SW - Back to work chicken

I'm going back to work on Monday and leaving Alan on his own with both girls for the first time. This recipe is for him to cook in the slow cooker one day next week. I'm making it up as I write so I'll have to let you know how it tastes later in the week.

The whole pan full is 6 syns. I recon it should feed at least 3 adults so 2 syns a portion.

1 medium onion chopped
500g diced turkey
200g chopped mushrooms
125ml cider
125ml boiling water
1 chicken stock cube
1tsp lemon juice
1 bay leaf
1tbsp cornflour
Salt and pepper to taste

Put all of the ingredients but the cornflour in the slow cooker and cook on high for 30 mins. Turn the slow cooker to low and leave for at least a couple of hours (loads more won't hurt). 30 mins before you want to serve mix the cornflour with a couple of tablespoons of cold water and add to the slow cooker. It would also be good to check the seasoning at this point. Stir well and leave for the final 30 mins (this should thicken the sauce for serving)

Serve with mashed potato and crisp green vegetables (for you 1/3 superfree)

Cloth nappies - are they really cheaper?

We've been using cloth nappies on Ivy since a couple of days after she was born and I love them. They are soft, they contain the smell better than disposables and they look pretty. But my main reasons for choosing to use them are environmental (less nappies in landfill) and cost.

Someone was asking the other day if they really are cheaper so I ran some numbers and I thought I'd share them here.

First of all the day to day running costs. Worst case we are doing a nappy wash every other day (though in reality it's nearer every third day) so that's 182 and a half washes per year. Nappies need to be washed at 60 degrees and according to the manufacturers website this uses 0.95kWh per wash. At the rate we are currently paying for electricity this means we are paying somewhere between £19.06 and £41.28. We aren't tumble drying so we don't need to factor that in. Washing powder for that number of washes (based on Ariel Bio powder in large packets from Tesco and half the recommended amount of powder per wash) is £36. Water costs come in at £25.41 Which means our running costs per year are a maximum of £102.69

What about start up costs? Well this is what I've got and what I paid:

• 20 newborn nappies: £100 mainly from Tesco
• TotsBots accessories kit: £24.17 from Tesco
• 30 other nappies: £180 from all over
• 13 boosters: £16.06 from BabyBots
• 20 fleece liners: £10.16 from BabyBots
• 2 wet bags: £7.58 from BabyBots
• 8 Vest Extenders: £5.09 from Amazon
• Reusable wipes: £ 30 (But I didn't spend this as I had them left from my eldest daughter)

That gives me start up costs of: £343.06. However, my start up costs were particularly high as I expected to have a smaller baby and therefore need newborn nappies. Also it doesn't take into account the preloved nappies have value and can be sold on once you have finished with them to recoup some of your outlay.

So how does that compare with disposables?

Lets assume an average of 6 nappies are needed in 24 hours that means that you will need 2190. We used nature babycare nappies with our eldest as we wanted an eco nappy so I'll calculate based on them.  Lets take the size 4 nappy as an example (this is the middle size and has a good average cost). The cheapest that I can find them is 13p a nappy from Amazon. That means that a years supply of nappies will cost you £284.70 . Assuming you use 2 packs of wipes a week wipes will cost you £247.52 (Based on nature babycare wipes from Amazon). You'll also need nappy sacks which I've costed at £87.56. So in total we'd have spent £619.78 in a year on nappies and other consumeables.

Which means that if I don't spend any more on nappies I'm expecting to break even on my nappy use when Ivy is just over 8 months old. In actual fact I'll probably spend a bit more, even though I don't really need to, so it'll be sometime in month 9 that I break even.

If you remember that most children these days potty train at two and a half you can see why I expect to save £1000 by using cloth nappies.

Of course I've compared against expensive disposables here but as these are the ones that we would be using if Ivy weren't in cloth it is a fair comparison for us, I've also spent quite alot more on nappies than I really needed to so my start up costs are significantly higher than they need be.

All of that and I won't be sending over two thousand nappies to landfill. Being kind to the environment can be kind to your pocket too.