January 2011 Grocery Challenge

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  • minnie2
    minnie2 Posts: 513 Forumite
    ill again today! but am going to have to brave the shops, finish work at 12.45pm and will be in city anyway so i will be trawling round all the shops oh the joy!!!

    one of my dogs has got a lump o his nose so got vets monday - hope its not going to be too expensive typically i stopped his insurance on 29th December!! also hoping hes just knocked it and its not a tumour!

    so the less i spend on food the more can go towards sorting his poor face out! thought i might try getting cash out and adding up as i go round and prioritising!
    Frugal living challenge - need to revisit its been.a while !! Need to reduce our debts!!
  • Morning everyone, managed a NSD yesterday and will resist today as well. Freezer's been audited and it should keep me going until the end of the month. Might be a bit of a problem with budget as me and DS are reducing our carbs to get rid of Xmas excess. And protein can be expensive. Might just call it no white carbs and keep to a bit of wholemeal pasta & rice. Want to lose 4kg.
    GC - Oct £36.17/£31
    GC - Sep £35.56/£30:o
    GC - Aug £30.73/£31
    GC - Jul £30.80/£31
  • minnie2
    minnie2 Posts: 513 Forumite
    lump has gone so woo hoo!! had wondered if hed knocked on his bone he was playing with!! so no vet bills and definately not a tumour1!

    now plotting my course round the supermarkets!! not sure how i am going to fit them all in! dont finish work untill 12.45-1pm so ill have 3hours to do all 4shops!!

    need help does anyone make their own bolognese sauces and if so how!!

    also how do you keep silicone moulds dust and bit free!!
    Frugal living challenge - need to revisit its been.a while !! Need to reduce our debts!!
  • Emily87
    Emily87 Posts: 32 Forumite
    rosieben wrote: »
    the reason some of us don't use supermarkets proper names is that it would improve their search rating! :D

    you can call them what you like - I frequently call them things that I couldn't repeat on this thread :rotfl:but usually I call them MrT and sainsbugs, other people have their own specials, just use what you prefer ;)[/QUOTE

    Thanks rosieben :)
    June Grocery Challenge - £???/£230
    Credit card debt - Start - £10,613 Now - £10613
    Personal loan - Start - £10,116 Now - £10116

    DFD - October 2015
    :T

  • minnie2 wrote: »
    lump has gone so woo hoo!! had wondered if hed knocked on his bone he was playing with!! so no vet bills and definately not a tumour1!

    now plotting my course round the supermarkets!! not sure how i am going to fit them all in! dont finish work untill 12.45-1pm so ill have 3hours to do all 4shops!!

    need help does anyone make their own bolognese sauces and if so how!!

    also how do you keep silicone moulds dust and bit free!!

    I make my bolognese sauces really simply...just cook some mince in a pan with whatever veg I fancy (or have left!) mushrooms, peppers, courgettes, onions etc, stick a can of chopped tomatoes in, and I usually put a bit of black pepper/ garlic/ mixed herbs in too, and thats it!
    January grocery challenge- £338.09/£350
    £365 in 365 days- £25
    January NSDs- 9
    Money made on ebay- £16.89
  • Realise that I have been to the shop twice since i last updated my signature, one spend of £54.51 and one of £59.15 (both "weekly" shops plus a £2.10 tin of golden syrup. Am quite pleased with this but I know that it is partly because we have been living off Christmas/New Year surplus plus the storecupboard.
    Jan 2011 GC £300/£150.79 (2 adults, 2 teens, working dog, includes food/cleaning/toiletries)
  • martafdz
    martafdz Posts: 1,000 Forumite
    edited 16 January 2011 at 12:56PM
    minnie2 wrote: »
    need help does anyone make their own bolognese sauces and if so how!!

    I do the following:

    1. Put sunflower oil in a pan, enough to cover the base without making a pool lol. Put a middle heat.

    2. Add chopped onion (small chunks), it should go soft and yellow, not brown. If it goes brown, the heat was a bit too high.

    3. Add garlic. If you like garlic, chop it finely or use the dry minced one. If you do not like eating garlic, just put two dents without skin but whole, so you can remove them later on.

