Just over a week ago I was absolutely thrilled to receive a letter from Britmums and vouchers from Morrisons. The boys had been asking if we could have a BBQ over the bank holiday weekend and we had promised we would if the weather was right. So now with Morrisons vouchers in hand I would be able to cater for a BBQ as well.
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| I’m a Morrisons Mum |
I spent some time browsing the Morrisons website to get an idea of produce as I hadn’t visited a store in about three months. So wanted to have an idea of what I was going to buy before I went to shop. I know I wanted to cater for as many meals as possible over the bank holiday weekend. As well as food for the BBQ I hoped I could do a roast as well as a meal for the Saturday night as well, meaning we would have a main meal for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. So with a list in hand I set off with Erin to visit one of the Morrisons stores closest to me. We’re a bit spoilt for choice really as there are stores in Aberystwyth, Haverfordwest and Carmarthen, all of which are about an hours from us. However I had had a tip off that the Haverfordwest store was under going some work and as I had to deliver my mum to the train station in Carmarthen it made sense to head to the Carmarthen store.
So with the boys delivered to school and my mum dropped off at the train station, Erin and I made the couple of minute drive from the station to the store. I managed to find a parent and child spot and made our way to the trolley park to find a suitable trolley.
Our first stop was the toilets to change Erin and then it was time to shop! We made our way around Market Street taking time to look around all the fruit and veg and taking in the offers. There were lots of yellow signs highlighting Morrisons Cheaper prices and offers. I picked up all the fruit and veg that I would usually buy and the majority were included in Morrisons 3 for £1.50 offer or 69p each. All the fruit and veg looked so fresh and very appealing, I also bought a some fruit I don’t buy on a regular basis including a pineapple to make a fruit salad. Dad of 3 had requested some fresh fish so we made our way to the fishmonger who was at the top of market street to see what was on offer. The fishmonger was very helpful and helped me choose a lovely hake fillet and even gave me advise on cooking it.
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| Signs indicating Morrisons Lower prices and offers |
I decided to be methodical with the shopping and went up and down the aisles to locate the items I wanted. Every aisle boasted yellow ‘I’m cheaper’ signs along it’s shelf. As we went along I tried to keep a running total on what I was buying as didn’t want to go over the amount of vouchers I had been sent. However it wasn’t easy with Erin in tow and with all the great products and prices.
The store was fairly quite too and I was glad I had decided to do my shop on the Friday morning in the hope of beating the Bank Holiday rush. It was also difficult to stay focused on getting food just for the weekend and I have to admit to slipping a few extras in to be consumed throughout the week.
As well as visiting the Fishmonger we stopped by the Butchers to get a pork belly joint for our roast. I did look at the meat aisle prior to going to the butcher in case there was a suitable joint but there was not. I did however pick up some fantastic offers on beef burgers, steaks, diced chicken and mince meat though. The butcher was extremely helpful when I couldn’t see what I was after on the display he went to have a look in his store and came back with a large joint. He then cut it to my required size based on the number of people I was feeding. He then asked if I wanted it scoring and did this for me when I said yes.
After an hour and a quarter of shopping I had a full trolley so we made our way to the checkouts. The assistant was very cheerful and welcoming and greeted Erin and myself although Erin became all shy and wouldn’t say hello! She kindly waited for me to unload the contents of my trolley onto the conveyor belt before she started scanning the items. I nervously watched the total tot up and hoped I hadn’t gone too much over budget. The final total was £85.54 so I was £5.84 over budget, not bad at all considering everything I bought.
Back at the car I filled up the boot and we made our way home to show dad of 3 the fruits of our shop. Once I had unloaded the car dad of 3 and myself laid out the contents of the several shopping bags on the counter to take a look at the purchases. We ended up having to lay them out in groups as we couldn’t fit them all on the counter together. Here’s what I bought with my Morrisons vouchers.
I actually thought dad of 3’s eyes were going to pop out of his head as we surveyed all the food. I had also managed to buy two disposable BBQ’s as well. By the time we had put all the food away I was dying for a cup of tea and a sandwich. Our fridge and cupboards were literally over full and I knew we were in for a great bank holiday with full tummys. Morrisons cheaper prices certainly had enabled me to buy more food than I would usually have got for the price I paid.
That evening we opted to have the filled pasta with carbonara sauce and garlic bread for dinner. I had picked up two packets of filled fresh pasta, one with mozzarella and tomato and the other with bacon and chicken, something for everyone and a nice quick meal that was ready within fifteen minutes.
On Saturday we had a lasagna with fresh salad for a late lunch using the mince meat and salad items I had bought in Morrisons. Then on Sunday dad of 3 cooked up a fantastic Sunday Lunch using the Pork Belly joint and stuffed it with a cranberry stuffing. It looked and smelt so delicious I couldn’t wait to get stuck in and it was only after I had finished I remembered about taking a photograph of the meal to use in this post, dad of 3 was most upset with me!
Then on Monday morning we woke to an over cast sky and spent several hours trying to decide what to do about our promised BBQ. Around midday dad of 3 and myself decided we would go ahead but would not only eat earlier than planned but we would also eat indoors. With the help of our windbreak dad of 3 set about lighting the larger of the two disposable BBQ’s I had bought while I got out the food to be used. Trystan had requested kebabs so using the diced chicken breast, some yellow peppers, cherry tomatoes and onion dad of 3 assembled some kebabs to start on the BBQ. We also added some steaks, burgers and sausages too.
The children watched their dad cooking the food from the warmth of the sitting room and eagerly awaited their feast. When all was cooked we sat down to a lovely feast of BBQ food, chicken kebabs, Chinese chicken, hot dogs, burgers, potato salad, coleslaw, crisps, salad and steak. We were well and truly stuffed! It was delicious and a perfect ending to a lovely family bank holiday weekend.
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| BBQ Fun |
Even after having four main meals from the food I had bought in Morrisons we still had some things left including fruit and veg. We’ve been impressed with the fruit especially as just over a week after I bought it we have only just finished the last pear and apple today and the last of the potatoes were eaten with today’s sunday lunch. Both dad of 3 and myself were amazed at how long they lasted without going bad at all. Usually I have to buy more fruit half way through the week as some of it will have gone bad.
Having the opportunity to be a Morrisons Mum has meant that as a family we have thoroughly enjoyed not only the bank holiday weekend but has shown us that Morrisons has a fantastic range of products which are great quality and available at affordable prices to suit any budget. Also their fresh fruit and veg lasts seems to stay fresher longer compared to other supermarket brands. Our bank holiday shop actually stretched the whole week which shows that shopping at Morrisons really does pay.