Costco

Did you really give 4yo children sticks?  My dad would've freaked out.  We weren't allowed things like that if small children would be around.  He was super antsy about someone poking an eye out.

Ah, but a UK children's party isn't complete without food on sticks... birthday parties I attended as a child always had cheese and pineapple on sticks and sausages on sticks .

I know I overpaid on the skewers.  But I needed them next day (thank you Amazon Prime).

Not only did I give the children sticks, my 4 year old made the fruit sticks herself!     One green grape, a strawberry, a pineapple chunk, and a purple grape.

They have them at all the parties we go to.  Never even thought of them being a danger.

No balloons were lost on the day.  In case you were worried.   

My dad was super safety-conscious, but only randomly applied.  If we had a sucker, we had to sit down with it 'til it was gone.  He didn't want us running around with a stick in our mouths.  We weren't allowed to climb trees (when he was looking).  He had strict rules about closed-toe shoes when we rode our bicycles (but no helmet rule, interestingly!... this was the 80s, before helmets were a common thing for kids on bikes).

At the same time, a common family weekend activity was to load us up into the car and drive to a university campus (where they tended to have lots of ramps and pathways and things), and we'd all put on our roller skates and skate around the ramps and paths.  My parents, big sister, and me.  One time, there was this looooong path that went down for ages, and my parents were debating whether we should go down it.  My dad volunteered to go first and try it out, because it was kind of steep, and I think I was only 6 or 7 at the time...

So he goes down, he gets to the bottom at breakneck speed and yells up to us, "It's great!"  So my mom starts off... and my dad is flailing and gesticulating.  My mom gets to the bottom and takes a flying leap over what my dad had tried to say:  "IT's *A* GRATE!"

My sister and I did not go down that path.

To be fair, I haven't met anyone in real life that hasn't been able to get a Costco membership in the UK.

You know, I've never looked into whether I could become a member or not, but I just checked their website and it seems I can qualify since I'm civil service .

The maple syrup is nice, and we have taken a giant plate of sushi to a picnic once and everyone was impressed.
For my 50th birthday, we bought a plain white giant cake and my daughter decorated it.

But don't forget, you have to buy 45 rolls of toilet paper at a time!  I lost my will to live when the bill at Costco was £250 and we had to stop at Tesco to buy TP

You know, I've never looked into whether I could become a member or not, but I just checked their website and it seems I can qualify since I'm civil service .

Ooh!  My husband is now a civil servant.  If we lived closer to Costco, we could join!

Agree with renewing before you go and the fact that it's not as exclusive as they make it sound! haha Yes you have to be in a qualifying company to be bale to apply, but MOST of them over here seem to qualify You don't have to be in a specific type of industry or anything like that

The maple syrup is nice, and we have taken a giant plate of sushi to a picnic once and everyone was impressed.
For my 50th birthday, we bought a plain white giant cake and my daughter decorated it.

But don't forget, you have to buy 45 rolls of toilet paper at a time!  I lost my will to live when the bill at Costco was £250 and we had to stop at Tesco to buy TP

We had a Costco cake for my kid's party on Saturday.  I'm amazed at how many parents have asked where it was from as they LOVED it.  That means they were eating their KIDS piece of cake.  LOL!

The Costco bagels are fantastic too. And their rotisserie chickens?! YEP. I kind of miss our Costco membership but we didn't buy enough to make it worthwhile...

The Costco bagels are fantastic too. And their rotisserie chickens?! YEP. I kind of miss our Costco membership but we didn't buy enough to make it worthwhile...

I was once told that the chickens are their #1 selling item.  Easy to believe!!

I was once told that the chickens are their #1 selling item.  Easy to believe!!

I'm a sucker for a rotisserie chicken on the worst of days...If I'm there at prime time to get, take home, and consume said chicken for dinner, it doesn't stand a chance!

I'm a sucker for a rotisserie chicken on the worst of days...If I'm there at prime time to get, take home, and consume said chicken for dinner, it doesn't stand a chance!

Some day I'm going to do one of those articles where you make 30 freezer meals for a family of 4 with 4 Costco chickens.  Just need to find the time (and enthusiasm).

Some day I'm going to do one of those articles where you make 30 freezer meals for a family of 4 with 4 Costco chickens.  Just need to find the time (and enthusiasm).

I tell myself I'm going to meal prep and/or make those freezer slow-cooker meals ALL the time......I have yet to even try it once. LOL I keep saying "I need to organise my life better"....I'm a procrastinator at heart.

I tell myself I'm going to meal prep and/or make those freezer slow-cooker meals ALL the time......I have yet to even try it once. LOL I keep saying "I need to organise my life better"....I'm a procrastinator at heart.

I have a few recipes that I batch cook for the freezer.  But I just make a giant size and freeze it into smaller containers.  Very little extra effort.  I fear the Costco challenge will take like a DAY.  Ugh.

Confession:  I have a 28 day meal plan that we work our way through.  And repeat.  Wild, isn't it?  But our 2018 New Year's Resolution was to reduce food waste (and hopefully our food budget) and it's working.  We are doing really good at having very little waste.

I have a few recipes that I batch cook for the freezer.  But I just make a giant size and freeze it into smaller containers.  Very little extra effort.  I fear the Costco challenge will take like a DAY.  Ugh.

Confession:  I have a 28 day meal plan that we work our way through.  And repeat.  Wild, isn't it?  But our 2018 New Year's Resolution was to reduce food waste (and hopefully our food budget) and it's working.  We are doing really good at having very little waste.

You have WAY more variety for a larger family than we do for 2 people. Every other day is a type of wrap LOL alternated with something like a bean burger or pasta or something like that. Weekends get more exciting sometimes and pizzas happen on Fridays.

You have WAY more variety for a larger family than we do for 2 people. Every other day is a type of wrap LOL alternated with something like a bean burger or pasta or something like that. Weekends get more exciting sometimes and pizzas happen on Fridays.

Oh my gawd, we were doing wraps a lot, too, for a while.  Only we called them toobs.  Usually, our leftovers become toobs.  I need more variety, too.  I've tested a few new ideas lately, so we are getting better.  But we definitely don't have a 28 day rotation!

Side note: It's "funny" ( ) how my husband starts to get bored with the repetition, but then looks all kinds of skeptical when I try something new, and I have to sell him on it when I'm not even sure of the recipe myself yet.  I don't know when he thinks I'm supposed to be running my test kitchen.