Posts Tagged ‘Groceries’
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By Lynley Oram in Deals on
4 September, 2010 at 6:00 pm
 Morrison’s is offering the Pampers Welcome Pack for new parents, worth £20, for £5.
The deal is only available instore, as Morrisons don’t really have an online presence in the same way that Tesco or Sainsburys does. Click on the link above to find your nearest store. The offer runs until the 26th September 2010.
I definitely would not even consider paying £20 for this pack, and I don’t think it is worth that much at all, but at £5 it is a lot more reasonable. The items included in the Pampers Welcome Pack are:
- One packet (contains 27) Pampers New baby size
- One Pampers sensitive wipes 63’s
- A Timmy Time book
- A Trolley coin keyring
- Free coupons
You can see what I mean about it not being that great a value at the full price of £20! The trolley coin keyring would be very handy indeed though. I lost mine a few months ago and haven’t as yet found a replacement. It is a right pain when you realise you’ve not got a pound coin on you at the supermarket! I’m not too sure how handy a Timmy Time book would be for a newborn, but nappies are always very welcome at that age.
 I couldn’t find any information on the ‘free’ coupons however. If anyone has one of these packs, can they let us know exactly what these are? I am assuming money off offers, which are nice but really you can get them anywhere. However, if you do get vouchers that exchange for whole items or do two-for-one offers, then that’s always very handy indeed.
Thanks to domsbargains at HUKD!
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By Lynley Oram in Deals on
16 August, 2010 at 8:00 pm
The Approved Food supermarket is an online store that specialises in selling clearance, short-dated and out-of-date (Best Before only – it does not sell Use By products) grocery items. With this code you’ll get a further 10% off.
Get 10% off groceries at the Approved Food supermarket
- Discount: 10%
- Minimum Spend: £0.00
- Discount Code: birthday
- Expires: 18th August 2010
Enter the discount code on the Review Order page. I like that as it means you get to see if the code works before you have to provide your card details.
I’ve been meaning to check out supermarkets like Approved Foods for a while, since seeing them profiled on TV. They seem like the perfect thing for parents who are watching every penny.
Approved Foods, and others like this store, don’t sell anyhing that isn’t safe. What they do is buy, very cheaply, from the mainstream supermarkets and suppliers all the groceries that they can no longer sell. Such as items that have had their packaging changed, or are being discontinued. Or they could be past their Best Buy date. Just in case you’re not already aware, this isn’t the same as the Use By date you’ll find on perishables (which Approved Foods don’t sell). Best Before just means that if you want the food item to be at its best quality when you eat it, then consume it before that date. It is still perfectly safe to eat after that though.
The downside is that you won’t find everything you want in the store. But it is still a good way to get a foodie bargain!
Thansk to nicster08 at HUKD!
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By Lynley Oram in Deals on
9 August, 2010 at 8:00 pm
 Using the Dominos coupons code will get you £15 off your pizza order when spending £35 or more.
Click here to use the Dominos coupons code
- Discount: £15 off
- Minimum Spend: £35
- Voucher Code: KTSKRBEN
I bought four large pizzas, at a total cost of £59.96. Then applied the code (just enter it in the Voucher Code box on the Check Out page). And my total went down to £44.96. Personally I think that’s a pretty good deal. Very helpful during the summer holidays, when you’ve extra kids over and want to provide a meal that’s a bit of a treat. Also, it means I’m not the one doing the cooking, or the washing up, or even the clearing up (boxes in the recycle bin, clearing up done!).
I couldn’t find anything about an expiry deal on this. The voucher code has been around for a bit, as it has appeared on the HUKD site twice in the last month or so. Hopefully it’ll still be around for the rest of the holidays!
Dominos are also doing a buy one, get one free offer on Tuesdays. I’ve got no idea if you can also use this code with the special offer. Probably not, but always worth a try. Maybe we’ll be having pizza for dinner tomorrow too!
Thanks to ThePhantomFairy and Micketh85 at HUKD!
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By Lynley Oram in Features on
9 August, 2010 at 1:00 pm
The most surprising thing I’ve learned in the last year is just how much food you can pick for free right here in the city. Foraging for wild food in the city or the countryside is increasingly becoming a very popular pastime. And we’re coming up to the fruitiest time of the year to harvest food. In fact in the last two weeks I’ve discovered a bonanza of free, fresh, organic (possibly) food just waiting to be picked.
