Do our food shopping bills seem reasonable?

Sunnyday · 16 August 2008 at 3:55PM

CoD wrote: »

stretching meat can also help, you list pizza, fajita, stirfries, pasta and rice dishes. I'd buy a free range chicken (£7) and have that with veg for a roast dinner.i then bag up all the leftover meat into 100g bags, each one of these will then do fajitas for 2, or a stirfry, or 1/2 of one will go on top of a pizza, the other half in a risotto with stock from the bones. packaging up the meat stops any picking, and then means i never ever buy chicken breasts or portions which pound by pound are expensive. 25-50g of meat is enough for these kind of dishes, then bulked out with veg. it makes that one chicken cover at least 6-7 meals for both of us.

I make wraps, for about 10p, then add a "bag" of chicken, an onion, some sliced courgettes and a pepper if they've been on offer. or make a pizza base, blitz any leftover tomatoes and add whatever i can find, or rice and cheese and peas and chicken, sweetcorn, mushrooms, tomatoes..... lol

I make our bread too which seems to save money

We do similar thing with the chicken, i`ve just bought one on offer at just over £5 and i was almost rubbing my hands thinging of how far i could make it go:D
I also make my own bread in the panny, i bought it last November on offer and haven`t bought a loaf since, it`s paid for itself many times over as i use it every day.
MrsMcawber has posted some stunning recipes on the GC thread and so have many others. In fact almost all my recipes in my little folder are from there and i make many regularly.
One of the biggest savings have come from packed lunches, we used some of the soup recipes and make hm wraps, i`m surprised at how little they cost to make. No more M&S sandwiches for lunch - in fact i`ll bet the staff in there wonder where i`ve got to as i used to be in there daily.
I do sometimes struggle for time as i work long hours but i find that menu planning and getting organised first off is the key to sucess.
SD

Burp_2 · 16 August 2008 at 4:09PM

Don't shoot me - but for the life of me I have no idea how to cook a whole chicken! lol I only ever buy chicken breasts!

Nor have I ever carved a chicken! lol

oh deary me

cady · 16 August 2008 at 4:09PM

i feed me and my BF and a ct (who has to have special food as she has problems swallowing) and we manage to stick to £100 a month and have LOADs to eat and our cubards / freezer is pretty full, maybe make a list of what you buy and maybe try dropping a brand some great tips i was give when we moved in and some we found out the hard way (we just moved in nov last yr)

*always use washing powder never liquid powder goes much further
*join the star drops club (fab and cheap)
*cook in batches and freeze or use for lunches
*try dropping a brand on 3 things every shop you will be AMAZED
*meal plan and only buy what you need
*add up as you go round te shop (on your mobile) you will spend less
*shop around for the cheapet deals
*stock up when things are on offer

HTH ood luck getting your bill down and if you make the savings you could put it towards a treat or pay somenthing off GOOD LUCK

Burp_2 · 16 August 2008 at 4:11PM

My mum has a brand new still boxed bread maker in the cupboard... may be worth asking to borrow it from her as she will never use it!

My OH prefers rolls for packed lunch... am I right in thinking you can make the dough in the bread maker and then ball it up yourself and put it in the oven for rolls?

Burp x

Sunnyday · 16 August 2008 at 4:32PM

Burp wrote: »

Don't shoot me - but for the life of me I have no idea how to cook a whole chicken! lol I only ever buy chicken breasts!

Nor have I ever carved a chicken! lol

oh deary me

I don`t carve it i just wait for it to cool and pull all the meat off,then i use the bones to make stock for gravy or stew, the last soup i made was so tasty i didn`t add any chicken just pasta.

I would ask to borrow the breadmaker, yes you can make the dough in it and bake in the oven if you wanted, try looking for MrsMcawbers recipe for wraps for sandwiches, they`re fab!
SD

gsysezz · 16 August 2008 at 4:52PM

Sunnyday wrote: »

try looking for MrsMcawbers recipe for wraps for sandwiches, they`re fab!
SD

I'm off to search for this recipe but if anyone finds it before me could they please post the link. Many thanks :beer:

gsysezz · 16 August 2008 at 4:56PM

Do you mean these? Another one to add to the to do list. No need to pay through the nose for tortilla's anymore. Hurrah. Thank you to Mrs M. I'm incredibly inspired by her posts, what a lady!!

CHEWY SOFT FLOUR TORTILLA
2 CUPS PLAIN FLOUR about 300g
1 ½ TSP BAKING POWDER
1TSP SALT
2TSP VEG OIL
¾ CUP WARM MILK -180ml

Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl
Whisk milk, oil and salt
Pour into flour -stirring to mix
Once mixed -turned out onto a lightly floured worktop and knead for 2 mins
Cover and leave for 15 mins -it won’t rise but needs to relax
Cut into 8 balls (approx 50g each)
Cover and leave to relax for 10 mins
Roll each one out into a round -approx 8”
Heat a heavy frying pan (preferably cast iron)
Drop in one tortilla and turn after about 2 mins -the surface should bubble -press down with a teatowel (watch you don't steam your fingers )
Place inside a dry tea towel to keep warm whilst you cook the rest

You can freeze the balls of dough too... when they are defrosted they will be a bit stickier so you will need more flour when rolling out-but they roll out bigger after freezing too

Sunnyday · 16 August 2008 at 5:24PM

Those are the ones:D
I add a little more flour than the recipe says though to make the dough a bit less sticky.
I can`t believe how expensive they are in the shops:eek:

MrsM is one fantastic lady!
SD

EssexHebridean · 16 August 2008 at 5:50PM

There are two of us here (OH also a rugby player with appetite to match!) and one adult cat. We spend around £180.00 - £200.00 per month for all our food and household goods including what we spend on feeding the cat. Supermarket spending is generally kept down somewhere around the £100p/m mark. with a further £30 - 40 at farmers markets for meat, eggs and some veg, plus a fortnightly organic veg box. The cat eats James Wellbeloved dried food which she seems to enjoy and certainly it seems like it's good for her - her health has been superb since we switched her onto that. That costs us around £9 for a 2kg bag which lasts a couple of months I reckon.