Bank holiday new cheaper shopping as a #MorrisonsMum

I was delighted to be picked as a #MorrisonsMum for BritMums latest campaign, highlighting the newer cheaper prices instore. I love stocking up on grocery staples when they are on special offer with Buy-One-Get-One-Free deals or temporary price cuts, but Morrisons have gone one better, rolling back the prices permanently on hundreds of products.

As you walk around store, you'll see loads of little yellow markers on the shelves pointing out the new lower prices and I was really impressed to see the wide range of products covered and the fact that big brands are included. Just a couple of examples - Heinz tomato ketchup is now £2.29, permanently reduced from £2.89.

And 500g British Minced Beef will now cost £1.99 , reduced from £2.49. That's 20% off permanently which is a significant price drop.

They sent me through £80 of Morrisons vouchers to go and stock up on shopping for a family meal over the bank holiday weekend, so I decided to give free reign to the rest of the Madhouse Family to go wild and buy whatever caught their eye (with the precision that I needed at least one piece of meat to feed the whole family, some fruit and some vegetables !). I was slightly stunned by how much food they came back with !

There's enough for several family meals in there, which is amazing value.

The first meal I came up with was Slow Cooker Beef Casserole with Creamy Mashed Potato. The braising steak cost £4.36, the carrots were 89p (but there are still loads left), a 3-pack of large brown onions now costs 99p, rolled back from £1.39, and I used a Schwartz Slow Cookers Beef & Ale Stew Recipe Mix for 90p. For the mash, the potatoes cost £3.49 for a HUGE bag and Morrisons butter is now cheaper at just £1. The total price of the ingredients  for the stew was £7.14, and I have onions and carrots left over for another day. The potatoes and butter probably cover about £1, as I only used a fraction of the big packs. I estimate that the price per serving (as this was for a family of five) is about £1.62 - that's the first time I've calculated the price per serving and I actually think that's excellent value.

I also threw together a quick salad with iceberg lettuce (49p), cucumber (25p) and vine ripe cherry tomatoes (89p), plus a drizzle of Morrisons French Salad Dressing, whose price has been rolled back to 79p. There's plenty of all of the ingredients left for another salad so I'd estimate the big, family-sized side salad cost about 90p.

I also cooked up some Sweet & Spicy Curried Mince - you can see the full recipe here. The mince costs £1.99 (new cheaper price, was £2.49), the pepper was on special offer (99p for a pack of 3, usually £1.75), I used another of the onions from above (99p for three), and the rest was all store cupboard basics that I had already (a handful of raisins from the baking cupboard, some jam and chutney lingering in the fridge and a stock pot). The rice added at the end was a sachet of Tilda microwavable basmati, on offer at £1 a pouch. I'd calculate the total price was about £4.50, so that's way under £1 per portion.

Dessert was a trip down memory lane - a Black Forest Gateau that cost £2 so just 40p each.

We were really impressed with the prices - I was actually seriously blown away by the cost per serving - and the quality of the products is tip-top, whether from the big brands or the own label. We really liked the well-stocked fruit and veg section too, stocking up on ultra-fresh salad ingredients as well as some lovely sweet raspberries and grapes.

Disclosure : Having been chosen by BritMums to be a #MorrisonsMum, I received some vouchers in order to go shopping, check out the new lower prices and show you what we bought and made.

Other blogposts you may be interested in :

Madhouse recipe : Moroccan lamb stew #seizetheflavour

Globe-cooking recipe : Aji de Gallina (Peruvian Spicy Creamed Chicken)

Kitchen Nomad Globe-Cooking Recipe : Vietnam - Bo Kho (Beef Stew)