July 2009 Grocery Challenge

elantan · 15 July 2009 at 2:05PM

oh and it didnt help the fact i thought hey dont take the car walk it up the street ...but none of the shops do tofu in the village so i had to go to the town which is about 15 mins each way in a car ...so costing me diesel as well ....

am gonna sit down and try and figure out a way to make this cheaper ....i plan on batch cooking at the weekend (i am night shift so will need to do it over two days) some things for hubby ...spag bog anyone lol ...oh and then spicy spag bog that should do two days ...does lamb mince when cooked with spices etc freeze well? doi have lamb mince

i think i should start with a inventory

Moniker · 15 July 2009 at 2:31PM

Hi everyone, have been away for a couple of days (a wet weekend in Bournemouth!) and so have got out of touch. I managed to do a mini shop in Waitrose on Monday when we got back and spent less than £30 including a bottle of wine and a pack of mince. I have updated my signature and have about £70 to last till 31st. Hm..might be difficult as we will be having DD1 here some of the time as she is moving out of her bedsit prior to departing for Germany on 1st August. However, I have a 'big shop' to do on 17th and 24th and ought to be able to keep it to under £35 each as I have plenty of stuff in the freezer, so here's hoping we can do it!

Cooked two chicken breasts in breadcrumbs in the oven for lunch and made a big batch of hob nobs to take advantage of the oven being on as well - DH is very pleased! Made a double quantity of bolognese sauce in the slow cooker yesterday and froze half so doing quite well.

Have begun my annual clear out of my kitchen cupboards but am making slow progress (have only done two cupbaords and two drawers so far) but I do feel better for doing it - I suppose I had better get back to it!

Catch up later.

Moniker

OrkneyStar · 15 July 2009 at 2:35PM

Hi there,
Not been on here for a few days....today is the start of our financial month, and grocery fund replenished (although £100 less than normal month as away end of this month).
Spent £32 in Tesco today, and a few pounds locally, so approx £35-37. This was plenty of sausages and chicken and also some other stuff (incl. Bold that is on offer- I got the liquigel). Hoping to spend minimally with another 2-3 similar sized/slightly smaller shops, before we go on hols later on in the month.
Not much else to report, hoping all are well, and might read the thread sometime soon

.
x

spendaholic · 15 July 2009 at 2:40PM

Weekend just gone and my spend was less than £25. I seem to be doing really well this time. Living without credit seems to make it easier ... or that's one way of putting it.

MRSMCAWBER · 15 July 2009 at 2:53PM

Afternoon all

Elf -hope your little one is better soon
I have to add a bit more to my spends .....

Got some bargaind for the freezer though -so they will get used next month...

3 pork escallops (600g) @ €1.49 x 2
pack 6 fresh chicken breasts @ £2.00 x 2
2 packs ready rolled puff pastry @ 49c
18 huge peaches @ £2.00 -i only got them yesterday ..and only have 4 left

these were all on offer -not whoopsed
Then whoopsed in the naafi blocks of double gloucester were 75c -so I got all 7 for the freezer ... they should have been €19.09 :eek:
so thats another €15.21 to add to the total...we will be nipping to the bigger naafis on Saturday as I want some yankee candles -on offer at 2 for €22 for the big jars.... so hubby is getting me some for my anniversary and Im going to get some more out of the cash saved from NOT buying ANY magazines for 6 months :T..I need some soft dark brown sugar so i can make some more courgette muffins (for the freezer if Im quick enough

) I have quite a few courgettes ready so that will make use of some of those... and I need some more eggs as I want to try some bitter orange and poppy seed ones -will post recipe if they are good

oohhh and I knew that my random recipe I spotted in one of my books would come in handy one day.. I have a recipe for DOG BISCUITS in one of my bread making books

...so thought it might come in as I saw the talk of home made ones the other day...it made in a BM.... but you can soon convert it to hand made if need be,, so here you go:-

