A Cheap Week!

Last summer I went a bit over board and spent too much, then during the months after I kept going overboard, until now. It MUST stop!

So I started with my food shop, this week my boyfriend has gone away for work so I am on my own.I still managed to spend £77 in Tesco though..I suppose it's not so bad, I got cat food and biscuits, 3 greetings cards and 3 bunches of flowers i addition to the guinea pig veggies and a little something for me (food).

I got the ready prepared chicken breasts which are on a 3 for £10 usually and are fairly low in fat and calories. These contain 2 chicken breasts each, so I am having for dinner each night and the other I am adding to pasta and salad for my lunch the next day, I had my first one last night and am having chicken Cesar salad for lunch today. 

I'm going to my mums for dinner tonight, so that's one day I don't need to cook or do any dishes, hopefully! Other than that I will be living off what's in the cupboards and what's in the freezer, I definitely wont starve. 

My challenge to myself is to not spend any money, not to need to do any mid week shops and generally to keep my purse firmly SHUT :-) Let's see how this goes!

Cookie x

Brand V Budget | Food | Natural Yogurt

One basic weekly shop item that I like to save on is yogurt. We have a little tradition of having fruit, yogurt and muesli/granola as a weekend breakfast.

So this is something I currently buy once a week, but depending on my diet at the time I may buy more. For instance if I am being careful I have been known to use this in smoothies, salads (to make the mayo go further calorie wise), and as a 'dessert' alternative (with honey), I've even used it to make white sauce for lasagna and moussaka.

I always used to purchase the Yeo Valley yogurt, and on several occasions it wasn't in stock so I had to use an alternative, usually Tesco's own brand standard version, then I got a little brave and tried the value one, to be perfectly honest I don't know why I didn't do that sooner.

See below for a comparison of the yogurts I have tried and what the annual cost would be. Just to be clear the only ingredient in each of the below yogurts is Milk, as I would hope, watch out however as some of the low fat yogurts on the shelves contain thickeners such as modified maize starch (cornflour I think).

All low fat natural yogurt is fairly runny, all I do, say if I want a thicker consistency is strain it myself. It might sound like a lot of work but it's much cheaper than thick Greek yogurt, and the strained ones are much nicer, but more expensive than those that contain thickening agents. To thicken, I place a non fluffy clean tea towel or piece of muslin cloth in a sieve, I then balance the sieve over a large jug/bowl, add the yogurt into the tea towel and cover, leaving in the fridge over night. In the morning you will have a really thick, creamy yogurt! Truth be told I went through a phase of making my own yogurt, but it's a fairly lengthy process and it's so much easier to just buy it.

1 pot per week @ £0.45 (52 X 0.45 = £23.40 PER YEAR) 

1 pot per week @ £0.90 (52 X 0.90 = £46.80) 

£23.40 more expensive than Tesco Everyday Value over the course of a year

1 pot per week @ £1.50 (52 X 1.50 = £78) 

£31.20 more expensive than Tesco Own Brand over the course of a year

£54.60 more expensive than Tesco Everyday Value over the course of a year

And, here's the end result, I can afford to spend a little more on a healthy sugar alternative such as date nectar or agave nectar (derived from cacti), and a really delicious granola or muesli.

Now you've read this, is this something you currently save on? If not, is it something you will consider on your next supermarket shop? 

Cookie x

Korres Showergels and Body Milks - Review

I was delighted to return home from my holiday to a wonderful parcel from Korres, a Greek cosmetics company with roots in Athens first Homeopathic Pharmacy.

The company prides itself on their use of herbs and science in their natural yet effective products. They are also an ethical and 'green' company, for more information and for their story please visit here.

Upon approaching Korres I had tried just one of their products, the Mint Tea Shower gel which smells sensational and can be purchased on feelunique.com. I noticed that Korres have such a diverse range of products aside from shower gels and I just knew I had to try them.

I'd like to thank Angela for her assistance throughout, she has been so helpful and has sent me review items that are so relevant to my needs and are items that I would use day to day.

I was sent Showergels, Body Milks, Facial creams and treatments, and also lip products to try.

For this review I will focus on the Shower gels and Body Milks that I have been sent to review. 

The next review will relate to the lip products, and finally I will focus on the skincare items as I would like a little longer to get a feel for these so I can share as much detail with you as possible.