And what could be the best way to save money than doing a little of food foraging?
Obvious pickings
A chance visit to the Imperial War Museum last week introduced me to a fruit I have never tasted before. Mulberries! In the community garden located behind the tennis courts is a huge mulberry tree. These squishy berries taste as sweet as strawberries, and have the texture of soft raspberries. Too soft to be sold in supermarkets, you really do need to get them off the tree.
I was also the lucky recipient of the last of the vegetables maturing in the patch planted by the local school, which had broken up for the school holidays. Dinner that night included roasted courgette, and steamed swiss chard. All free, and picked fresh that afternoon. Just in case you think I’m nicking food, let me reassure that the Park Rangers were handing out the veges.
Then over the weekend I made two large apple pies, and I still have enough cooking apples left over for another. Or maybe a large apple crumble. The apples came gratis, picked off a large apple tree in the back garden of a friend’s house. They’ve just moved in there, and the two apple trees are filled to the brim with green cooking apples ripening in the summer sun. Delicious.
 Next weekend, I’m off with the same friends to go blackberry picking in our local park. It is full of quite accessible brambles and last year they got enough fruit to fill a cupboard full of jam jars. Later in September I’ll be off to a little park area that fringes the local cemetary to pick a sweeter variety of apple. I know a lot of people can’t handle the idea of eating food that has grown near a grave site, but honestly, these graves were filled decades ago. Or longer. The biggest apple trees are located in the old Victorian part of the cemetary.
Recognising food
There’s lots of edible plants and herbs that are actually very tasty. But most of us have no idea that they can be eaten. Or we know that they can be eaten by  their name, but have no idea what the actual plant looks like. Last year I found out what rosehips look like. And was really surprised as there’s a wild hedge of this growing up against a wire fence alongisde a railway embankment. Rosehip contains more vitamin C than any other fruit, and the syrup makes a tasty topper for desserts like ice cream (so I’ve been told by a friend who made some last year).
There aren’t many books devoted to British wild food. I borrowed this one off a friend’s bookshelp, the Collins Gem: Food For Free, and it is still available on Amazon. Two other books recommended to me were Roger Philips’ Wild Food and Richard Mabey’s Food for Free.
You can download the Wild Food School’s Urban Foraging Guide for free. This contains clear descriptions and photographs of the edible plants you will find in the wild in cities. I’ve identified quite a few plants from it in and around the woods, parks and commons near me, but so far I’ve not quite had the courage to pick and cook any. Partly because some have look-alike poisonous imitators, but mostly because well… it is the city! Stuff out on the ground in the open – well even with cooking how comfortable would you feel about eating it?
How safe is it?
Plants and trees in public places have one fairly signifcant drawback – they may have been sprayed. Signs to look for, according to the Wild Food School, are wilting and chemical residue on leaves. It also suggest that you “study the landscape for signs of contamination – factory fallout, water run off, effluent seepage etc. Avoid plants from busy roadsides, near landfill sites or foul water.”
 My worries about foraging for food in the city aren’t shared by the experts. That is, they do recognise natural polutants as legitimate hazards, but reckon they’re pretty much the same in the country side. The ‘roadkill chef’ Fergus Drennan says, in an article in the Guardian, that other than the plants being muddled up in the city, where you’d find them in specific areas in the country like marsh, seaside, meadow etc, there’s really no difference when it comes to foraging for food.
“But in cities the hazards are the same” says Drennan, “misidentification; pollutants, whether they’re natural, like dogs, cats, foxes or people peeing on plants, or pesticides and herbicides. And if your identification skills aren’t up to scratch, there’s all sorts of introduced species and ornamentals that could trip you up.”
And Finally
Is it legal? What can you pick and what can’t you? It is a bit of a vague area to be honest. The Wild School sums it up best, and this is a good rule of thumb to use.
- it is illegal to uproot ANY wild plant without permission
- it is illegal to disturb or collect plant material from any protected wild plant
- the law of trespass exists, so gain permission before entering someone’s land
 a plant is the property of the landowner even if it is a week
So even if those juicy plums are so heavy the branches of the tree are almost to the ground over the fence, you still need to ask permission before picking them! Although technically… OK we didn’t. They grow right down into a little playground near us, and are great for tarts. I won’t tell if you don’t.