1 cup warm chicken stock -21-28 degrees
2tbs milk powder
2tbs olive oil
1/2tsp salt
1 beaten egg
2 cups white bread flour
1 1/2 cups plain brown flour
1tsp yeast

put in the BM machine in the order according to your machine and set to "dough"
turn out and knead lightly
roll out to approx 1/2" thickness
using a cutter -(they have a bone one in the book )cut out the dough and place on a lightly floured baking sheet
rest for 20 mins
place in a pre-heated oven -gas 6/200c/400f and bake for 10 mins
reduce temp to gas 2/150c/300f and bake for 15 mins -depending on size of biscuit-until golden, crisp and hollow sounding
cool on a rack and then store in an airtight container

Hope thats some use to someone..
right Im back off to my x-stitching ..pasta salad for tea tonight, so nice and easy :j
hope everyone is well

got-it-spend-it · 15 July 2009 at 3:05PM

Hi Elantan, have you checked out the meal plan thread on here? You basically decide on your meals for the week (I tend not to allocate specific meals to specific days, but most folk do). You can do this based on what you already have in, needs using up etc then write a list for whatever else you need, plus whatever you need for breakfasts etc and the stick to the list.

I personally find that online shopping is the best way to do this for me. You don't necessarily need to cook a big meal each night, and in fact a good way to keep costs down is to have an omlette night, a jacket potato night, a soup night etc....

I personally would look at it as having a budget for £56 for the week, rather than £8 a day. That way you can do the majority of your shopping then see what you have leftover for extras.

Good luck with it. A couple of threads maybe worth checking out are Weezl's 50p a day thread and Mbaz's feed the family for £20 . Lots of cheap meal ideas.

elantan · 15 July 2009 at 3:22PM

cheers i remember the the weezl thread from last year the fun and goings on over slugs had me in stitches will have a look at this meal planner ...so you dont think £8 a day is a good way of going then ...hmmm probably a good point ...i have just over £20 left in the tub to do us till monday thats four days but i am away all day tomorrow working so i shouldnt spend anything that day ...just had a wee quick squint at the meal plan thread i think that is what i am going be looking at thanks

TotallyBroke · 15 July 2009 at 3:51PM

Try and forward plan slightly. You bought 4 mushrooms for 39p. If you had spent a bit more and bought a 200gm/400gm tub you could've sliced and frozen them. They would be ready then to throw into a spag bol etc. I was lucky a few months back I bought an 800gm tub in Tesco in the reduced to clear section for 50p. See if you can do the same with regards to the reduced to clear, buy the veg and freeze. Somethings you will need to parboil but others you won't, just be careful with the prewashed and cut packed veg this does not freeze so well.
The best thing to do as you suggested was to do an inventory or cupboards, fridge and freezer and then plan your meals around what you already have. I agree you should put aside for washing powder etc.

OrkneyStar · 15 July 2009 at 3:52PM

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

18 huge peaches @ £2.00 -i only got them yesterday ..and only have 4 left

lol I am getting visions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but instead if seeing someone turning into a giant blackcurrant I am seeing MrsM morph into a giant peach lol. At least they are good for you, although tbh that's quite a lot of sugar in 14 peaches is it not ? It's a shame you cannot grow those in your appotment

.
Anyway sorry for being off topic, just made me smile!

elantan · 15 July 2009 at 4:05PM

ok another of my many silly questions ...can you freeze mushrooms?...and if so how well do they freeze ?

the reason i bought 4 was cause that was all i needed and i didnt want to waste any ...we have bought them before loads of times and wasted them and i thought (in my wisdom) i aint wasting anymore ...so just bought the four ...

freezing mushrooms well i never ...

how much do you think i should put by a day for washing up liquid toilet rolls etc ...i was thinking £1.50 hence the reason i only have just over £20 left to do me till monday

can you tell home making isnt a strong point of mine thanks for that will do that from now on

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July 2009 Grocery Challenge

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