Waterlily Shower gel (£8 for 250ml) and Waterlily body milk (£10 for 200ml)

I wasn't sure what I would think of this as I have never smelled waterlily so had no idea what scent to expect. I wasn't disappointed, It's a fresh scent yet still fairly light. The shower gel wasn't harsh and made me feel clean without stripping my skin.

Both of the shower gels that I tried contain wheat proteins which are said to form a protective film on the skin, helping to maintain a regular hydration level.

The body milk was a great addition to my after shower routine. It's been a long while since I moisturised post shower as I am usually in a rush and don't have the time to wait for it to soak in. I was really surprised as it took next to no time to soak into my skin so I will definitely keep this routine up.  

 

Fig Shower gel (£8 for 250ml) and Waterlily body milk (£10 for 200ml)

This shower gel and body milk combination was made for me, I love big, bold scents and these products offered exactly that. The shower gel has a super fresh scent and left me feeling awakened and invigorated. The scent was quickly embedded into my skin and left it smelling gorgeous for ages.

Again the body milk is luscious and is something that I will be making a permanent fixture in my bathroom buys!

The body milks also contain some great ingredients such as Active Aloe, B5 and Shea Butter which helps to provide long lasting hydration whilst also enhancing the skins suppleness.

I have absolutely loved trying these products and it doesn't stop there as Korres have so many more sensational sounding scents to try such as; Basil Lemon, Guava, Bergamot Pear and Mango to name a few.

These products can be purchased here and here, I recommend checking out the product range and trying some for yourself. Maybe you have already tried some Korres products, leave me a comment below and let me know what you've tried and your opinions, I'd love to hear from you.

 Please check back soon for my next Korres products review!

Cookie x

Strawberry and Rose Meringue Roulade

I tried a dried rose petal just as it comes from the glass bottle, it wasn't great and I was thinking that cooking with this would definitely be a mistake, how wrong I was!

Further to my previous post I have found a use for the dried rose petals my inspiration cake from this beautiful Ottolenghi recipe

I didn't really follow the recipe too much just used it for a little inspiration. Here's the ingredients you need to create the strawberry and rose roulade.

For the meringue
4 Large egg whites
150g granulated sugar
150g caster sugar

For the filling
1/2 tub of cream cheese
300ml double cream
150g caster sugar
10 strawberries sliced
2 tsp dried rose petals
1 tbsp. rose water

For the strawberry rose sauce
1 tsp dried rose petals
2 tbsps. rose water
3 tbsps. granulated sugar

Firstly I made the meringue by whisking my egg whites until stiff and then adding the sugar a tbsp. at a time - I had a little helper who added the sugar whilst I whisked.

I then added the mix into a lined swiss roll tin and baked for 30 mins on about 140c. Once ready I turned this onto some tin foil and left to cool for 10 mins.

Whilst the meringue cooled I whisked the cream cheese along with the caster sugar and rose water. Once combined I added the double cream and whisked until thick (not whipped, just a little before that stage)

I then smoothed the creamy mixture over the flat roulade and added the strawberries and the dried petals. Now for the hard part, I carefully rolled the roulade.

This was them decorated with some more dried petals and the rest of the cream mixture, strawberries and sauce.

 

 

So, what do you think? Looks nice right? But what does it taste like, bear in mind the rose petals weren't a hit on their own.

 

 

This was absolutely delicious, I have already bought the ingredients to make another tomorrow. The roulade you see in the picture is actually half of one, I cut it as I didn't have a plate long enough for it.

It was beautifully soft with a very light crisp crunch and the cream and cheese filling was very light and ever so slightly rose flavoured. the rose petals weren't dry as they had soaked up the moisture from the filling and had a great flavour and texture.

 

This was a hit with all who tried it and my boyfriend has already asked for more, even saying that this is one of best desserts I have ever made him!

 

If you have this ingredient in your cupboard the above is a recommended recipe for you to try. If you don't have this ingredient in your cupboard I would still recommend the above recipe.

 

In my search for the perfect dried rose petal recipes I came across several ideas, here are some of my favourites.

 

• Rose/Herb infused Honey from The Kitchn
• Rose and Pistachio Custard from Epicurious
• Raspberries and Cream cake with Rose petals from Tesco
• Lychee, Rose and Raspberry Marshmallows from RaspberriCupcakes
• Rose Lassi from Fa's kitchen

Check out some of these, some fantastic ideas and great inspiration.

 

Thanks for reading

 

Cookie x