January 2009 Grocery Challenge

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  • I love this grocery challenge! - I have run out of bread, ham and corned beef so no sadwiches for OH next week I'm going to be creative I still have 4 portions of leek and potato soup in the freezer

    I'm intrigued how you freeze leek & potato soup? Do you have special container thingies (i love that word ... thingies... :o)
    LBM - 17th November 2008 - better late than never :rolleyes:
    Challenges - 2009 - Reduce CC to £1k by December
    June - Food £86/£130 * Petrol £50/£80 * Weekly allowance * £80/£160
  • MRSMCAWBER
    MRSMCAWBER Posts: 5,442 Forumite
    LittleEmms wrote: »
    I'm intrigued how you freeze leek & potato soup? Do you have special container thingies (i love that word ... thingies... :o)

    Hi there

    You can use empty marge/ice cream tubs or anything (just remember not to fill to the top as liquid expands when it freezes and will push the lid off)

    Sometimes I also put a food bag into a tub, fill it and place in the freezer... once its frozen you can lift the block out and tie it up;)
    -6 -8 -3 -1.5 -2.5 -3 -1.5-3.5
  • keld
    keld Posts: 140
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker Mortgage-free Glee!
    Forumite
    I spent 50p at a coffee morning and £4.06 on milk from the milkman. That leaves £29.90 to last the month. I think we will go over but I'll do my best to make it as little as possible.
    Yummymummy05 thank you for your reply. I'll try weaning my little girl onto tesco value fromage frais.
    I feel really mean today as I refused to buy my middle daughter Heinz vegetable soup as it had gone up to 88p a tin. I thought I could make a large pot of soup for that. So she went out and bought her own soup out of her pocket money.
    I made veggie mince with porridge today and they loved it so much they went back for seconds.

    I know exactly what you mean (no pun intended). I am trying not to break in to notes for little things:o . On a Tuesday and Thursday we always stop at the postie on the way home and my three children get some sweets as a treat. This can vary greatly from 50p to £2 depending on what they want. Well last night I was down to 54p change (having had to pay for parking an unanticipated expense). So I said that's the most we can spend. Well my DS who's 8, went back later and bought more for everyone with his pocket money. We were really touched.:D
    Mortgage [strike]£70,000[/strike] £1:j
    MF date [strike]31/08/2021[/strike] 6th February 2012:A

  • MRSMCAWBER wrote: »
    Hi there

    You can use empty marge/ice cream tubs or anything (just remember not to fill to the top as liquid expands when it freezes and will push the lid off)

    Sometimes I also put a food bag into a tub, fill it and place in the freezer... once its frozen you can lift the block out and tie it up;)


    Good Idea to put the freezer bag in the pot

    I usually put it in tupperware (recently inherited enough to start my own parties from my nan) then the next day chip it out (slide a butter knife round each side put the lid back on and then whack it a few times ) then to save on bags I wrap each portion in cling film so they don't stick together and put them all in one bag and label that. Sounds very complicated but that's what I used to do for the kids food when I was weaning them - they were both so hungry that the icecube idea only worked for about a week!!
    FebGC
    wk1 £0/£100 NSD's 0/7
    wk2
    wk3
    wk4
    Total £0/400
  • Have the day sort of to myself today (which is a miracle) girls are at nursery till 3 yay.....am going to do some housework in a minute, then nip out to aldi for a few bits....I want to cook a soup later and don't know what to do though? any tips? dh is getting into this not spending unecesarily (sp) lark and actually said he fancied a nice soup that was cheap to make!! he also won a bottle of wine in a raffle yesterday which is fab as I was going to pick one up today so saves a few bob..

    I was thinking on the soup front maybe something with leeks as I have a bag of frozen ones (39p from farm foods) although I am wondering if frozen leeks are going to be any good as have never bought them before...

    anyway will do a few searches on here to see what I can find, but any ideas would be appreciated (as apparantly my soup always tastes the same! cheek!)

    Thanks for all the ideas in here, I love the one about using the freezer bags in pots first (had forgotten that one) and have just been slinging them in as they are, but they then end up all funny shaped so will try that today if I get the soup done...

    yummymummy05 you shouldn't feel mean about the soup for your daughter as it will be teaching her a valuable lesson about money..most children have no idea whatsoever about the cost of things...
    Jun GC £250.00/£12.40 NSD 3 / 30

    January 200/198.91 February 200/239.28 March 200/230
    April 250/no idea May 250/265.95

    Sealed pot challenge number 648
  • elizabunny
    elizabunny Posts: 1,030 Forumite
    Morning all, I'm feeling a bit muddled today (what's new!) as had a bad head all night -you know the sort that wakes you up in the night. I think it's just the remnants of the cold I've had -but it still doesn't stop me from feeling a bit sorry for myself. So with HUGE effort today I'm hoping to concoct some sort of fish pie. Again, hoping to make enough for today and one to freeze for another day. I was going to have a really lazy day and just coat the fish in breadcrumbs and have some HM chips with it -but it feels a bit like letting the side down, which makes me feel cross with myself.

