Riverford, Freebies ... and St George

 

We got our Riverford box last week, this one is going to be our last for the foreseeable future as we want to trial using our local farm shop for organic farm fresh vegetables and fruit that are grown right on our doorstep.  But we owe a massive thank you to Riverford for opening our eyes to the real delight of organic eating, something we had never really dabbled in before with anything but the eggs that I buy.

Alan had the choice for the final box and he chose the Small Fruit Box which we then divided between us.  Now as you know I'm not really a 'fruity' person, but it's been quite nice to have some lovely sweet oranges, and I even ate two of the pears which were so juicy.  I'm weird in that I don't usually like fresh pears but can eat them canned ... or bottled in brandy ... until the cows come home. 

I couldn't bring myself to eat any of the kiwi fruits, luckily Alan loves them so he got the lot.  Apart from hating the texture of the skins, I have been warned in the past not to eat them as anyone with a avocado allergy can also become sensitive to kiwis.  How true this is I really don't know, but I tried to make myself like avocados with disastrous results so it seems wise not to push things for something I'm not that keen on anyway.

Everything that we have had from Riverford has been just that much nicer than the fruit and veg that we had previously been buying from Sainsbury's or Aldi.  So now our experiment is to find out whether this is because of the organic side of it or the more seasonal aspect of it, in my opinion I think it's most likely to be a bit of both.

The little old wall cupboard was eventually picked up, weirdly we both had trouble with dates and times due to hospital parking.  Why do hospitals have such undersized carparks that leave you circling and circling to find a place for such a long time, while you either go in for your appointment or try to visit someone?  

But anyway, eventually we managed to swap the cupboard for the twenty pounds and we were both very happy.  😃

As this little cupboard used to hold my 'freebie stash' it meant that it was time to do something about the sheer amount that I have amassed over the last six months.  We used to use things up much more quickly on our little holidays and weekends away, but we've not managed to have any of them recently so supplies had built up a bit.

You can tell that I wasn't really concentrating on what I was doing ... I was convinced that this sugar tin had white sugar in it, and just poured in the two white sugar sachets without looking properly.  

Oh well, sugar is sugar is sugar.  😁

Everything is now sorted and ready for use at home.  The tomato ketchup sachets had already been put into a tub of their own, but now the salt is in 'Pepper' the name of the salt cellar ... after the cat that I had when I originally bought the cruet, he looked just like this ... sadly the salt one got broken many years ago, so now we just have Pepper holding the salt, and the pepper from the sachets is in the little jam jar as it was two different kinds of pepper and not just the white pepper that I have in my pepper pot.

Did you manage to keep up with that confusing waffle?

I used the two random sachets of mayonnaise on my lunch, slightly too much maybe, but very tasty.

It was a satisfying little job to get done, and now everything is either on the shelf ready for using or tucked away in the main food cupboard, and I have a very nice space on my wall where the old cupboard used to be. 😁

Happy St George's Day if you are here in the England, a day that often slips under the radar. 

Sue xx

Sunshine, Crisps ... and Base Floors

 

Doors open, sun shining and washing drying on the line again.  

How lovely it is to have some sunshine back after the awful weather of the last few days.  Sunshine brings out the best in people doesn't it, and living alongside the canal it means that we see lots of dog walkers who always love to stop and pass the time of day if we are at the front of the house.  In memory of Mavis we still have a large bowl of fresh drinking water for passing dogs, and it seems to have been very well used today.

There is one big dog that we have nicknamed 'splashy dog', as he has a big drink and liberally splashes water everywhere, the bowl usually needs refilling after his visit. 🐶

I had a bit of a cookathon with the last of my Riverford vegetables yesterday, not wanting to waste anything that I have paid good money for.  They might not look much, but oh boy do they taste good. 

 So much so that I decided on a salmon and roasted vegetable bun for my lunch 

I kept it simple, but delicious, and it was really filling.  Perhaps there was a little bit too much salmon on that bun ... but sometimes you just have to don't you.  😁

I am now on a shopping go slow after spending all of my Facebook Marketplace profits on stocking the cupboard, the freezer and ordering my favourite crisps direct from the farm they are produced on.

This should keep me going for quite a while, and buying direct from the small family farm that grows the potatoes and makes the crisps, is my way of supporting small UK businesses.   

I will share some with Alan ... if he's good. 😄

https://youtube.com/shorts/8BQzZi7FGI4?si=N6-opO0_OerIu30l

A quick walk through of the bungalow at the weekend, at last we have a level surface to walk on.

Sue xx

Robins, Riverford and Renovations

We called to our local garden centre on Saturday to return something, so we decided to get some breakfast and a coffee while we were there.  We were very well entertained at our riverside window table by a pair of robins, a pair of some kind of tit and a couple of little black and white birds dashing here there and everywhere.

Have I ever mentioned my complete lack of knowledge of flora and fauna, my head is just too full of other things for any of this to stick ... the robins are lucky that they mean so much to me.

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The river was hurtling past, right at the very top of the bank, fascinating and very hypnotising to watch while sipping my coffee.

