge
·
1
tbsp Greek yogurt (optional) - I used some of the creme fraiche I opened yesterday
·
1
tbsp sweet chili sauce - a pantry staple in our kitchen
·
1 tsp
freshly chopped coriander, optional - I'll use the rest with some crab cakes and soup
·
Lemon
wedges
Method:
1 Cook the McCain Ready Baked Jackets according
to the pack instructions
2 Simply mix the mayonnaise, coriander
and chili sauce with the yogurt and season well
Fold the prawns into the mixture and
spoon over the hot McCain Ready Baked Jackets
4 Serve with a small side salad and a
squeeze of lemon
Top tip:
·
Try
using hot pepper sauce in place of the sweet chilli if you fancy something more
spicy!
I like these potatoes and as there is just the two of us and I can keep them in the freezer, there's no waste for us which is really economical. Another fact about Waitrose, it massively reduces its good at the end of the day so we bought bags of salad for only 49p per bag. They had fruit, vegetables, meat and bread at massively reduced prices. If you have one near you, check it out close to closing time.
Over to you, which supermarket near you massively reduces prices of fresh goods close to closing time? Has anyone else been surprised by a 'posh' supermarket to find out that some of what they sell is much cheaper than you imagined?
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxxxxxxx
I think Waitrose certainly has some good bargains, and they also have a large Free From range in my local store. Their bread rolls are particularly good :)
ReplyDeleteThose look really yummy!
ReplyDeleteSpudulike are alive and well, one in Cheshire oaks and one up in Newcastle. I always always pronounce it spud oooo lick Kay thanks to Victoria Wood!
ReplyDeleteyou get a free coffee if you have a waitrose card, each time you visit. (you don't have to show a receipt, so I don't even think you have to pay for anything). And they seem to be advertising 10% off shopping.
ReplyDeleteWhen I compared my normal shop at tescos to waitrose. it wasn't so bad, I found coffee for my parents hamper for Xmas a lot cheaper in Tescos and it wasn't an offer.
I agree with thedomesticstoryteller there are bargains to be had. I also topped up my Ecover supplies in Waitrose, even cheaper than buying in bulk online.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there isn't a Waitrose near me (just as well or I would frequently blow my budget,) I have shopped with their online delivery service - Ocado - and have been very pleasantly surprised by some of the excellent offers they have. As it says on the side of the Ocado delivery van 'not as expensive as you might think.' Aldi is still my supermarket of choice though - they really are excellent on both price and quality (sadly, there isn't one of those near me either.)
ReplyDeleteI've had lots of bargains from waitrose , mainly meat but they are very good at marking down. there is a spudulike in our town,the potatoes are declicious but have always been very expensive.
ReplyDeleteNo Waitrose in our part of the world and we do the bulk of our shopping in Aldi and Lidl. However, we have a Coop and I always get brilliant orange sticker bargains every time I go in there. We're having baked potatoes tomorrow; they were half price in the Coop (4 for 79p) and orange stickered down to 39p so I bought two packs. They will be cooked in the mini oven along with a quiche. We used to have baked potatoes a lot but they are too expensive to buy and cook most of the time. I love them scooped out and mashed with a little butter, grated cheese and chopped onion (and a bit of mayonnaise if you don't mind the extra calories), then put under the grill. Yum!
ReplyDeleteIt would be great if we all had a choice of Aldi/Lidl and the more 'upmarket' supermarkets to give us a wider choice of budget food and the fancier foods.
I bought my normal small bag of potatoes the other day, making sure I chose a bag with some big ones in. There were 6 so they all got baked and then the ones we didn't eat for tea, were frozen. Still got enough spuds left over for a few 'normal' meals as well.
ReplyDeleteDoh! How did I miss this comment? I've just posted a comment wondering if that would be worthwhile doing! Have you reheated and tried any of the frozen ones yet? If so how did they come out?
DeleteI love Waitrose. Although people see them as expensive I think that is because they only see the Lexus drivers (lol). They don't see people like me (a single woman on a budget) who wants to buy good quality meat, fruit and veg. and who sees their own Essentials range as being excellent value for money. I have tried other supermarkets but haven't yet found 1 I am as satisfied with, and their staff are lovely (no I don't work there!).
ReplyDeleteInterested in the McCain Baked Potatoes as living on my own I do try to batch cook to use the oven wisely but sometimes I just fancy a jacket potato - especially if I have leftover chilli mmm! Will buy some next shop and see how they taste. Might be good as a standby dish.
As we've currently got a sack of potatoes with plenty of large ones, I'm wondering whether or not it would be worthwhile bulk cooking jacket spuds in the oven, say half a dozen at a time, and then freezing to re-heat at a later date? Or maybe I could do the same thing with the slow cooker. Just a bit wary of the taste of the potatoes going funny in the freezer.
ReplyDeleteThis looks delicious! I can't eat prawns but it makes me crave a good jacket potato! Such a frugal easy meal!
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky to have a Lidl and Waitrose within yards of each other (Saltash/Carkeel) being my nearest supermarkets. I used to patronise Tesco (Callington) but recently found their fruit & veg to be less than fresh and quite a few gaps on shelves. Prices of basic foods have risen too - and hardly anything suitable for diabetics. Shopping for one, I'm better off going to either Lidl or Waitrose. Too many packs at Tesco!
ReplyDeleteSo I take my shopping list to Lidl first, then finish off at Waitrose with a free coffee and money off my newspaper! Yay!
Got a jacket spud tonight, with a (reduced price) mushroom stir-fry plus broccoli and carrots. Oh - and a sirloin steak. :D
ReplyDeleteIt sounded so delicious that I've just made it for lunch,
ReplyDeleteI love Waitrose and am usually amazed at how many bargains you can get hold of there, and my free newspaper and magazines are always welcome.
ReplyDeleteWe live very close to a Morrisons store and my husband and other bargain hunters pop in during the evening and, if they are prepared to hang around a bit, usually leave with bags of bargains for less than £2 - many items are reduced to 9p. We've saved a lot this year by eating bargains, using our freezer to store them, and all of our birthday cakes have cost less than 29p (down from £8 or £10). We are prepared to eat dairy after best by date, using our tastebuds and noses to check still ok. Our kids love to see what bargains Daddy has bought!
ReplyDelete