July 2008 Grocery Challenge

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  • I ordered an eco meter last night and some eco balls so Im hoping to save money(stop wasting) on electric and washing.
    Not sure if the eco meters are a gimmick or not but Im giving it a go! Cheapest I could find is ethical superstore.
    Just made a loaf of bread and will do another later for tomorrow. Stripped the chicken and boiled the carcass and Im now making chicken and veg soup for lunch. Not doing a Sunday roast as theres only me and DS home until a lot later.Hence we had the chicken yesterday. Still some over for a curry and some scraps for the cat. The curry will need a bit more so I may well add some minced quorn.
    Still got loads of rice from when I bought it at 49p per kilo-Ive been going easy on this. Still managing to get pasta for 19p also.
    Homemade bread used to be more expensive than shop bought a few years ago but is now cheaper so Im going to try to make it a lot more often.

    Bigbird-personally-I would use the custard and wouldn't worry.
    Annual Grocery budget 2018 is £1500 pa £125 calendar month £28.84 pw for 3 adults
  • nicki_2
    nicki_2 Posts: 7,317
    First Post Photogenic First Anniversary I've been Money Tipped!
    Forumite
    Just been to Asda and spent £22.81 :o BUT that includes stocking up on jelly diamonds (11p each so bought the last 3 tubs :p ), 4 bags of flour (2 are bread flour as I'll be making packed lunches for day trips), some toiletries for me (which came to £7.52 :eek: ) and 6 SP butters @ 50p each - so they've gone in the freezer and should last me next month :D;)

    I also got £10 cash back on that to pay for bus fares etc so I think I'm going to go with no specific budget the rest of this month and August and just see what I end up spending as its £5 a day for bus fare for me and DD so until September its going to be expensive :eek: I will always go for the most economical option though ;)
    Creeping back in for accountability after falling off the wagon in 2016.
    Need to get back to old style in modern ways, watching the pennies and getting stuff done!
  • angelnikki
    angelnikki Posts: 892 Forumite
    Catnap You weren't being ungrateful - (a lot of) men only think of their tummies/ themselves instead of how they can help.

    On the days that DS goes to nursery he has his tea there so we eat our dinner later after he's gone to bed (7pm). I've told OH a million times that I dont want/like takeaways but if I havent got our meal ready for when OH comes downstairs then he says "right I'm really hungry I'm gonna get a takeaway" :rolleyes:

    I used to say ok to him and we would end up having one/two a week but now I just tell him to shut up and be patient or do it himself. My emergency meal for when he is really demanding dinner right now is pasta with a tin of tomatoes and a tin of hotdogs/tin of tuna as that only takes 10mins which is quicker than going out for a takeaway. I think he feels like he is getting fed quicker if he goes out and gets it cos he's doing something where as if I'm cooking it he is just sitting there getting impatient. Which is stupid cos none of my meals take longer than 20mins anyway. And he never offers to cook for us even though I'm ill. :mad:

    Can you tell I'm not happy with him [strike]at the mo[/strike]? :o

    But I've lost 8lbs since 3rd June by avoiding takeaways/snacks so Yay Me! :) (this is a massive amount for someone with ME to lose so I'm really chuffed :j )

    Dinner today is sausage & bean hotpot (posted recipe yesterday) served with rice & petit pois. Cost per portion - 50p (using finest sausages) yummy yummy :D

    Sian you can freeze Twink's Hobnob Dough rolled into a sausage. Then just slice (very carefully) and cook from frozen ;)

    Nikki
    x
    :A
  • toottifrootti
    toottifrootti Posts: 6,427 Forumite
    Hi all,
    trying to get a grip on things before I start my first GC in august - had NSD yest and will be NSD today as I am working on budget and doing the garden.
    I am totally useless at planning meals- totally useless at cooking - basically totally useless in the kitchen I am ashamed to say. was never taught to cook so never really bothered - as I am on my own there is nobody to moan at me!!
    I am going to try to work out some sort of meal planner for august but really dont know where to start - have had a look at the meal planner thread but it didnt help a whole lot because i dont know what meals I can cook! Does that make sense??
    I have spent hours (way too many!) reading posts and have come up with 1 or 2 ideas but any help would great - something very easy and cheap.
    I will be posting on the DFW thread as I have serious debt problems so I am trying to cut back on everything - I have been budgeting for years as I have been unable to work due to ill health and only have benfits coming in so have budgets for everything - I feel my grocery budget is high when i look at what some of you spend to cover families so I am hoping some OS housekeeping will help reduce it.
    I love all the cakes and muffins etc recipes - they make me want to make them but I am way over weight as I have to take steroids every day and I am diabetic!!
    Sorry to bore you all but have nobody here to relate to!!
    TF xx
    Peace will be mine
    could do better - must try harder
    Live each day as if its your last
    DFW Nerd #1000 Proud to be dealing with my debts

  • angelnikki
    angelnikki Posts: 892 Forumite
    toottifrootti try this thread for ideas on how to organise mealplanning & meal ideas My monthly grocery organisation...

    If there's any meals that you want to know how to cook then just ask - I'm sure someone on here will be able to give you the recipe :)

    Nikki
    x
    :A
  • jediteacher
    jediteacher Posts: 1,143 Forumite
    Blairweech wrote: »
    What are the baked potato pizza and marmlade muffins of which you speak?

    I can only answer the baked potato pizza as I think I'm the only one who mentioned it. Basically it's baked potato with a pizza topping mashed into it.

