October 2010 Grocery Challenge

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  • jammy_dodger
    jammy_dodger Posts: 1,925
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    Hippeechiq wrote: »
    Sounds like you're doing really well angelatgraceland , as are a lot of people on here, so well done everyone :T

    I go to Icel@nd most days for milk, so I'll look for leeks next time I'm in, thanks :)

    What does butternut squash taste of/like? Please don't say pumpkin as I've never eaten that either, but I'm just curious.

    Made a Shepherdess Pie last night for tea - it's probably the fourth or fifth time I've made it, but there's no escaping it....it's boring and bland, and my least favourite tea of the month, and I so don't want it to be, as I don't have many veggie meals, so really don't want to drop it from the menu. Last night I used Leek instead of onion, and it was even more bland than usual :rotfl: - anyone got any suggestions for pepping it up a bit please?

    1 Clove Garlic
    1 Onion
    125G Carrot
    1 Tbs Flour
    ½ pint Veg Stock
    110G Red Lentils
    1 Tin Baked Beans
    1 Tin Chopped Tomatoes
    Lots Freshly Ground Black Pepper
    500G Potatoes


    I use Lazy Garlic in all my cooking. 1tsp = 1 Clove (always been a bit shy of using the real thing, as I don't want to walk around reeking of garlic) I tried upping that to 1½ last night, I also added ½tsp Onion Salt, but then had to counteract that with a bit of sugar as the stock cube contains salt. It all got eaten, but it was bland beyond belief for all the faffing about involved in making it, and as the recipe stands, I don't think I can force myself to be bothered to make it again.

    try adding a tsp of ground cumin ..it goes REALLY well with lentils should stop the blandness but without adding heat hth
  • jammy_dodger
    jammy_dodger Posts: 1,925
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    ive just made a lovely bread pudding hadnt made it for ages and to make it sweeter i made it with half a whoopsie loaf i got last night for 2p

    8 oz bread crusts removed torn inot small pieces
    10 fl oz milk ( I use half milk half water )
    2oz melted marg
    6 oz mixed fruit
    2 oz sugar
    1 beaten egg
    zest of orange ( optional )
    pinch nutmeg


    soak bread in milk till soggy
    add rest of ingredients
    bake 160 Deg ( fan oven ) 40 mins till golden brown cool and slice

    i use 9 inch square tin and it cuts into 12 good sized slices

    hope this helps someone who wants something sweet but dont break the bank
  • Hippeechiq
    Hippeechiq Posts: 1,103 Forumite
    JackieO wrote: »
    My late am-in-law used to make cheese on toast with milk and mustard, grated up in a saucepan on the top of the stove and brought to a slow rolling boil .Has anyone else done this only I can't remember exactly how she did it .She said that it was the way her OH told her to cook it the 'proper welsh raebit ' way that his mum cooked for him in Tredegar when he was a boy

    Am wondering if he added a bit of flour to that Jackie to thicken it up a tad, so that it was almost a cheese sauce?

    Thanks for that suggestion jammy dodger - I've made a note of it along with the others :)
    Aug11 £193.29/£240

    Oct10 £266.72 /£275 Nov10 £276.71/£275 Dec10 £311.33 / £275 Jan11 £242.25/ £250 Feb11 £243.14/ £250 Mar11 £221.99/ £230
    Apr11 £237.39 /£240 May11 £237.71/£240 Jun11 £244.03/ £240 July11 £244.89/ £240
    Xmas 2011 Fund £220
  • Spiggle
    Spiggle Posts: 1,787
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    Hey all,

    Welcome to any newbies I've missed. The results on here are just getting better all the time. And the enthusiasm is quite contagious. :D Keep up the brilliant work everyone. :T

    I wish I could say my spends were low but they have been hit a bit by a big shop at MrT today. Now I did have a list and I did stick to it on the whole but :o I seem to have a sweet/sugar need today as I've bought things I never usually even consider!

    It started this morning when I filled the car on the way to work and ended up picking up two galaxy bars for a quid and I just don't buy that sort of thing normally. If I have chocolate then it's normally G&B which is divine but only in small quantities. Then when I'm in MrT I see the Gu/Fru desserts which are ridiculously expensive and usually make me sneer. But the appeal of a key lime dessert and because they were on bogof, I ended up buying the key lime cheescake and a chocolate gu too. :eek: I must be losing it folks! :rotfl:

    Can anyone tell me when baked beans became a luxury meal? The price is absolutely ridiculous. :mad: And to make matters worse I get home, have the MrM email and find I could have got one more tin for the same price there!

    You know we were having the conversation about bulk sizes no longer meaning cheaper prices last month? Well the MrT loo rolls are £4 for 12 at the mo but you could buy a 24 pack for £9.20! The world has gone truly mad. :mad:

    There were a couple of good deals to be had (I hope). I got two 12 packs of Wh**k*s for £4 and three packs of Kn**r stock cubes for £1.50. and whilst I don't normally get them from the sm, the bag of 5 quite large bramleys for 80p seemed fair. The shop did include a few cleaning things (again seem to have gone up considerably) and two lots of the aforesaid loo rolls. So the grocery shop came to £57.61 (my receipt tells me there were total savings of £10.01) plus £4.50 for cigarette papers and filters bringing my total to £62.11. I've also added my £1 on chocolate (if you can call it that). So, we've done over half the budget, it's only the 7th and I'll be going to the butcher and greengrocer either tomorrow or Saturday. Hmm, a worrying amount spent methinks. :(

    Hippeechiq, I noticed that there were some vegetable stock cubes in MrT by Kallo that were reduced to 37p from about 75p. I don't know if they're on offer everywhere but they looked good (organic, no gm etc) if you're after a different stock cube. The other thing that struck me and I don't know if it would work but when I used to use red lentils for veggie shep pie, I always fried them before putting it all together and they were very tasty. Not sure if it would fit in your recipe but just thought I'd mention it. I'll try and rack my brain a bit tomorrow to remember the whole recipe.

