#MagpieMonday - My FREE Kitchen

Haven't done a Magpie Monday post for a few weeks but this week I became the ultimate magpie and managed to pick up a whole new look for my kitchen - FOR FREE!!!!
I came home from shopping the other day to see a couple of cupboard doors lying on my neighbours lawn.
I knew she had the same original fitted kitchen in her house as I had in mine except hers was a nice pale beech effect whilst mine was a dingy silver grey. I have hated it ever since we first moved in.
The cupboards themselves are sound and sturdy so there was no justification to replace the whole lot (even if we could have afforded to). The hinge on the corner cupboard broke off about 2 years ago and that door has been propped up against the gap ever since (I know, I know - I don't know how I put up with that for so long either!)  I even began painting over them but as ever it was a spur of the moment thing that I started but never finished...
So I wasted no time knocking on her door - well sometimes you have got to take the bull by the horns and I am not proud...
'So are you getting a new kitchen then?'
'Yes' says neighbour, with a grin.
'What are you going to do with the old one? If you're just going to get rid of it would you mind if I nabbed the doors?'  Not a problem, says my (lovely) neighbour. She even tells me to add the old ones to her pile of rubbish and she'll get rid of them for me!

Now there were a couple of snags - the main one being that her kitchen is the mirror image of mine - this means that I had to swap all the hinges around and now all my cupboards open on the opposite side to previously which is going to take a little getting used to. The only one I couldn't do this with was the the narrow wall cupboard in the corner so I had to put the door on upside down with the handle at the top. As this is used as the medicine cupboard it's not the end of the world  - there's no way the Little Man will be able to reach it to open it - even I have to stand on tiptoes!

The little panel that goes under the sink needs the brackets refitted - the holes are just a few millimeters out and  the panel that sits under the cooker is missing coz next door had a free standing cooker not a fitted one - but that's nothing a bit of cream gloss can't sort out.

I think you'll agree the finished result is a massive improvement!

And yes, I did it all myself!!

Now all I need to do is paint over the 'sunny' yellow (what was I thinking?) with a nice country cream and source some new flooring from somewhere. Then maybe, as I have saved so much on the kitchen I might add a few new accessories - from the charity shops of course.

Graze with me...

I'm a grazer, I could quite happily nibble on bits and bobs all day long. Give me a buffet and I am in heaven! So when someone on my Twitter timeline first mentioned Graze boxes - little boxes of healthy, yummy snacks, delivered to your door - I must admit I was intrigued enough to give them a go...

The Graze website is really easy to use and gives you lots of scrummy looking snacks to rate. You can enter any ingredient you don't like (I'm really not a fan of strong chili ) and they will allow you to 'bin' any recipes that contain them. Based on your preferences they send a selection of four different snacks.

So this is what you get...

A cute little 'letterbox friendly' box, made sustainably sourced and totally recyclable card and ridiculously pretty on the inside :) Your four different snacks in little sealed containers and a personalized info booklet with all the nutritional information and use by dates. Oh, and underneath the tray there is a napkin and, if you are lucky enough to get olives (as I did a couple of weeks ago) a little wooden fork to eat them with.

This weeks selection included pistachio nuts - mmmmm I lurve pistachio nuts, a lovely punnet of dried goji berries, cherries and organic apricots(cutely named 'love mix' ) and containing 2 of my 5 a day according to the nutritional info! There is a 'new' recipe called 'Chedder Gorge' which is basically crackers, salsa sticks and cheesy cashew nuts - what's not to like? And finally natural vanilla seeds: sunflower and pumpkin seeds in a vanilla and honey glaze. Now I'm a big fan of the 'savoury seed mix' and not sure if I would like a sweet version but they were scrummy and incredibly more-ish.

So have I tempted you yet?

If you would like to try a Graze Box for yourself you can get one sent absolutely FREE. Just visit http://www.graze.com/ and enter the code M1Q9TWD3 when you sign up. You can have your Graze box sent to your home or your work place and you can cancel further deliveries easily if you're not convinced.

For everyone of you that signs up with this code I will donate my 'feed your friends reward' (£1 off next Graze delivery) to the Graze School of Farming in Uganda a fantastic Charity that educates villagers in sustainable farming and helps them get their farm up and running. Every penny donated is spent helping these people help themselves.

Please note this post has not been sponsored or endorsed by Graze in any way. I have been receiving Graze snack boxes for a while and just wanted to share with you :)