    4. Add chopped mushrooms (if you like them). They have water usually, so now it is time to put the heat up a bit. My kitchen goes from 1 to 10 and I put it at 7-8. Keep moving everything so nothing gets burn. If the mushrooms had too much water and now you have a pool you might want to either spoon out liquid and add a bit more of oil, or put the heat up for a bit until some water evaporates.
    At this point I put the other pan with water for the spaguetti to boil.

    5. When the mushrooms start to change colour and they do not look that raw, I add the mince meat. I spread it around making sure there are not big balls of mince meat. Mix everything, stir and leave it for a bit so the mince browns a bit. Then turn it and leave to brown the other side.

    6. I put the pasta to cook in boiling water in the other pan.

    7. I add a jar of tomato sauce and half a teaspoon of mixed herbs (optional) to the pan with the mince. I put down the heat to 3. Stir stir stir so everything gets mixed well. Tomato burns easily and stick to pans, so keep stirring until everything is mixed and everything has cooled a bit. If you see the tomato bubling really softly (not exploding lol), then you can leave it for a minute at low heat, then stir and leave for a bit again. I usually add the salt at this point because some tomato sauces make it sweet, so I prefer to check here how much I need. If I do not have a jar of tomato sauce, I use chopped tomato but then I start earlier because it is always really watery so I need to take all the water out and leave the tomato to fry for a bit, so I do not reduce to 3 but maybe 5 and stir most of the time until it changes colour from bright red to darkish red. I also have to add more salt. Sometimes also add tomato puree to make it thicker if I have used the chopped tomato tin.

    8. I then drain the spaguetti (after I tried and it is soft inside but firm outside) and add the mix from the pan. I stir everything and sometimes put it back to the heat for less than a minute, still stirring, just so the tomato sauce sticks even more to the spaguetti.

    9. Eaaaat! Lol

    I quite fancy doing spaguetti tomorrow now, lol. Or burritos!!! :D I kind of do the same but without mushrooms or tomato, adding fajita spices and draining well before adding to the tortilla and salad. Mmmmm, yummy!!
    Quit smoking *1st January 2010*

    13/12/2012, baby girl!!!
  • Another £10.53 spent todat as I was passing a Sainsburys so went in for some of the o0ffers - Ariel liquid, sausages, muller lights plus some g/f wafers & Sainsbury's weetabix. Made a curry last night with one of Co Op's 1/2 price healthier option jar of sauce (64p?) & it was very nice so might get some more tomorrow if offer still on. It may be cheaper to completely make your own curry but I am happy using a sauce for an easy meal on Saturday nights & it's still way cheaper than getting a takeaway.

    Bolognaise - I fry onion, garlic, a stick or two of celery, a grated carrot or two, mushrooms if I have them, brown the mince, drain the fat, add tomato puree & oregano & mixed herbs & cook for another minute, add tinned tomatoes, s & p, a teaspoon of sugar (to take off the acidity of the tomotoes), a small cup of beef stock and sometimes a few squirts of ketchup. I keep tasting & adding to it until the taste is exactly as I like it!
    Grocery aim £450pm.Spent £519 August, £584 July, £544 June, £541 May, £549 April, £517 March, £517 Feb,£555 Jan, £573 Dec, £465Nov, £561Oct, £493Sept, £426Aug,£496 Jul, £528Jun, £506May,£498April, £558 March, £500Feb, £500 Jan, £490 Dec, £555 Nov,£566 Oct, £505Sept, £450Aug, £410 July, £437 June, £491 May, £471 April, £440 March, £552Feb, £462Jan
  • Mrs P-N did the shopping at Lidl today which is normally my preserve - lots of things have come back which look lovely but I tend to avoid as a bit epensive - ah well at least I didn't have to do the shopping and I get some variety for not mtoo much extra - £46.34

    My record at Lidl is £86 (just before xmas and needing a weeks supplies)
    All CC & Other Debts - Paid Off :beer:
    Fifty something family man looking to retire comfortably before he's dead or effectively so :A
  • OrkneyStar
    OrkneyStar Posts: 7,025
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Hi,
    Do I have to PM someone in particular to get my budget removed (I did not want it on in the first place- that was why it was not in red ;)) ?
    Thanks
    Ermutigung wirkt immer besser als Verurteilung.
    Encouragement always works better than judgement.

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