July 2008 Grocery Challenge

trying-very-trying

Thanks Jackk, I never thought about freezing the apple pies.
wendy-ann, my hubby would agree with you, I buy them (asda smart price) for putting in his lunch box as a special treat, but he can never wait that long. Now if I froze them, he would never think to look there.

OrkneyStar

fertyskids wrote: »

Good morning everyone. help again please.

the bread i made on sat, everyone except me refused to eat as they had to cut it. instead of throwing it i made breadcrumbs, but i dont know what dishes you can use them in. i know you clever lot use them for everything can someone please enlighten me.

also i peeled and blanched out of date carrots x3 bags. all in the freezer now !! Thnks to this thread....

also spag bol on - includes mince, tomatoes and red kidney beans also a bit of grated carrot. what else can i use to bulk it out and i think i can use the same reciepe for cottage pie/chilli - again how can i do this?

thank you so much for all your support i feel a bit better today, this is my 2nd NSD...Hooray!!!!

karen

Ditto the uses others have listed but I also always add breadcrumbs on top of mac cheese and cauli cheese, to make it crunchy! You can put them in macaroon recipes too I think, although I don't have one, sorry.

Jacks_xxx

Hello lovelies! :wave:

I didn't officially post in June - and I haven't even added up my receipts yet but I'm pretty sure I went slightly over.

Please can I rejoin for July? I can't promise to post all that much but I'm going to try and keep up with reading posts.

My Grow Your Own plan isn't going all that well thanks to slugs, bugs, cats, and the houses opposite having 25 foot bushes over shadowing our garden - even the grass is dying for lack of sunshine!

But we plod on, don't we?! :rolleyes:

Love Jacks xxx

PS £300 for the four of us plus cat.

PPS I have a birthday John Lewis Voucher and I'm thinking of putting it towards a food processor so that I can make soups and - the love of my life - Hoummus. Can anybody recommend s type or make or give me pointers on what to look for, please?

Olliebeak

Same thing here, Jackk! I spend less now but there is more food in the freezer - and always lots of stuff still in there just before payday!

I think we are all looking for bargains more and more; buying less ready-meals (though I will get some if they are on a really good whoopsie!). I'm also freezing left-overs into large marge containers - currently got portions of scouse, chilli, curry - which stack very neatly in the corner of the freezer. I really do need to do a 'clear-out' of the freezer. 10 weeks to my holiday - so need to get serious about it! Should get away with only buying veggies, potatoes, fruit, salad, bread, milk and catfood on the next payday!

angchris

KAAT_LADY wrote: »

good morning everyone :j :j



angchris how does that wash powder work is it ok

washing powder is great for run of the mill washing, really cheap to make and i use it 95% of the time on my normal dirty clothes, every now and then i give my clothes a blast in ariel bio to get rid of really stubborn grot (like ds`s rugby kit with white cotton shorts that come back black(why white?? )
it doesnt smell of anything unless you use strong perfumed soap or add some essential oils and the clothes come out lovely and soft because of the washing soda so i dont use conditioner either.
this powder has saved me an absolute fortune and its well worth a try, even if you find you dont like it you can use it by chucking a tablespoon in a bucket and mopping your kitchen floor which comes up gleaming

abaxas

Hi,

Room for one more?

£150 for July to feed....

2 adults (all meals including pack lunches) 1x meat eater 1x veggie
2 hamsters

We're moving house next week, so we're gonna have to cut down to pay for all the 'unknowns'.

Wish everyone luck! Lets make July the cheapest and healthiest month yet!

Gambatte!!!!!

jediteacher

savingfortravel wrote: »

Off topic I know but...
Wish me luck, back to school tomorrow to face the person who freaked out at me (for the 5th time) on Friday. Not looking forward to it..but you have to stand up to these type of people don't you.

SFT

Hi, Can I just ask are you a primary school teacher? If so then snap! If you want to rant feel free to pm me as I know what it's like the other side of the fence (teacher's side!)

Anyway, looking forward to the challenge starting tomorrow. Looked at my bank account and it's already well overdrawn and I've just been paid today! Hopefully with this challenge I'll be able to claw my way back into the black in a few months time as most of our money that's left after paying all bills and debts goes on food!

Thanks for all the inspiring recipes and ways people cut back.

OrkneyStar

abaxas wrote: »

Hi,

Room for one more?

£150 for July to feed....

2 adults (all meals including pack lunches) 1x meat eater 1x veggie
2 hamsters

We're moving house next week, so we're gonna have to cut down to pay for all the 'unknowns'.

Wish everyone luck! Lets make July the cheapest and healthiest month yet!

Gambatte!!!!!

Do hamsters cost much to feed ? I would like to get DS one when he is a little older.

abaxas

OrkneyStar wrote: »

I just have a little question for you
I hope you don't mind, and I know it is a bit off topic....do these little chaps cost much to feed/keep happy ?


[quote=abaxas;12115981]
Hi,

Room for one more?

£150 for July to feed....

2 adults (all meals including pack lunches) 1x meat eater 1x veggie
2 hamsters-We're moving house next week, so we're gonna have to cut down to pay for all the 'unknowns'.

Wish everyone luck! Lets make July the cheapest and healthiest month yet!

Gambatte!!!!!

[/QUOTE]

Yes and no :P

They are old and one has no teeth, so he needs a special diet. Usually we give him weetabix or muesli soaked in water and as a special treat, his favorite cheese - cheshire.

Also they have a large cage, so we use quite a bit of wood shavings and chopped up kitchen roll for their bedding.

If they were in perfect health and the cage was smaller I think it would cost less than £1 a week. But they are retired hamsters so why not let them live in luxury!

kunekune

I had a nice weekend, not in the kitchen but in the garden centre/garden centre. Our rental place has a garden consisting entirely of concrete (patio and path) and decorative pebbles, with tall wooden fences on two sides and a massive wall at the end. There's not a lot you can do with the structures but I now have heaps of plants in pots and it is feeling a lot more cheerful.

We had roast pork last night and it will reappear tonight, along with the stuffing that I forgot to serve! The potatoes I got at the market are massive, and roasted brilliantly, so I think it'll be roasties again. Green beans and carrots. Yesterday's only food expense was 2l of milk. Today isn't quite a NSD because it's bread day, when I pick up my weekly order from the deli, but hopefully I will resist temptation and buy nothing else.

Need to stay on top of things this month because we have the last £750 to pay for our summer holiday AND £700 in holiday club fees for the children in their summer holidays, those being rather longer than ours. I envy people who have family to help out, but that's the way it is. They can't go and stay with granny cos she's too busy at the bowling club, and we've no spare annual leave (especially with losing lots of time to sick children).