    So in my fish pie I am using some of the Pollock which I bought at Lidl -1kg bag for £1.99 (On offer, usually £2.99 I think) and it is really nice and stret.....ches a very long way.
    I cut up the fish into rough chunks and then cook lightly first.
    Also I shall sweat some white onions and carrots and add this to the fish with a tin of garden peas.
    Then I will make a cheese sauce to pour over and mix in with this.
    Season well.
    The topping will be cooked sliced potato, a grating of cheese and just a drizzle of olive oil to make the topping go all crisy in the oven when I bake it until its bubbling hot. It's lovely. You can of course make it cheaper by leaving out the cheese, but we just like it this way.

    Haven't got as far as a dessert yet. My dear MIL gave us a tin of rice pudding and a tin of pear halves for our stock cupboard yesterday -bless her, she is nearly 88! but she does sometimes buy things which she then doesn't fancy. Also she gave us a large bag of choccies (which will be :j ) as she had FIVE big tins of different choccies for Xmas!!!

    Hoping for another NSD today, that will be 4 in a row. Into the last 15 days of January so that gives me £2 a day left for the rest of the month -going to have to be very careful, but everyone is doing so well. Keep going everyone and have a good day.
    Sealed Pot Challenge 7 Member 022 :staradmin:staradmin:staradmin
    5:2 Diet started 28/1/2013 only 13lbs lost due to Xmas 2013 blip.
  • kunekune
    kunekune Posts: 1,909 Forumite
    No food bought yesterday, won't get any today either. Brought my lunch in - turkey & cranberry sandwiches! Have put in a supermarket order for Saturday as we're low on bread and need veges. The food bit of the order came to £40, so I'm not quite over budget yet but am heading there. On the other hand, I have all meals planned to the end of the GC month (a bit before the end of the real month), and at that point will still have in the freezer: 1 pork joint, 2 packs casserole beef, 1 pack casserole venison, 6 chicken thighs, 3 packs sausages, 2 packs mince, 2 packs fish, 2 bags prawns, 3 packs lamb fillet, 2 bags roast lamb for sandwiches, 1 box roast turkey for sandwiches ... and I still have vast amounts of pulses, grains and nuts in the pantry too. So if I go over, I shall take that off the Feb budget.
    Mortgage started on 22.5.09 : £129,600
    Overpayments to date: £3000
    June grocery challenge: 400/600
  • mommyof4
    mommyof4 Posts: 176
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    yummymummy05 hope you don't mind me asking but i noticed on your sig that you have a tesco cc. I read on one of the boards also that someone had got one to collect airmiles. Is it really worth it? how does it work? Be so grateful if you could fill me in.

    Not doing too well with my GC this time. I'm sure I will go over budget. I got lots of stuff for the freezer from the vegetarian section at Mr T. Thought I'd take advantage whilst the offers were on, but it's pushed up my spending for the month. Got lots of Linda McCartney sausages (only ones DS6 will eat!).
    (vegetarian & vegan family: me, DH, DS11 & DS 7, 3 dogs and 3 cats (not veggie )
    Sealed pot challenge No 020
    challenge 5: [part 2] £426.09!!
    challenge 6: £272.14
    challenge 7: (target £500)
    Dont forget the birds - feed them your scraps :)
  • mommyof4 I got the Tesco card so I would earn more points on my shopping and petrol (I used to always go to Mr T's anyway) however kept forgetting how much I put on it so be careful!

    By paying on the card you get extra clubcard points and you can turn these into airmiles - I can't remember hom pany points you need but if you lookon the clubcard deals part of the tesco website the details are on there!
    FebGC
    wk1 £0/£100 NSD's 0/7
    wk2
    wk3
    wk4
    Total £0/400
  • mommyof4
    mommyof4 Posts: 176
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    yummymummy05 - thanks for that. I hear what you are saying about being careful too! its so easy to get carried away. Off to have a look at tesco clubcard website now lol... thanx again
    (vegetarian & vegan family: me, DH, DS11 & DS 7, 3 dogs and 3 cats (not veggie )
    Sealed pot challenge No 020
    challenge 5: [part 2] £426.09!!
    challenge 6: £272.14
    challenge 7: (target £500)
    Dont forget the birds - feed them your scraps :)
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