The many talents of the humble cucumber

I often read my newspaper in the bath, it's seems to be the only time I get to myself, once my husband and son have been fed and watered and the younger of the two is safely tucked up in bed.

It is certainly not the best way to read a newspaper as I often drop it in the water, as I did the other day when I read the price of cucumbers have risen nearly 46% this month due to a reduced harvest in Spain - I nearly laughed out loud!

Has the world gone totally mad?!

After googling this fact I came across many forums about people complaining about the rise (gone up to £1.24 apparently), so I thought I would post about the many talents of the humble cucumber - so you can justify the cost if you do dare to purchase one.

Cucumber recipes (no I am not joking!)
Cookitsimply

Cucumber beauty regime
1/2 peeled cucumber and puree in a blender, add 1 tablespoon of plain yogurt, apply to face and leave for 20 minutes. Wipe off with a damp cloth.

Grow your own cucumbers
Lets go gardening

Packed lunch
Good ol' cheese and cucumber sarnies!

Jamie saves our bacon

It's one of those programmes I wish I hadn't watched but just couldn't help myself. I am squeamish at the best of times and although I tend to buy organic meat, I still don't feel 100% comfortable with eating it, the smell of lamb makes me feel sick, I can't eat roast chicken anymore since forgetting to remove the insides before roasting and getting a nasty shock when I removed the lemon and onion out of it's bottom! Now bacon I can get my head around with lots of brown sauce but beef, after a few chews (as the Dragons say) I'm out!

Jamie's programme about pigs was certainly the last nail in the coffin for my meat eating diet.

The programme was fascinating, upsetting and informative. Apparantly cheaper cuts of pork are up 270% at Waitrose thanks to Jamie educating the public. What an amazing acheivement. Good work Jamie!

Sales over the weekend following the airing of the show were up 20% according to The Grocer Magazine due to Jamie hammering home the importance of buying British to support our farmers, the better standards of animal welfare and the cold weather, hmmm yes, nothing like snuggling up to a piece of pork shoulder to keep you warm on these snowy, wintery days :-)

His website has a piggy illustration where you can click on the numbered part of the pig and find a recipe: http://www.jamieoliver.com/bacon/

Right, off to rustle up a veggie breakfast!

50% off Gourmet Society Membership

If you are a foodie and like to eat out, then BaBeeCard will save you 50% off a Gourmet Society membership. Gourmet Society has over 1,500 restaurants on their scheme around the UK.

Membership lasts for 14 months (which includes 2 months free) and offers you 2 meals for 1 or 25% off your bill which includes drinks.

Membership should be £53.50 but BaBeeCard will give you access to the membership for only £25.00. You can also buy the membership as a gift for a loved one or friend.

Great savings for social animals....

I need to eat out more this year, think I should add that to my New Year resolution list.

As a nasty woman once told me "A moment on your lips, a lifetime on your hips".

Perhaps I could stick to salad and water? Yeah right!

BaBeeCard listed under MyEggNest's recommendations

Great website for all you need to know about saving for your family. The logo is really cute too. Apart from my best friend who is "bird" phobic, I will be sending all my mummy friends in their direction for up-to-date comparative advice on family savings.

BaBeeCard has been listed under "this weeks MyEggNest's recommendations" on how to save hundreds of pounds with our discount portal.

MyEggNest are giving away free coupons for grocery shopping that can be redeemed at Asda, Tescos, Sainsbury's, Morrisons & Boots. You can register with Couponnet and stock up on coupons.

Top Tip!
Use your coupons at the till to get the deduction and then pay with your BaBeeCard discounted supermarket vouchers or gift card as they are the same tender as cash. That way you get a double whammy of savings.

Emmas Diary welcomes BaBeeCard under the Family Finance section

I am extremely pleased to announce BaBeeCard is now a feature under the ""Family Finance" section of Emmas Diary.

Emmas Diary is a fantastic website and on-line resource for pregnancy and beyond where you can particpate in the forums, enter exclusive competitions, get a goody bag and much more.

They are now offering £40 worth of Argos vouchers for all new members, by the way, joining is completely free!

The Guardian Reader Offer shop....Buy with BaBeeCard

I have been browsing the Guardian Reader Offers site to see if I can find out where you can save by using your BaBeeCard and I have put together a list below of some of their bestsellers and popular offers:

Guardian Reader Offer: Edge of Darkness (Complete) - £9.99
DVD.CO.UK 6% BaBeeCard discount: Edge of Darkness (Complete) - £7.83 + free UK delivery - Save £2.96!

Guardian Reader Offer: Balanzza Digital Luggage Scales - £22.99
Gadgets4travel 10% BaBeeCard discount: Balanzza Digital Luggage Scales - £18.98 includes UK delivery - Save £5.91

Guardian Reader Offer: Power Monkey - Portable Power Pack - £34.99
Powertraveller 20% BaBeeCard discount: Power Monkey - Portable Power Pack - £34.26 - Free p&p - Save £4.16

Guardian Reader Offer: Joseph Joseph Index Chopping Boards - £42.98
John Lewis 8% BaBeeCard discount: Joseph Joseph Index Chopping Boards - £39 - Save £7.10

If you bought these 4 items with BaBeeCard you would save £20.13!

Happy New Year - What are you looking forward to in 2009?

With such a bleak outlook for 2009, recession, falling house prices, rising food prices, companies going bust left, right and centre. Not to mention the rapidly increasing unemployment level it is going to be hard to stay positive this year.

So I have set myself more realistic resolutions for 2009 rather than the usually obscure and totally unacheiveable ones such as:

• run the London marathon (I hate running)
• give up chocolate
• get into the size 8 clothes hanging in my wardrobe (when I used to wear them 10 years ago and hadn't stretched my tummy beyond recognition by having a baby)
• learn how to roll a cigar on my thigh (living in Buckinghamshire and not Cuba - it's hardly suprising I didn't tick this one off my list)

So, with a financially and personally challenging year ahead for most and the desire to succeed I have set my resolutions at a more comfortable level:

This year I want to:

• be grateful for things I have in my life right now
• say thank you more
• stop my mind wandering back to the past or thrusting me into the future worrying about things that haven't happened yet - to focus only on the present moment
• find time to do 20 - 30 minutes of exercise each day (hula hoop on Nintendo Wii does count!)
• spend more time with family and friends

I wish you all a happy 2009 and hope this year brings you more love, light and happiness.

Now where is that Wii remote????