Tesco Frozen Veg? - Perfection!!!

I decided to use the crispy Potatoes and mediterranean vegetables that I got for free after being invited to take part in the Beautifully Balanced Frozen Food from Tesco programme by the Orchard at Tesco, and decided to accompany them with pan fried Garlic and Mushroom stuffed Chicken Breasts wrapped in Bacon.

The Vegetable mix took about thirty minutes to cook in a pre heated oven and the only thing I had to do to them was add a small splash of olive oil and pop them in the oven,and stir half way through for the stated cooking time.

After thirty minutes the Potatoes and Vegetables were cooked to perfection and the Chicken breast were also ready to be served as well.

Upon opening the door of the oven I was immediately transported to memories of food that I have enjoyed while Holidaying in the Greek isles and couldn’t wait to tuck in and devour this wonderful meal.

I can’t believe how fresh tasting and flavoursome the Potatoes and Vegetables were - they were just as good as freshly prepared ones, but without all the chopping and peeling, I had cooked about half the bag but wish I had cooked the whole bag - I could quite happily have gone back for seconds and probably thirds as well!!!. #TriedItFree

Beautifully Balanced Frozen Food from Tesco.

I was lucky enough to be invited to take part in the Beautifully Balanced Frozen Food from Tesco programme by the Orchard at Tesco and received a £3 coupon to use against Beautifully Balanced Frozen Food and a £2 coupon to use against any frozen fruits or vegetables in the Tesco range and also some pass along coupons to hand to friends and family.

I chose Thai green curry sauce, Pea and ham soup and Crispy Roast Potatoes with Mediterranean vegetables and have now tried the curry sauce and the soup.

For the curry sauce I decided to serve it with Chicken breast and Basmati rice and I started by cooking Chicken breast pieces in a frying pan until cooked through and then added the full bag of Thai green curry sauce ‘pellets’ and just simmered for about 8 - 10 minutes, as soon as the ‘pellets of sauce started to melt I was hit with the most wonderful smells and couldn't wait to tuck in, it was really quick, easy and simple to prepare.

It was so good, of a perfect consistency and I expected it to be very hot and spicy -  but it wasn’t, which is a good thing for me as i’m not too keen on overly spiced food, it was seasoned perfectly and I didn’t feel the need to add any salt or pepper.

The soup is also frozen in little ‘pellets’ and you use as much as you want and freeze whatever you don’t use - I used the full bag and there was enough for two generous sized portions for myself and my mum.

It only took six minutes to heat up in the microwave, which gave me time to cook my part baked crusty bread in the oven, the soup smelled really good when it came out of the microwave and had a lovely thick consistency, lots of pieces of Ham and also had a little Mint included.

The taste was exceptional, perfectly seasoned, warming and surprisingly filling and it was clearly made with top quality fresh ingredients.

I can’t wait to try some more products from the Beautifully Balanced Frozen Food range and highly recommend what I have tried up to now #TriedItFree 

Passionfruit and Mango meringues.

With the fruit I had left from the Exotic Fruit from Tesco programme from the Orchard at Tesco I decided to make a quick and easy desert of Passionfruit and Mango meringues.

Admittedly I did use shop bought meringues and topped them off with freshly whipped Chantilly cream and fresh Passionfruit and Mango, the flavours were amazing and everyone in our house thoroughly enjoyed it and all had second helpings!!.

I will definitely be making this desert again - it was so quick and easy to make, full of wonderful exotic fruit flavours and also much cheaper than buying a desert from the shops #TriedForLess .

Exotic Fruit from Tesco.

So I got invited to take part in the Exotic Fruits from Tesco by the Orchard at Tesco and received a coupon for £4 to use against any fruits from Tesco, I also received some pass along coupons to give to friends and family so that they could try some different fruits at a cheaper price.

After browsing the fruit aisle at my local Tesco I decided on a 3 pack of Passionfruit priced at £1.50 and a 3 pack of Mangos priced at £2.50 and ended up getting it all for free!!.

When I got home I immediately set about preparing the fruits chosen and found the Passionfruit very easy to prepare - just scoop the flesh out and thats it, the Mango was a bit more difficult and I had to watch a Youtube video on how to prepare this.

