October 2016 Grocery Challenge

EverTheOptimist · 5 October 2016 at 11:32PM

So first post since starting this month's challenge, have spent around the £80 mark, need to add up receipts. Not overly happy with that, as had a couple of ad hoc spends which I haven't done for ages.

For the last 8 months I have done a weekly meal plan and then based my shopping list around this, plus the other usual food and sundry items we need. I generally cook fresh meals and freeze any leftovers then the last week of the month mainly revolves around whatever's left in the freezer.

Am back to work in December when my maternity leave finishes so shopping habits may change slightly so need to think about it.

Just because it of interest do people shop weekly, fortnightly, monthly? Also how many of you have shopping delivered and do you recommend. I'm thinking with only one weekday off when I go back to work I don't want to waste it dragging my babies around the supermarket.

Thanks.

dumpling · 6 October 2016 at 4:56AM

EverTheOptimist wrote: »

Just because it of interest do people shop weekly, fortnightly, monthly? Also how many of you have shopping delivered and do you recommend. I'm thinking with only one weekday off when I go back to work I don't want to waste it dragging my babies around the supermarket.

Thanks.

Hi, I have 2 small deliveries a week from whichever supermarket has the best offers for us (usually Tesco). I have many many things I would rather be doing than the hell that is shopping on the weekend in a busy supermarket. Online has been marvellous really and any problems have usually been sorted out with a quick phonecall.

t14cy_t · 6 October 2016 at 6:52AM

spends of £5 yesterday on special ham from the deli in tesco that had been reduced down alot, have repackaged it and snuck in the freezer! spends of £16 in total this month. xx

elsiepac · 6 October 2016 at 10:12AM

Hi everyone

No grocery spends for me again yesterday, so still on £0/£80

Last night I did MORE batch cooking! Just because I had half a butternut squash that needed using and I'd found a recipe for sweet potato and spinach dahl which I had everything else for... obviously subbed the butternut for sweet potato and it was delicious!

Butternut and Spinach Dahl

1 tbsp sesame oil
1 onion
1 tbsp minced ginger (or thumb size piece)
1 chilli, chopped small
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsps cumin
1 1/2 tsps turmeric
400g ish of butternut (or sweet potato!) diced - I did about 1cm pieces
250g red lentils
600ml stock
80g spinach (this was the original recipe amount - I used about 120g as it needed using, and it still wasn't loads in there so I think you could easily go up to 200g!)

Saute the onion in the oil till translucent
Add the ginger, garlic and chilli and cook for a further minute until well mixed
Add the turmeric and cumin, mix in, then add the butternut and stir so it's coated in the onion and spice mixture
Chuck in the lentils and stock, mix well, bring to a simmer, then turn right down and cover - cook for 20-30 minutes.
Stir in the spinach right at the end so it wilts, then serve!

(Mine needed 40 mins but that's because I have cast iron pots which easily get very hot and can burn so I had the lid slightly ajar, which meant I put extra water in as I knew some would evaporate, hence it took a bit longer!)

I sampled some and it was really yummy! But I put all 4 portions in the freezer

LC x

pamsdish · 6 October 2016 at 11:33AM

Thanks elsiepac for the dahl recipe, waiting on Tesco to contact me re a click collect, so will grab some frozen spinach, on my list anyway, which is the only ingredient not got already.
Went to Aldi to grab some super6 veggie, always the best time to get them is the first few days, so spent £13 and will spend my afternoon slicing and dicing for the freezer.

pinkypig · 6 October 2016 at 2:57PM

£6.54 in Home Bargains and Poundland on chopped garlic, cake tin liners, parecetomol, mouthwash, sweeteners, laundry liquid and some food containers for freezing leftover portions. Had a rare trip into town so got the things I can't get in Aldi or odds and ends that are cheaper elsewhere. Wrote a list and stuck to it:j

Slowly57 · 6 October 2016 at 4:45PM

£37.15 today in MrT's which will do me for the next few weeks - freezers completely full now. I'll need to buy some fresh stuff between now and end date but if I go over my guesstimate - that isn't a prob (so lucky, I know). With all the Halloween and Christmas stuff that they're selling already - I probably walked a good mile to find where they'd moved stuff around to too (no exaggeration - we have one of the huge ones).

BOUGHT NO TINS OF ANYTHING! This is HUGE for me with my hoarding habits lol. Also, where I'd picked up two of something - I made the effort to put one back. I don't need to hoard food (repeat, repeat, repeat) :T

This morning I made a big cauli cheese, some fridge-emptying soup and cooked some spinach + chickpea falafels. I actually took out some of my freezer bread hoard to use :T

This mindfulness lark is working

ScotinLondon · 6 October 2016 at 8:12PM

£20.02 this evening in both morries & sainsb....things for the coming week...don't like shopping with dh as he tends to go off script.

A quick question, we are going to try a new recipe over the weekend and it calls for pecorino cheese but can't find it...can I use parmasan or grana padana instead?
Thanks

Have a good rest of the evening all!
SIL

BeTheChange · 6 October 2016 at 8:33PM

Ok so shop came and couple of items not available so my spend has dropped to £96.54/£250

I have been doing a weeklybonline shopmfrom Asda and this has worked really well so far BUT DD is wanting to eat 'healthier and cleaner' and I could do with losing weight so am keen too. The quandry I have is that I know we will be buying a lot more fresh salad stuff and fruit. This I Know will be cheaper in Lidl but I don't have a car so will mean a couple of shops per week with a 30min walk each way. Also I can't get everything I want from there so will mean top up elsewhere. This will lead to tempation to deviate from meal plan and make sticking to budget harder.

Will give it a couple of weeks and as long as I stay under budget I will see if I can live with it but it is niggling me knowing I could spend less.

thriftwizard · 6 October 2016 at 9:02PM

Farm shop visited; £20 spent on a sack of spuds for us, mixed corn, layers' pellets & layers' mash for the chickens and some seed for the cockatiels. Now I just need to keep strict tabs on what I spend at the market, tomorrow and for the rest of the month! To be fair, the chicken food should see us through until December at least, and if DS2 & TDiL are actually going to move out, which is beginning to seem like a distinct possibility, our spud consumption should drop to something approaching that of a "normal" household! But as I can keep them cool & dark, I'll probably keep buying them by the sack until late spring, as it's a huge saving. £8 for 25Kg of Wiljas today...

I may have an opportunity to dash up to the mill next week for a couple of 8Kg sacks of flour; I like to do this before the weather closes in too much as it's not the easiest of roads for an elderly van. (Narrow, twisty, overhung with vegetation, potholed, sometimes with water running across or down it, and always chock full of enormous continental lorries with very baffled drivers, as it's listed as an "A" road!) If I do, I will only add a quarter of what I spend to this month's totals as I'd expect the flour to last until early Spring, which is Feb/March, down here.

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October 2016 Grocery Challenge

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