September 2008 Grocery Challenge. Please read first two posts.

cherie1122

A no spending day for me but then my freezer is full and so are my cupboards. I should only need to buy F & V this week.

We have a fair number of apples and pears in the garden and I'm trying to use up the windfalls but most of the apples are ending up peeled, sliced, cooked and put in the freezer.

Today I experimented with some pears. I cut up some conference pears, cooked them till they were soft in the microwave, mixed sugar and ginger with them then put them in a pastry case topped with crumble mix. OH had some with custard for dessert and loved it. I usually give the pears away and haven't tried cooking them before (I thought they'd be a bit bland)

Has anybody got any other ideas for using up conference pears? They're huge this year and usually delicious but they all ripen at the same time so I end up giving them away.

NannyOgg

Evening all, just popped in to update spends... haven't caught up on posts yet but will read some more from work tomorrow.

Welcome to all the newbies and I hope everyone's first week(s) on September budget are going OK. I'll have to do a freezer inventory this weekend but I think I'm roughly on target for now. A bit of meal planning and careful shopping should see me through to the big day

And I forgot to mention the other day, I think OH has been taking tips from MRSM... he found wild raspberries growing behind his office :j :j and we went foraging over the Bank Holiday... within an hour we'd gathered a kilo which is going to keep me in toast & jam for quite a while :T And there's loads left so I might be going back for more this weekend :shhh:

I'm off to bed now - trying to get rid of the bags under my eyes so I'll look less haggard than usual for my big day

'night all, sleep tight!

philsmum

Hi.

Thanks so much for all your lovely messages and hugs:A they really mean a lot to me.
Spent half of my monthly budget today (not had a spend like that for a while) but really enjoyed it and have most of the stuff that we will need for the month, will only have to buy F & V and milk. Made menu plan for most of month (amazing what you can do when you cant sleep)
Thanks once again you are all wonderful.
Patx

AAngel_3

Do you live anywhere me? I'd have your conferance pears They are eaten by the kilo in our house!! I put them in crumble last year with rhubarb and on their own. Stewed in natural yoghurt or porridge is good too.

nicnacnoo

ill go for £150 again this month starting today, already spent £5.30, needed nappies and milk, just in the middle of my meal planner for the rest of this week. School doesnt start for a couple of weeks for my DD so not much pack lunch stuff to fork out for this month.
Good luck everyone

Mrs_Money_Penny

Hi everyone. Another NSD today that's 3 in a row.:D Should be another one tomorrow eating from the freezer this week.

Have a good day tomorrow everyone.

Money_saving_Diva_2

KAAT_LADY wrote: »

HI THERE DIVA

I have just done my flapjacks and now have the custard cookies in the oven ,,

I may start a cook book called Divas Dishes
These custard cookies are not sweet enough for DH may have to add more sugar,, but I like them

Thanks

Ann xx

My OH always says, 'Where is the cream filling?' when I make them so I think they maybe are not sweet enough for him either. Not that that stops him eating them!! At the moment he is loving Twinks' hobnobs or 'nobnobs' as he has chosen to call them...:rotfl:

And I showed him your post and he thought it was great.. He said he would buy a Divas' Dishes cookbook but he doesn't need to cos I live here :rotfl: :rotfl: .

Thanks for making us both smile Ann..

Diva.xx (your soooooperstar):D

Downsizing__for_sanity

No, it will be the Student Support Services at the institution you are studying at. I am at Aberdeen so it is their SSS, the govt devolves responsibility to the institution to decide who gets the money. Just for interest, when I last spoke to the staff there, they said they "couldn't give the money away" because people aren't applying for it! My husband is an officer in the military and earns a very respectable salary, so although I wasn't expecting much, I get about £1000 per term in childcare. This pays for after school clubs, childminders etc as well as nurseries. I am also entitled to apply for money from the hardship fund and have been given another £500 per term. I feel a bit bad applying for this as of course I can still afford to eat (just!) but in reality I would not be able to be at medical school without this money. There are also lots of charitable bodies which give one-off grants to mature students - you can find links to them from the SAAS site.

HTH,

Ellie x

fedupnow

Ok..........


£96.50 for me this month.......

Should I carry on as I am..... habitually dipping into 'next' months budget .. I'm likely only to have £3.20 for December:o

MUST try harder.

Downsizing__for_sanity

Oh dear... I have lots of sympathy with you as my little girl (now 21 mths) had really really awful colic. Was found to be reflux eventually but we lived with constant projectile vomiting for 6 months until someone could give us an diagnosis! It does get better as I'm sure you know by now. It is very hard and people only understand if they have been there with you - good luck and remember everything will pass, no matter how bad or stressful xxx