We've had 2 weeks of GCSE exams and meetings and all kinds of stress, so we thought it would be a great thing if we could all have a night of fun and relax a bit, eat some special food and have a laugh. Money Supermarket's 'Big Night In' was a challenge that suits us perfectly - with no babysitters within 80 miles, staying in is the new 'going out' and we knew we could have a great night in for £50.
I decided on an 'International' theme for the evening, so arranged the menu accordingly, with Spanish Tapas, Chinese Egg Fried Rice, Indian Onion Bhaji's and 'make your own' Italian Pizza!
I found a great recipe for a pizza base in 'Mama's Italian Cookbook' and prepared the dough a couple of hours before we needed it, chopped and readied loads of toppings and made a simple tomato pizza sauce...
Then I let them loose in MY kitchen!
The results were really very impressive, incredibly tasty and even boy no.3 ate every single bit of his own personal creation! I even made myself a cheeseless pizza, which I was delighted with and shall definitely be making again.
After pizza we all snacked on the Tapas and Bhaji's while we played games...
All the children have had a time where they've been really interested in Pinata, and boy no.3 at 4 years old has just recently seen one on the TV and thought it was amazing, so we thought it would be a perfect addition to the evening. It's a Mexican tradition, and a few sweets could be a great dessert and treat for our special evening.
We had no idea just how solid these things are. What in the heck does it take to smash one, because we couldn't do it!?
We even tried moving it so that no-one could miss!
After about three quarters an hour of endless bashing and vented frustrations I gave in, opened the lid and took everything out....
Inside, as well as oodles of sweeties, I had poured a huge bag of foam letters for the next game. I challenged the children to make as many country names as possible in 10 minutes - mis-spellings were disallowed!
 |
| Boy no.2 with a great effort |
 | ||
| The winner - girl no.1 - even though Mordor still wouldn't have counted even if she'd found all the letters! |
Our final game for the evening took place after the 2 little ones had gone to bed (very late and very tired). We played the 'sticky note on your forehead game' - which probably has a name, but I don't think I've ever known it! To carry on the International theme we had to be countries and guess which we were by asking 'yes/no' questions.
 |
| Morocco and Japan - some countries are definitely easier to guess than others! |
For our £50 International Big Night In we bought ~
Veggie Tapas £6
Home Made Onion Bhajis £1
Home Made Egg Fried Rice £2.20
Home Made Pizzas x 8 £11.25
Pinata £8
Sweets £2.50
Sticky Foam Letters £2.50
Post It Notes £1
Up Blu-Ray £9.99
Night Watch DVD £7.99
We spent an extra £1 on a relatively early night..... ;)
And the Pinata? Well he's a bit bashed, but still very much in one piece and with us....
This is my entry for the Money Supermarket Big Night In,
for which I was given £50 to spend.
this looks like a great fun night! you have been quite creative with it, i will have to steal some of your ideas to do with my own family :D
ReplyDeleteThe Pinata was hilarious, I can't believe we couldn't smash it, I'd heartily recommend them! :D
DeleteFab, mine will be a little tamer with poss only one child in situ. Can't wait for Friday night..
ReplyDeleteEnjoy! I hope it is as much of a laugh as ours was :D
DeleteThis looks like such a fun night, that pinata is going to last forever I think! It's a great theme for a Big Night In though and a good way for the children to learn too.
ReplyDeleteI think that everything should be made from Pinata, I'm going to design a whole range of Pinata crockery, ornaments and mirrors that are completely unbreakable!
DeleteThat was fab! what a great use of £50! Love the pinata!
ReplyDeleteThank you! The Pinata was definitely the highlight....and the pizza throwing! :D
DeleteSounds like a fantastic night in!!!
ReplyDeleteIt was excellent fun - we have to do it more often :D
DeleteSounds like such a great night, must be so lovely to have such a big family (sometimes!)!
ReplyDeleteIt has it's moments - there's always someone to play with, but there's always someone to argue with too! :D
Deleteaww it sounds like an ace night! I almost picked up one of those pinatas at Home Bargains lol
ReplyDeleteYou should have done! It might have been easier to smash than the Tesco one :D
DeleteLooks like a fab night was had by all, lots of different activities. I wanted to make pizzas for our night but we were short on time so cheated and ordered takeaway! My 2 would have loved the pinata - may have to try one at their next birthday party!
ReplyDeleteI'd definitely recommend it - its top fun, even though it didn't break! :D
DeleteI love your night in! Looks like there was fun to be had for everyone! Love you getting them involved with the pizzas ;) x
ReplyDeleteThank you! Everyone really enjoyed it, we will have to do it more often. They all loved making the pizza's and choosing their own toppings :D
DeleteWow! That's a marathon of a night in! Those pinatas never break FACT!
ReplyDeleteI think you're right. We've promised we'll bring it out when we have the next birthday and they're all planning what to hit it with, but if a rolling pin can't do it I don't know what can! :D
Delete