    Here's the recipe:

    Large baking potatoes
    Grated cheese
    Chopped tomatoes
    Spring onions
    Mushrooms (the recipe uses peppers but I hate them - even the smell makes me queasy)
    Toppings of your choice - I used baked beans & courgette.
    Butter

    1. Bake the potatoes in the usual way - I cut mine in half, pricked with a fork and covered in foil and then put them in the oven at gas mark 6 for about 45 minutes.
    2. Scoop out as much of the soft potato as you can without tearing the skin.
    3. Put the mash in a bowl with the chopped mushrooms, onion, toppings, a couple of tablespoons of chopped tomatoes, some butter and half the grated cheese. Mix it all together.
    4. Stuff the potato skins with the filling, top up with the rest of the grated cheese and bake in the oven at gas mark 4 (180c) for 20 minutes.

    Then voila baked pizza potatoes. :beer:
    'Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.' :cool:
    Proud Mummy to two gorgeous miracles.:j
  • Sunnyday
    Sunnyday Posts: 3,855
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Hi everyone :wave:
    i`ve been rubbish at keeping up with all the threads that i read the last few weeks:o My saving grace is that i`ve been OSing like mad and i`m on budget for this month :D
    I may even try to squeeze another week onto the end of this months challenge and make it 5 weeks instead of 4, i`m so pleased :j I`ll start a new meal planner and have a look in the freezer tomorrow and see if it`s possible so fingers crossed.

    i`ve spent lots of time in the garden lately as my greenhouse is now up and i have a few things in there now, spring onions and radishes which are almost ready and i have 3 lettuce in a tub that i keep chopping leaves off so have the makings of salad there. Our lovely neighbours gave us some tomato plants which are flowering and my little hanging basket of vine tomatoes is just starting to get some tiny flowers on it since i`ve popped it in there out of the nasty weather so i`m hopeful for that too.
    I`ve harvested lots of strawberries from my plants and just used the last of them in my very first attempt at jam and i`ll have another bash at that when the next lot are ripe, i`m looking forward to blackberry season so that i can go gathering and make some more jam for Christmas gifts too.
    My first attempt at wine is bubbling away at the back of the living room too:j
    I`ve learnt an awful lot from here and i can`t thank eveyone enough, you are all the most wonderful people :A
    Later when i get another chance to sit down i`ll go back and catch up with some of the pages that i`ve missed.
    Thanks again everyone.
    SD
    Planning on starting the GC again soon :p
  • MRSMCAWBER
    MRSMCAWBER Posts: 5,442 Forumite
    Hi tootifrooti and welcome on board

    Now..you don't know that you are useless at cooking...you just haven't got your confidence in the kitchen yet ;) ... Im sure once you get going you will be throwing things together like that mad chef from the muppets :D ...
    If you give us some idea of what things you like, im sure we can come up with some simple recipes to get you started -if you were buying ready meals -what would you choose? im sure between everyone on here we can cover most possibilities :p ... and if you have freezer space -if you make recipes for 4 then you can freeze 3 servings..so you don't have to cook every day and it won't be long before you have a good supply of HM "ready meals"... if you wanted it means you could even cook 7 recipes in 1 week then you have enough main meals for the following 3 weeks ....hope thats some help
    -6 -8 -3 -1.5 -2.5 -3 -1.5-3.5
  • sian the green - I like that idea of rolling twink dough,I would think it would make them easier to slice in a uniform size.I will make twice the amount as I often find that easier and chill half to make next day - will let you know.

    Had pancakes for breakfast and made an extra 8 and froze them for a quick breakfast.Used 3 eggs and had 16 in total cannot complain at that.Also managed to feed 4 kids and get 1/3 of HM pizza dough in the freezer out of 500g flour pizza dough mix last night - will make garlic balls for starter for the kids next week.

    Had Croque Madam for lunch (posh cheese on toast topped with an egg) with chopped up apples and yoghurt.

    Roast beef dinner tonight -just need to do the roasties everything else is defrosted even the gravy.

    Sausage and meatballs with pasta tomorrow in fridge.

    NSD for me today again thats 11 so far this month ,do have to start thinking about shopping before Thursday's mayhem starts so will try and stretch it out till Tuesday before I shop.Infact I have about 87c in my purse and need to travel into town to transfer funds from Halifax UK to Spain to my current account and have a money off coupon for Carrefour of 7 euros but I am passing so will check out shopping list at Lidl and then Carrefour and use voucher for chicken breasts and porridge oats only at Carrefour.

    Have made the sweet and sour sauce to go with the pork and red pepper meatballs this morning have 2 large dishes to freeze and a small one I'll use with sausages this week.

    Very little freezer space left.Have costed meatballs,sauce and pasta at 98p per portion but that doesn't take into account the extra 2 meals I'll get out of the (15) extra meatballs or the extra sauce.Not bad going.

    Have been grooming OH via skype over internet how MSE makes total sense and plan what he eats / buys etc etc so he won't be in for too much of a shock.I think he thinks I'm barmy .....He now buys most expensive quilted loo roll,dustbin liners with ties or handles and f***y washing up liquid......THAT IS SO GONNA CHANGE DARLIN'

    We are lucky in that he only pays for tel calls no rent/rates/utilities and hasn't done for a year since I've been here in Spain so that has more than covered the cost of his flights here.

    Only have the next 6 weeks living here in Spain so we are busy planning routes back via plane and ferry and what we need to take so am very conscious of not over stocking and eating what we have in.Have donated a full 1 1/2 litre of gin to my neighbours as it's their thing and we were given it as a gift so the decluttering has started and that includes the cupboards too.


    annelouise
    Be who you are and say what you think because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind....Dr Seuss
  • dink1
    dink1 Posts: 197 Forumite
    Hi Guys,

    Have managed to stop grumbling at DH but only just!!!! hope everyone else is having a great day. Dink1
    JanGC £250/£82 far:weight loss 1lb cc250/£86/cm40/£9.50 :A
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