August 2008 Grocery Challenge

Herewegoagain

Well guys, I wasn't gone for long on my hols, but there seems to be oodles of new names here so welcome one and all:beer:

DS1 has a job after being unemployed for ages so whooopidoooo:j :money:

OH had his card skamed at cashpoint at mr m's weymouth and they got £600, :mad: he reported it to the fraud debt and will have to wait ages to be reimbersed, we hope, but in the mean time I am now financing two households, help.(Will only count this one in the GC)
These people now replace the whole of the front of the cashpoint making it really hard to see, just want to warn you peeps as it is very upsetting when this happens:( :shocked: :sad:

Another NSD for me today:D Hoping for another tomorrow;)

Mrs m wish I could get that organized, meal plan til nov, welldone you:beer:
Weve got our name down for an allotment today as well, so next year will be planting away and looking forward to all those lovely fresh goodies.

Have spent £45.80 so far which leaves £54.20 for the next 18days so well on target this month, wish me luck, went over by 34p last month and want to beat that:D
HWGA xx

fedupfreda

Definitely agree - leave OH and kids at home, makes things so much easier - I can't wait for the school holidays to end - I will save so much grief (don't drive, work evenings, usually shop when the kids are at school and bring it all home by pushbike) usually takes 2 trips to get a weeks shop done, too much hassle to do that and have everyone else tagging along as well!:D

scattymam1

Well we've got all the way to the 10th without a shop - mainly because of our little flood we've been eating at my dad's and we did have a freezer full of meals too. I'd just made a batch of bolognese and batched it up seperately for the bairn. Need to do a shop today or tomorrow as we do need milk and fruit now, but we still don't need to do a huge shop as we still have a lot of things we can make meals from. So will be coming way under budget this month. What shall I do with the savings - put it away for christmas or spend it on the bairns uniform for september!!!??? Decisions, decisions.

scattymam1

Going to go look for whoppsies today and save even more I think

MRSMCAWBER

Morning all

Not sure if today will be a NSD or not yet ... hubby has gone golfing -so will be stopping off at the NAFFI on his way home to see if they have any more bread flour in, and if its 74c then he is bringing me what they have on the shelf... failing that -he is checking out any whoopsies he thinks we can use...

Ohhh on the meal plan front..i know it seems im super organised -but my challenge will be NOT losing the plans between now and when i need them :rotfl:
Denise -I only have a small chest freezer in the basement and then one as part of the fridge/freezer in the kitchen.... but its amazing how much i can get in there .. I think not buying stuff in packaging helps..even things like mince gets taken out of its tray and split into bags as they take up less space...
Plus i only have me n hubby to feed so i get lots more meals in than a family would..
I have told hubby that when we move back to the UK im having another small chest freezer -if only to freeze up veggies from the garden... not sure where we wil fit one..but i WILL find space

I decided not to turn the courgettes into teabread this time..we have enough sweet stuff in the freezer -and we don't get through much really -so i have just been out and gathered another 1lb of tomatoes, and have them in the oven roasting with the chunks of courgettes, pattypans, 2 sad looking green peppers, garlic, oil salt n pepper..once its cooled i will seperate it into bags -should get 4 lots i think and then freeze to have with pasta at a later date..or i will blitz them and use in place of passata...

Have done the 2nd stage of the baguettes -so the dough is just proving -then i can shape em and get them baked later -that will be hubbies lunches sorted for the week -arghhhhh just realised.. he is on duty tomorrow -so won't need packing up... then he is off tuesday, golfing thursday.... so i only need to sort out 2 packed lunches this week :rolleyes: ..ohh well i guess it saves some more food/pennies :T

Still have €61.95 out of the €100 left of this month (depending on what hubby spends) and 2 weeks left of this month.. so i think next month im going to be sticking to the same amount.. then i can take advantage of any offers again..hopefully hubbies bloomin nescafe will come on offer somewhere... its the most expensive thing we have to buy :rolleyes: ....

On the veggie front.. im fighting the urge to treat myself to this :-

http://www.grogardenproducts.co.uk/patiogro-agreene.html

It would make it near imposible for the sluggies to get to my salad leaves :T -especially if i slide copper pipes over the legs
I think they are brilliant for anyone with a balcony etc..
I will try and convince myself that i don't want one...but NOW they have the free irrigation system with it im even more tempted :rotfl:

right i had better get off..have a great weekend everyone

perrywinkle

Morning,

another NSD yesterday but may have to bow to the inevitable and get some milk and eggs today - if not will definitely have to go shopping tomorrow as need some other things. Never mind - that's 6 NSD in a row and 7 so far this month so not too bad - will just have to see how it goes.
Raining again today - not great for what is supposed to be Summer but on a postitive note at least I'm less likely to walk to the shops and to spend - every cloud....!

Have a great day
Perrywinkle

susan946

Good morning everyone

There's a strange brightness about outside after all the rain of yesterday. Not a cloud in the sky!!! The grass needs cutting but it is far too wet at the moment. Maybe later if there are no more showers.

I'm so impressed with Mrs M's menu plans. Mine always seem to change daily, according to what was left over, what else is going on and even the weather! I never fancy salad, for example if it's cold and dreary.

Also big congrats to Denise. Getting sorted out is such a relief, but it takes time and effort.

Yesterday I bought a replacement for my broken cookpot. I decided to get the biggest I could find as I found the old one wasn't always quite big enough. To celebrate I made a batch of cookpot yoghurt - thanks for the recipe Eager Learner!:T The yog set really well. I used fresh milk rather than the longlife in the recipe, but scalded it first to try to kill off any lurking nasties!

Also last night I prepared some dough for the custard cookies. Thanks Greent.:T I left the dough in the fridge overnight so shall chop it up and pop the biccies in the oven later. I guess you could freeze the dough sausage and thaw later for cooking. Anyone tried?

Went to Asda yesterday. The whoopsie shelf was completely bare!!! Not a whoopsie in sight. So no luck with that one.:mad: Spent £35.27 which included a freerange organic chicken so I didn't think that was too bad.

I've been given an icecream maker and am going to experiment with that later. Hubby is diabetic so I need to try making sugarfree ice cream. Has anyone had any luck with this?

Also I see the £5 Tesco voucher is back in NOTW today.

Have a great day everyone

Sue

*BigBird*

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

On the veggie front.. im fighting the urge to treat myself to this :-

http://www.grogardenproducts.co.uk/patiogro-agreene.html

It would make it near imposible for the sluggies to get to my salad leaves :T -especially if i slide copper pipes over the legs
I think they are brilliant for anyone with a balcony etc..
I will try and convince myself that i don't want one...but NOW they have the free irrigation system with it im even more tempted :rotfl:

Oh wow! How brilliant is that?? Wonder if OH has bought my birthday prezzie already.... Could drop enormous hints for christmas instead I so have to get one of those - cheers Mrs M :T:T:T

Pink.

Hi Gailey,

I've added your post into the Grocery Challenge as it may inspire others. Do be careful not to overload though! :eek:

Pink

BigMummaF

Oh MrsMc.....dare I ask for one of those for crimbo:o

NSD to go on my list & a plan to do some baking today....