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By Lynley Oram in Reviews on
29 July, 2010 at 7:00 pm
At the beginning of the month, I attended the launch of Method Natural Laundry detergent. While I was there, I discovered that there was a whole range of Method eco cleaning products, some of which are shown here sparkly and new, in my kitchen ready to leap into action.
I’m always interested in finding new eco cleaning products. The thing is, I’m invariably disappointed by them. Detergents that don’t clean, window cleaners that require a lot of elbow grease, and spray cleaners that won’t shift the grime without, yes you guessed it, lots more elbow grease. Ecover’s floor soap is the exception to this rule – it is superior to ANY floor cleaner I’ve found so far.
Method Laundry Detergent (£5.99); I really wanted to like this. Just four squirts, so easy and mess free! And, unlike other eco detergents I’ve tried, it worked. But it did not get out food stains unless applied directly to the stain. Otherwise it leaves greasy marks behind (you can see the result on my son’s school shirt here).
 It does behave beautifully as a stain remover when applied directly though. But it will still leave behind residue from any bits you miss. As I found when I tried to use it as a stain remover on a white Sportacus t-shirt my son smothered in chocolate. I missed a few spots, and they were still there when it came out of the machine. All the spots I’d treated with the detergent were gone though.
So, mixed feelings. If only eco products will do then yay, at last an eco friendly stain remover. Personally though I can’t afford to use that much of this detergent for that purpose.
I am utterly in love with the Method Best in Glass cleaner (£4.28). This is the easiest to use, smear-free glass cleaner I have ever come across, natural or otherwise, and required only a squirt per pane. I’ve used natural products for glass since my son was born, as there’s something about glass that attracts little fingers, and tongues! It is going on my shopping list.
But it won’t be accompanied by the Method Tub & Tile bathroom spray (£3) I’m afraid. I loved the smell of this, but it required a lot more scrubbing than simple white vinegar and lemon juice to achieve the same result.
Feel free to share your experiences with Method and other eco friendly cleaning products here!
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By Sarah Kensington in Deals on
16 July, 2010 at 10:00 am
 Whenever I come across deals like this 2 for £6 offer on laundry products at Asda, any loyalty I might have had to another supermarket vanishes in a puff of smoke!
I have a real love-hate relationship with doing the laundry. I usually do it over the weekends and there are rules that The Teenagers must follow (which they kind of do…when they remember).
1) strip your beds and bring all your washing down when you get home from school on a Friday
2) empty all your pockets (I’ve lost count how many sweet wrappers I’ve washed over the years)
3) pull your sleeves and trouser legs out so there isn’t one ‘in’ and one ‘out’
4) don’t put clean stuff back in the wash because you threw it on the floor last week and can’t be bothered to put it away
Always the optimist, I live in hope every week! But regardless of whether or not they do all, or some, of the above I still have a TON of washing to do every week so whenever there are deals like the current 2 for £6 offer on laundry products at Asda, I make sure I stock up!
And the BEST news? This offer is running until the END OF THE YEAR!
Happy Washing Days.
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By Lynley Oram in Deals on
1 July, 2010 at 8:20 pm
 Today I went to the launch of a new laundry detergent. Yes it is all glamour when working on the Play Pennies team! The detergent is a new, highly concentrated product, which we’ve mentioned once HERE when they were giving a free sample away.
Method Laundry Detergent has a recommended retail price of £5.99. For that you get 25 washes. When it appears on the shelves of the supermarkets you’ll undoubtedly find it priced lower than that. However even at that price it works out to 24p a wash, which is pretty good.
It’s highly concentrated. Also the bottle is about the same size as one of those small bottles of soda pop. But, and I must stress this, it isn’t all sludgy like other liquid detergents. I found that out at the demonstration when I pushed the spray nozzle and a stream of the soap shot across the room narrowly missing a very nicely dressed young lady. I was mortified!
But the story does illustrate one of the three things about this detergent that I liked. It has a pump spray – four squirts into the drawer. No fiddly caps etc. Second, it is eco-friendly and non-toxic. And third, there’s a little red dot in the bottom of the bottle that you can align the spray nozzle with to make sure you get every last drop out of it.
The only thing I can’t comment on is it’s cleaning abilities. I’m going to give it a try at home, and will let you know how it fares in a month!
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By Lynley Oram in Features on
28 June, 2010 at 1:07 pm
I’m talking about the good old cash and carry, also known as a discount warehouse. Buy food in bulk and you’ll save cash. Or that’s the theory. The most well known cash and carry chains in the UK are Makro, Bookers, Costco, and Tradex.
