What's for lunch Mum ?

Hartley's your lunchbox 

Packed lunches can be the bane of my life during the holidays. You see Brown Bear has a hot meal at school every day so I don't have to provide a lunch for him. Blue Bear has a packed lunch twice a week when he does a longer day, so during term time it's not a regular thing for me to make a lunch. During the school holidays, however, they go to holiday camps and I make a lunch for them both every day, so we go shopping together for all the components. Their special teddy companions get to sit in the trolley and my boys can wander round randomly dropping items into my shopping that I won't usually buy. If they're lucky - or sufficiently persuasive - I might actually buy what they've chosen.

Woof Woof and Jiggles get a ride 

I used to have to find ways to get round that fact that the boys wouldn't eat sandwiches, but now they seem to be ok with them so this year I've come into my own both creatively and nutritionally. I always include a juice carton or a water bottle - recently I saw this coconut with a ring pull in it. Why a ring pull ? Who knows. I'm not sure who the target market is for this really - for one it won't fit in a normal packed lunch box and for another it's hardly a handy convenient post yoga snack is it ? I'll stick with water or juice cartons thanks. 

Coconut water - no really 

My boys have become veterans of packed lunches now so I like to include them in decision making. I like to theme the lunches and this summer we've had colour themes with two strong favourites coming out.

This is the yellow and green theme with apple juice, a pineapple jelly from Hartleys and a box of raisins and apple pieces. The sandwich thins have been a revelation as the boys will eat these with cheese spread on them. which is an improvement on dry bread which is what they used to insist on or they'd just throw away the filling and eat the bread. I've also discovered mini cucumbers that fit into the box and are waste free if I top and tail them so there's no stalk to dispose of. 

The yellow and green theme 

Personally I prefer the purple lunch - with blackcurrant drink, blueberry fruit snack, blackcurrant jelly pot and some dark cherries. I've always like the goth look and this would leave a nice dark mouth if they ate everything ;) the mini biscuit pack is a treat and a chunk of baguette instead of a sandwich goes down well.

The purple packed lunch

I like to ensure the boys eat their five a day and they love fruit so they are pretty good about it. An idea I can't claim as my own, but that I love, is fruit kebabs on a straw. Why a straw you ask, well, it's less spiky than a skewer and holds the fruit on securely. I choose fruits like melon, grapes and strawberries that I know my boys love to eat, but you can also include apple chunks or banana slices. Mine like a whole apple or small banana in their lunch so that works too.

Fruit straw kebabs 

The idea of the 'reverse sausage roll,' came about entirely by accident. I made up a lunch plate for Blue Bear with breadsticks, cucumber slices and some sliced ham in the shape of a teddy bear face - don't judge, he chose it in the shop. After watching him peer at the food for a while I decided to try something different. I rolled the ham onto the breadstick and behold he suddenly took interest and could hold it in his fist and munch away easily. I'm not sure I'd be quite so relaxed about my lunch watching me though !

Reverse sausage rolls 

I usually like to include a 'pudding' in the packed lunch - more than anything so the boys have an incentive to eat all of their lunch. They both love jelly and I often make individual portions of jelly for them to eat at home with custard or ice cream (if they're being proper spoiled). I was delighted to find Hartleys make individual jellies that are low in sugar and don't have to be kept in the fridge. Hartleys are running a collector scheme and once you've collected pot lids they will send you a fab lunch box with stickers to customise it.

Hartley's Collector Scheme 

I almost wish both my boys did take lunch to school so I could continue to challenge myself to find more creative ways to keep them interested in trying new food . I might just have to collect to get a lunchbox for myself :) 

This post is an entry for BritMums #HartleysYourLunchbox Linky Challenge, sponsored by Hartley’s Jelly

It's my birthday !!!

My boy made me a special picture

I apologise for not writing a 'proper' post today, but it's my birthday you see. Of course I realise it's completely undignified to make a big deal about it at my age - don't be cheeky, I'm not telling you. Me and Hubbie rarely get time, just the two of us, so today he took the day off. This being real life he had to go into work this evening, but we still got to spend the day doing things we like.

 A lovely surprise delivery today :)

So firstly we packed the boy off to nursery. He loves it when Hubbie is around for the nursery run, dontcha just love being the 'invisible,' less popular parent ? Then we went for a swim together. Usually one of us is keeping the boy occupied in the kiddie pool, but today we swam side by side. I'm a fairly solitary swimmer so it was a moot point, but still nice.

Then - after a bit of social media surfing (obvs) - I put on a nice dress, make-up and even heels (Hubbie nearly fainted with shock) and we went out for a nice lunch. I had a glass of wine and we chatted while the rain pattered on the windows and the staff effortlessly glided around us delivering delicious food. It was blissful :)

For me ? Oh you shouldn't have :) 

It's back to business as usual tomorrow. I'll do the nursery run and it'll be leftovers for lunch.

