*The Holly and the Ivy* and the You Know What 2013 Chatter Thread.

Snugglebunny8

msgigglewick wrote: »

ooo shall have to remember the curry and jacket potato ones! 2 of my girls love curry but the rest of us don't. might do them that cheats one instead of buying the frozen ones one day lol

Got another xmas tshirt while up town this morning.. thats two tops out of 4 i need for this year, pj's wasn't reduced yet so will go and have another look next week. (probably miss it lol)

Filled up my freezer with the iceland deals today (mostly fish fingers, turkey steaks, the battered or breaded children breast type food, ideal for children or one of those quick cook nights) enough for 20 main meals for £23 which i thought was rather good! will save me some money over the next couple of weeks, just need to buy fresh stuff and bits for packed lunches, then milk and juice. Will have to remind self there is no room in freezer when shopping now though lol

I find a pack of 4 chicken breasts and a jar of Pataks (plus rice) makes enough for family of four, so could use half - you could also use the jar of Pataks Paste which you only need half the jar and add hot water to the paste, Ive tried several sauces and find Pataks is the nicest, the flavour really gets into the chicken in the slow cooker.

I usually buy 3 packs of chicken breasts in my weekly shop for £10 and use one for curry, one for the basil/tomato recipe or something similar, another I may slow cook then finish in the pan with parma ham wrapped around it, or slice it and use with herbs and spices and stir fry with spring onions, seseme seeds etc, a great accompaniment is coconut buns which Jamie Oliver does on 15 minute meals, literally a tin of coconut milk, 2 tins of s/r flour, blitz in blender, split into cupcake cases and steam, then stuff them with the chicken - divine!!!

my ds makes a great pasta sauce with a bag of raw spinich thrown in the blender with garlic, chilli, spices, spring onion and a box of pureed tomato, then he makes meatballs with minced beef and seasoning and serves it over spaghetti, its lovely and peppery and a great way to get veg into kids who dont like it!

salt_and_pepper

hi, i have at last been shopping. I have bought some bits ready to assemble a lollypop tree for DS1s birthday. I have also been in homebase and picked up some feature wallpaper for the living room for £7.99 which isn't bad. I refuse to pay £20 a roll.
Anyway i wonder if i could pick your brains with regards to DS1's main birthday present. The day after his birthday he's taking his girlfriend to Edinburgh. I have been looking at http://www.edinburgh.org/pass/attractions/ for the 2 day pass (he will have 2 full days there) I'm not sure whether to buy it or not. I know he wants to go to the zoo but that in itself will be quite a full day so i'm unsure whether he will make the full use of it. Also i'm sure it's easy enough to pick up half price tickets for the dungeons. Any suggestions? whether to buy or not or to try and make my own up, then if i give money to do something nd it doesnt happen at least he can spend money on something else. Also thought of printing maps off and bus guides.

marco1dog

Hi
I have been mostly a lurker but would like to join in this year. I have been watching every day to see if Turbo has come home as I have felt so sorry for his Mum especially at this time of year. I would have gone mad if any of my cats had gone missing but I was lucky and they both lived to 15 and 17. I will keep my fingers crossed.
Can anyone tell me which fitbit to buy. I was going to wait for my birthday but it is not till 12th of May so my husband has said just to buy one now. I feel so fat after eating anything that moved since before Christmas. I had lost 3 stone 5 pounds last year on Lighterlife. I know it is very expensive but I loved it and know that I will lose the weight quickly once I start eating normally from tomorrow. The fitbit will really help as I use My Fitness Pal as well.
Thank you for your help and Happy New Year!
Lorraine x

Own_My_Own

Have still got to go back and catch up

Still no Robbie 2 cm dilated for 24hr now. Contractions have stopped.:(

Back to work tomorrow.
So today I spent over 2 hrs doing my Nectar Ads :mad: as the site was playing up. But that is now a whole £1.25 towards my Christmas food shop in Sainsburys.
Popped into Morrisons to get some milk and salad. Got £2 worth of saving stamps, went to put them in the small pocket in my purse and found £6 worth I forgot about last year. So I now have £8.:D
I have put 5 £2 coins away today and am putting my £5 away on Friday for my £365 in 365.

Am on track, just got to keep it up for another 50 weeks.:eek:

Been watching 'Obese: A Year to Save my Life' most of the day on Pick TV. Very motivating. Some of these people have to lose ME in weight. Makes my needed weight lose look easy peasy.
I lose weight very easily, which is not always a good thing, as I put weight on knowing I can just lose it when I like. Where as if I found it hard I would most probably not stuff my face over Christmas.

