January 10, 2016

Purrmaids. Cat Mermaids. And You Can Get a Double Duvet Covered in Them For £12 at Asda.

January 10, 2016/ Claire Spence

I put together a straight forward 'save and paste loads of product photos' post showcasing Asda online's pretty cool bedding selection before Christmas week there.

It went down a treat, and lots of you became new Asda bedding fans like me. Their designs are contemporary, funky and unusual, and a great example of that is the new Purrmaids duvet cover which is £10 for a single bed and just £12 for your double.

The matching cushion costs £5 and both can be delivered with NO postage charge to your nearest store, so you can pick it up when it suits- no missed parcels and trips to the Post Office.

Nautical navy & White is a smart, clean design classic you can't go wrong with.

If you fancy a more grown up, sensible pattern, but love the colour scheme, why not opt for the swallow print bedding at the same price?

Or this sailing inspired duvet for manly men!

Another choice for us cat lovers.

Or monkey fans.

There are so many unique designs, I advise just going and browsing.

Have fun! Let me know if you buy anything! I'm @rudedoodle on Twitter.

January 07, 2016

Tillfalle IS Coming to IKEA Belfast!

January 07, 2016/ Claire Spence

I featured a look ahead to Spring 2016 before Christmas, but I wasn't sure how much of this tropical Tillfalle collection we would get locally. It's been confirmed that we will be getting a selection of pieces, in store from February. My favourite is the black and white coffee table.

January 07, 2016

Marks & Spencer's Enviously Delicious Clean Eating Ranges for a Fresh 2016

January 07, 2016/ Claire Spence

In the past if someone announced their eating clean intentions I'd think 'dead on. Rather you than me!'. Clean Eating involves removing preprocessed foods from your diet, or at least avoiding additives in what you do buy already made. That sounds like no fun at all.

When I arranged this latest blog post with my lovely contact for M&S, she suggested I look at the new juices they've brought out, and clean eating involving a stirfry offer (it's a really great offer, more on that below). I wondered would I find anything to my taste, but I was pleasantly surprised.

The fruit and veg section is an obvious place to start. All sorts of delicious fruit with some on a 2 for £3, mix and match offer.

As well as the classic favourite fruits, there are some I haven't even heard of! M&S are great like that, they'll have products you just can't get elsewhere.

Adventurous cooks will love the herb station. You can buy potted herb plants too.

These little salad bowls have been around for ages, but they've launched a few new versions for the year ahead. I noticed quite a lot of avocado products round the store, always a good thing. These pots are £3 for 2, can be mixed varieties or even included in the fruit and veg 2 for £3 too.

Here's that fabulous stirfry deal I mentioned. You get a meat, veg mix, noodle or rice and finally a sauce for £7. It's all mix and match so the different combinations seem endless. The meal serves two but you could easily bulk it up to feed two kids as well with an extra pack of noodles.

The meat options don't cut corners, as well as the chicken and beef you'd expect, there are exotic choices like duck breast, king prawn and salmon. I don't think Ive ever had salmon in a stir fry.

Here comes a really innovative range- vegetables that replace pasta in meals. Each of these cost £1 and could definitely be used to bulk up the stir fry like I mentioned. I havent seen these for sale anywhere else and I'm very curious to try them.

Those of you with brand new Nutribullets will love these smoothie packs. For £2.50, or two for £3, you get everything you need to whizz up the perfect healthy juice. You can even use the container as a cup.

The little veg and protein tubs, such as this beetroot, chicken and pecan nut one below are an interesting alternative to a snack of chocolate or crisps during the day.

Green tea can help your metabolism, so with it only being £1 for this box, I decided to give it a go.

M&S fresh soups, from the fridge department, are known for being rich and delicious. They've launched a few new recipes and you can try them by taking advantage of the current buy one, get one half price offer.

Also newly launched are these tea based drinks. They are £1.50 each. They'd make a delicious afternoon snack with one of the crispy Pink Lady apples.

Staying with healthy snacks, these baked pea snaps are £2 for bags of 5.

I also loved the package design of their instant noodles.

So you're set for your evening meal with the stirfry offer, but what can you pick up on the go, or for a working lunch?

These new open sandwiches and healthy wraps are mix and match with a drink & snack all for £4.

Here are a couple of combinations I chose. All £4 offers.

Smoked salmon and prawn. How cool are these carrot crisps?

Finally, your healthy eating breakfast- porridge, you can't beat it!

Coincidentally Sprucefield M&S have Fitbits. I bought one last week and I'm loving it. It tracks your steps, exercise, quality of sleep etc. If you're thinking of getting one you should pop along and play about with what they have there.

January 05, 2016

Playmobil Summer Fun Fairground: a Great Timeless Set for Toy Collectors.

January 05, 2016/ Claire Spence

We are big fans of Playmobil. It's great quality, versatile and tough wearing. It's worth it's price because you can pass on or sell sets and they pretty much retain their value. Smix loved playing with my Victorian Mansion set which my parents brought down from the attic.

Two winters ago he got the Playmobil Hotel for Christmas and has had great fun with it. For his birthday there in October my parents bought him the first piece of the Summer Fun 2015 fairground set- a light up, spinning Waltzer.