My 1st O/S Shop!!!!!!!

charley24 · 4 November 2005 at 11:47PM

Well I did it.............................goodbye PROCESSED CRAP!!!!!!!!! Hello good nutritious Home Cookin'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :T

Spent £98 (how you may say) but I bought all my staple food, herbs,spices,sauces,tins, pastas, rice etc, everything for baking for pies/cakes etc.

Also bought a lovely large dish to make lasagne/chicken dishes !

Got a few BOGOF's for the kids when I am cooking something they won't eat (have a 6 year old who is rather fussy) Like Chicken and Curly Fries, Ice Cream etc.

Made sure I spent my money wisely and have everything not only for a week but 2 weeks maybe more - Will just need extra meat/veg/fruit.

Have lots of receipes to try and having sunday lunch this week (usually don't bother, rare occurance I make one) BUT I am !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And with rest of chicken going to freeze to make curry

Did buy Uncle Ben's Rice 4 for £4 (the vege pilau) since I have to say I hate rice and this is the only I have found I like !

Bought a large chicken and 8 chicken breasts (BOGOF) did my shopping in Asda but plan to go to Lidl in the future.

I usually come home with maybe 6 bags for £70-£80 and then have to shop again 5/6 days later due to the crap and ready meals I buy -No more.............................I have enough ingredients, time and enthusiasm for this lot to last a looooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng time.!!!!!!

My trolley was overflowing, Hubby was so impressed - I have calculated that as I have all my staples a usual weeks shopping for a family of 4 will be around £50 - £60 which is amazing compared to my old (eek) £100 a week!!!!!!!!!!!

So Thankyou Everyone ! Will let you know how my home cookin' Turns Out !

silverfoxdude · 5 November 2005 at 12:44AM

Well done Charley,

I try and buy good stuff, and decided I was going to go on strike at home as I felt a bit like a slave!! So I went to Iceland and bought tonnes of frozen garbage. No a vegetable in sight, well everyone hated it, and I did so much that I had to life the protest for my own sanity and health!!

I'm really getting into the hang of making HM things now, soups, bread, pies, curries. I made a delicious pie the other day. I had a big tin of ham and some old mushrooms that I would have normally chucked out. Peeled them, slung them in frying pan with onion, added some left over wine and then single cream, reduced it and popped a pastry lid on, hey presto, it was lovely. Got the idea from Ready Steady Cook....

Good luck (and sorry to babble on!!)

skylight · 5 November 2005 at 12:56AM

Cool! Charley24

I'm actually writing out my list now for next week! I couldn't believe how little I spent last week - under budget too!!! Hoping for the same success tomorrow!

The kids now see Sausages and chips from the freezer or crisps as special treats now and not the norm!

And I have been introduced to the wonders of freezing fresh veg, freezing cake/dough mix and milk too!

apple_mint · 5 November 2005 at 7:40AM

Just keep reading the posts on this site and you'll never look back. I used to spend around £120 a week on just four of us :eek: I average around £50 a week and that includes wine

I have a well stocked store cupboard (lots of herbs, staples, breadmaking kit etc) and we eat very well. Meat from the farmers market etc. All meals are from scratch (some quicker to make than waiting for a ready meal thanks to the great recipes on OS - and yes I now have the confidence to experiment with whatever ingredients I have left towards the end of the week). Yes I do work full time but I save the more complicated experiments for the weekend

We are eating far better food and feel wonderful for it too.

lilmisskitkat · 5 November 2005 at 12:22PM

Well done Charley24

It's a good idea to get as many store cupboard ingredients as you can afford before you start cooking from scratch. When i moved into my own house i spent about £80 and stocked up on herbs, spices, tinned foods, pasta, rice, noodles, tomato puree etc and it really helps, it means that even on really skint weeks there is always something to make a meal out of. And once you bought all the stuff, you won't need to buy them all at once again, just replace things as and when needed.

Next week i'll only need to spend £10 at the most on shopping, just for things like milk, bread, fruit, yoghurts etc as my cupboards and freezer are full. The £15 i save would have gone into my pin money but its my friends birthday next week so we're having a night out on Saturday so it will go towards that (i have £30 saved up for it too) -though i only go out about 4/5 times a year so i don't mind splashing out when i do.

Good luck with your O/S cooking!

Kate xxx

Rikki · 5 November 2005 at 12:26PM

Well done Charlie.

The first step is the hardest, once you get use to it you will wonder why you didn't try it sooner.

frugglewump · 5 November 2005 at 3:27PM

charley24 wrote:

Curly Fries

I will admit to buying these as well because they are funny (& i'm definately not growing up!). Can anyone could tell me an easy way of doing them myself?

mah_jong · 5 November 2005 at 3:42PM

What on earth are curly fries ??? Are they a chip type creation?

frugglewump · 5 November 2005 at 3:53PM

mah_jong wrote:

What on earth are curly fries ??? Are they a chip type creation?

Yes. You know how a really long piece of peel from an apple curls round & round - they're like that except chips.

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My 1st O/S Shop!!!!!!!

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