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Awesome August Frugaleers..

999 replies

Laska42 · 29/07/2015 18:17

Blimey.. It's August Already (nearly) Grin

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OP posts:
TooExtraImmatureCheddar · 05/08/2015 17:27

Oh no, girlie! But yes, it's only a base and you can leave a shocking report on TripAdvisor afterwards. Go to Durdle Dor - it's lovely!

I will report back on GB Energy. They're supposed to be taking the first payment on the 15th and then will switch 10 days after that (I think). They've managed to send me a welcome pack and a couple of emails so far. Scottish Power's customer service was shite so I thought for a saving of £22 a month GB would have to be pretty bad for me to switch back.

girliefriend · 05/08/2015 17:29

ipsos I think generally £52 a night is middle of the road price wise but it is peak season I guess, I couldn't find anything cheaper! We do get breakfast with that although God knows what it will be like Hmm

SeasideSunshine · 05/08/2015 17:39

collie slow cooked food is great in the winter - stews and such.

girlie eeek! not even your own loo? Wow! I'd have seriously thought £52 a night would get your own loo. I am obviously well out of touch with holiday lets. Our last holiday was a Sun cheapie though. Blush Best of luck for a good breakfast! Hope you have a good time!

I'm paying extra on one monthly bill starting this month, to get it out of the way, then applying that amount to my savings to pay for the solicitor for my divorce and a new washer and cooker. There's always something to pay for, it seems. Hmm

SpottyTeacakes · 05/08/2015 17:51

Don't worry girlie you'll still have a great time Smile it's only a loo and you can always wait until you go out to find a nicer one the weather is looking up too

Fluffycloudland77 · 05/08/2015 18:01

It is really expensive to holiday in this country though, unless you can drop on a good premier inn deal. It's just a base.

northender · 05/08/2015 18:01

Eating out tonight courtesy of club card vouchers. Was supposed to be tomorrow but ds has a cricket match so tonight it is. It feels like ages since we ate out so it will be a real treat. Then the serious holiday prep begins........lists, piles of stuff,roof box etc, etc!

574ejones · 05/08/2015 18:02

NSD for me today. Hope you have a good holiday Girlie.

colliewobbles83 · 05/08/2015 18:29

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Ohhelpohnoitsa · 05/08/2015 18:31

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peppapissinpig · 05/08/2015 18:43

Collie sweet and sour SC chicken sounds yum - can I steal recipe please? Friends coming this weekend

NK5BM3 · 05/08/2015 19:04

Thanks all for your well wishes. Ds is perfectly fine now. Woke up at 1030 and was mostly bright as a button.

Spent £17 on 10kg of rice. £7.40 at Sainsburys on choc for nursery teachers tomorrow (last day!!) and £5 on a charity shop skateboard purchase.

Peppa - if you want a fab sweet sour chicken recipe I'll post one here. It's not slow cooker but it's the best I've ever made (as a Chinese person I think I can say that!' Wink).

ItsAll · 05/08/2015 19:11

Ooh NK5, please post your recipe Smile.

peppapissinpig · 05/08/2015 19:11

Yes please NK!!!!

TheOnlyPink · 05/08/2015 19:16

nk please do post it, I've tried to make it so many times and I never get the balance right. I don't like my slow cooker, so would love a stovetop version!

girlie hope you have a lovely time, you're right, the hotel is just a base, as long as the bed is clean you don't need much else!

lilac and any irish lurkers, just got a text from supervalu, if you buy a chicken for €5 tomorrow you get a 1kg bag of potatoes and 850g bag of carrots for free. Not a bad deal!

Spent €6 in aldi on gf biscuits and gf rolls for our picnic tomorrow. €3 on cards and wrapping paper for ds 1 birthday, €3 in tesco on tortilla chips for dh and a black forrest trifle for me for the GBBO!
Dh is out (only cost is his €1 bag of tortilla chips!) and we no longer have sky plus, so need to get the kids to bed and the tea made for 8pm. They are rarely any trouble to get to bed anymore so hoping tonight won't be the time they kick off!