We didn't go for a full Riverford box last week, instead we got a salad bag each and some additional blueberries and another pack of hot cross buns.  But ... I've had enough of the hot cross buns now, seasonal eating is good but you can gorge too much on something when it suddenly appears on your radar.

I loved this week's newsletter.

On our way back from the garden centre we called to the bungalow, it had been a few days since I had last seen it and Alan and the builders had been working hard all week.

This is the view from the front door.

This is the old kitchen, who needs windows with glass in them when you can have a wooden board that the wind relocates. 😄

The old living room.  

As I said who needs windows, or in this case part of the front wall too.  We do seem to have gained a coat hook though.  Proper posh!! 😁

The biggest gain of the week is an actual concrete floor in the living/dining/kitchen room.

An actual surface to walk on!!

Just four more layers on top of this and the floor will be done, ah well it's all progress.

Alan and the builders will hopefully have all the floors to this stage by Thursday night, when the builders all down tools and head off to Spain for the Easter weekend.  We are obviously paying them far too much. 😄 

Sue xx

A Shopping Catch Up - Sorry Sue!!

I have fallen so far behind with my shopping posts, that this one is a quick round up of everything that has come into the house since the last one.

Last weeks Riverford box was a medium box for 2-3 people, and we also choose a couple of extras.

Choosing those extras was dangerous ... those Chocolate Chip and Orange Hot Cross buns were delicious, and lasted barely two days.  We both loved them, I might have added them to next weeks order too!  😁

14th Aldi - total of £34.90

Normal shopping in the order it was done and with prices.

This shop was in two parts.  

The items above were my normal weeks shopping at £13.15.

These items were a stock up at £21.75.  Although when I got home I realised that the Weetabix tin was just about empty, so these will have to be dipped into quite soon.

I went wild in the aisles at Booths on the 18th, spending a total of £54.40.  It included treats for each of us and some store cupboard items to stock up.  The sun was out, the store was lovely and quiet and I had earned myself some extra cash.

Definitely for the store cupboard were the tins of beans on offer at £7 for 8 cans.  A lot more expensive than my usual Aldi's own, but I do like Heinz when they're not £2 a can!!

The Booths receipt.

The finally, and to bring you bang up to date I went to Aldi yesterday morning.  I spent £19.68 on a mixture of store cupboard items and a couple of things that I actually needed

The things for the store cupboard were dated and stashed away, although I will have to dip into one of the peanut butters next month as my current jar is almost empty.

So, that's us all up to date.

The reason for the extra available cash this month has been some really good Facebook Marketplace sales, which me and Alan both agreed would be good to use for stocking up before any coming price rises.  Seemingly the things that are pretty much guaranteed to rise in price first are cooking oils, chocolate and coffee, but I get my coffee from Sainsbury's were I can usually get the best price, so that's possibly something for next week.

So with apologies to Sue in Suffolk who in this posts comments let slip that she finds shopping photos boring ... hey Sue at least I didn't video it all and talk you through it.  😉

Sue xx

Using the Riverford Vegetables, and Filling the Freezer

I made the soup that I spoke about making the other day, in fact it made so much more than the two portions I thought that I would get.  I ate one meal as a vegetable stew and then blended up what was left into two smallish portions for the next two days lunches and two larger portions to put into the freezer.  It's delicious, so I have something to really look forward to.

I dealt with most of the other Riverford vegetables last week and made up a large tray of Mediterranean style veggies and one that was more tomato and rice based.  I shared a tin of tomatoes and a tin of chickpeas between the two mixes and slightly varied the spices that I used so that they wouldn't taste too similar.

Once cooked they looked like this and they were both portioned into single serving sized helpings, and all but one of each was put straight into the freezer.

I had a helping of the rice and vegetables with a breaded fish portion, and then the next night I had the tomatoey vegetables with some tagliatelle.

 It's nice to have a few things stashed in the freezer for quick and easy meals.  But it does explain why my freezer contents never seem to go down. 😄

Sue xx

Catching Up On This Months Shopping ... and Riverford

 

Aldi 1st  February - £21.20

It's time for me to try and have a catch up of everything that I've been missing, but I can only manage a short while on the bar stool that I have to use when I'm on the computer, so sadly it will be brief.

February started with me back eating fish, but I have to say I have really gone off fresh salmon, so I think breaded fish will have to be the way forward, and these Aldi fish portions are reasonably priced and very tasty.  

It does bump the cost up though doesn't it when you buy a few fishy products at once!

There's not been a lot of shopping up to now this month, but then there's not been a lot of eating either.  😞

Booths - £4.30

The second shopping of the month contained no food, but my favourite washing up liquid was on special offer at 25% off, so although I needed one, I bought two.

I have decided that from now on I am buying quality and ethical products rather than quantity and cheapness.  It seems to actually balance out ... well up to now anyway.

The three napkins were from the café in Booths, Alan took me out for a coffee, but the tablets I am on are making everything taste foul, so there's not been much coffee drinking going on this past week.  I must be saving him a fortune.  😄

11th Aldi - £14.94

To bring you right up to date, this morning we had a quick trip to Aldi as we have family coming to stay for a couple of days and Alan wanted to get some things in.