There are also an increasing number of specialty wholesalers. Such as Suma, which specialises in organic, fairtrade and vegetarian.
These are the sorts of places where your corner shop gets its stock from. So the idea is that you get your stuff without the retail markup. But, does it work in practice?
Membership
 First off, these wholesalers don’t just sell to anyone off the street. You need to get a membership card, and membership varies a lot between the different wholesalers so you’re going to need to contact each store individually. Generally you need to be involved in a business or own a business. Some also give cards to charities and organisations like sports clubs, PTAs, and youth groups. Do you know someone with a card? You can use theirs, or if you know them well, see if they’ll get a second card for you (this is possible with some of the wholesalers).
Some charge a membership fee, while others ask for nothing to join. You may even be able to simply get a day pass. You’ll need your card to get in and shop, and you’ll need to present it again at checkout. There are two other differences between these places, and your supermarket. Prices displayed do not include VAT (so may not be as much of a bargain as you thought) and, you may need to provide your own bags.
 Suma has a minimum purchase amount of £250. It is aimed more at co-operatives – groups of people, usually from their local community, who band together to bulk buy.
Do you save?
Once you can get into one of these places, will you actually save money? First, make sure you’ve got the storage space. Unlike my grandmother, I don’t have a larder. And our garage and under-stairs cupboard is already full of rubbish, I mean precious memories. So I’m limited in what I can accommodate. And I don’t want to line my hall with giant tins and pallets of kitchen cleaner.
Next, make a shopping list. All the Play Pennies parents that I talked to were adamant on this one. You’re only going to save money buying in bulk from a wholesaler if you make a shopping list, compare prices with the deals in your local supermarket and pound stores, and stick to that list. As Sarah found out. “I have a Costco near me. But whenever I go in, although I probably save overall on buying in bulk for the things I went in for, I always end up spending more than I thought I would. So I don’t go in any more.”
 Fiona also had a similar experience. “The temptation to buy things you wouldn’t otherwise have bought because they’re on special can be a false economy – but what do I know, I bought 4 crusty rolls for 32p rather than 2 for 30p, and only managed to eat 2 before they went rock hard!”
Making sure you do get a good deal when bulk buying takes a bit of hard work. As step-mum and step-grandma Kat explains “I shop at a cash and carry for certain things. Cat food and frozen fruit, individual snack packages (because that’s how hubby prefers it), fruits and fresh meat (but I always compare it to what’s on sale elsewhere), office products, some cleaning products (dishwasher tablets are dead cheap). To make it worthwhile, you just have to be aware of average prices on things, how long will it last, how much will you really use etc. I would say that what I do buy there, I save on.”
Value brands vs Bulk buy
If all you’re looking to do is save cash, then a wholesalers might not be the best option. Supermarket value brands may well be a lot cheaper. Looking to cater for a school fete, I found that the same amount of paper plates were half the price at ASDA than they were at Makro.
Terri is definitely in favour of sticking to a list and checking against value brand prices. “I always do a shopping list now. I save loads of money. Yesterday I got spaghetti, 12 rolls, crumpets and butter for £1.61! Sainsbury’s value is the way forward.”
As Naomi points out, knowing what you can get at the wholesalers is key. “I’ve always bought supermarket brands, so much of what’s on offer is not cheap to me, however, wholesalers occasionally do really good deals on cases of wine and cider. And as there seems to be no such thing as a cheap bottle of plonk in the supermarket any more, that’s worthwhile.”
Form a food group!
 However, if you’re going for more specialty foods, for example, then you can save a pretty penny. I personally prefer to buy organic and fair-trade where I can afford it. At Suma you can get a 3KG bag of organic and fair-trade white Basmati rice for £11.39 including VAT. That works out to a very reasonable 38p per 100g, when you compare it to the closest supermarket equivalent that’s organic only. Tesco’s organic Basmati rice is 31.4p per 100g. None of the four main supermarkets sell rice that’s both organic and fair trade.
To shop at Suma you will need to form a food group. Which is also a fab way of getting together with your local community. The minimum spend for most parts of the country is £250. So if you’ve 10 people in your group, that’s £25 each, say every three months. Not bad!
 To find other types of specialist wholesalers, try looking on Food First, an online directory of the specialist food industry.
