July 2008 Grocery Challenge

newmoneysaver_2

Ooh - I've turned a corner. I have had two NSD days and I have finally ralised I don't have to go and do a big shop every week. I haven't done a big supermarket shop since we got back from camping - 24th June. I have popped into Asda twice but only to stock up on 50p bargains and for milk. I do need a couple of bits and pieces but I have decided I can hold off until the weekend - I have a Tesco NOTW voucher to use - so even though I may not need lots I may as well use the voucher.

mumzyof2 - how about mince & onion pie - I remember my Gran making these on saucers - I usually bung it all in the slow cooker - mince, onion, carrotts etc and turn into pies - always go down well with a bit of extra gravy.

rachelmk - my local Asda had 2 x 8 cans of coke/diet coke for £3 - not sure if this is still on - I couldn't see it online but I think it might be instore only - there is a huge billboard avertising outside our local co-op,

Right - I'm off the put on BM and I'm resisting the shops!

JAMIEDODGER

spent £29.50 in tescos this morning, total now at 91.99 so £108.01 left for the month:)

mumzyof2

perrywinkle wrote: »

Hi mumzyof2,

This makes a very large Moussaka which could easily feed 8 – 10 people or even more but the quantities can easily be reduced for a lesser number. I make extra meat sauce when I do this and freeze for the next time – you could split the meal up and freeze it but I find that the potatoes are better done fresh and it takes up a lot less room in the freezer when it is just the meat sauce.
It’s surprisingly tasty considering the basic ingredients although it wouldn’t be the same if it was a mince other than lamb.



Moussaka

450g minced lamb
225g onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp oil – olive is nice
2 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
3 lb potatoes, peeled and cut in half
salt and pepper

sauce

230g cheddar cheese, grated
50g butter or margarine
50g plain flour
600ml milk

-heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion until soft. Add lamb mince and cook for another 4 – 5 minutes stirring. Add the tomatoes and continue to cook for 20 – 25 minutes. Season to taste.
-boil the potatoes in a large pan of water for about 15 minutes until they are just cooked. Drain and cut into thick slices when they are cool enough to handle.
-make the sauce by melting the butter in a pan and adding the flour. Cook until sandy in colour and gradually stir in the milk to give a thick smooth sauce. Cook stirring constantly for about 5 minutes then add about two thirds of the cheese.
-place a layer of the sliced potatoes in the base of a large ovenproof dish then cover with the meat sauce. Put the second layer of potato slices over the meat sauce layer and then pour over the cheese sauce and sprinkle over the rest of the cheese.
-bake in a 200oC preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes until golden and bubbling.

HTH
Perrywinkle

Thankyou for that.. NIKI could you add this revcipe to first page please so i can find it again this week?

i NEED to pop out and get some tea bags and washing up liquid and also my vouchers come for fruit/veg/milk so will prob pop to morrisons when DS at nursery

annelouise_2

Morning from Sunny Spain

Just back from gym and called at Lidl for flour,bbq coals 99c,choc spread 1/2 price.Have decided I will only update spends weekly and save my time searching this thread!!!

Pasta and pesto for tea with HM garlic bread and will make pizza with left over dough for packed lunches.MrsM's twisty cheese savouries are going down a treat I must say.Made a banana and nectarine smoothie with a couple of pieces of fruit that looked as if they had gone a few rounds with Iron Mike Tyson - but ds4 turned his nose up at it so I popped into lolly moulds and we'll see how they go down tonight.

Had a mystery bag of 20 granny smiths on my balcony this morning so 1 each on the way to school and 1 in everyones lunch for the week.Maybe a crumble,pie or pastry if the kids get sick of them.

Poking about in the freezer found 2 slices of wafer thin ham!!!!!!! So will add that to tonights pasta.Along with that have 2 slices of HM Tortilla that I'll have for lunch today and tomorrow.

