Product Feature

Marigold Non Fat Yogurt - Peach & Mango

I have tried many many brands of yogurt & I find this one of the best - in taste & price.

A very delicious yogurt that contains chunks of REAL fruits (peach & mango)! Its rather sweet but still have the usual delightful tang of yogurt. My boy just loves this. I tend to only buy this when its discounted (usually at NTUC) for $5.50 (usual price is ...). They tend to mark them down when the due dates are bout 3 to 4 weeks, more than enough time to "demolish" the whole tub. I also purchase the big tub as its more economical. I will purchase the smaller tubs if its for travel purpose or I just need a small one-time serving for consumption.

I have also tried the Natural flavour - no fruits added. Its less sweeter (which some might like) & you can add your own selection of fresh fruits like kiwis, mangoes, grapes, etc. Unfortunately, my son doesn't fancy it, so I stick to what he likes best. I am gonna try the other flavours next but will buy the small tubs first - just in case my boy doesn't take a fancy to it. Wish me luck!

Product Feature

Betty Crocker Buttermilk Complete Pancake Mix

I wanted to feature the brand of pancakes that my son loves. I have tried a few other brands but I found these the closest in taste to the ones offered at McDonald's (which I find very delicious!). As breakfast at Mc's is not always possible & rather expensive, this is the next best thing. My baby also loves it served as a light snack/lunch. I tend to make "baby" pancakes for him rather than big ones, just seem cuter, thats all. The mix does not require any eggs either, which is good for small batches. So far I have only seen & purchased these at Shin Shiong (will update the price when I buy them next time). Whenever I run out, I buy 2 or three packs at one go (they are that delicious!). I have also made my version of McDonald's breakfast for my family using this mix plus (frozen) hash brown, scrambled eggs, hotdogs & homemade coffee. Saves me a bundle!

Coz these pancakes are home made, I also tend to "sprinkle" some flaxseed powder in the batter before I make them. Flaxseed powder can be purchased from health or organic stores (some supermarkets carry them too) & cost a few dollers only. They are the vegetarian version of Omega 3 & 6 (which is good for the brains, amongst other things, I think) & can be added to virtually everything that you cook or serve for your family. You can also purchase them as flaxseeds (normal or golden) and grind them using a electric home blender/grinder as its way cheaper than purchasing the grounded ones (which I did). As its good for the whole family, I tend to add the flaxseed powder (some people call them flaxseed meal) to almost everything - scrambled eggs, instant noodles with soup, mash potatoes, etc.

I spread some butter lightly on the pancakes & cut them into pieces, for easier eating.

Savings Tip - Buy Refills!

Something that I have been doing for a long time is to buy refills for the things that we use. It saves a lot of money, its less packaging (helps save the environment), its definitely less of a hassle to carry home (the refills are lighter than most original packaging, that comes in BIG bottles). I try to buy the biggest bottle & packaging that is offered & just buy refills after that ... it makes sense right?!

Stuff that we buy as refills are shower foams (Shokutbutsu), dishwashing liquid (UIC), for kitchen & toilet (Kao Magiclean, Mr Muscle), fabric softener (Downy), baby shower foam (Kodomo), even instant coffee (Nescafe ... can't seem to find any these days, I wonder why?), etc. A lot of products offer refills & I think its a wonderful idea - it saves in so many ways. Sometimes I purposely look out for items that offer refills coz its just cheaper to buy the refills than to purchase a brand new item. In fact because an item offer refills, it "tempts" me even more to try it .. well it works for me!

So there! Buy refills if you can, it saves you a lot of money in the long run & you help to save the enviroment too ... so do a good deed without having to do much!

Books, Books, Books!

Lately, we went to a few one-off sales on books and such. We bought several books (mainly for my boy) but I did manage to get some cook books for myself too. As the sales are not frequent - they were through the newspapers ads & catalogues, etc. I guess not everyone knew about it. Of course the sales are over now but I still think its worth talking about it as I found the sales very worthwhile & offered a good variety of books, at very good discounted prices.

The warehouse sales were :

1. Conducted by Times Bookstore (I think)

Its at a warehouse area (Ang Mokio Industrial Park), not convenient if you dont' drive. Tonnes of books strewn around but a lot of shelves were neatly arranged with a good range offered. Some of the kids books didn't seem so "brand new" but if you are a keen book lover like me & have compared prices of same books outside, you can tell that its a real bargain. Maybe the books are excess stocks or returned books ... I don't know but it doesn't really bother me. A bit of crease or "dent" here & there but the books are as good as new & totally CHEAP. I got a few good books for Ryan. He loves the one with the touchy-feely one - it has duck "feathers", dog & cat "fur" etc.

P.S : The ad on the right is from Page One Bookstore (a different company), offering 3 children's books for the price of 2.

2. Popular Sale at Singapore Expo

I heard from my brother that the Expo Sale conducted by Popular was pretty good last year before the school reopened for 2009. So when I saw it in the papers that they were having another one soon, I pestered hubby to bring me there to take look. Again it was a good stop. We went in the morning as I told hubby - "there won't be so many people in the morning" ... duh! was I wrong! We were there by 10.30am or so & there was already a huge crowd at the Expo. Most people seem to be there for the Adidas & Robinson's Sale. The Popular Sale didn't start out as crowded but it became so ... as the morning turned afternoon.

We bought several books for my baby boy & even managed to get some stationery too. The books were marked down & they even had mounts of books at 50 cents or a dollar or two. As I wan't interested in any of the titles, I decided to concentrate on books that will add value to Ryan's creativity & increase his knowledge. Overall it was a good trip. I will definitely try to go to their next Expo sale, if I get the chance.

Eventhough these sales are well over, I wanted to highlight them because they were worth the effort & time. If you are a book lover like me, you will definitely love going through the tonnes of books, hoping to find a treasure or two. Maybe you can look out for them in the future ... I surely will!