And finally
So what have your experiences been of bulk buying? Maybe you are still trying to convince the kids to eat their way through that stock of frozen vegetable fingers. Or perhaps you’ve halved your grocery bill by stocking up the back of the garage with cans of food and giant packets of toilet paper. Share your experiences here!
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By Lynley Oram in Features on
21 June, 2010 at 1:00 pm
This feature comes to you courtesy of PlayPennies mum Nicki Broadley. She sent me a whole pile of slow cooker easy recipes, to sell me on the idea that it was one of the best money saving devices any frugal parent can have. The truth is, I don’t have a slow cooker, also called a Crock Pot in the US (derived from the most well known brand). So I just had to have a closer look.
And the first question I needed to answer was – what on earth is a slow cooker?
What is it?
 A slow cooker is a device that sits on your worktop. Food, and other stuff (more on this below), goes in a bowl inside the cooker. It then cooks the food at a really low heat for a long time. Anywhere from three to 12 hours. Which, might sound a faff, but according to the parents I’ve spoken to, is about the easiest way to cook large amounts of food for a hungry family.
There’s no stirring involved. It won’t boil dry or burn. You put all the food in, and then just leave it. Go out for the day, and you come back to a delicious meal.
Shade works fulltime during the day, while her husband works at night. “Honestly this is just brilliant. I set it all up in the morning. I come home to a cooked meal, the other half has a hot meal when he gets home from the school run.”
Save on energy
 A slow cooker uses on average about 300W of power (see consumer report Which?) to cook food. This is about the same as three lightbulbs. To do a roast in a slow cooker (yes! you can roast in a slow cooker) uses about 246W. Whereas the same done in a conventional oven uses 700W.
Kara explains that “I have a meter for the electricity and the gas, so can see exactly how much I’m using. The days that I use the slow cooker knocks about a third off my usage. Especially during the winter when I’m making a lot of heartier meals like stews and casseroles”.
Save on the food bill
 One of the really big selling points of slow cookers is that they can make the best use of very cheap cuts of meat. By cooking at such low temperatures over a long period of time, the fibres in these cheap cuts break down. The result is tender and succulent, not to mention tasty. Spend £5 on a kilo of braising steak at Tesco instead of £10.80 on a kilo of fillet steak, for example.
Experiment with some of the really cheapest cuts of meat, some that you may not even have seen before. Like mutton shoulder (also called clod of mutton), beef shin, and ox cheek. I’d definitely like to have a try of that last one. I adore ox tail, but find it is relatively expensive at £6 a kilo for the amount of meat you get (in the meat to bone ratio). Generally, the tougher the meat the more it will benefit from slow cooking.
Now you’re not going to find these on supermarket shelves, so it is time to locate a butchers! The best way to find a good one is to ask around. Alternatively, try Which? Local (registration is free) to find one near you recommended by other Which subscribers.
Nigel uses his to get a lot of vegetables into the kids that they wouldn’t normally eat. “What goes into the pot with the meat are lots of legumes and pulses. Once it is served up with rice, the kids [aged 2 and 5] happily eat it with the meat because all the flavours are blended in together.”
What to buy?
 It isn’t as expensive as you might think. The Argos Value Slow Cooker costs less than a tenner. Argos also has the Breville 3.5 Litre Slow Cooker for £15.99, marked down from £39.99. Which? Magazine has put slow cookers through its rigorous testing procedures. You need to be a subscriber to look at the reviews and see the best buys, but a one month online trial will only cost you £1.
And Finally
What to do with your slow cooker once you have it! Slow cookers are also used for making puddings, and for jam making. Ellie told me that “Last year we went picking blackberries from the brambles in the local parks. I used the slow cooker to make jam over night. So much less mess than when we used pots!“
Website Crockpot365 has a whole list of money saving ideas for your slow cooker, including making yoghurt, recycling crayons and making playdough. Both subjects we’ve covered here too (although not with a slow cooker!). To find out more about making your own playdough read Homemade – The Best Save? And for some crafty recycling ideas for your crayons read Bargain Party Bags.
There’s tons of recipe ideas online but nothing beats just asking your friends and family. Everyone will have a favourite. You’ll be suprised. My best mate has given me a whole pile of West Indian inspired recipes to try out. The long list of recipes that Nicki sent me is an email forward that does the rounds now and again of her family and friends. They all add to it.
So tell us – what do you do with your slow cooker?
