October 2008 Grocery Challenge. Please read first two posts.

OrkneyStar

Evening all,
Wooooheeee had the afternoon off DS duties to go and get car tax (£120 gone ) but at least that is it MOT'd and taxed now until next Oct .
Nipped into Tesco's for a few bits, more cheese for DS, MunchBunch yog (still £1 from £1.38), some whoopsied green beans, courgettes and tatties and also some more fruit juice. Spent just over £12, so still some grocery money in my purse and also still a bit in the bank too, so things looking ok.
Hope everyone is alright.
Off to read more comments about the daily thread now :rolleyes:.
x OS

katie2407

well back from asda and got enough meals and extra to do for at least 3 weeks so will only need milk and bread but i bought some bread mix so will be making that instead

leebarton

Spent just over £40 with Mr T on Sunday, but that included quite a lot of whoops meat and £20 on baby clothes so not too bad really. I needed to use a £5 voucher from last weeks paper before Sunday. We were really hoping that baby would be here by then as due last Friday, but alas we are all still waiting!!!! Has anyone else noticed that new baby clothes only seem to come in pink or blue with the occasional cream?!

Should only need to buy milk, fruit and veg this week. Hubby now asks what is on the list for tea as he is the main cook. Well trained, or what!

Julimk

A couple of minor spends over the weekend & an NSD today, so have updated siggy accordingly. Shouldn’t need anything over the next couple of days, so half the month gone & less than half the budget used.

I have finally finished inventorying my store cupboard, fridge & freezer. There are 5 A4 pages with 2 columns on each page! :eek: And that is without listing the 49 separate herbs & spices (I’ll just accept that I probably have what I need for anything).

Having done this challenge for about 6 weeks, written down meals for nearly a week & this list I now have a much better idea of what I actually use & what I really need.

I have enough individual portions of dinners in the freezer for the rest of the month (and then some). I will need fresh milk, eggs, cheese, juice & fruit, half a dozen cans, loo roll & washing powder. And I think that’s it. So hoping to stay well within budget. Yay!

Jacks_xxx

Hmmmm..so the closer it gets to the half way mark the longer the list of things we need on the fridge gets!

We've only done milk and bread top ups so far, but we definitely need fruit and veg now. I'm holding out until market day for the bargains!

My mum has been poorly and not eating meals so she's sending my dad over in the morning with some veg and things that need using up. (She feels much better though.)

The other thing is that I got few samples of fruity orange fabric softener in magazines and through the door etc so I used them for a change, the smell is quite nice - and now my family is addicted to the blimmin stuff and they're all complaining that the washing doesn't smell as nice without it.
I may actually have to buy some! :eek: Oooooooh those marketing departments are devious!

Love Jacks xxx

ness_w

Today the fridge went on the blink and froze everything so I think I might have to do a bit of spending - on food and - heaven forbid - a new fridge. Let's hope it doesn't do it again!

CherryPie

Already 3/4 way through budget and not yet half way through month!!:eek: Must do better, just like my old school reports. However my cupboards are full so I shall certainly not starve. Made my first trip to Lidl on Sat, why did I think shopping in any supermarket on a Saturday was a good idea?? Couldn't find the trollies, then thought a basket would do, then I couldn't find them?? So I only bought what I could carry. I shall brave it again, but not until next month. Have bought ingredients for some kind of carrot soup so I will go and hunt down a tasty recipe. I'm sure I heard mention of carrot & orange which sounds delish so I hope to find that.

angelatgraceland

Cherrypie-I did the spicy carrot and tomato on Sunday but I had to substitute a couple of the ingredients spicewise. It was lush though! I had no garlic so used garlic puree. I had no coriander so used chilli and I used 2 tins of toms.I had no tabasco. This recipe courtesy of betheebee.

4oz red lentils
2 onions (cooked in micro until soft)-i didnt bother doing that
1 tin tomatoes -i used 2
8 carrots sliced
4 cloves crushed garlic (sounds a lot but it's not)-i used half tube garlic paste
salt & pepper
1 tsp ground coriander-i used chilli
1 tsp dried basil
2 veg stock cubes in 1.5 pts of water.
a few dashes of Worcester sauce (I used 1 tbs to give it a kick)-i used 1 and a half
4 drops of Tabasco-i didnt have any
2 tsps tomato puree.-i didnt use any
Put all of the above in a pan, bring to boil then simmer until soft. Blend in a liquidizer and enjoy. You can make it spicier by adding more Tabasco but found the amount I used just right to make it spicy but not too hot.

cw18

CherryPie wrote: »

Made my first trip to Lidl on Sat, why did I think shopping in any supermarket on a Saturday was a good idea?? Couldn't find the trollies, then thought a basket would do, then I couldn't find them??

Assuming all branches are the same as our local ones (1 Aldi, 2 each of the others within a few miles), you won't find baskets in Aldi, Lidl or Netto

I often carry shopping around in my arms -- reduces the risk of an overspend, which is much more likely when I use a trolley. Plus it means I'm sure I can cope with carrying the weight of the shopping home as back problems restrict what I can cope with.

I have a push-along shopping trolley that goes with me when I want more than I can carry -- and I refuse to leave it by the entry/exit (never actually been asked to, but I've seen others leave them there so think it may be normal practise) -- but I can't manage that and a store trolley. So even then boxes/packets get balanced on top of my trolley, and a few loose bits get carried in one arm. When I go to Mr T, then I use a basket which I balance on top of my trolley.

candygirl

ness_w wrote: »

Today the fridge went on the blink and froze everything so I think I might have to do a bit of spending - on food and - heaven forbid - a new fridge. Let's hope it doesn't do it again!

They have smallish fridges in ALDI for £79 at the mo:D