September 2008 Grocery Challenge. Please read first two posts.

kippers

Well i've just changed my signature after working out how much i've spent. I have £54.57 left after yesterdays shop. My month ends on the 23rd of the month so i could come under budget if i'm careful. I have loads in the freezer too which is good.

Thanks for all the advice on this thread.

:j

Essex-girl_2

Good Morning All

Have just updated my sig and am wizzing though this months budget. Have been using loads of stuff from the freezers and they are looking low so might have to increase next months figure for a massive stock up. Will have a good look round for whats on special.

Have to say we are sticking to our menu plans and eating really really well.

Oh well have definatley got to watch the pennies the next 2 weeks.
x

BigMummaF

Morning Peeps...haven't opened the curtains yet cuz I really don't want to know what's out there hehehe! See the smilies are still having a holiday tho...

Welcome RedBaileys..there is no problem at all when you start your Challenge--someone else is doing 15-14th too so you're not alone. If you put your target in Big RED font now, MrsMc will see it & add you to the list. There's an index of tried & tested recipes on page one, curtesy of Angelnikki & if you have some to add, just post & either AN or Rosieben can add it to the stash hehe.
Most of us keep a talley in our sigs--mine is spend so far & NSD [No Spend Days]--& then you post your total spend in Big RED again at the end. It is entirely up to you what you decide to include; some do not put in alcohol while others add petrol--just decide how much you want to spend for the next 30-odd days & try not to go over.

Hope I've helped, & Good Luck with your first Challenge...we'll be here to help you get to the other side SIZE=1]insert 'smilie' smilie here![/SIZE

Cornishpixie_2

Hi, Been a bit busy in the town. I live right on the door step where the Tall Ships come in. Great atmosphere, parades and Fireworks. Anyhoo back to normality next week. Just popped in to declare total for the week gone as:£69.58 a whole 42p under budget:D (sorry don't know how to do red font:o).Should do a bit better next week, as ordered online and with 42p included should have £15.54 left for milk, pots and perhaps extra fruit for packs. Hope everyone has a good week:D

*BigBird*

Morning all. Another sunny day here in Devon - was amazed that we managed to get 2 loads of washing dry outside yesterday and have a barbecue! (used up some of the burgers that have been languishing in the freezer when other planned barbies have been rained off this "summer" :rolleyes:)

I had a bash at making cheesy bread rolls yesterday, like the ones I picked up whoopsied in Mr T last week. They turned out pretty good :T


I used this recipe, with a couple of amendments:

Golden cheesy breads
(makes 4 small loaves, each serves 1-2)

450g (1lb) strong plain white flour
1 teaspoon salt
25g (1oz) butter, diced
2 teaspoons fast-action dried yeast
1 teaspoon mustard powder
200g (7oz) gouda cheese, grated (I used mature cheddar as that was what I had in)
About 300ml (1/2 pint) warm milk, plus extra for glazing
I also added about 6 chopped spring onions and a similar amount of chopped chives)

1. Grease or flour 2 baking sheets and set aside. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl, then rub in the butter. Stir in the yeast, mustard powder and 2/3 of the cheese (and the onions and chives). Make a well in the centre, then add enough milk, mixing to form a soft dough.
2. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Divide into 4 equal portions and shape each piece into a round or oval and place on the baking sheets. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Lightly brush the tops of the loaves with a little extra milk, then sprinkle over the remaining cheese.
4. Bake the loaves for 20-25 minutes, or until the bread is risen and golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped underneath. Cover loosely with foil towards the end of the cooking time if the loaves are browning too much. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
As you can see from the pic, I made rolls rather than loaves. I divided the mix into 8, but they are quite big so I think this would easily make 10 or 12 good-sized rolls. I cooked them for about 13 minutes and they came our lovely. Can't really taste the onion and chive though, so I may try putting more in next time, or it might just be that the strong taste of the mature cheddar masks the flavour

(BTW, the recipe is from the Big Book of Bread by Anne Sheasby)

Need to go out looking for a new breadbin as ours has gone mouldy inside - again. I only scrubbed it out a couple of weeks ago. What does everyone else keep their bread in? Am I better off with a metal or ceramic bin, rather than a wooden one?

Have a lovely rest of the weekend, everyone.

Jules

I seem to have done better this week with the grocery shopping. Spent £41.34 in Mr S and £4.60 in the butchers and have enough to take me through next week and into the following if I follow my menu plan!
My total spend to now is £215.75 .

I am sailing close to my budgetted £225 so am definitely going to go over this month but never mind, better luck next month!

Oh and I'm going to have a go that those cheesy rolls, sound delicious. Thanks BigBird for the recipe.

mummysaver

Well my bank account is unsurprisingly not sorted out yet, so will be visiting the bank to get some money in person tomorrow! But on the bright side I have spent absolutely no money, so courtesy of Lloyds I am doing really well with my challenge!

Those cheesy rolls look amazing, might give them a go later - okay I admit I don't actually need to go shopping, I have plenty of food in! I just get in a twist when I take something out the cupboards and don't replace it immediately!

Have told the family that I am not shopping till Wednesday, so will just have to make do with what we have, but will need some fresh veg and onions and potatoes definitely then, and some more sugar and flour for baking.

rellaella

Hi there, although I joined the Sept grocery challenge I joined a bit late so not sure how I'm doing so far! I do know that I definitely have not spent anyway near as much as previous months so feeling quite positive at the mo. I have to say it's very liberating doing a proper meal plan. I went through the fridge/freezer and cupboards and wrote down everything I had in them, then proceeded to make a list of meals I could make with them, so much easier than just guessing whats in the cupboard then finding I have to go out for more ingredients!!! I made a lovely rice dish yesterday as I have quite a lot in. I'm doing slimming world too so things have to be healthy too. I put some chicken bovril into a pan of boiling water then added the rice, some chestnut mushrooms (1/2 price at Mr S) frozen peas then towards the end of cooking I added the last remaining bit of my homemade tomato sauce and some leftover mozzarella. It was delicious and made 2 very generous portions, so have some left for today. Have 2 weeks left til payday and meal plans until Thursday so hopefully only one more shop to do.

kalojac

I've not been keeping a close eye over the last couple of weeks, and I've totalled my receipts this morning and have spent £327, so that's it for me I'm afraid! I will have to adopt a new approach for October's challenge, and have set up a new spreadsheet worksheets for spends. I think also that next month I will post every day or most days to keep me motivated. I'm soooo bummed, but its my own fault, I knew that I was either over or getting really close.

Good luck to everyone else xx

craftingqueen_2

Have updated our siggy, spent a grand total of £75 this week, £30 at mrT and our first to Lidls £45 well worth going. We went apple (bramley), strawberry and raspberry picking with the kids they loved it and i also took photos for scrapbooking . Ended with our youngest coming down with a virus, it seems to be a 24hr bug an she seems fine now.Have a good weekend everyone.

CQ