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By Lynley Oram in Features on
14 June, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Summertime, yay! Sunshine. Hot weather. It all adds up to one thing. Ice cream!
Two of our mums, Sheona and Kat, convinced me that it was well worth having a go at making my own ice cream. For three reasons: to save money; for the superior flavour and finally, because it is fun to make.
Sheona doesn’t eat the shop bought stuff anymore. “I don’t really like ice-cream that much, and where I live it is choc full of fabulous Italian ice-cream shops (there are at least four in our tiny town) so for me it’s more about knowing what goes in it, and picking out the flavours. My other half is the one who makes it, and he seems to have fun.”
 The basic recipe for ice cream is milk, sugar, and some flavouring like vanilla extract, crushed mint leaves, pure chocolate, and so forth. Which cuts down on the additives my kids will be eating!
There are two ways to make your own ice cream. You can either use a machine, or not use a machine. As we promised last week, here’s all you need to know.
Ice cream in a bag
The ice cubes and bag method sounds fab, and a quick option. To see what I mean, click here to see the recipe being made in a short video.
 You will need two plastic bags. One big enough to hold the bag with the ice cream, plus ice and rock salt. Put the ice cream mixture in the smaller bag, tie it up or seal it. Put in the other bag and shake for three minutes. Voila, you have ice cream!
Ice cream in a tray
The other option is to use the freezer. Mostly recipes for this use a large baking tray that you pour the mixture into. And it is a bit labour intensive. The key is, as mum Sarah points out, “to keep stirring. Put it in the freezer for a bit, take it out, stir to break the ice crystals, back in the freezer, and repeat.”
If you want to try out one of the more traditional custard based ice creams for a dinner party then check out this yummy recipe. David Liebovitz also includes some excellent guidelines for making the ice cream on his site here.
Ice cream in a jar
 But, that’s not the method that I used! Oh no, indeed. I found this recipe here, which is an unusual take on the traditional tray in the freezer method and way more fun. It is (cue trumpets) ice cream in a jar!
Now one of the joys of making ice cream yourself is that you can use special ingredients that normally add a premium to the price of store brought ice cream. Such as non-dairy. As my son’s friend is vegan we decided to make some ice cream using soya milk.
Actually, my five year old son did this and loved every second of it. You just measure out a cup of milk, some sugar if the milk’s not already sweetened, and a half teaspoon of vanilla extract (don’t use the essence, you don’t get the same sort of flavour). Put it in the jar, then shake. It goes in the freezer and gets shaken every 30 minutes. Although my son wasn’t able to wait that long. Plus he had to have little ‘tastes’ along the way to make sure it was going OK!
 The end result was simply delicious. I can’t remember the last time I had ice cream this yummy and it wasn’t even dairy ice cream. Towards the end I had to take over the shaking as it was too thick for my son to manage. And if you think Haagen Dazs is hard when it comes out of the freezer it has nothing on home made stuff. So allow a little softening time in the fridge.
Ice cream machines
Making ice cream by hand is only one option though. Most of the DIY ice cream afficienados that I spoke to amongst our readers preferred to use a machine. The response of mum Rebecca when I told her what I was doing probably sums it up “Wow, you are MAD making it that way. I did it once, years ago, but prefer having the ice cream maker!”
 Sheona agrees, and points out you don’t necessarily have to spend extra to get one either. “For ice-cream you need an ice-cream machine. They usually consist of a thing that looks like a mixer (or is a mixer, we use our Kitchen Aid) with a bowl. The bowl is very thick-looking because it is filled with a gel. The bowl lives in the freezer until you need it. The gel defrosts slowly, over the time that the mixer stirs the ice-cream mix. Then you have to freeze the ice-cream for 24 hours before you eat it. We only eat home-made, and our ice-cream bowl came with the deal we got on our kitchen-aid.”
A machine can be bought for less than £50. I found these two half price deals while writing this. An Indulgence by Mistral Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker at Argos for half price, £15.69. And this one at Robert Dyas marked down from £39.99 to £19.99.
And finally
My cheap and cheerful, and healthy, tip for cooling the little ones down over the summer is to get some ice lolly moulds and fill them with fruit juice. My son loves them and thinks it is a treat that he gets to have an ice lolly at breakfast time!
If you try out any of these recipes, let us know how you get on! Also, what inexpensive ways to you help your kids cool down when the weather gets hot? Please share!
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