September 2008 Grocery Challenge. Please read first two posts.

loobylee

£70 for me this week - still on target, off to update my sig

mama67

Well the last few days have seen me knee deep in jars and recipe books

I have made:

3 large jars Mango Chutney
10 jars Mincemeat
5 jars pickles beetroot
3 jars Red Pepper Relish

and I ahve also chopped cooked and frozen 2 large carrier bags of apples which will be lovely for Apple Crumbles and Pies, later on.

angelatgraceland

mummygems wrote: »

I think I am yet again going to go over budget this month (bangs head against brick wall).

Also, I have a couple of really stupid questions so please bear with me and dont laugh!

I have some tomatoes that came in my veg box but that I dont eat so I thought I could make them into tomato paste/sauce. I know I have to cut them and boil them but for how long? Do I cut the top or the bottom and do I put them in a pan and boil or put them in a pan of boiling water? Stupid me but I have never done anything like this before and I dont want to waste them.

Next thing is cabbage, I have some (again from veg box). I dont mind a little of cabbage but wouldnt want it every day. Can I blanch and feeeze it or does anyone have a recipe that I can use it in (preferably not cabbage soup lol).

Hope everyone else is getting on okay.

Tomatoes: I am assuming they are just the normal type. Cut in half and carefully cut out a small wedgeshaped bit in the middle to remove the area where they grow from-the stem area. Cut in half again and then I would just freeze them on an open tray. Then when I am doing a chilli or spag bol or whatever Id just thaw them out and chuck them in!
Cabbage: Oh ive had this problem so often! What I do is was and trim the cabbage, cut it up and bag it(I dont even blanch it)and freeze it. Then when I want it for tea I take out a suitable amount. It cooks a lot quicker too after it has been frozen. I find it much easier to cook this way. Rarely do I blanch anything-I really do think that blanching is overstated-but that is just a mixture of personal opinion and pure laziness.
Not silly questions by the way! I also think these veg boxes are expensive and if you dont like the veg there is little point in them.
I did pop out lunchtime(cant help it) but got 2 bottles of 4 pints milk at 49p per bottle! Some reduced tuna and bean salad for 49p,some grapes on offer(Co-op)£1.24 and some onion bhajis(I think)for 50p and a big bag of doritos for 52p. Well I spent £3.73 I think and that was my lunch as well (as I had planned to go home to lunch then changed my mind).I realised I didnt need to after all and it would be more relaxing to stay at work and save petrol. I Was tempted to go to the chipshop tonight-it seems to happen every thursday lately. OH said no tho so I went to the freezer for the fish and chips and the sausages. Just too tired to bother today but got talked into it. So Im glad I did now of course but it is tempting at times. One more day to go for this week! Can it be a NSD?

Flylady_Flower

Morning all - went shopping hopefully for the last time this month yesterday - spend £36.79 in farmfoods and £33.59 in Mr.T's - Total £70.38 - but I got LOADS... Off to update siggy...

4Moneysaver

Just updated my siggy. bought heaps of fruit from the market yesterday which should last me until the end of next week. Have aquired a puddy-tat :j which will up my bills slightly but he's worth it.

MRSMCAWBER

Morning all

Just sneaking in with my last post of the month :shhh: ..even keeping quiet I am the one who has posted most in my defence I do answer lots of questions :rotfl:
Anyway -I had a wander out this morning for a bit of fresh air...and have managed to get an 18 pack of 4ply andrex for €3 :j £2.40 so 13p a roll ..so I grabbed 2 lots -not that we need any yet -but at that price... would have got more but they are so bloomin bulky to carry.. (I may walk back tomorrow and get some more -will come in quietly and updat my siggy if i do )

Even though they aren't for this month (they are all for my winter store ) Im going to take the following out of this months money (my month finishes on the 25th and there is nothing I need) :-

• 16 andrex loo rolls 2 @ €3 = €6
• 12 sweetcorn @ 45c = €5.40
• 2 plain flour @ 52c = €1.04
• 2 salt @19c = 38c
• 8 tuna fish @ 75c =6.00
• 12 tins beans @ 49c = €5.88
• 12 tins red kidney beans @ 29c =€3.48
• 12 boxes passata @ 35c = €4.20
• 6 tins corned beef @ €1.29 =€7.74
• 6 huge tins whole soups @ 85c = €5.10
• 3 big tins peas/carrots @ 49c = €1.47

so that lot comes to - €46.69 .... so im still under budget :j ..only actualy spent €41.54 this month and even some of that is stuff for next month :A :rotfl: ..so my total is €88.23 :T

Things like the soup n tinned veg are just in case of emergencies -at least if the power goes -we can get a dish of warm soup using hubbies multi fuel stove -it will run on unleaded petrol
Next month I need to get things like long life milk etc in for the store.. Im probably wrong -but I think we are going to get a bad winter -its allready frosty here this last couple of days :eek:
Stripped the last of my tomatoes off yesterday -11lbs of tomatoes now ripening in all the windows :rotfl: .. and we allready have over 40 bags of roasted tomatoes/veg in the freezer ..
right I had better get off and up date my siggy -see you on next months thread folks

[Deleted User]

HI all
Another NSD for me. Thanks to all your advice and hints.am really learning so much on this site.
Friend just dropped in a huge bag of carrots, parsnips and swedes (which I have never cooked before, so all hints would be really welcome.) So I think the next few days will be well on target.
Must away, NZ Warriors are in the Australian league play off, game just starting.
Cheers all
Jennie

BigMummaF

I've been hearing/reading snippets about Messers T & A reducing prices on their own label goods...anyone seen any evidence of this yet? I'm going to our 'local' MrT but because it's in the throes of major refurb, I'll have trouble finding ANYTHING, let alone bargains We get to MrA about three times a year, but if their prices are good, it may be worth going more often, even factoring the cost of petrol--cuz that's a fair bit cheaper there too :mad:

Pink.

Hi BigMummaF,

My job involves a lot of driving around local towns in the evening and I often pop into the large supermarkets when I'm doing my calls to see what they have reduced. On Wednesday night in tesco they were clearing a whole row of shelves near the door and last night they were stocked with 'specials'. Some were own brands and some were named brands but they should be easy enough to find.

I find asda much cheaper for some basic things than tesco but their yellow sticker/whoopsies aren't nearly as good.

I think the shops are starting to recognise me looking in for yellow stickered stuff. Last night a lady in tesco ran after me waving bags of apples. She said we've got these down from £1.99 to 20p, I thought you might want some. I was mortified but took three bags anyway to stew for the freezer. As they say themselves.....every little helps.

Pink

PurpleSkies

Hello all.

I think I've managed to survive over a week without being on here and I was hoping to come back and post about the success of my first attempt at HM bread and Diva's amazing sounding pb cookies! But unfortunately I've just got back from a trip home as I had to go attend a funeral so all thoughts of food were out the window.

On a lighter note, I'm hoping to do my last shop of the month this weekend but with less than £8 to spend it's going to be tight, espeically if I want to add bread mix etc to the list! Will I be able to do it?!
I'll let you know how I get on!