Remember when I got the last Booths voucher and decided to save it to spend on a treat for my birthday? Well my birthday is nearly here, and the coupon date was almost up so I took it with me to Booths last week when I was picking up last weeks cardholder freebie.
Which made a nice treat for Alan when he got home from work .
This weeks freebie is a dairy free chocolate bar which will be mine, all mine. 😊
And my nice birthday treat ... one of my favourite hand and body lotions, which along with the £5 coupon cost me just 60p.
Another 'Remember When ...'
Remember HERE when I bought the expensive tinned tomatoes and the cheap tinned tomatoes and decided to do a comparison taste test? Well I did it, and the verdict is ... you do actually get what you pay for if you are eating them as they are straight from the can or want to make a lovely rich tomatoey sauce for your pasta dish.
They are lovely rich and, as the can says 'finely chopped tomatoes' as fine as I have ever seen tomatoes chopped in fact and with hardly any watery juice. BUT and yes it is a huge but when I make anything with chopped or any sort of tinned tomatoes I do tend to add salt, pepper, some dried herbs and sometimes some dried garlic powder and onion powder too, it's just what I'm used to doing. Doing this made the cheap tomatoes taste better than the more expensive ones in my opinion.
I honestly think that I would buy the more expensive ones again if they were on a good special offer for those days when I just want to be able to open a can and pour them onto some freshly cooked spaghetti or straight onto a slice of toast for a tasty and nourishing breakfast.
So in my humble opinion you are not missing out at all by continuing to buy the cheaper version for day to day meals and sauces. And of course the very best cooked tomatoes are the ones that you have in the fridge that have gone slightly too soft for slicing for sandwiches, so you quarter and roast them in the oven while you are cooking something else and then simply whizz them up into a sauce or soup.
To continue this theme of playing with my food, I have just bought another expensive and cheap version of something ... more about that another day.
Sue xx
Thanks Sue for the taste test, always good to know. Faith in Nature is one of my favourite companies, they made some products for me many moons ago, the couple who own it are very personable. Have a great (thrifty)Easter. xx
ReplyDeleteThey make some lovely products don't they. Five years ago I learned all about them and completed a survey in a vegan magazine, I won a years supply of shampoos and conditioners :-)
Deletehttps://ournewlifeinthecountry.blogspot.com/2017/06/a-years-hair-care-sorted.html
I’ve been using Faith in Nature deodorants for as long as I can remember. No aluminium, no parabens and low perfume (I hate smelling of deodorant)! Eloise
ReplyDeleteI need to try these, I currently use a mineral salt crystal bar but it's never as effective in Summer.
DeleteI have recently had my first state pension payment which makes a huge difference to us as we have been on just my husband's for 5 years, I have though lost my carers allowance that I received for being primary carer to my son but still better off. I now feel I can buy spend a little more and I have tried the Mutti tomatoes , I love them I often have tomatoes on toast for lunch and have noticed the difference, I have also tried their pizza sauce which is delicious and also good on pasta. I have been very indulgent and bought green giant sweetcorn and also found them a lot sweeter and more tender so there is another luxury for me, maybe you can give your opinion on one of your taste tests. Reaching the age of 66 , I now feel I can be a little more indulgent, especially as I don't go out for meals and I don't drink, some habits will remain the same ( though I still think Kellogs cornflakes are the best )
ReplyDeleteThe rules sound very tough if you longer are classed as a carer just because you have 'retired', but I am so pleased that at last you are slightly better off. I think a few treats are definintely needed, just to keep our sanity.
DeleteI don't know if I can do a sweetcorn comparison test sorry ... I hate the stuff. I can just about manage to gulp it down if it's in a bag of mixed veg or something but apart from that it's not for me. Although now you've got me thinking would a 'big brand' be more palatable for me?
Those Mutti cans of tomatoes are absolutely gorgeous, I'm a sucker for attractive packaging. xxx
ReplyDeleteMe too!! I would love a larder full of fancy packaged stuff ... though knowing me I would leave it all untouched and have a secret stash of basic items in a carrier bag somewhere while I went and admired my posh larder every few hours. ;-)
DeleteI hope you enjoy that birthday chocolate bar!
ReplyDeleteHaha ... there was NO chance that it would last until my birthday. It called my name from the fridge within hours of me picking it up. Oh well I still have lots of lovely hand-cream :-)
DeleteThanks for the taste test.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
It was interesting to do. xx
DeleteI remember . . . when Faith in Nature first started out and I have been using their lavender soap ever since. I loved that the company was based in Lancashire although I think they have moved since expanding so much. Lavender and Geranium has always been one of their nicer scents.
ReplyDeleteIt's strange because I really don't like the smell of geraniums but mixed with the lavender it seems to bring out the best of both of them. I had no idea they were so local to me when I won all the products five years ago and discovered them.
Deletehttps://ournewlifeinthecountry.blogspot.com/2017/06/a-years-hair-care-sorted.html Did you read my blog way back then?
I hadn't heard of Faith in Nature so will take a look. It sounds lovely. I'm all for natural products as long as they are not too expensive.
ReplyDeleteI love cheap-and-expensive comparisons, Sue. Thank you! So interesting!! ~Andrea xoxo
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