SpottyTeacakes · 05/08/2015 19:19

Dd just lost another tooth and I only have pound coins! She swallowed it though so maybe I'll give her coppers Grin

Fluffycloudland77 · 05/08/2015 20:30

£10 1.5l slow cooker
48p milk
70p two marked down sandwich fillers.

Sent off my latest mobile bill, I have a redemption deal so it's free but they can be slippery about paying out. I will put the money towards more paint.

ItsAll · 05/08/2015 20:31

Fluffy, what's a redemption deal?

Fluffycloudland77 · 05/08/2015 20:36

It's where you send a copy of your bill to the provider or agent, E2Save in my case, and they send you a cheque for the agreed amount.

Dh used to do it years ago and I didn't really understand at the time.

It's O2 so you get bits and pieces free on O2 priority. I think I'm about £30 up in freebies.

NK5BM3 · 05/08/2015 20:46

Sweet and sour chicken (or pork)

  1. Cut chicken into cubes (tend to use chicken breast, about 1/person or whatever you usually have) about 1inch cubes
  2. Marinade with 2tsp salt, some pepper, 2tbsp Chinese wine, 2tsp sesame oil, 1tbsp cornflour. Leave for an hour. If you use pork, use pork belly, and add some minced ginger.
  3. Get ready the oil for frying. Beat one egg and mix into meat. In another bowl, get ready some plain flour for coating. Move the meat one by one into the plain flour bowl. Fry it. 3-4 min till it turns brown.

Sauce
1 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar in a pot. Add 4 tbsp of ketchup. 4 tbsp of rice vinegar (if you don't have that, use white wine vinegar), 2 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce/HP sauce. 1/2 cube of chicken stock, or 1tsp of chicken stock powder. Boil. If you want to add the pineapple juice from the tin, do so.

Green peppers, onions, cucumber (I use 1 each). 1/2 tin of pineapple. Fry pineapple cubes till it caramelises (1 min), add all veg chopped up. Add sauce. Add fried chicken. Stir. Serve.

Sounds long winded, but it really isn't.

Absolutely yummy. Very much like the genuine takeaway sort, and very much like the stuff we get back home. It is what the Chinese takeaways will refer to as the Hong Kong style sweet and sour chicken.

Enjoy. Grin

peppapissinpig · 05/08/2015 20:49

NK that looks absolutely delicious -hungry again !
Is Chinese wine mirin?

NK5BM3 · 05/08/2015 20:55

Not really Peppa, but you can use it. It's sweeter than Chinese cooking wine.

Hope you guys try it. I've experimented several times and I think this is the real thing. Grin

Laska42 · 05/08/2015 21:23

So NK if you cant get Chinese wine ( i'll bet that i cant on this godforsaken island I live on ,unless Sainsbos do it in their foreign food section ) what would you suggest? , a white wine, (a floral type or one like like liebfraumilch ?)

I have to do this.. it sounds so yum..am thinking its something maybe DGS will eat when he comes this weekend..

Just spent £38 in the Hush sale... Yes , I do know I am bad ....Blush

OP posts:
SpottyTeacakes · 05/08/2015 21:30

this crispy chilli beef recipe is delicious! Probably not authentic NK? but definitely worth doing. It's really nice with sticky rice.

Pointlessfan · 05/08/2015 21:42

Recipes sound nice even to my veggie senses!
Not quite NSD in the end as the charity shop had a pristine Ikea train set for 3 quid, it would have been ridiculous not to buy it! DD played with it from the minute we got home so I think we'll get the money's worth out of it.
Tomorrow I'm returning a cagoule as I found the one I'd lost after I bought a replacement. I can't find the receipt but bought it on credit card so that should be ok shouldn't it?

colliewobbles83 · 05/08/2015 21:46

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