I decided to have the fruits on their own, no sugar or cream etc. and the result was amazing, there was definitely no need to add anything, the fruit was very fresh, juicy and tasted amazing, this is the first time I have tried Passionfruit and I was pleasantly surprised. Although I have had Mango before it has always been out of a tin - well not anymore, it was really good, fresh and tasty and so much better than tinned ones.

I highly recommend Tesco fresh fruit and will certainly be buying lots more in the future #TriedForLess

*finest Cheese from Tesco

After doing my weekly shop at Tesco I decided to try finest* Vintage Farmhouse Cheddar with my £3 coupon from the Orchard at Tesco the cheese was priced at £3 so I got try it for free.

I decided to use the cheese to make a lovely midweek dinner of Pork Sausages served with Leek and Cheddar Mashed Potato and Cauliflower Cheese, the first thing I noticed about the Cheese upon opening the packet was the smell, It had a pleasantly strong savoury smell to it and I sliced a chunk to try it, it was very tasty, creamy and had a lovely texture to it.

I grated most of the pack of cheddar and added some to mashed Potatoes and Sautéed Leeks and then added some to a basic white sauce and poured this over some steamed Cauliflower and then topped with more grated Cheese and placed under the grill until golden and bubbling.

The resulting meal was received exceptionally well in my household and everyone present mentioned how rich tasting and creamy the Cheese was and everyone went back for second helpings!!.

This was a really good finest* cheddar and I will certainly be buying this again in the future and highly recommend it.

Summer Fruit and Veg Programme From the Orchard @ Tesco

I decided to use the rest of my salad goods which I purchased with my coupon from the Orchard at Tesco for the Summer Fruit and Veg from Tesco programme to make chicken kebabs.

I used Red, Orange and Yellow Peppers with Mushrooms and Chicken fillets to make my kebabs which I cooked under the grill for about 10 minutes until cooked through and served them on a bed of salad containing shredded Iceberg Lettuce, thinly sliced Spring Onions and Peppers.

The Peppers and Mushrooms on the Kebabs were simply awesome cooked to perfection and as fresh as the day that I had bought them as well as the Lettuce and Spring Onions.

What I found really good about the Peppers that I bought was - there were no nasty green, bitter Peppers in the pack, it’s probably the first time I have ever bought a pack of Peppers that doesn't have one in, and when they do have one in I always end up throwing it in the bin! #TriedForLess

After being chosen to take part in the Summer Fruit and Veg from Tesco programme from the Orchard at Tesco I decided to use my £3 coupon to purchase salad goods because the weather has been so hot lately.

With my coupon I purchased a 3 pack of Peppers, Spring Onions, Mushrooms, a Cucumber, Salad Tomatoes and an Iceberg Lettuce and only had to put about 50p towards them.

So I made a lovely summer salad with crumbed Ham, hard boiled Eggs, *finest Coleslaw and some Haslet bought from the Deli counter from Tesco.

Well, everything I had purchased was in perfect condition and full of flavour, in fact it was as though everything I had purchased had been freshly harvested the same day that I had purchased it, it was all very tasty and crisp and went down well with myself and my other half.

I will definitely be purchasing fresh fruit and vegetables from Tesco in the future and would highly recommend them as well.#TriedForLess

*finest Williams Pear & Pecan Tarts

After trying an excellent *finest Sicilian Lemon Tart from Tesco I decided to try another one of the desserts in the *finest range and when shopping earlier today I spotted Williams Pear & Pecan Tarts priced at £3 for a pack of two, which I didn't think was too expensive so I thought I would try these next.

Made with all Butter pastry, which you can certainly tell, it was so buttery and perfectly cooked.

They were filled with a lovely caramel sauce, almond frangipane and topped with slices of Williams pears and a light sprinkling of pecan nuts and once again the filling was really good and all worked very well together, the taste was amazing and I can’t believe I haven’t tried these before now.

I’ve never tried Pecan Nuts before so this was a first for me, they were beautiful and tasty and the crunchiness complimented the softness of the frangipane and pear filling perfectly.

These little tarts are definitely one to add to the weekly shopping list and I would definitely recommend them. #TriedForLess

Tesco *finest Chilled and Frozen Desserts from the Orchard at Tesco

I got invited to the finest* Chilled and Frozen Desserts programme from the Orchard at Tesco and received a coupon for £3 to use against any product from the range mentioned above.

I decided to use my coupon against a *finest Sicilian Lemon Tart priced at £3 so i got it for free and decided to serve it with some fresh Tesco value Strawberries and double cream.

