September 2008 Grocery Challenge. Please read first two posts.

Julimk

I had another NSD! Would never believe before this that I could have so many, but it is kinda satisfying having money still in my purse! Have been looking at the overall budget for the next couple of months & will need to be pretty careful.

Me & DD made marshmallow Rice Krispie Squares today; using value stuff works out around 8p each compared to 39p ready made. And she says they are taste better! This will be a ‘sweet treat’ as the rest of her lunch-box is salad, fresh fruit, dried fruit …

It is actually pay day on Tuesday, but am running this challenge by calendar month. Have £74 and a bit left in account (balance of this month’s GC). How do peps keep grocery money separate? Mum used to have a ‘house-keeping’ purse separate from main one & put cash in that at the beginning of each week.

I also have a slightly ‘odd’ problem in that over the last year I have trying to put on weight! Following 3 emergency hospital admissions in 2007 my BMI was a skinny 17.5! Have a diagnosis & correct drugs etc now & am up to a BMI of 21. Gaining a few more pounds would not be a problem but definitely don’t want to lose any.

So any ideas for relatively high calorie, filling, nutritious non-junk, that is still cheap?

Thanks all for your help.

Juli

PS did anyone else see 'Britain's Worst Cook' earlier? It was well scary!! The food was on the whole inedible & they had no idea what ingredients were needed for even basic dishes!

savingfortravel

More details about Mr T 50p butter please!!
Yes this can be deleted too.

pink_princess

savingfortravel wrote: »

More details about Mr T 50p butter please!!

Hi sft it was the basics one but im not sure that its still on .I think it was a weekend special.HTH
Please feel free to delete this if its not on topic .:p

[Deleted User]

Hi All,
Still on track with my NZD $100 for the month.
Leftover chicken for dinner, probably make into a leek and chicken pie.
Have $40.80 left, freezer and store cupboard full, vegetable garden starting to produce, 20 litres of milk arriving tonight (already paid for) so should not have to spend anything before the end of the month.
Thanks so much for your help
Cheers
Jennie

Hollysan

For Karen (Fertyskids):
I am veggie, so here are some ideas on that. If you don't mind eating the same thing for a few nights, I would make some soup (minestrone is good, because you can add beans and pasta, very filling). Save cooking yourself something every evening. Also, the baby can have it and so can the toddler. Mashed up for the baby. We used to eat this a lot when I was studying with two children under four. Make an enormous pot of it and it will last all week!

Also, make spag bol, but make yours with all the same ingredients except the mince, and use red lentils and mushrooms. Fry the mushies off first and then add lentils, makes lovey bol. sauce, with all the same herbs etc, and a splash of frozen red wine if you have it. Good luck!

Otherwise, not a bad week for us, but I did give in to the temptation in the 'deli' masquerading as a farmshop near us this morning. Like Gordon, I can do better.

Good luck to everyone on the home strait.

Hollysan

Mariel

Hello, I've been offline for a while so I haven't updated my signature or even added up what I've spent - whoops! I don't think it's going to be all that bad though, I've not been extravagant and now the kids are back at school I don't seem to be going through much food.
Scuttles off to get receipts...

fuzzyfelt_2

Hi everyone! Only 3 more days to go until the end of my GC month and they should be NSDs! Although I'm over budget , I'm still really pleased that I have managed to keep a tighter control on the purse strings this month:j. Also, if you add my petrol and grocery budget together, I'm actually £11.98 in the black!:T

This challenge has really changed the way I behave and think. It's so refreshing to find myself thinking "Do I really need this?" when I'm shopping. Thanks to everyone on here - you're all such an inspiration. :A

I even made some HM laundry powder today rather than buying some detergent - I would never had thought about this if I hadn't read about it on the OS board!!

Mariel

I'm very impressed with myself - almost £75 left for the next ten days and I won't need anything like that! I think next month I'll make a conscious decision to either reduce the budget or learn to be not quite so tight with food - I think the second would be far more beneficial to me to be honest.

bullet_2

I tried to do this for September but went hideously over budget due to first of all not taking into account my older son's school dinners and secondly forgetting that I had almost literally nothing in by the end of August (by nothing I mean half a jar of pickle, some milk and butter and some frozen brisket bolognaise. I set it at £200 for September and am going to go over by at least £80.
I have an old 1940's recipe book that has a menu planner for each season, week by week so have decided to follow that next month with some minor variations. I shall try and be sensible this time and set my next budget at £300, but am aiming to double up and freeze a fair few meals so hopefully I can get the budget down again in November.

catnap53

BigMummaF wrote: »

Iwas peeling some squidgy apples today to put into a fruit jelly & musing on the idea of using the peelings like I did with the taiters. How do you think spraying with oil & sprinkling with sugar, or just dribbling with honey, & flashing under the grill would work?

I have boiled up my apple cores and skins this afternoon. They were from a mixture of eating apples that had gone a bit wrinkly and I had used for a crumble. Then I didn't know what to do with them, hadn't thought of roasting. I used my hand blender very sparingly in one second bursts to loosen the flesh without splitting the skins or pips. Then I was going to put it through a sieve, but that was going to leave most of the 'stuff' behind.

So I used a potato ricer that I got from Ikea ages ago, but don't use. It stopped all the skins and pips but let the sort of soft puree through. It looks like the jars of baby apple. I could use it as apple sauce, or to add to the next crumble, or in a smoothie.

Have had 3 shops to total up, so will be over budget, but hoping to claw some back from lunch money for DS and DD. They are currently going to Tesco in their break, but have said they will take HM bread or rolls. Just taken my first batch of soft rolls made in my new Kenwood chef out of the oven. Not looking forward to putting stuff on them in the morning though.

I couldn't make enough by hand as I could only manage one pound of flour at a time, now I will be able to do 3 again like I used to a long time ago. Just need some space in the freezer.

Managed to get some of the Asda 50p offers today, first time ever, but no whoopsies!

Shelbell, looks like a fair bit in your freezer to work with. I find it hard to use what I have in already, 'cause I might need it for something else, like having bolognaise sauce already cooked, then make a fresh batch in case I need to use one quickly, then I freeze what's left, and have two lots. I am sure you will get lots of help to minimise your spending.

Zzzz