The BritMum's Challenge - being a #morrisonsmum!

Morrisons used to be my supermarket of choice when living in the city. Living literally a 10 minute walk or 2 minutes drive away made it really convenient and easy to do both the weekly shop and smaller top-up shops in between. Since moving to the sticks, a visit to Morrisons supermarket is quite a luxury! Our local supermarket isn't the cheapest, but for day to day shopping for bread, milk, etc. it's fine and I can't justify an hours drive each way for a small shop!

So, enough about me and my Morrisons relationship - how did we get on with the BritMum's Challenge?

The 'I'm Cheaper' campaign has been covered in the national media and on the Morrisons website itself, but it's much easier to see for yourself what exactly is cheaper and how the overall prices compare. We were pleased to see that it was not just own label items that were cheaper; branded items and marketplace produce is also included in the price promise, with clear markers showing you where the price changes had occurred.

I don't often consciously 'track' the cost of my shopping, but know the prices of regular items such as bread and milk. The Morrisons prices compared better than my usual supermarket for most general items, but there were a couple of items currently on offer in my usual supermarket that were more expensive in Morrisions, but this was purely down to the particular special offer.

Our weekly shop consists of probably half and half branded products and own label products, but we did buy a few treats for over the Bank Holiday weekend due to celebrating my youngest child's 7th birthday on Sunday!

I try to plan at least half of our meals for the week so with each shop I do, I have some sort of shopping list to work to. The rest of the meals are more flexible as we would see what special offers were in store at the time! To help us plan this week, we decided to look at the recipes on the Morrisions website. There's a great recipe tool where you can search by meal, ingredient and even whether the recipe is 'kid-friendly'.

Here are the links to the recipes that we chose to make throughout the week:

Perfect Pizza served with salad and crusty bread

Chilli Con Carne served with rice and a dollop of natural yoghurt

Cheesy Chicken Nuggets served with potato wedges and carrots/sweet corn

Tuna Pasta Bake, again, served with salad and crusty bread

And a couple of treats and puddings!

Raspberry Ripple Fluff

Yoghurt Lollies

Pancakes - I know it's not Shrove Tuesday, hey it's not even Tuesday, but we love pancakes!

All of these have a good value, price per serving - who can beat the pancakes at literally pence per serving.... but it all depends on how many you eat! The pizza is less than £1 a serving, of course, you can add more toppings which can alter the price but even then, a great mid-week meal for the family.

The chilli con carne (our favourite!) works out at under £1.30 per portion - rice included! Both the chicken nuggets and tuna pasta bake come in at about £1 a portion, so again, great value!

The pizza, chilli con carne and tuna pasta bake all use the same basic tomato sauce base, so we made this in one batch and used it through the week (it will keep for up to 3 days).


Raspberry Ripple Fluff - with extra birthday decoration! 

On top of our weekly shop, we bought picnic items for our day out to Fairbourne Railway on Monday and other items to use for meals throughout the week, for example a seafood mix for making paella one day, treats for the dog, drinks and after school snacks for the kids! We spent around £100 in total, so with the treats thrown in, we feel that this was very reasonable.
Overall, Morrisons provided good value for money, with sensible offers and 'I'm Cheaper' prices on things that you would buy in a normal weekly shop.

The only thing that stops me from shopping here more regularly is purely the distance! So, if you've a Morrisons local to you and you're not a regular customer, give it a try!

Goulash stew - Recommended Recipe!

Goulash Stew – serves 4, takes 2 ½ hours.

Ingredients

400g braising steak, cubed

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1 onion, sliced

1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced

200g mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½ - 1 tsp paprika

½ - 1 tsp smoked paprika

Good pinch ground cumin

400g can chopped tomatoes

4 tbsp soured cream

300g mashed potato

Method

1.       Set the oven at 180C/160C fan/Gas 4. Trim the beef of any excess fat. Heat the oil in a large casserole dish and fry the beef until browned.

2.       Add the onions and fry for 5 mins until tender, then add the pepper, mushrooms and garlic with the paprika and cumin and fry for another 5 mins.

3.       Add 150ml water and the tomatoes. Bring to the boil, cover and place in the oven for 2 hours.

4.       Remove, swirl in the soured cream and serve with mashed potato. Add a dollop of soured cream, if liked.

Per serving: 431 calories, 8g sugar, 20g fat, 5g saturated fat, 0.4g salt.

Source: Morrisons instore magazine.

Creamy coconut dahl - Recommended Recipe!

Creamy coconut dahl - serves 4, preparation 15 minutes, cooking 40 minutes

Ingredients
250g red lentils, rinsed
200ml reduced-fat coconut milk
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 large onion, sliced
5 tbsp oil
2.5cm piece fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp mustard or poppy seeds
Small bunch of fresh coriander leaves, washed
2 large naan bread, warmed, to serve

Method

1. Place the lentils in a saucepan with 400ml cold water.  Reserve 4 tbsp coconut milk and add the rest to the pan.  Season, bring to the boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  If the mixture gets too thick, add a little boiling water.
2. Fry the onion for 5-6 minutes in the oil.  Add ginger, garlic, garam masala, turmeric and mustard or poppy seeds and cook for 2 more minutes.  Add to the lentils with the coriander.  Spoon into bowls, drizzle with remaining coconut milk and serve with naan bread.