Just for today though, it's all about me :) 

I got to do the bank holiday big shop at Morrisons... and loved it !!

Morrisons new campaign

Under normal circumstances I'm banned from doing the weekly shop as I'm too easily distracted by BOGOFs and 3 for 2s. I go in for a pint of milk and come home with 5 boxes of bear fruit, 4 marked down low fat lasagnes (2 meat and 2 veggie) and a pile of bakery goods that have been reduced. It means we end up over budget and with a fridge, freezer and cupboards crammed full of impulse purchases.

Hubbie is far more disciplined than I am and rarely goes off list so I had intended to take him with me for our Morrisons Bank Holiday shop last week. In the end it was just me and the boy, but I managed to stick to the list - mostly - and we had a great weekday shopping trip in a pretty quiet store. It was with some trepidation I went with the toddler to the new and snazzy Morrisons at Fiveways (Croydon), but I was armed with a list and had been to this store before so I knew the layout well enough to avoid any traps that might lure me into a casual purchase of seasonal food items that we don't need.

The most welcome sign ever :)

It started well with the perfect parking spot in a parent & child space located safely in front of the store with no busy roads to negotiate. I'm stunned how many shops have the family spaces in places that provide hazards that Indiana Jones would struggle to negotiate.

Veg kept fresh by spritzing - fancy that ! 

Once in the store the toddler offered to 'help' by pushing the trolley, as it wasn't too busy I agreed and he loved putting fresh fruit and vegetables into the trolley for me. As ours is an innovation store it has the fabulous cold storage vapour thing that spritzes the vegetables to keep them fresh. My boy calls it 'smoke,' but was delighted when I said he could put his hand into it to feel that it was cold.

I had made a list of the usual items we buy and was stunned to find that Covent Garden soups, Tilda rice and fresh pizzas were half the price we normally pay. The fresh pasta and sauces were such good value I bought a few to freeze and keep - old habits die hard and all that.

Fresh pizzas 

Ready made rice (don't judge me !)

I don't often buy meat, but we had a barbecue planned as it was a long Bank Holiday weekend so I went to see the in-store butcher to ask for some help. I don't eat meat, but Hubbie and the boy do so I wanted to get the right things and the butcher was very helpful. Burgers, chicken and sausages chosen, we went to get the bread rolls. My boy asked the baker where the bagels were and he kindly pointed out the pick and mix section where we chose a range of rolls and bagels. I love a choice so this was great. Of course I had to buy all the ones my son had pawed at !!

Butchers and a deli !

Lots of rolls to choose from

Lovely Teresa helped us 

A quick check of the list revealed I'd managed to completely forget the french mustard that Hubbie had asked for so we went to get some help. The lovely Teresa walked us to the correct aisle and even agreed to a photo for this post.

Every member of staff we met was really helpful and kind to us. When my son set off an alarmed gate at the checkout and I was having a meltdown the incredibly patient lady serving us complimented me on my 'bouncy, pretty hair' and diffused the tension of the situation.

I love her. 

We don't usually shop at Morrisons - well as I said I'm not allowed to do the weekly shop - so this was a rare treat for me. My boy had plenty of room to roam and he even got to have a ride with Peppa and George Pig at the end. He was pretty helpful but I didn't get him any clothes despite his best efforts to convince me he had to have yet more Spiderman shoes. I loaded four massive bags for life filled with food into the car boot and we made our way home.

My boy choosing some clothes

Driving Peppa & George Pig 

Of course the purpose of our trying Morrisons was to see what savings we could make with their new low pricing so here are some simple sums I've done to work out what we spent on meals over the weekend:

Our pizza tea on Saturday night

Saturday Dinner:
Pizza and garlic bread      
£1.75 per serving

Sunday Lunch:
Barbecue                              
Meat £1.95p  & Veggie £2.30 per serving

Monday Lunch: 
Soup and rolls                    
60p per serving



It is safe to say we spent a lot less than if we'd gone out to eat and substantially less than our usual shop. Not only that, but we tried some new things that we don't usually eat - like grilling cheese on the barbecue as well as the usual burgers, sausages, corn cobs and asparagus. My boy has widened his repertoire of shopping skills and proven he can help and not demand a toy car in return. I've shown I can keep to a list (sort of), but sanity has now returned to the household and Hubbie will be doing the weekly shop again this week.

Long may it last :)

Disclosure: The lovely people at Morrisons sent us some vouchers - via Britmums - to shop and blog honestly about the experience.