October 2008 Grocery Challenge. Please read first two posts.

I saved up my receipts and updated today.
I'm doing alot of storecupboard meals at the moment for several reasons, a rather large vet bill to pay and the dog's been put on a "special" = expensive dog food :mad: which will be coming out of the grocery money as my other dogs food does as that comes from Tesco. I also need to use up the odds and sods in the bottom of the freezer so I can defrost it .
I know this will mean a large bulk buy at the beginning of next month which I could do without but it can't be helped :rolleyes:

Just added in todays spends/useages, and it still looks hopeful that I'll come in under budget for my first GC :T It's quite a relief, as although I kept track of my totals last month I wasn't trying to keep within a set budget like I am this month !!

I'm even hopeful I can include cleaning items/toiletries next month without needing to increase it (I'm monitoring the costs of those this month, but not including them in my total on here)

Morning

I spent quite a bit yesterday but i did include my new (living) chickens and their food because the main reason I bought themn was for the eggs. They still have the corners on 5 for £1 at tescos so got 15 and then DH (who is getting very good at GC bargain finding) found 2 rasberry bushes at tesco for £1.80 each so these are also included in budget as hoping to get llots of fruit from them next year.

Oh and i made HM french baguettes for first time. They were gorgeous!

Have a good day
Katie

Did your post disappear r is it back now???

My shopping arrived and it totalled £73 :eek: but we did get loads and loads of stuff :rolleyes: so all I will need to get now is F & V as I like to choose my veg myself and what I feel like on the day! Will update sig later as I may get some veg while I am out today

Morning everyone,

Planning to make tomato soup for lunch which is adapted from a recipe from Good Food as the kids love it with home made crusty bread.

Real Tomato Soup – a really easy recipe adapted from a Good Food Recipe

Serves 8
Prep 5 mins
Cook 25 mins

Low fat
Counts as 1 of 5-a-day

Ingredients

4tbsp olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
142g can tomato puree
1 large handful basil leaves
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda
1200 ml milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

• Heat the olive oil in a large pan, then tip in the onion and garlic. Cook over a moderate heat until the onion has softened, about 5 – 10 mins. Stir in the tomato puree, then pour in the chopped tomatoes and basil leaves, and bring up to the boil. Turn the heat down and leave to simmer for about 15 mins until thick and full of flavour. If you like a smooth soup, whiz the mixture at this point to form a smooth sauce (I use my stick blender but you could use a liquidiser etc). Can now be cooled and frozen for up to 1 month.
• To finish the soup, tip the soup mixture into a pan. Spoon the bicarbonate of soda into a small bowl and pour over 1 tbsp or so of the milk. Mix together until there are no lumps, then tip into the tomato mix and pour over the milk. Bring up to a boil (the mixture will froth, but don’t worry – it will go away). Season to taste. Gently simmer for about 5 mins until ready to serve.

You can modify this recipe to suit what you want to use up – could add chopped chilli, celery etc with the chopped onions at the beginning or add chopped fresh tomatoes with the tinned tomatoes. Could also add chilli flakes or anything really – it’s a good base soup.


Still regularly reading the thread although like many posters not posting as much as I used to bearing in mind the need to keep the thread a manageable length. Hope you feel better soon Mrs M and that everyone has a good day.



On a separate note I picked up a tip from the sneaky ways to save the pennies thread - posted by bambieyes - they suggested mixing grated carrot with grated cheese and mayo for sandwich filling - tried it with my 3 year old yesterday and he loved them - he's not keen on eating veg at the moment so money saving and brilliant way to get him to eat veg without him realising - thought this might be of help to somebody.



Will probably not post again until the month end unless I find something that I feel others would benefit from in the meantime.


Happy moneysaving
Perrywinkle