*****Bounty website still offering free Mr S and Mr S 1 litre of Candia milk - you have to register but if you were clever / crafty and have more than 1 email address for your family you could print off several!!! Just a thought****

Am still using a selection of free samples mainly face cream and hair products that OH had delivered whilst in Red Sea,so I am using Nivea Q10 - nice and dd9 using an array of lovely smelling hair nonsense.

annelouise

mouche

Hullo...well the Asda bill has showed up on my credit card and it seems we've managed to spend a few pounds less than I thought. It still leaves us with just £26.44 to last us the rest of the month. And that isn't counting the pot of local jam and chilli sauce that I sent OH to get and which he insisted on not taking any money for (the jam is purely for me and he got me the expensive but nice variety because he knew I was craving it and wouldn't buy it myself).

Then again our freezer is stuffed with cooked meals and raw ingredients and I don't anticipate us needing anything other than bread, fruit and milk. Can we do it in £6 a week from now on? Probably, if we use our vouchers for treat items.

But since we are lucky enough to have a good income, OH doesn't see the point of struggling to stay within budget. He asked why we couldn't increase the budget a bit since it won't really make much difference to us. I do this for the challenge but since he got his new job, there hasn't been the same financial pressure to do it. What do you guys think?

Flylady_Flower

fertyskids wrote: »

Have made HM rolls, HM Tortillas, individual bakewells, shortbread and Twinks Hobnobs for the lunch boxes this week and made extra for the Freezer so hoping we can make the reduced target this month:o karen

Hi Karen,
Well done you :T I seem to have fallen off the cooking wagon at the moment - been sorting out new job and stuff and I can't seem to wear my new glasses without getting a headache so have to go back to specsavers to see what they can do for me.:(

Just trying to catch up on the threads at the mo - only made page 23 so far...:eek: Ooooh, and what's with the new icon on the address bar now? squiggly....

We all love bakewells, so wondered if you could post the recipe please? they sound scrummy...

Thanks, Denise

mouche

Oh and a baking query from a newbie...

The new diabetic cookbook I've got has some nice recipes in it and I want to try the one for lemon and poppy seed muffins. Except I can't get hold of any poppy seeds! Asda, Tesco, Co-op, and Sainsbury's don't have any. Can I use dessicated coconut instead? I know it won't have the same flavour but will it kill it?

Triggles

Second NSD in a row for me. That's unusual. LOL With DD working at Mr T and DH working at Mr S, they are always saying "oh, do you want me to pick up ..." ? It's nice for the discount, but good grief it can be tempting for sales.

I've fallen down a bit on the menu planning, simply because I've been ill. But I am going to have to sit down and work the menu plan up again, as it is just so much easier. I also found a pack of recipes I'd cut out ages ago and tucked away in an envelope, so I will have to sit and browse through them this evening, as well as a bread baking recipe book that MIL picked up for me, as she thought I might like it.

I'm avoiding making pies lately as I was annoyed with the last 2 pie crusts I made - just didn't seem to come out quite right. And I've decided that cream hates me - I can't seem to get it whipped to the correct consistency to put in a cake. :mad:

I think I'm going to look into making and freezing some things ahead of time, so I can bake on weekends or on one day during the week. Is it more cost effective as oven only being used one day? I can do things like banana bread, pumpkin bread, cornbread, biscuits, scones, and then freeze them and take them out as needed.

isthatreduced

Thanks for the Millie's cookies recipe(don't know who posted it)
DD has a batch in the oven as I type,I will maybe get one before my driving lesson yum yum.

I think I will have to adjust the recipe to half the choc chips as it cost 44p a pack and they only do one batch so I might even buy a bar of choc and break it into chunks.

I also want to make up some with raisins in them and a little oats(pretending they are healthy and good for you:D )

The summer holidays started on Monday so I have to come up with cheap snacks.

annelouise_2

isthatreduced

try tesco milk or plain value chocolate with the sweet aisle,chop or bash and put in cookies,biscuits etc.

Half the price or twice as many - huuummmm

annelouise