Per serving - 536 kcalories, sugar 6g, fat 17g, saturated fat 6g, salt 1.2g.

Source - Morrisons instore magazine.

Ribollita-style soup - Recommended Recipe!

Ribollita-style soup - serves 4, preparation 20 mins, cooking 40 mins

Ingredients
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 onion, sliced
Pinch crushed dried chillies
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp thyme leaves, washed
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 carrots, diced
250g savoy cabbage, shredded
1 litre vegetable stock
400g tinned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
4 slices toasted country-style white bread and 1 peeled garlic clove, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan.  Fry the onion over a low heat for 5-6 minutes.  Add the chillies and garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
2. Stir in the tomato puree and thyme and cook for 1 minute, then add the tomatoes, carrots and cabbage.  Pour in the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
3. Add the cannellini beans and simmer for 2 moreminutes.  rub the bread slices with garlic, drizzle with olive oil and put one in each bowl.  Pour over the soup and serve.

Per serving - 351 kcalories, sugar 12g, fat 14g, saturated fat 2g, salt 0.9g.

Source - Morrisons instore magazine.

Sesame beef stir-fry - Recommended Recipe!

Sesame beef stir-fry - serves 4, preparation 20 minutes, cooking 10 minutes

Ingredients
450g sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
2 tbsp reduced-salt soy sauce
4 tbsp dry sherry
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2.5cm fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
2 tbsp sunflower oil
200g sugar snap peas
150g chestnut mushrooms, halved
1 bunch spring onions, sliced
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
Egg noodles, to serve

Method

1. Put steak strips in a shallow, non-metallic dish.  Mix the soy sauce, sherry, garlic and ginger together and pour over the steak.  Mix them together, then cover and put in the fridge to marinate for 20 minutes.
2. Heat the sunflower oil in a wok or large frying pan and add the sugar snap peas and mushrooms.  Stir-fry for 3-4 minutes then remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Remove the beef from the marinade and add to the pan.  Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes then return the vegetables to the pan along with the marinade and the sliced spring onions.  Stir-fry for 1 minute.  Scatter with sesame seeds and serve with egg noodles.

Per serving - 533 kcalories, sugar 6g, fat 17g, saturated fat 3g, salt 1g.

Source - Morrisons instore magazine.

Lemon sponge puddings with hot lemon sauce - Recommended Recipe!

Lemon sponge puddings with hot lemon sauce - serves 6, takes 35 minutes

Ingredients
For the puddings:
100g self raising flour
100g Anchor Lighter spread
75g fruit sugar
2 medium eggs
Rind of 1 lemon

For the sauce:
Grated rind of 1 lemon and juice of 2 lemons
4 tsp fruit sugar
1 tsp cornflour

Method

1. Set oven at 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.  Lightly grease a 6-hole muffin tin.  
2. Place all of the pudding ingredients into a mixing bowl and beat until smooth.  Divide the mixture between the muffin holes and bake for 18-20 minutes until risen and golden brown on top.
3. Meanwhile, make the sauce.  Place the lemon rind, juice and fruit sugar in a small pan with 75ml water.  Bring to the boil.
4. Separately, mix the cornflour with 1 tbsp water, and add to the lemon mixture and bring back to the boil.
5. Pour over the puddings just before serving.

Per serving - 240 kcalories, 15g sugar, 11g fat, 5g saturated fat, 0.2g salt.

Source - Morrisons instore magazine.

Bread & butter pudding - Recommended Recipe!

Bread & butter pudding - serves 4, takes 40 minutes

Ingredients
4 slices white bread
25g Lurpak lighter spread
50g seedless raisins
2 tbsp fruit sugar
300ml semi-skimmed milk
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk, beaten
1 or 2 drops vanilla essence
Pinch of grated nutmeg

Method

1. Set oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.  Thinly butter the bread on both sides.  Cut into triangles and arrange in a shallow baking dish.
2. Scatter over raisins. 
3. Mix the fruit sugar, milk, eggs and vanilla essence together and pour over.  Sprinkle with nutmeg.
4. Place the dish in a roasting tin and pour hot water in the tin to reach half way up.
5. Bake for 30 minutes.

Per serving - 242 kcalories, 12g sugar, 10g fat, 4g saturated fat, 0.6g salt.

Source - Morrisons instore magazine.

Hot chocolate souffles with orange - Recommended Recipe!

Hot chocolate souffles with orange - serves 4, takes 25 minutes.

Ingredients
Sunflower oil for greasing
50g caster sugar
20g cocoa powder
Pinch of cream of tartar
3 medium egg whites
Rind of one orange, grated

Method

1. Set the oven to 190C/170C Fan/ Gas 5.  Grease 4x100ml ramekin dishes or ovenproof teacups.
2. Mix caster sugar, cocoa and cream of tartar together.  
3. In a clean, grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.  Gradually whisk in the sugar, cream of tartar and cocoa mixture.  Stir in the orange rind.
4. Divide the mixture between the dishes and place on a baking tray.
5. Bake for 12 minutes until risen.  Serve immediately.

Per serving - 75 kcalories, 12g sugar, 1g fat, 0.7g saturated fat, 0.2g salt.

Source - Morrisons instore magazine.