Looking at the photo it really is a very random basket of shopping isn't it, but I was just going for what I really needed and what I fancied.  But when everything tastes awful you just have to try ... I won't be munching on the floor wipes though!!

The receipt from Aldi.

Happily just before we left for Aldi, this weeks Riverford box and Salad Bag arrived so we could check out what we definitely didn't need to buy.

Again it was all beautiful quality food, and once we had shared it out we set off for the other things that we needed/wanted.

I changed the order a bit this week and went for a Seasonal Vegetable Box rather than the mixed fruit and veg box.  I have to say that this suits me better as I do prefer vegetables to fruit, I always have. As there wasn't a cucumber in this weeks salad bag Alan bought a large cucumber from Aldi and said I could have half, so I have some lovely salady things to eat.

 Once again this order was paid for by my prize winning vouchers, and I have enough left in the account to get one more totally free of charge order and then something off a fourth.

As it was pouring with rain first thing this morning the delivery driver left the order on the doorstep and ran back to his van.  Happily they have a 'Box Brolly' to put over and around your box to keep the cardboard and the contents dry.

I would actually call it a polythene bag ... but hey now it's a box brolly. 😁

Sue xx

Our First Riverford Fruit and Veg Box

 

Our first Riverford Fruit and Vegetable box along with the additional Salad Bag that I ordered, arrived as promised last Wednesday.  

Sadly, being poorly I couldn't chat with the delivery guy and find out his name etc in case I was still in any way contagious,  I hope to remedy this next week when he brings our second one.  We may decide to change to a different box next time, once we have gotten around to browsing the website again. 

 You can chop and change your orders as often as you want and add things to any delivery right up until the day before delivery, and I think it will be good while I still have the value of my prize vouchers to use up, to shop around the website a bit.

It all looked amazingly colourful and in brilliant condition.

I almost felt guilty that I couldn't get stuck in straight away with cooking and tasting everything, but I was not eating any food at all even by the Wednesday delivery day. 

The contents of our Small Seasonal Organic Fruit and Veg Box.  £17.95

As I've written below for the salad bag, I did a trial order of organic produce from Sainsbury's to see if we were getting any value by ordering from Riverford.  I was able to almost get the same items in the same weights for just over £11, including a couple of 'Nectar price' offers.

This was the contents of the Salad Bag.

It was all beautifully fresh, and that cucumber was the first thing that I did eat when I was back on food.  It was as tasty as a homegrown one ... which in a way I guess, it is going to be.  At first we both thought that the price tag of £11.50 for this amount of salad was a bit steep, but then I sat and did a trial organic order of the same things from Sainsbury's and the cost even with Nectar discounts came to over £7.  

So when you consider the ethics of Riverford, the supply chain, home delivery etc we both decided that that the small additional amount for both items was totally fine.

I felt almost guilty that I couldn't set to and make good use of everything straight away, but the mere sight of food was making me feel worse, so my half of the delivery was very quickly stashed into the vegetable and fruit drawers of the fridge out of sight.  Alan was made of sterner stuff and he made himself a big pot of soup to start with, and then a lovely looking pot of vegetable curry.

Here is a link to the Riverford website - Riverford Organics UK

And here is my referral code if you would like to place an order - Share the Happeaness.  

Using my code means that I get a referral fee ... and you get £15 off your second order with Riverford.

Now I'm just looking forward to seeing this van pull up outside our house again next week, and being able to enjoy the contents of whichever box we decide to choose much more quickly.

Sue xx

Claiming My Riverford Prize

 

Now that I've virtually finished all the vegetables in the fridge drawer ... just five of the 9p Christmas potatoes and a cabbage left ... I thought it was time to cash in my competition prize from last year.  See HERE.

I enjoyed browsing the website and then picking which of the organic boxes that I fancied, and in the end I decided on the small seasonal fruit and veg box which seemingly is enough for two to three people, as an extra I added as organic salad bag.  I have opted for fortnightly deliveries to start me off and I will share some things with Alan.  

My prize will cover the cost of over three deliveries of the size of boxes that I have chosen, and will see me nicely through to the end of February.  Which is going to be very helpful while my budget is so low.  Sadly, I don't think it qualifies me for the current promotional offer which is to get a lovely hardback book with your first order for all new customers.  I should have thought on my feet and had a paid for order first and then used my prize vouchers.

But I have now got a Refer a Friend code to give to family and friends.  This will give me a bonus of £15 to my account and also give anyone who takes it up £15 off their second order.

My code is : www.riverford.co.uk/refer/6itkSKBZfVX_et22tQqIPQ

It's available for anyone in the UK to use as long as Riverford deliver to your area. You should also qualify for the free cookbook if you enter the cookbook code on your order.  

Visit the Riverford website for all the information you need, it all makes for fascinating reading anyway, even if you don't decide to sign up.  What a brilliant company they seem to be.

Riverford Organic Farmers - Organic Fruit & Veg Box Delivery

My first delivery will be on Wednesday of this week, I look forward to seeing it and letting you know how it is.

Sue xx