I have never tried this Tart before and with it being a Tesco *finest product I was expecting it to be very good, well I certainly wasn't disappointed, it really was excellent.

The all butter pastry was cooked to perfection - rich, crumbly and extremely tasty, the filling was really nice, not too sweet and had a lovely zingy lemon taste to it

This was a really good Dessert to try and I highly recommend it and will certainly be buying many more of these in the future. #TriedForLess.

Great local shop!!!

This my nearest local shop, the staff are really friendly, prices are good and they're newest offers are amazing -
https://www.facebook.com/CostcutterGilberdyke

Summer Berries and Cherries programme from the Orchard at Tesco - Eton Mess

So I decided to make an Eton Mess with Strawberries from Tesco as Part of the Tesco Summer Berries and Cherries programme from the Orchard at Tesco.

I used about half of a pack of Tesco Value Strawberries and chopped them up and added to a bowl and mixed them up with some lightly crushed shop bought Meringues and then added lightly whipped cream and gave it all a light stir so the Meringue didn't break up any more.

I also made a Raspberry coulis to drizzle on top of the Eton Mess, I added the Raspberries and a few Strawberries and about 1 tablespoon of icing sugar to my Blender and gave it a good blitz and then passed it through a fine sieve to get rid of the seeds.

I served up generous portions of the Eton Mess for myself and my other half and drizzled coulis on top, the whole process took less than 15 minutes from start to finish and I ended up with a rather tasty midweek dessert which took very little effort to make.

Yet again the Strawberries were superb, nice and fresh, plump, juicy and sweet tasting and priced at £1.75 I think they are an absolute bargain, I will definitely be buying them again. #TriedForLess

Strawberry Trifle.

I got invited to take part in the Tesco Summer Berries and Cherries programme from the orchard at Tesco and was sent a coupon for £3 to use against fresh Summer Berries and Cherries.

After browsing the fruit aisle in my local Tesco I decided on Tesco Value Strawberries and a pack of fresh Raspberries and decided to make a lovely Homemade Strawberry Trifle for the girls from work for our weekly wine night.

To make the Trifle I added chopped up Strawberries to a bowl with a dissolved Strawberry jelly and Trifle Sponges and let it set in the fridge overnight, the next day I made a lovely homemade custard and when cooled added it to the top of the now set jelly and topped it off with freshly whipped cream and added a decoration of sliced Strawberries and placed in the fridge ready to serve.

When I served my Trifle all 3 of the girls commented how fresh tasting the Strawberries tasted and what good quality they were and mentioned that when buying cheaper brands of Strawberries they can often be bitter or sour tasting but this wasn’t the case with these ones, they all said that they have been converted to Value Strawberries and will be buying them in the future instead of the more expensive ones. #TriedForLess

Tesco Favourites #2 - MY Favourite!!

With my £2 coupon from the Orchard at Tesco for the Tesco Favourites programme I purchased among other items a tin of Tesco Ravioli in Tomato and Beef sauce.

This is one of the many items that regularly finds it’s way into my basket when doing my weekly shop.

I usually have this when I have had a late shift at work and can’t be bothered, or I’m too tired to cook anything when I get home.

The ravioli is cooked very well with plenty of filling and the sauce seems to have lots of minced beef included in a perfectly seasoned tomato and beef sauce.

At 50p per tin I think this represents excellent value for money and I can’t believe how something so cheap is such good value, full of tasty ingredients and above all, so easy to prepare - 2 minutes in the microwave and I have a lovely, filling meal ready. #TriedForLess

Hand Prepared Steaks From Tesco #2

So, this is the second time I have enjoyed Steaks for the Hand Prepared Steaks programme from the Orchard at Tesco and I decided to try sirloin steaks again as the previous ones were excellent.

I bought 2 of the steaks priced at £3 each from my local Tesco and this time I decided to serve them with a salad of shredded Iceberg Lettuce, Carrots, Red Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes, Cucumber and Hard Boiled Eggs.

Yet again the steaks were excellent quality with very little fat and gristle on them and of a decent size.

This time I decided to cook the steaks under the grill and they took a little longer than pan frying them - maybe 7 or 8 minutes on each side, as before the steaks were very tasty and clearly prepared to a very high standard by the butchers at Tesco, there was also very little shrinkage after cooking.

