M&S Foodie Haul

After being cooped up for 10 days in the house I decided to venture out to pick David up from work and we arranged for me to park in the local Marks & Spencer car park. This meant I could nip into M&S to buy a few staples for the weekend. I only needed fresh vegetables and bread. 

They had just reduced a huge selection of their Christmas party food from £5 to £1.50 and after checking it was freezeable, I could not resist stocking up on these nibbles as they make great canapés.    I usually serve canapés at around 1.30pm on Christmas Day as we tend to eat our Christmas Dinner at 3pm and by that time we would be starving and slightly merry if I did not provide something to stave off the hunger pangs and soak up some of the champagne. We have a repeat day on Boxing Day when more family come to stay so I usually need quite a few canapés when I'm feeding 10 people.

So here's what I managed to find: 

2 packs of 9 mini vol au vents - chicken & asparagus, bacon & mushroom and salmon & watercress. I love vol au vents and they were staple party food in our childhood home in the 70s and 80s. Just the other day I said that you don't see them these days so it was great to find some nostalgia. These are rectangular rather than the fluted oval ones of my childhood but still look very scrummy. 

2 packs of 12 mini cheese on toast selection - cheddar cheese and oak smoked ham & cheddar cheese. I don't think I would have bought these at £5 but at £1.50 they are worth a try.

1 pack of smoked salmon and prawn appetisers. I adore these and could eat the whole pack if left on my own. David loves these as much as I do so I will try to keep an eye open for more reduced packs. Again these were reduced from £5 to £1.50.

For eating in the evenings when you just want a snack:

A box of a selection of sliced quiches - leek, mushroom & bacon, quiche lorraine, cheese & onion. Reduced from £3.30 to £1.15.

Sausage rolls reduced from £2.30 to £1 and 2 packs of mini pork pies which were reduced from £1.30 to 35p

I will serve all of the above on the two festive days. I also found the following items for just David and myself to eat on other days.

1 pack of 50 piece party selection containing mini cocktail sausages, mini sausage rolls, cocktail scotch eggs and  pork & tomato bites. We've had these many times before and I usually put a selection of these in David's packed lunch along with his sandwiches. We'll have the sausage rolls warmed up in the oven for lunch on a weekend.  These were reduced from £5 to £1.50

1 pack of hot & spicy chicken breast bites with smokey dip.  This will do as a starter for the two of us  or as part of a main meal if we are having an American themed meal. Maybe with stuffed potato skins, smokey ribs & coleslaw. Again £5 down to £1.50

1 pack of 12 oriental vegetable selection dim sum - crispy vegetable balls, sweet & sour wontons, wok toasted sweetcorn cones. We will have these as a starter when we are having a Chinese or Thai meal. Reduced from £5 to £1.50

I noticed some mini roast ham joints that were reduced from £5 to £1.50 and there were quite a few of them so I picked out 4 and thought these would be great sliced on sandwiches or even warmed through as a mini joint for the two of us. I did not have my reading glasses with me and it was only when I got home that I noticed they were best before 4th January 2016. I think the guy reducing everything had got his months mixed up as it was 4th December yesterday. I can just keep these in the fridge rather than having to put in the freezer.

I also managed to find a few more reduced items for us to have over the next couple of days. Crunch green vegetables to accompany the roast leg of lamb dinner on Sunday for just 25p a bag. I also bought Yorkshire puddings for 60p. I usually serve these with roast beef but thought they would be a lovely change with the lamb. Stilton cheese toppers for on burgers at 60p - a quick and easy meal on a weekday evening when I'm late home from work. Two packs of minature new potatoes for just 70p a bag.

Finally I have been loving the wine offers that M&S have been running over the last few weeks. Their cava has been reduced from £9 to £7 and if you buy 6 then there is 25% off so it is £5.25 a bottle which I think is a bargain. I keep buying it to put away for Christmas but we keep drinking the odd bottle. You just can't beat a bottle of fizz and I adore cava.