    Rosieben you are a star capturing all our recipes for us, don't know what we'd do without you. :A

    Ok, off to have a lovely broc in cheese sauce for my dinner. Sig is updated. Well done everyone and I'll see you all tomorrow. Lie in in the morning , hoooray. :j

    Take care,
    Spigs
    Mortgage Free October 2013 :T
  • brodie1_2
    brodie1_2 Posts: 131 Forumite
    Hi,
    for years I have used marigold bouillon stock (comes ina small tub) or kallo. Both excellent , made the mistake the other day of buying supermarket own brand, far too salty with no depth.
    Brodie1:):)
    :jBrodie 1/ july 300/330.62:oAugust300/322.49:o
    September 300/239.78:jOct300/258.50:jNov 250/282.24:) December 300/300.01:j JAN 2011 300/288.72 :j . September 300/319.19:(, October 300/351.59:jThree adults, 1 dog and 1 cats and cleaning stuff, toiletries, beer.
  • cw18
    cw18 Posts: 8,613
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    Hippeechiq wrote: »
    Re the Butternut Squash.....not for me then, as I eat carrots under duress, but I can't be doing with parsnips at all _pale_
    I only use B/nut Squash in soup, but can't abide sweet potatoes, parsnips or swede. (I do like carrots though). Love the soup, but have never (yet) plucked up the courage to try squash as a veg with a meal (or as the main component of a meal).

    My dog loves it raw though..... I always end up with pools of drool on my ceramic kitchen floor when I'm prepping it ;)
    Cheryl
  • Hippeechiq
    Hippeechiq Posts: 1,103 Forumite
    rosieben wrote: »
    Any preferences as to how I re-organise? are there any sections that you don't use that I could get rid of? all suggestions welcome, this is YOUR recipe index ;)

    I've had a look, and I probably don't use the last two much, but that's not to say I wont, and I think they're worth keeping. IF, something has to go, I'd say those, but only if something has to go.

    I'm a bit of a recipe freak, so I love how it's all laid out, it's extremely well done, and am not sure you can improve on it....unless of course you wanted to get into the realms of Vegetarian Recipes, Mince Recipes, Pork Recipes, Beef Recipes, Lamb Recipes and so on, but unless you're looking for something to do, I really don't think it's necessary, especially as everything is already listed alphabetically :)
    Aug11 £193.29/£240

    Oct10 £266.72 /£275 Nov10 £276.71/£275 Dec10 £311.33 / £275 Jan11 £242.25/ £250 Feb11 £243.14/ £250 Mar11 £221.99/ £230
    Apr11 £237.39 /£240 May11 £237.71/£240 Jun11 £244.03/ £240 July11 £244.89/ £240
    Xmas 2011 Fund £220
  • Hippeechiq
    Hippeechiq Posts: 1,103 Forumite
    brodie1 wrote: »
    Hi,
    for years I have used marigold bouillon stock (comes ina small tub) or kallo. Both excellent , made the mistake the other day of buying supermarket own brand, far too salty with no depth.
    Brodie1:):)

    I think I may try that, or even maybe Kn0rr, or would you say marig0ld and kall0 are superior to Kn0rr too? I don't mind if one is a little more expensive than the other, as I'm not using it all the time, and it's false economy to buy one that isn't going to give me a rich stock......which 0xo certainly haven't been doing. I think the stock granules produce an even more wishy-washy stock than the cubes, if that's possible......sometimes you find yourself using ingredients because your Mum used to, don't you? Or is that just me :D
    Aug11 £193.29/£240

    Oct10 £266.72 /£275 Nov10 £276.71/£275 Dec10 £311.33 / £275 Jan11 £242.25/ £250 Feb11 £243.14/ £250 Mar11 £221.99/ £230
    Apr11 £237.39 /£240 May11 £237.71/£240 Jun11 £244.03/ £240 July11 £244.89/ £240
    Xmas 2011 Fund £220
  • CupOfChai
    CupOfChai Posts: 1,411 Forumite
    Hippeechiq, on the stinky garlic subject...

    If you can see a sort of core down the middle of the clove of garlic (which is often a bit green-y), remove this and discard it. It's that part that causes the really bad garlic stink. Also allegedly parsley helps to neutralise the garlic smell on breath, so if you can use some of that in the dishes alongside the garlic it may help.

    Afraid I doubt Lazy Garlic would be a much reduced odour, aside from on the hands, as it's still fresh(ish) garlic. Plus garlic doesn't just leave a smell on your breath, it comes out your pores in your sweat as well so no matter how much you clean your teeth you'll still smell of it. You could always do like me and just not care if you smell a bit garlicky on occasion, after all it's good for you! :D
  • mrsbowie
    mrsbowie Posts: 163 Forumite
    strange week, spent £20 more than I should have, but got stuff to take us well into next week, so not too bad, I was saving that £20 which was my spends, to but a coat in asda, anyway hubby's gonna buy it me for our wedding anniversary, I think the overspend is due to buying baking stuff , will try harder next week.
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