A cheaper way of eating out

As you know, Boy and I have a fondness of eating out. We don't get to do it very often because I usually put us on a budget, especially when we're trying to buy a house and will eventually have a mortgage that will put us in debt for 25 years. But recently I discovered that the Tesco Clubcard points I've been hoarding all this time is actually worth quite a lot in "Rewards Token", that is, £5 worth of points can be converted to £20 worth of rewards token that will pay towards tickets to various attractions in the UK (such as Cadbury World, Blackpool Tower & Circus, Blair Castle, Blenheim Palace, zoos and theme parks, etc). You can also use it to pay for your food at various restaurants and pubs.

That's awesome. The downside is that Lincoln's practically the middle of nowhere, so there are only two three places you could use those vouchers at, namely Prezzo, Pizza Express and Varsity (limited). Out of those three, we're only familiar with Prezzo, the Italian chain restaurants. So we went there yesterday, armed with £20 worth of Rewards Token (with my distrusting nature thinking we'll probably be told we can't use it and have to shell out for the whole amount).

We both had pollo carbonara and shared a garlic bread on the side:

My pollo carbonara and garlic bread on the side to share.

The individual serving, as you can see, is massive. Coupled with the rich, cheesy sauce, neither of us could finish. I managed maybe half of my plate before giving up. It was very delicious though, so no complaints on that.

Our total bill? £25.75. What was charged on my card? £5.75. Dinner for two for that amount, I'm not complaining! :D

Boy and I are probably going to do this more often, within reason, of course. :P I have another set of tokens ordered, should be here by next week!

Although the service at Prezzo left much to be desired - waited forever for someone to do a check back after we got and finished our main because we were thinking of getting dessert, but fifteen minutes after we finished our food, still no one turned up. I ended up going to the bar and asked for someone to come around so that I can pay the bill, because we would've been late for our movie otherwise.

Our movie? Kick-Ass. ^^ And it was hilarious. Chloe Moretz as Mindy Macready/Hit Girl stole the show, she is so cool (coming from a 25-year-old, about a 12/13-year-old)! C'mon, her alter-ego has purple hair! And her schooling consists of playing with sharp objects!

Though I can just imagine someone calling Child Protection Agency regarding her dad's "parenting skills"... I mean, shooting at a kid at less than ten feet away? Seriously?

Awesome movie though, if you ignore the fact that it's not completely in the realms of reality. :P But not as awesome as How to Train Your Dragon! If you have not experience the oozing cuteness that is Toothless (in the movie, not the book), watch it!

Oh yes, whilst we were at Prezzo waiting around for the nonexistent service, I was "admiring" the decor and caught a sight of this beside where Boy was sitting and giggled.

Giant potted plant at Prezzo.

Boy asked me what was up, and I said, "Behind you. I don't know if it's meant to be like that, but it looks like a giant radish."

Cooking Chinese food

Boy was ill yesterday, and it was his "turn" to cook. We tend to take turns cooking dinner based on what shift he is working for that day (if he's doing late or long shifts, I tend to do the cooking). But considering that he was ill, I felt it would be a bit harsh to make him cook as well, so I decided to treat him to one of his favourite Chinese dish, but homemade because I'm poor. :P

I've never made sweet and sour dishes before, so this is a first. I know, how ridiculous, a Chinese girl who have never cooked sweet and sour dishes! Oh well, let's rectify that...

Sweet & Sour Chicken

I fried up so many chicken pieces yesterday, it was mad. There was this mountain of fried chicken pieces made of the measly four chicken breast halves I bought yesterday (and the chicken, diced, could all fit into my cereal bowl!) that we stuffed ourselves silly and still had enough for another meal. Two meals for two for a fiver. :P Will post up recipe if there is anyone who have no idea how to cook sweet and sour chicken.

The picture above is actually of the leftovers reheated for today's dinner. The fried chicken pieces look a bit burnt because I had to refry them. But the sauce yesterday was actually a translucent pale yellow sauce, which tasted perfectly fine, but I kinda knew Boy would think it was weird. So I bought some red and yellow food colouring today and just added a couple of drops to the sauce to make it its usual orange-red colouring. And I was right! Boy said he enjoyed it much better when the sauce is the "right" colour. Roffle. :P

Yesterday reminded me on why I rarely cook "proper" Chinese food nowadays. It uses so many plates/dishes/pots/pans to cook the meal, and I know I'll never like washing up after (and I don't have time to wash during the cooking process because everything has to be done quickly, e.g. stirfry). MJ and MW used to love it when I make Chinese food, but didn't understand how/why I can manage to create such a large pile of unwashed pots/pans/dishes in the process. Well, cooking Western food is a lot simpler, does not require as many preps, etc! And I know this because I cook both nowadays. -_-

I know it's been ages since I last updated about my life in general, but a lot of stuff is happening like buying my first house and sorting out the relevant paperwork, solicitor, mortgage, completion date, etc and work has been tiring (and dramatic, sometimes, but I won't go into that). I promise, I am going to update more but not necessarily on a linear time line, but for now, just assume that you knew I have found a house I like enough to purchase and am buying it.