Hope everyone has had a good day. Off now to catch up.:)

Welcome to all newbies (if they are any):D:D

Island_mum

MrsBunny and jakesbakescakes thanks for all of your advice. Unfortunately accomodation is an apartment for all 16 hens so I couldn't cancel that without costing each of them more which I wouldn't want to do. It is also my dearest friend bridesmaid and she is organising it so whilst our spending habits are worlds apart, I don't want to make her or bride feel bad

jakesbakescakes I think you're right - just suck it up and view it as a treat away with my girlfriends. I am going to tell DH that I don't want anything for my birthday a few weeks before it and I will sell as much as I can on eBay and see that as spending money to take with me . I think this one is just a tough lesson learnt to get full costs of any future hen parties before agreeing lol. Re ttc I don't think I'd mind my friends knowing early, will just be strange having people I don't know very well sharing my news but I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles. Will just wait and see how it all pans out.

MrsBunny that's exciting and thank you ! Yes families don't really know what subtle hinting is do they:rotfl:. That's why we are looking to save too as my wage is only just shy of DH and we would like me to be able to stay at home longer than 6 months as it will probably be the last time we have another.

Snugglebunny8 do you just put the pierced jackets in the slowcooker on their own and they cook throughout the day? Didn't know if you need to add any liquid or anything?

Have ordered some flavoured twinings tea bags today for MIL mothers day tea hamper I am making so that's made me feel a little more organised :T

Snugglebunny8

don't need any liquid Island Mum they cook fine without any and the skin is nice and crispy after about 6 hours. I always add wine to beef when I slow cook it, but when I slow cook chicken breasts I leave them without any added liquid, they sort of reabsorb any juices as they cook, so then if I pan fry them wrapped in bacon, parma ham etc they are lovely and juicy :-)

Snugglebunny8

welcome marco1dog - sorry to be no help with the fitbit but there are many lovely people here who will be able to advise xx

OMO fingers crossed for Robbie! xx

kayandy_2

freespirit66 wrote: »

Oh Kayandy, poor you i can imagine that did set you back a lot! We are all here for you, i have had some lovely messages of support from the ladies on here! So please remember if you are feeling low or particularly upset over something, let us know.:):grouphug: It makes you feel so much better getting things off your chest.

Awh thank you it's not so bad at the moment!!

Also I know somebody was making a gardening hamper? They had loads and loads of gardening stuff in £1land today incase it helps things like gloves seeds clipper things garden decorations and loads of other bits

kayleigh_x_2

I've not been on since NYE, so Happy New Year to you all. Just caught up on the thread. I have taken down my Christmas decorations and now the house looks bare. But on the plus side I had a tidy up so all everything is all back to normal now.

weeclick

dropsofjupiter wrote: »

I've decided my NYR is to go for a walk during my lunchbreak instead of sitting and reading celebrity gossip - much better for my health! :rotfl:

Nanamia wrote: »

Glad to see you moneysavingmumofone I was half way through a pm to you earlier wondering if you were ok - til my phone lost it! Pleased you are here tho I've missed you.

Happy new year to you all, here's hoping we can continue to help and support each other through 2013 as well as we did in 2012:)

My DSiL was not good today getting really quiet worried about her. Purely selfish of me I know but I can't fly off to Australia with her like this. Have arranged a meeting with her surgeon and care team for Wednesday so hopefully we will then have a plan. She's now been out of ICU eleven days with no improvement, if anything I think she may even have regressed. It is heartbreaking to see her like this:(

Been next door to our wonderful neighbours to see the new year in saw it in at 4pm with DS, DDiL and DGD (midnight in Australia)
NYR to treasure my family and loved ones and to remember how lucky we are xxx

marco1dog wrote: »

Hi
I have been mostly a lurker but would like to join in this year. I have been watching every day to see if Turbo has come home as I have felt so sorry for his Mum especially at this time of year. I would have gone mad if any of my cats had gone missing but I was lucky and they both lived to 15 and 17. I will keep my fingers crossed.
Can anyone tell me which fitbit to buy. I was going to wait for my birthday but it is not till 12th of May so my husband has said just to buy one now. I feel so fat after eating anything that moved since before Christmas. I had lost 3 stone 5 pounds last year on Lighterlife. I know it is very expensive but I loved it and know that I will lose the weight quickly once I start eating normally from tomorrow. The fitbit will really help as I use My Fitness Pal as well.
Thank you for your help and Happy New Year!
Lorraine x

I have the fitbit ultra, had it just over a week and love it (got just before christmas bf had it few weeks before me again) does everything I need it to and got bargains on ebay first was £46 inc delivery and second one was £58 inc delivery (alot better than the £85 inc del for it on their website new) the fitbit one is the newest out but cant comment as Ive never tried it. If your just looking help to boost your weight loss then either would really help! Well done on your weight loss similar to me on mfp last year (before I binged and gained some back in the middle of the year lol)