I will definitely be buying Sirloin Steaks from Tesco much more in the future, they are excellent value for money and so tasty you would think they were from the local butcher but a fraction of the cost. #TriedForLess

Tesco Favourites From the Orchard at Tesco

I got invited to take part in the Tesco Favourites programme from the Orchard at Tesco and had the choice of trying 1 from a list of several products to try for free, I chose Tesco Finest* Bitter Orange Marmalade I was also sent a coupon for £2 off any other Tesco branded products to try.

I have never tried Finest* Bitter Orange Marmalade I usually buy Robertsons Golden Shred Marmalade but the last jar I opened was rather disappointing, there was hardly any fruit in it and the consistency was rather like trying to unsuccessfully spread orange jelly on my morning toast.

So after comparing the ingredient labels of Tesco Finest* Bitter Orange Marmalade and Robertsons Golden Shred Marmalade I noticed that the Finest* Marmalade is prepared with 10 percent more fruit per 100g, so should be a lot better.

I simply served my Marmalade on hot buttered toast along side my usual morning coffee, And, Yes it is a lot better than my usual brand and clearly the 10 percent more fruit makes a lot of difference and it seemed much more richer tasting and zingy than Robertsons.

I always feel that the bigger well known brands of certain foods are much better than supermarket branded own label products, and even though I do buy own branded labels I have yet again been proven wrong with Tesco Finest* Bitter Orange Marmalade and will definitely be buying it again in the future. #TriedForLess

Hand Prepared Steaks From Tesco

I have been invited to take part in the Hand Prepared Steaks Programme from the Orchard at Tesco and received a coupon for £4 to enable me try them for free or less.

The Steaks were so hard to choose, - Tesco have such a big range of Steaks that looks so good, But I ended up choosing a pack of Sirloin Steaks that included two steaks(enough for me and the other half!) to enjoy.

Well, I was amazed at the quality of the Steaks and that was before I’d even cooked them!, they looked so fresh - almost as if I had bought them from our local Butcher!.

So, I decided to pan fry them in a little vegetable oil and butter for approx. 4 - 5 minutes on each side and served them with Homemade chips and a Homemade creamy Peppercorn and Porcini Mushroom sauce.

The only thing I can say is - Best Steaks in a long, long time, so juicy, tender, and I wish I had bought more because we both could have eaten another one each.

Also after using my coupon I ended up paying just £1.31 for both steaks!!!!!!

#TriedForLess

Madonna Vs Haddaway - Living For (What Is) Love [Robin Skouteris Mix]

Madonna - Ghosttown

Limahl - The Never Ending Story (Official Music Video)

Mmmmm Pasta Heaven

For dinner last night I served up the Tesco Finest Fusilli Lunghi Col Buco which I received free after being accepted for the Tesco Finest Pasta programme from the Orchard at Tesco.

I decided to serve the pasta with a homemade minced beef bolognese sauce and some garlic ciabatta bread slices.

The pasta was cooked in about 9 minutes in a pan of salted boiling water and held it’s spiral shape very well.

My partner was very impressed with the pasta, exclaiming that ‘You really can tell a difference between this and other brands of pasta’ and I wholeheartedly agree, it was so good and tasty and I believe that the only way to get better pasta is to make your own and I certainly don’t have time to do that, or the patience!!!!.

Clearly a lot of effort goes into making this excellent pasta and I will definitely be purchasing this instead of other cheaper brands in the future. #TriedForLess

Tesco Finest* Pasta Perfection

After being Invited to the Tesco Finest Pasta programme from the Orchard at Tesco, which enabled me to try 2 packets of Pasta from the Tesco Finest range for free, I chose Finest Gigli and Finest Fusilli Lunghi Col Buco.

I have now tried the Gigli pasta which I served with a tomato based sauce with chicken and chorizo for myself and 3 friends from work at our weekly get together.

The pasta was simply divine and you could really tell a big difference when comparing it to cheaper brands or even the more expensive market leading brands.

I have never had dried pasta from a supermarket that tasted so good and neither had my 3 friends, it was so tasty and the sauce I made complimented it perfectly.

The pasta held it’s shape really well and was cooked to perfection in 8 minutes and the whole meal took me about 40 minutes to prepare and serve from start to finish, enabling me to spend more time with my guests.

At £1.70 per pack this is more than I usually pay for pasta but it is so much better than other brands I have tried and it is well worth the money, and I, as well as my guests will definitely be buying Tesco Finest Pasta from now on. #TriedForLess

Flowers From Tesco

So I got invited to take part in the Flowers from Tesco programme by the wonderful people from the Orchard at Tesco and received a £5 coupon to use towards a bunch of fresh flowers from Tesco, as well as 3 pass along coupons to hand to friends and family.

The range of flowers at my local Tesco was huge, but I think that was something to do with mothers day approaching.

I chose a lovely spring bouquet which cost £5, so I got them for free.

It was a lovely full bouquet with beautiful white, green, red and purple flowers included and all I had to do when i got home was trim them down a bit and put them in a vase.

They smelled absolutely wonderful in my living room and visitors to my house commented on the aroma as well as the freshness of the flowers.

My bouquet lasted 11 days before they had to be thrown away which I think represents excellent value for money and I wouldn't hesitate in buying Tesco flowers again. #TriedForLess.

#OneLittleChange - #BigOnFlavour!!!

I decided to buy these as I do like porridge and have it maybe 3 or 4 times a week but usually buy a branded product from a well known manufacturer and wondered if these could match or beat the quality and taste of my usual brand.

I followed the instructions on the packet, which were very simple and two and a half minutes later I had a lovely hot steaming bowl of porridge ready to be devoured.

When I took the porridge out of the microwave I was met with the delicious aroma of Golden Syrup.

The taste and texture was excellent with just the right amount of sweetness to it and I didn’t add any more sugar like I usually do, the portion was a decent size and certainly filled me up and satisfied my hunger.

I feel that these are just as good, if not better than the usual brand I buy and I will be buying these now instead of the more expensive brand I usually buy.

Healthy Eating Yoghurts - 

I bought 2 packs of Yoghurts with 4 in each pack and have tried all the flavours included which are - Strawberry, Cherry, Peach and Mango and Passion Fruit, they were all fat free and ranged from 64 - 68 calories per pot.

I thought all the Yoghurts had a very creamy texture and it certainly didn’t seem that I was eating a fat free, low calorie Yoghurt, there was a good amount of fruit included and my favourite flavour was the Mango and Passion Fruit one.

I don’t really buy many Yoghurts but will buy these again in the future, they were good quality and at 4 in a pack for £1 good value as well.

I thought the packaging was very good and eye catching and easy to find in the chilled aisle.

Lentil & Bacon Soup -

This is a soup I have never tasted before and I suppose being a member of the Orchard is about trying new or different products so I thought I’d give it a go.

After heating the soup in the microwave I noticed how thick the soup was and also had other vegetables included which were Potato’s, Carrots and Onions which is a good thing because I don’t think I eat as many vegetables as I should do, also on the tin it stated that half a tin was 1 of my five a day.

The taste and texture was very good and there appeared to be lots of vegetables included as well as a good amount of bacon and I didn’t feel the need to add any additional seasonings as I have had to do with some other branded soups.

Pea & Ham Soup - 

Although I have tried this kind of soup before it wasn’t out of a tin it was a Cuppa-Soup which I thoroughly enjoyed so I knew I would probably like this one as well.

And I did enjoy it, although it was not as thick as the Lentil & Bacon soup tried previously it was still thicker than a lot of branded soups that I have tried before, it was seasoned perfectly and the combination of Peas and Ham worked well together.

I think these tins of Soup represent excellent value for money at 45p each and after using the coupons sent to me I paid just 25p for 5 tins of good quality soup and I will be buying them every week now to take to work with me for my lunch instead of spending over £3 a day on a sandwich and a packet of crisps at the local Deli, So as well as saving loads of money I’ll also be eating much more healthier.

The products I have tried up to now from the #OneLittleChange programme from the Orchard at Tesco have all been of an excellent quality and the reduction of Salt, Sugar, Fat, and Calories without any compromise on taste are certainly welcomed by me. #TriedForLess

#OneLittleChange

I've been invited to join the #OneLittleChange programme from the Orchard at Tesco.

I get to try Tesco's own brand range of Soups, Yoghurts, and Breakfast Cereals #TriedForLess

Tesco have been reducing the Fat, Salt, Sugar, and Calories in thousands of their own brand products without compromising on quality and taste.

So with my coupons from the orchard at Tesco I got 5 tins of soup, 2 packs of Yoghurts and a box of Golden Syrup Easy Oats and ended up paying only 25p!!!!